A Number

From the C-T
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Review: “A Number” is dynamite drama

The small, downtown North Carolina Stage Company's house is usually configured as a thrust stage, with audience on three sides. When deciding to do Caryl Churchill's quite unusual and riveting script “A Number,” director Ron Bashford chose to reconfigure the conventional stage into theater-in-the-round by adding a row of seats at the back of the customary 'stage.'

This logistical discussion is a conscious and blatant ploy to avoid any revelation of the astonishing plot. It's all about the emergence of a longheld family secret involving a single-parent father and three - or more - sons. And, therein is the secret. Out of consideration for future audiences, we'll avoid a discussion of the startling script, thus revealing the big surprises in store for those who get to see this intriguing show.

The power of this plot is strong enough to rely on fine acting, alone. The set is simply an oval, tiled floor. No backdrop nor decoration. The scenery, as created by Don Baker, is only two stylized chairs and a patio chair-side table. No props needed. Clothing, not costumes, conceived by Deborah Austin, appears so comfortable and unconscious that it could it could be from each actors own closet, although most is not.

Even the lighting by Sarah Elliott is monochromatically off-white, and the sound design by Hans Meyer is tuneless and without melody, but effectively creates or sustains a feeling, a mood and an aural context. It's all very simple, basic, essential to the complexity of this challenging story-line.

Okay, it's the writing and the acting that carry the show – and carry it a long distance, indeed. It's performed all within an intense, condensed, concentrated and distilled hour and ten minutes, without intermission. And the acting is done by two awesome actors. Graham Smith, a mainstay of the Charlotte area stage, portrays Salter, a single father, and NCSC co-founder Charles McIver creates his several sons. The sons are identified in the program by names and ages. But that only complicates the story. Go figure.

British-Canadian playwright Churchill's “A Number” is a dynamite drama. It's not light entertainment, but solid and significant stuff that will send you away thinking about science and identity, ethics and moral inquiry. And thinking far into the night, for sure.

Jim Cavener reviews theater for take5.

Weldon Rising

Another C-T review.
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Billing a tense and graphic theater experience about a gay-bashing hate crime as a comedy has inherent risks.

Scapegoat Theatre Collective's fine “Weldon Rising” is a case in point. The script does call for comedic devices, and there is ample opportunity gales of laughter.

But in the current production at downtown Asheville's BeBe Theatre, the audience is torn between responding to horror before its very eyes and enjoying the stereotypical drag queen who always refers to herself in the third person.

Directed by Taryn Strauss and written by Phyllis Nagy, “Weldon Rising” is theater that makes you work for your reward.

It's not likely many viewers will say they enjoyed the show. But sensitive and aware audience members can easily acknowledge their appreciation of the work and its execution.

Among the surrealistic elements in the show: a heat wave ravishing New York's Central Park that might suggest hell; a central character shredding paper and cloth as he falls to pieces; and a stigmata right out of pre-Enlightenment superstition.

It's set in New York City's Greenwich Village in the 1980s.

A biracial lesbian couple live across from a gay male duo, at least one of whom shares living accommodations with a tortured drag queen, Marcel, who always refers to herself in the third-person.

Stephanie Hickling and Brooke Whitcomb are the lesbian couple duo; Peter Brezny and Scott Fisher are convincing as the young, ill-fated gay males.

Marcel becomes a mantra as the towering diva expresses her displeasure by using her stage name, as in “Marcel does not approve of that.”

Actor Scott Thompson could milk the comedic moments even more, but — given the heavy-duty tragedy played out on stage — finding this balance is a tough challenge.

Jason Williams plays the only sexually undefined role, and his Boy is effective, equal to the fine acting of the others.

“Weldon Rising” asks us to consider our response to the issue of hate, still all too common, around us.

Jim Cavener writes on theater for take5

What's LYLAS Got To Do With It?

Review: LYLAS bring on laughs in new show
JIM CAVENER I TAKE5 CORRESPONDENT • PUBLISHED MARCH 27, 2009 12:15 AM

Asheville's all-women's comedy sketch troupe LYLAS (Love Ya' Like a Sister) does original comedic skits better than most of our other local, slap-happy, high-energy troupes, all seemingly inspired by NBC's venerable “Saturday Night Live.” Like SNL, with LYLAS nothing is sacrosanct or immune from the LYLAS magic touch, or slash.

This high-estrogen bunch has imagination and skills galore. LYLAS' seventh original show in less than four years, “What's LYLAS Got to Do With It?” is laughs all the way.

Seven lively 30-somethings bounce about the stage and tear into all things Asheville. Jenny Bunn provides a cleverly conceived “curtain speech” adjacent to an edgy “Martini Mom” sketch. Hip haiku and fast-paced references to current events keep listeners on their toes.

Probably the most innovative and insightful skit is a tour of downtown Asheville by Segway, with the women getting a guide's narrative that is simply brilliant. Downtown's Urban Trail, BB&T building, former City Councilman Brian Freeborn, the Asiana buffet, metrosexuals, the cobblestones on Market Street and other aspects of our Mountain Metropolis all get the treatment.

Another high-point of the evening was a commentary on Roman Catholicism, Wiccans, Lutherans and Unitarians, related to tattoos, worthy of Garrison Keillor's weekly NPR show, “A Prairie Home Companion.” Some other sketches get downright randy and raunchy, and demand that this reviewer alert potential audiences that this is not a show for the kiddos.

At those points only certain oldsters and grandmas will be entertained more than offended. But, fortunately, Asheville could fill the hall every night with enough grandmas who would, totally “get it” and embrace the whole show. Maybe a few grandpas, too. Maybe....

Additional cast performers include Marissa Williams, Robin Raines, Emily Miller, Delina Hensley, Sarah Carpenter and Kerri Brantley Ostergaard. These six and Bunn are all introduced with superbly produced video snippets of each at the wheel of her respective auto. Very original and very cool. The Segway tour is also enhanced by skilled video projections.

These videos, and sound work of Peter Brezny, are an inspired contribution to the whole, with cinematography, editing and projection of the highest quality. Brezny's work, coupled with filmed cameos of Scott Bunn and David Ostergaard, show that if they are sharp enough, and marry well, there is still room for a limited number of men in the universe.

