Registered Critic: Deborah Klugman
Suspended – Rorschach Fest
Under Demson’s direction, the acting, presented on a spare set (Jan Munroe) is able but uninvolving: The piece is fragmented and the individual segments don’t begin to approach a catharsis.
Revenge Song
….the performances, with a single exception, are all bluster, lacking that kernel of truth that even the silliest parody needs to make it spark.
UNTIL THE FLOOD
Directed by Neel Keller, Until the Flood is a palette of grays, as well as a map that tracks the fault lines and schisms within families as well as races…..The writing itself is simple, eloquent, straight-to-the-heart storytelling, best suited to an intimate venue.
West Adams
..And though the script could benefit from some tinkering—there are back story details that might be clarified —West Adams overall is a savvy, satisfying play, spotlighting the toxic ilk that still poisons our fractious American communities.
THE LAST SHIP
While this production is not everything it might be, the passion and heart that’s driven its creation is evident in the music, even as the story it spins is very much worth recalling.
WHAT THE CONSTITUTION MEANS TO ME
Schreck has filtered her personal journey of discovery into a vital work that challenges us to consider our heritage as Americans — to preserve the good and discard the bad. And she offers it up to us with an abundant supply of humor and humanity that unequivocally drives her message home.
Safe Harbor presented by Lower Depth Theatre Ensemble
….the script is a high-end message vehicle that benefits from quality tech elements and several solid performances. But ultimately the production is constrained by the writing………
AUGUST WILSON’S JITNEY
….there are many more reasons to love this production than not, and they’re found in the kaleidoscopic performances of Thomas, Fielding, Smith, Coats and Blanks, as well as Jones — all seasoned actors who understand and can embody the tragicomic rhythms and truths of Wilson’s work
Key Largo
At a time when gangsterism has usurped the highest echelons in our land, viewing a Johnny Rocco as the ultimate villain is, for me, an uphill sell.
The Thanksgiving Play
Most of the play’s scattershot riffs are neither new nor fresh, but its targets deserve lampooning and the evening might have amused had the actors stood their ground against stereotype (implicit in the writing) instead of exacerbating it with arch posturing — which struck me as a directorial call.
The 7 Stages of Grieving
Justin Harrison’s outstanding aural design is a complex cacophony that gives macrocosmic dimension to this impressionistic portrait of a people who have endured for centuries. …But the text itself remains something of a patchwork, less tightly woven and comprehensive than one might wish it to be
THE DOUBLE V
Eglash-Kosoff’s well-intended but formulaic script is an educational vehicle that pits good guys with ideas about right and justice against Ku Klux Klansmen and other reactionary racists and the system they serve.
Orwell’s 1984
As O’Brien, Robbins is chilling as he smugly and heartlessly strips Winston of his last shred of dignity and hope. In this cathartic confrontation, the production finally achieves the visceral impact it strives for.
Between Riverside and Crazy
As Walter, Russell emanates strong presence, but his rendering focuses heavily on the character’s embitterment at the expense of his kindness and vulnerability. This makes for a less shaded portrayal than one might wish for. In a drama so clearly powered by a central performance, this counts for a lot — in this case, to the show’s detriment.
The Abuelas
The drama’s most gripping scene comes in its final moments, which spotlight Carolina Montenegro’s all too brief appearance as a ghost from the past, come to help