Jim Cavener reviews theater for take5.

Narnia

CT again
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Review: Strong cast, music make ACT's ‘Narnia' a delight
TIM REID I TAKE 5 CORRESPONDENT • PUBLISHED MARCH 20, 2009 12:15 AM

Asheville Community Theatre presents C.S. Lewis' fantasy world for children in the enchanting musical “Narnia,” based on Lewis' “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.”

A large cast and a big sound make this one of the more ambitious undertakings on the ACT stage. They troupe pulls it off with energy and enthusiasm thanks to deft directing by Cindy Baldwin and lavish costumes by Deborah Austin and Susan Dillard.

Bradshaw Call gives a commanding performance as the lion king Aslan, whose blood-curdling roar is tempered by his sacrificing spirit. Christina Johnson is mesmerizing as the White Witch, who torments the people of Narnia in a perpetual winter with no Christmas.

The story centers on four siblings who flee to a relative's huge home during World War II. While exploring a wardrobe, they step into the strange world of Narnia, where ancient prophecy says that four human children will rescue the land from the White Witch.

Edmund (Lincoln Belford) is duped by the witch into her scheme to negate the prophecy by capturing his brother Peter (Dylan Murray) and sisters Susan (Meredith Matsakis) and Lucy (Danielle Germann). Narnia's residents rejoice to see the “children of Adam” as the hoped-for relief from their suffering under the White Witch. Ryan Jevne and Katie Jevne nearly steal the show as Mr. and Mrs. Beaver, who dance and prance in delight over the prospect of an end to the White Witch.

With the children's presence, the snow begins to melt, and Father Christmas (Frank Avery) appears bearing special gifts for the human children. But the White Witch is not done yet and manages to tempt Edmund into betrayal and turns half-man/half-goat Mr. Tummus (Robert Shupe) into stone. Only Aslan can end the enslavement by the White Witch in a plot twist that seems Christ-like and reminiscent of the author's deep religious faith.

Musicians Linda Walker, Gary Mitchell, Jim Anthony, Sabrina Kumar and Kit Powell produce the sound that helps makes the land of Narnia so mysterious and yet so appealing. “Narnia” still charms more than five decades after its creation. This adaptation with book by Jules Tasca and music by Thomas Tierney is sure to please children of all ages.

Tim Reid reviews theater for the Asheville Citizen-Times.

Blog issue

Hi all -- we have heard some rumors a few posts getting deleted from ARAR recently. Editorship has not deleted anything, so if you have recently tried to make a post that never showed, or disappeared, please email berngrier@gmail.com, and we'll try and figure out what the problem is.
Thanks for reading. Thanks for posting.
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Stones at DW

Citizen-Times...
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Theater review: North Carolina Stage strikes gold with "Stones in His Pockets"

Tony Kiss • TKiss@CITIZEN-TIMES.com • published March 12, 2009 10:39 am

ASHEVILLE “Stones in His Pockets” rocks at North Carolina Stage Company. For a second time, this Asheville theatre hits the mother lode with this comedy-drama about a little Irish village, besieged by a crew of Hollywood moviemakers who have turned the place on its ear.

The show, written by Marie Jones, again stars Charles McIver and Scott Treadway, handling a variety of roles, but mostly playing two blokes who are extras on the movie. McIver and Treadway have become Asheville’s acting dynamic duo, with a unique back-and-forth chemistry much needed for this type of show. Director Christopher Burns makes the most from this acting electricity.

“Stones” seems even timelier than its previous production three years ago, with its underlying theme of economic upheaval, and people being “dispossessed” from their homes and land. The Hollywood movie makers are pouring big bucks into this town – for now – but soon they’ll be gone, leaving the locals to again fend for themselves. And with St. Patrick’s Day just around the corner, “Stones,” well, that’s just as lucky as a four-leaf clover.

Jake (McIver) and Charlie (Treadway) meet on the set of this movie epic. The men have different stories – Charlie is a bit of a schemer, forever trying to get someone on the movie to look at his screenplay. Jake is more laid back, just back from the states and uncertain of what lies ahead. These two characters would make a fine play themselves – and as the show unfolds, we learn much more about what makes them tick.

But Treadway and McIver have much more work at hand, each transforming into different characters with just a magical spin of their bodies. Treadway has a nice bit of gender-bender performance as Caroline Giovanni, the American movie star, while McIver’s best moments come in a brief turn as cousin Sean, the ne’er-do-well extra, and also as feisty old Mickey, “one of the last surviving extras” from the John Wayne Irish movie “The Quiet Man.”

Among the best moments: the actors play boys dreaming of their lives ahead, and later, do a superb, if silly, dance routine.

The ability of Treadway and McIver to pull this off is worth the price of admission alone; really, any pairing of the two would be worth the money. It is truly a testament to their superb acting abilities. Equally intriguing is the “Stones” script, which might be comedy with powerful moments, or perhaps drama with some laughs. Either way, it works.

“Stones in His Pockets” by North Carolina Stage Company

When: 8 p.m. through Saturday, 2:30 p.m. Sunday

Where: Diana Wortham Theatre, Pack Place, Pack Square

How much: $25

Information: 257-4530

Offending the Audience

This weekend, I had the extreme please to go see two excellent plays (well, sort of). Today, I will tell you about the "sort of."

On Thursday, I saw the Corpus Theatre Collective's production of "Offending the Audience." This is best described as an anti-play. There is no plot and no characters. It is simply people talking to (and offending) you, the audience. This is a very good production, as the ensemble is a well chosen group of people who are excellent public speakers (which is really all this "play" needs). The "set" is only a series of stools and barricades to hook some lamps on. The show is the ultimate in meta-theatre. It is so meta, I'm sure some would even argue that it isn't even theatre.

I had some issues with it though. My biggest issue was that the production did not seem to present the spirit of the piece as effectively as it could have. The whole point of the piece (or it least, the presented point of the piece) is to present no artifice, no symbolism, nothing but the text. Now whether or not that is possible is another matter entirely. But there were certain things present in the production that certainly symbolised something. Now, the text also states that the text will contradict itself, but I feel that it would have been more interesting to show even less and present the audience with an even more conflicting question about whether it is possible to present artifice, without tipping the scales in either direction. (Of course, given how confusing this whole play/show/idea is, I freely admit I might be missing something.)

The best part of this play (and the fact that Corpus is presenting it) is just how mind spinning it is. While it is from the 60's and does have a little dust on it, it FORCES you to think about the basic concepts of the threatre, and your view on them. Articfice, shows vs plays, actors, the fourth wall, etc. This play gets you thinking.

As a theatre person, I loved this show. I have heard that many non theatre folk also loved the show. Go see it. It's high quality, cheap, and the best theatre mind f*ck I have ever seen.

Nathan Adams

Titus

C_T...
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Theater review: ‘Titus Adronicus' is wild and well-played
JIM CAVENER I TAKE5 CORRESPONDENT • PUBLISHED MARCH 6, 2009 12:15 AM

There are reasons why Shakespeare's earliest tragedy is rarely performed. “Titus Andronicus” is not a pretty play. Not that the words fail to flow smoothly, nor that the meter and cadence fail to inspire. It's that Montford Park Players' season opener is rife with violence and vengeance, murder and mayhem.

It has too much gore, including at least 14 murders, nine of them before our very eyes. We will spare you the other brutality.

The Montford Park Players has produced much of the Bard's alleged canon over its 36 seasons of outdoor summer theater. To achieve the whole body of work, “Titus” would have to be mounted sometime. This feisty company decided that the appropriate time was now.

Seeing this stylized production is not for the faint of heart. The seventy-some seats around the large thrust stage makes for an intimacy maybe more pleasing for comedic/romantic Shakespeare.

None of this is a criticism of the quality of this worthy production. The cast is large, all members competent, some inspired. Lovely young Peyton Siler Jones as Lavinia is compelling in her presence, and she's a 16 year-old sophomore at Asheville High School. David Hopes gives a powerful Marcus, the Tribune. There is no shortage of gender-bending in this cast, as many of Titus' sons are portrayed by women. One of the most impressive role switches is the ever-impressive Stephanie Hickling as Aaron, “the Moor,” lover of Tamora, queen of the Goths. Rae Cauthen is effective as that deeply detestable royal personage.

Greg Gassler as Saturninus gives a dazzling tour-de-force fling, while versatile director Jason Williams also carries the role of Demetrius. Charlotte Lawrence, recent grad of Warren Wilson College, gives us four roles, but her childlike Lucius the younger is a marvel, playing the future Roman ruler. From small to large is Lucius the elder, played by six foot-eight inch tall Travis Kelley. His is a strong portrayal. But, the scene stealer must be Jim Slautich in the title role.

There is symbolism galore: black fascist attire, color-coded armbands, mixed with contemporary threads making for rich, motley and varied costuming, attributed in the program to Rae Cauthen and Jason Williams.

Jim Cavener reviews theater for take5.

R&G

I'm reprinting this C-T review to give folks another opportunity to respond to the show. Since the original posting has led to a discussion about larger review issues, it seemed reasonable to make it as easy as possible for folks to contribute to one or the other of these threads.
Hope this makes sense.
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Review: ‘Rosencrantz' is complex but entertaining

TONY KISS • TKISS@CITIZEN-TIMES.COM • PUBLISHED FEBRUARY 22, 2009 12:15 AM

There are some shows that require total concentration while watching, and even then, it's difficult to grasp just what's going on. The absurdist comedy “Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead” is like that, but it's well worth seeing, because of the superb acting in this cast. And as puzzling as it can be, there is a payoff.

Playwright Tom Stoppard has taken Shakespeare's “Hamlet” and given it a very odd twist, pulling two minor characters from the classic, putting them in the spotlight and dropping them into a weird “Twilight Zone” like setting. And there is no Rod Serling to step out from behind the curtain to explain what's going on.

So unless you've seen this one before, or really understand “Hamlet” or Stoppard, don't feel bad sitting there, scratching your head. It's not supposed to be easy.

Director Angie Flynn-McIver has assembled an amazing cast, fronted by two familiar faces: Hans Meyer as Rosencrantz and Willie Repoley as Guildenstern, loyal but mostly unimportant friends of Prince Hamlet (Chris Allison).

The two have been cast into an odd world that they don't understand and have no way of escaping. They while away the hours tossing coins or playing back-and-forth word games, trying to remember who they are and how they came to be there. Rosencrantz is more of a simpleton and Guildenstern poses as the more knowledgeable of the pair, but it's a sort of Laurel and Hardy set-up.

Through the course of the story, they meet a traveling band of actors led by The Player (Michael MacCauley), who comes in and out of their world but offers little help in sorting it out. Our boys sometimes find themselves where they belong — as characters in “Hamlet” — as the King and Queen (Joe Sturgeon and Lauren Fortuna) seek their help in understanding the madness of the Prince.

And so it goes. But there is a point in the show — as in its title — where it become obvious, even to non-Shakespeare readers, and to Rosencrantz and Guildenstern themselves, what lies ahead. They are on a journey to which there is no good end and no escape.

There are two intermissions here, and while they are 10 minutes each, that lengthens this evening to just short of three hours. In the second intermission, the audience must leave the theater, so that a mighty set change can be made. We won't spoil the surprise, but it is worth it, although the second intermission found much of the sold-out crowd jammed into the lobby, hands in pockets, with others puffing their cigarettes outside the theater on Stage Lane, filling the air with an unpleasant smell.

As for the performances, Repoley gives a masterful turn as the smug Guildenstern, proving again why he is among the finest actors in Asheville. There's fine chemistry with Meyer, equally impressive as the more naïve Rosencrantz. It's a rare chance to see Meyer act, as he usually directs.

Coming close to stealing the show is MacCauley as The Player, who gets some great scenes. And it is good see Allison as Hamlet, sinking into madness, although he has less to do than the others.

Rosencrantz & Guildenstern...

Another CT review.
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Review: ‘Rosencrantz' is complex but entertaining

TONY KISS • TKISS@CITIZEN-TIMES.COM • PUBLISHED FEBRUARY 22, 2009 12:15 AM

There are some shows that require total concentration while watching, and even then, it's difficult to grasp just what's going on. The absurdist comedy “Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead” is like that, but it's well worth seeing, because of the superb acting in this cast. And as puzzling as it can be, there is a payoff.

Playwright Tom Stoppard has taken Shakespeare's “Hamlet” and given it a very odd twist, pulling two minor characters from the classic, putting them in the spotlight and dropping them into a weird “Twilight Zone” like setting. And there is no Rod Serling to step out from behind the curtain to explain what's going on.

So unless you've seen this one before, or really understand “Hamlet” or Stoppard, don't feel bad sitting there, scratching your head. It's not supposed to be easy.

Director Angie Flynn-McIver has assembled an amazing cast, fronted by two familiar faces: Hans Meyer as Rosencrantz and Willie Repoley as Guildenstern, loyal but mostly unimportant friends of Prince Hamlet (Chris Allison).

The two have been cast into an odd world that they don't understand and have no way of escaping. They while away the hours tossing coins or playing back-and-forth word games, trying to remember who they are and how they came to be there. Rosencrantz is more of a simpleton and Guildenstern poses as the more knowledgeable of the pair, but it's a sort of Laurel and Hardy set-up.

Through the course of the story, they meet a traveling band of actors led by The Player (Michael MacCauley), who comes in and out of their world but offers little help in sorting it out. Our boys sometimes find themselves where they belong — as characters in “Hamlet” — as the King and Queen (Joe Sturgeon and Lauren Fortuna) seek their help in understanding the madness of the Prince.

And so it goes. But there is a point in the show — as in its title — where it become obvious, even to non-Shakespeare readers, and to Rosencrantz and Guildenstern themselves, what lies ahead. They are on a journey to which there is no good end and no escape.

There are two intermissions here, and while they are 10 minutes each, that lengthens this evening to just short of three hours. In the second intermission, the audience must leave the theater, so that a mighty set change can be made. We won't spoil the surprise, but it is worth it, although the second intermission found much of the sold-out crowd jammed into the lobby, hands in pockets, with others puffing their cigarettes outside the theater on Stage Lane, filling the air with an unpleasant smell.

As for the performances, Repoley gives a masterful turn as the smug Guildenstern, proving again why he is among the finest actors in Asheville. There's fine chemistry with Meyer, equally impressive as the more naïve Rosencrantz. It's a rare chance to see Meyer act, as he usually directs.

Coming close to stealing the show is MacCauley as The Player, who gets some great scenes. And it is good see Allison as Hamlet, sinking into madness, although he has less to do than the others.

Little Dog Laughed

Another from the C-T
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Review: ‘Little Dog Laughed'' funny, powerful

Jim Cavener take5 Correspondent • published February 20, 2009 12:15 am

“The Little Dog Laughed,” now being presented at Asheville Community Theatre's 35below black-box house, is frequently funny, earnestly edgy and — often — comedic in content.

But wait, there's more: a climax that borders on Frederick Durrenmatt's classic chiller, “The Visit,” where the vicious and vindictive female lead issues a challenge that paralyzes a community and terrifies the audience.

This is high drama, not (at least entirely) to be taken lightly. Come prepared for fun and fantasy as you enter the world of “Hollywierd” — although most of the action takes place in New York. Then expect to fasten your seat belts before the show ends. This is going to be a bumpy ride, for sure.

A shrewd and aggressive talent agent has a chore trying to keep her handsome male protégé in the closet. As this conniving shrew is confronted with obstacles, she concocts a duplicitous dilly to achieve her goals. As the demanding and demeaning Diane, one of Asheville's best, Joan Atwood, turns in a chilling performance that ranks close to her pinnacle as Maria Callas in Terrence McNally's “The Master Class.” Atwood, a classically trained theater maven, is a treasure. It's hard to imagine a more effective rendering of the role.

David Ely is electric as the would-be star, Mitchell. The character is not gay, he says, but has increasingly frequent dalliances with guys. Ely holds his own against the diva, Diane, and his struggle is both touching and troubling. The immediate source of the conflict is that Mitchell is more and more involved with a young hustler, and this increasingly significant relationship provides the threat to Diane's plan for getting Mitchell onto the top rung of stardom.

Mitchell's paramour, the “rent-boy” Alex, is given life by young Waynesville actor, Adam Kampouris, known for his impressive work at Haywood Arts Regional Theatre. Adam gives Alex a winsome and winning persona the playwright would have to love. There's enough in him of the opportunistic and ambitious to make us wary of this lad's intentions.

But, he's the whore-with-the-heart-of-gold when the chips are down. It's a lovely rendering of a dicey role.

The apparent lightweight in the cast is the part of Alex's girlfriend, Ellen, as portrayed by Jamie Shell. Shell takes this pivotal role, without flash or dazzle, and gives it life. It's possibly the hardest-to-interpret role in the script, due to its ambiguity and desperation. It may only appear that little is demanded for this realization. But all that is needed is forthcoming. Nice casting, all around.

The spirited and effective direction is by newcomer to our locally heavy theater scene, Francis Cullinan, former theater professor at University of Missouri in Kansas City. For a newbie at Asheville Community Theatre, Cullinan must have had lots of good advice to locate and score the fine talent, both on- and backstage. Let's hope to see more of his fine work in coming seasons.

Jim Cavener reviews theater for take5.

Letter from the editor

Hi All.

Thanks for keeping up with this blog. I’m hoping that we can have more of an impact in Asheville, and I need your help.

It is my suspicion that right now most of the people reading this blog are local actors and producers. That's wonderful, but I think this blog also has the potential to become a powerful tool for the average audience member, giving them not only a voice, but a way to think more deeply about their experience at the theatre.

Indeed, my hope for this blog was that it would be, first and foremost, a great public recourse: any potential audience member (or even someone who had already seen a particular show) would have a one-stop website where they would be able to see all the latest reviews of any show they might want to see around town. And each show would hopefully have multiple reviews with unique insights and points of view. This would allow people to get a sense of the theatrical lay of the land at a glance, and would encourage their patronage of multiple venues, while giving more thoughtful consideration to the value of their theatrical experience.

I think the “diversion” threads that have cropped up here and there are helpful to local producers, actors, etc, and I think they add depth and insight to the overall discussion, but I don’t think they serve the originally intended audience for the blog all that well. I don’t think we should discourage such spirited and frank conversation as part of this blog, but I’d like your help in also helping to increase awareness of the site among the theatre-going public.

So here is my request: don’t abandon this blog as a place for discussion, but please encourage your friends, patrons, parents, etc, to utilize the blog when they want more opinions about a particular show than any one news source can provide. Encourage them to contribute their own comments about shows they have seen. Continue to post those comments yourself, as well.

But most of all, please help spread the word. I think the potential of APAR is huge. Without losing the things that make it interesting now, I hope that together we can broaden the appeal of the blog to include the --arguably-- most powerful and important members of the theatrical community: the audience.

Thanks all. Keep writing. Keep reading.

Open for comments…

BG--

Oedipus For Kids

Sorry, this is quite late. My bad.
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‘Oedipus for Kids’ a ribald sendup on classic literature

By Jim Cavener / take5 Correspondent



ASHEVILLE - Is “Oedipus for Kids!” really a comedic musical version of Sophocles’ “Oedipus”? For kids?

Comedic, yes. Slapstick, over-the-top melodrama even. Musical, yes. And with some rousing tunes.

But surely not for kids. This is a show about a fictional theater group that attempts to do “Oedipus” for young people. As the show informs us, Little Oeddy (Oedipus) is a “little boy, a lot like you, except you didn’t kill daddy and sleep with mommy.”

Although a lot of humor is adolescent and the treatment sometimes juvenile, this is adult material all the way. Staged by the Zealot theater group, the show is now running at N.C. Stage Company.

This “Oedipus” is yet another of the recently frequent ribald, raucous and riotous sendups of traditional literature, aimed at 20-somethings of all ages. If you like your theater loud, impulsive, unrestrained and undisciplined, you’ll love this show. Debauchery reigns in this totally twisted telling of a Greek myth of yore.

“Oedipus for Kids!” is a show within a show, with the fictional Fuzzy Ducks Theatre Company trying to produce the classics for children and perhaps having chosen the wrong classic this time. How do you make school kids familiar with this ancient myth of an adopted son doing in his daddy, then bedding down his mommy? Not easily. The onstage warring partners who are the Fuzzy Ducks principles didn’t get the message.

The actual audience becomes an audience of schoolchildren, called on to “quack” back and be interactive with the actors onstage. It worked with the opening night crowd.

Asheville’s Zealot actors company is a multitalented crew. Rae Cauthen as Catalina is a marvel of psychosexual energy, with a tour-de-force finale folks will not easily forget. Her ballads are quite effective as well.

Both she and Joseph Barcia (Evan, in the Fuzzy Ducks company, who portrays Oeddy/Oedipus) exhibit fine singing voices. Greg Gassler as Alistair rounds out the three-person cast. They give this material their all - and more.

The piece was created by New York and Florida writers Kimberly Patterson and Gil Varod with additional material by Robert J. Saferstein.

Producing director Meg Hale and artistic director Ryan Madden have assembled a fine offstage company, including Evan Hill as musical director, and Nancy Asch and Kathryn Allen on percussion and keyboard, respectively. Plus Jason Williams, who did the lighting design and controls the board during performances.

What can you do with lines like “Whatever Oedipus touches, Oedipus wrecks,” and “My husband is my lover is my son”?

Jim Cavener reviews theater for take5.

Review review

These comments are technically outside the scope of this blog, but the editor did -arguably- open the door to this post in responding to a comment on the "Leading Ladies" post. So, it stands.
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I can’t resist responding to a posting by Actress34, ostensibly in response to a review of a show at ACT, though the focus of the thread had morphed by then. Consider this, then, a review of a review?
I’ll reprint Actres34’s comments here, for the benefit of those who may have missed them:

“The sad thing is that NC Stage could be turning a profit....the problem is that most of us get sick of seeing the same 5 people on stage all the time. Or is it really wise to put the staff in every production? Isn't it called Show Business? If your show isn't turning some kind of profit than I am afraid you are missing the business part of it. I bet the Catalyst shows turn profits because they are using local people on-stage. I mean wouldn't it be nice to see a show with different people in it every now and again?”

She seems to be trying to make two points. One: NC Stage could –and, by inference at least, should-- be making money by casting “local people” and by not casting the “same 5 people … all the time. Two: Catalyst shows probably do make money because they “use local people.”

Ok, I’m long-winded so here is the condensed retort: Seriously?

If you want the full version, here goes:

First let me just say that I agree that variety in casting is usually good. I too like to see fresh faces.

But, with all due respect, Actress34, are you seriously suggesting that NCSC could be making more money by refusing to hire the people they deem best to fill a role, just because they have worked for the company before or are on staff? Seriously?

(And for now, let’s just leave the idea of “making money”… NCSC is a not-for-profit organization, after all, not to mention a small theatre—which almost by definition means not a money maker.)

Of course no theatre can make perfect casting decisions all the time, and not every audience member will agree with every choice, but every theatre in town (or anywhere else for that matter) casts both from a wide net of sought-out talent and a reliable ensemble of trusted collaborators. Without this cadre, it can be prohibitively difficult to create an environment of trust and creativity in a short rehearsal time, and each theatre in town has developed their own reliable –and necessarily fluid—talent pool (with some crossover between companies). Of course, using all the same people all the time can be tiresome, but I personally think NCSC does a pretty good job of balancing that reliable group with exciting new talent from Asheville and beyond. Personally, I regret that you are “sick of seeing” a certain “5” people at NCSC and I hope I’m not one of them, but I still gotta pay the bills, and this is my job. And I love it. And because I keep getting hired by NCSC and other challenging regional theatres, I am able to keep getting better at it, I hope.

And the second point: Catalyst shows make money? And they do so because they “use local people”? Seriously?

As a sometime Catalyst producer myself, let me say that the NCSC Catalyst model allows producers –if they are careful— to not lose their shirts. But as for “making money,” I’ve never heard of a Catalyst show actually turning a profit. In my companies, at least, any earned income goes to subsidize a meager portion of the time my actors, crew, and creative staff have dedicated to the project. A small amount is reserved as a nest egg for the next production. That’s it.

And Catalyst companies are as guilty, if not more so, as any one else in town of relying on the same people for each show. And really I don’t think there is anything wrong with that (see above).

(Also, as a side note here, I can’t help but notice your use of the word “use”, as in “use local people.” Please keep in mind that NCSC “hires” people, local and out-of-town. Which is a huge difference. Again, no use saying more here—that is a separate discussion.)

Actress34, have you by any chance seen any of NCSC’s season this year? Take their first Mainstage show, Doubt: not one familiar face in the cast of four, and not many on the creative crew, either. Take this year’s incarnation of It’s a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play: one returning cast member from the year before, one actor who had been in a Mainstage show in 2006, and three actors brand new to NCSC. I could expand my thesis to include the rest of the season and beyond, but it’s not hard to come by season brochures or old playbills, so I’ll let you work out the rest on your own.

Sure, I recognize that I’m hardly in a position to suggest that NCSC stop hiring the same actors year after year: my career would be over. But I think your assumptions about how theatre works –certainly at NCSC— are wrong. I’m not suggesting you should agree with every casting decision, or that you aren’t allowed to not like seeing people return to the theatre year after year, but I do think that tossing around uninformed statements like your original post can be damaging to all parties involved. I’d rather be a part of fostering a real discussion that can ultimately help producers and audience members alike get more out of their experiences at the theatre. Maybe this is part of that. Maybe not. But that dialogue won’t be well served by bitter, absurd accusations on this blog or elsewhere.

Here’s to varied opinions, and informed critique.
Willie Repoley

Perfect Ganesh

Apologies for the delay in getting this out.
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‘A Perfect Ganesh' lives up to its name
JIM CAVENER TAKE5 CORRESPONDENT • PUBLISHED FEBRUARY 6, 2009 12:15 AM

New theater companies pop up in Asheville with almost alarming frequency. Somehow, the best of these gravitate to downtown's North Carolina Stage Company where they become part of NCSC's much-lauded Catalyst Series of productions by troupes without a venue of their own. The Carolina Actor's Collective surely ranks among the best of this good crop. Their first production, “A Perfect Ganesh,” is extraordinary theater, by any standard.

It isn't surprising that quality theater ensues when you have a piece by Terrence McNally — who wrote “Kiss of the Spider Woman,” “The Ritz,” “Love! Valour! Compassion!,” “Ragtime,” “Corpus Christi,” “The Lisbon Traviata” and “The Master Class.” Once add two of Asheville's most respected actors — Kay Galvin and CJ Breland, two newer talents of high competence, with all this under the splendid direction of Leslie Muchmore, it's good stuff, indeed.

McNally's work is always complex, challenging, and most always features a heavy quotient of gay substance in the script, with one or more dramatic twists that pack an emotional wallop. “A Perfect Ganesh” is no exception. This script starts with a journey into one of the most complex and challenging cultures on our globe: India. A contradiction of opposites, based in assumptions totally foreign to Western thinking, there are so many layers of meaning in this journey of two wealthy Connecticut dowagers, beyond even their secret reasons for undertaking the trip.

Symbolism abounds with multi-level metaphysical meaning, and this is theater that has as many meanings as there are viewers. Although the basic structure of the story is linear, the side-tracks of Ganesh's making continue to keep the audience on its toes through two demanding acts. Ganesh is one of Hindu India's most loved and revered gods. His elephant snout is masterfully conceived by George Martinat and Sydney de Briel, who give all four actors the ideal costume design. The two travelers wear 1993 pants suits, before they segue into sari's and shawls and sub-continent elegance.

Ganesh, as portrayed by Zach Blew is riveting. His visage is exotic, his choreographed presence evokes the most graceful and forceful of Indian ritual dance. His body paint and costumed drama create a masterpiece of movement and meaning. This playful, threatening and nurturing diety is all things to all people and is a theatrical tour-de-force. Blew will be noticed in our theater community.

The fourth actor, Bradshaw Call, portrays “the men,” several comic and farcical caricatures. Mostly he plays English speaking Indians who the women encounter on their pilgrimage. But his ferociously fey Air India gate agent starts off the hysteria with a bang. From there it is all uphill and his various native personages are each quite masterful. With this valuable versatility, Call creates a vast array of lepers and hotel managers, condescending baggage clerks and loony native hosts.

It almost goes without saying — but let it be said — Breland and Galvin are exceptional actors and they convey the despicable desperation and pathos of the pilgrims, Margaret and Katherine, with perfect panache.

Listed staff for technical and backstage support total a daunting score of known and less familiar local theater gurus. From venerable theater mavens and well-knowns such as Frank Avery and Rob Bowen to a slew of designers and techno-nerds, this large crew produces a totally satisfying intellectual, visual, dramatic and emotional experience. The loss of a child, the tragedy of AIDS, reconciliation, renewal and rebirth, legend and myth. It's all here in spades and will prove to rank among the best of the season.

Jim Cavener reviews theater for take5.

Leading Ladies

More from the C-T
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Theater review: “Leading Ladies” steps up with laughs at ACT

Tim Reid • published January 23, 2009 12:15 am

Asheville Community Theatre has a real crowd pleaser with “Leading Ladies,” Ken Ludwig's irrepressible comedy about two struggling actors posing as a wealthy woman's long-lost heirs.

Second-rate thespians Jack (Brad Pearsall) and Leo (Steve Wilde) are down to their last dollar as they travel rural Pennsylvania presenting snippets of Shakespeare at Moose lodges.

Jack reads that a rich old lady in a nearby town yearns to see her long-lost relatives Max and Steve before she dies. He decides to impersonate them in order to share in her multi-million-dollar inheritance.

Leo is a bundle of nerves, but Jack pulls him into the scam anyway. Leo's reservations turn to panic when they find out that Max and Steve are short for Maxine and Stephanie – they must pretend to be women!

Residents of York seem only too trusting when Jack and Leo arrive dressed in drag proclaiming to the long-lost relatives. Shirley Cohen nearly steals the show as irascible old Florence, who takes an instant liking to them.

Florence's real niece Meg (Brooke Whitcomb) is thrilled to welcome “Max” and “Steve” although it means she will share her aunt's inheritance with them. Ditzy blonde Audrey (Zoe Renert) met the actors on the train before they concocted the scheme but believes the scam anyway.

Mike Vaniman is hilarious as Florence's inept physician Doc Myers, who is obsessed with getting his spaced-out son Butch (Drew Collins) to marry a woman with money. The only person who sees through the actors' ruse is Meg's manipulative fiancé Duncan (Chris Martin), who wants her to get all of Florence's inheritance so he can do with it as he will.

Pearsall and Wilde are masterful at keeping up the tension as nervy Jack must constantly prop up erstwhile partner Leo lest he dissolve in fright and spoil the deception.

Director Michael and a talented cast wrest every laugh out of Ken Ludwig's brilliant script. This is the perfect play to puncture the winter doldrums.

Tim Reid reviews theater for the Citizen-Times. He can be contacted at timreid4@charter.net.

Bernstein Bros.

CT...
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Review: "Bernstein Brothers Christmas Spectacular" not typical holiday family show

Jim Cavener

ASHEVILLE - Enthusiasm and able stagecraft are the hallmarks of "The Bernstein Brothers' Christmas Spectacular," by one of the the area's new production companies, In The Moment.

The material is all original, either for this production or by company members from earlier forays into holiday mayhem. This is not your traditional year-end entertainment, trying to please everyone with sappy and saccharine nonsense. The first act of this zany romp is equal opportunity offensive material. No one is safe or spared.

Basically a spoof of the 1950's TV 'Holiday Special' genre, the hosts, fictional Jack and Jimmy Bernstein, are in Christmas-colored tux jackets, or plaid blazers, with an ever-present martini glass in hand. Think early Rowan and Martin, Perry Como, or Dean Martin. Even Pat Boone it isn't. However, the then ubiquitous cigarettes are blessedly missing.

"Christmas Spectacular" is a refreshing take on the season, with some excess in the first act. Using actual sponsors of this stage show in "commercials" is a clever twist.There are sketches based on randy reindeer, efforts to unionize Santa's elves and a way dysfunctional family who make a landmark video greeting for their friends.

The language and situations in this act are not for youngsters, nor many oldsters. This audience is the 20-something crowd, and those wishing they were still there.

The second act's "A Twisted Carol" variant on Dickens is simply brilliant in its different perspective. Knowing the frequently performed original, or condensations thereof, will enrich appreciation of this twisted "A Christmas Carol." All the familiar cast members are here: Scrooge, Cratchit, Marley's Ghost, the Sprits of Christmas Past, Present and Future, along with a puppet Tiny Tim. It works very well this way. The skit is focused, incisive and brings this dingy Dickens within reach of the most limited literary lion.

This over-the-top send-up of holiday entertainment is the work of husband-and-wife Karen Strobbe and Mondy Carter who moved from Milwaukee to Black Mountain a couple years ago. They have teamed with Jonathan Frappier and Chall Gray to bring off this high energy romp. Carter and Frappier are the Bernstein Brothers, plus random other outrageous roles. David and Karri Ostergaard joined with equally able regional actor John Crutchfield, plus Trinity Smith and Vivian Smith (no relation), and Darren Marshall to round out the cast. Strobbe directs.

Fast-paced and loud are characteristics of the production. The effort to gross out the audience in the first act was easily accomplished. Still, with some patience even the most traditional theatergoer would be reached by the creativity of the second act's new take on the immortal Dickens' expose of greed and redemption. Authentically written and convincingly delivered, "Christmas Spectacular" is a tribute to theater skills and daring aspirations.

Jim Cavener writes on theater for The Citizen-Times.

Wonderful Life

Don't know if we'll get a local review, with the show only in Asheville a few days, but here's one from Concord of NCSC/ITP's It's A Wonderful Life
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‘It’s a Wonderful Life,’ with a twist

November 18, 2008

By Lee Ann Sides Garrett
For the Kannapolis Citizen

George Bailey would have been proud. The story of his life, a holiday mainstay, was performed live, in a slightly different style, at the new Davis Theatre in Concord on Saturday.
The play, “It’s a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play,” delighted the audience with the story of George Bailey’s efforts to help his community and his brush with near disaster, as told in Frank Capra’s original classic movie.
The setting was WBFR in New York, where five actors played some 30 characters, depicting a live radio broadcast as it would have been performed in 1946, complete with sound effects, on air and applause lights.
Audience members were amused with the different methods and items used to make the effects and the many voices used by the actors to play so many characters.
“It was interesting to see how they did the sound effects,” said Mona Barnhardt. “They all worked together like clockwork.”
Barnhardt referred to the fact that all five actors took turns doing sound effects while the others were speaking.
“I thought it was as true to the storyline as you can get,” said Karen Elmore. “It really captured the essence of the original movie and the holidays.”
The play was produced by Asheville’s North Carolina Stage Company. The Davis Theatre performance kicked off a tour of the southeastern United States for the drama.
It is only the second event performed at the new Davis Theatre, created from a former courtroom in Cabarrus County’s historic courthouse. With room for only 227, the theatre provides an intimate setting for professional touring productions.
The theatre provides only events involving professional touring productions and plays, so it does not compete with local talent. Saturday’s play is the only such production in the theatre’s season, the rest consisting of a wide variety of musical reviews.

The Cabarrus Arts Council moved into the old courthouse in 2005, and the theatre officially opened Sept. 15. The new theatre is named for Roy and Sue Davis, the chairman emeritus of S&D Coffee and his wife, who is active in the Concord community.
The building also houses four galleries downstairs with the state-of-the-art theatre on the second floor and dressing rooms on the third.
The play included radio commercials for S& D Coffee and CESI, Concord Engineering and Surveying, who sponsored the performance, portrayed as they would have been in a 1940s radio broadcast.
“This is how it would have been listening to the radio at the time,” said Vince Brezovic. “It leaves you in the right spirit for the holidays."

Nuncrackers

From the C-T, of course
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Theater review: 'Nuncrackers' is heavenly fun
TIM REID • PUBLISHED NOVEMBER 21, 2008 12:15 AM

ASHEVILLE – The Little Sisters of Hoboken are back in Asheville Community Theatre's good-hearted and hilarious Christmas musical comedy, “Nuncrackers.”

Dan Goggin's sequel in the fabulously successful “Nunsense” franchise about a small convent of nuns' zany fund-raising antics is directed by Jerry Crouch, who also honchoed ACT's blockbusters “The Music Man,” “Annie” and “Fiddler on the Roof.”

This time the good nuns have gone high-tech, televising their annual Christmas concert from their new cable access studio built in the convent basement.

Reverend Mother Mary Regina (Ruth Butler) has her hands full trying to maintain the proper convent decorum while marshalling her disparate crew to put on an entertaining show.

Streetwise Sister Mary Robert Anne (Lisa J.S. Ross) is a perennial show biz wannabe, yearning for the bright lights of Carnegie Hall. Spaced-out Sister Mary Paul (Mandy Phillips) is a former country music singer, and Sister Mary Leo (Heather Taft) aspires to be the first ballerina nun.

It doesn't help that Revered Mother herself grew up in a circus family and can't resist a turn in the spotlight. The audience has assembled and the show must go on, but everything that can go wrong does.

Father Virgil (Bradshaw Call) tries to do a cooking segment but drinks too much of the recipe's rum. Sister Mary Leo gets injured just before her big dancing scene in “The Nutcracker.” Sister Mary Paul, also called Sister Amnesia, keeps teaching the children the wrong lyrics for songs such as “Here We Come-a-Waffle-ing.”

Even the convent's Christmas presents go missing. Necessity is the mother of invention, and the Little Sisters of Hoboken rise to the occasion with escalating mirth and mayhem. They are aided by five talented young cast members - Lexie Moore, Summer Nordmeyer, John Norlin, Milo Norlin and Emma Stoneberg.

It is hard to single out exceptional individual performances in a production that is full of them, but Bradshaw Call nearly steals the show in the very touching “The Christmas Box.” And Lexie Moore brings an unbelievable poise and fine singing voice that are really exceptional for a child actor.

Mandy Phillips has wonderful comic timing as the ditzy but good-hearted Sister Amnesia, and Ruth Butler is hilarious as the stodgy Reverend Mother trying to restore order amid chaos. It is worth going just to see her and Father Virgil in tutus as “dueling” Sugar Plum Fairies or she and Sister Mary Hubert (Eileen Kennedy) singing the joys of a nun's life “In the Convent.”

Musicians Chuck Taft, Jessica Miskelly, Nora Vetro and David Bruce deliver a full sound that keeps the merriment contagious.

Fans of earlier “Nunsense” productions will find this one a worthy successor, and first-time viewers will become quick converts to the charm of the Little Sisters of Hoboken.

Crouch, who is known for packing the house in some of the most successful shows in ACT's history, has apparently done it again with “Nuncrackers,” which is sure to be a big hit this holiday season. Better get your tickets early.

Tim Reid reviews theater for the Citizen-Times. He can be contacted at timreid4@charter.net.

No Shame Theatre

When I first heard about No Shame Theatre at NC Stage, I was excited- 15 new plays that were rehearsed for just an hour, with only three rules (original works only, you can't break anything, and the lights will go out if you go over 5 minutes). But I've only come out for it a couple of times, because I have yet to see much that holds my attention, even for 5 minutes.
Of course you expect a mixed bag when folks have less than hour to rehearse play that itself may or may not be any good, but where I was expecting and hoping to find a forum for innovation --with a full range of bad plays and good plays, innovative and conventional plays, successful and failed attempts (all of which could be interesting)-- it seems to be pretty mediocre, smutty, and, frankly, boring across the board.
Not exclusively of course, but take this last week. It was ok. There were a few scattered kind-of-interesting pieces that I didn't really understand, but which at least seemed like a playwright working on something with actors and a director-- the first piece comes to mind (about McCain office staffers). There was a strange piece that sort of featured two typewriters (not sure it was successful, but at least it seemed like it was trying to do something). There was a monologue about taking over City Hall with monkeys, that seemed like it was building towards something, although it was too long, so we never saw the ending. There was a two-person political/poetical mumbo-jumbo piece that was of refreshingly different tone, even if it was fairly confusing. And there was... well, a lot of yelling "Vagina" and talking about sex after the prom, and sleeping with your sister, and eating babies. None of which was clever or sophisticated enough to qualify as satire or social commentary. I mean, "shock" only has "value" when used to break people out of their dreary, expected existence, right? I have no problem with smut, but when a potentially interesting and disturbing and conflicted piece about the secret urge to basically rape a friend is played for laughs because --guess what! there's a surprise ending "she's my sister!" ha ha ha!-- it just seems to me like wasting a thoughtful piece on a stupid punchline designed to undermine anything of real merit in the piece and appeal to the lowest common denominator. Were people laughing at this stuff? Yes. Did that make me want to come back? No. It made me wonder if maybe I needed to be drinking more.
I guess I'm disappointed that there is not more to it. Where is the theatricality? Where is the experimentation? I guess I'm tired of "No Shame" being so consistently interpreted to mean "No Taste." I thought it meant "dare to take risks, dare to fail." But guess what: if everybody's doing it, it's not a risk. In fact, it's not even "original."
Maybe I'm just a smart ass for suggesting that "original" should mean something other than "something you wrote yourself," and maybe I'm just not the target audience, but if No Shame ever actually becomes a forum for exploring new theatrical ideas, somebody let me know. I'd like to give it another try.

Lyman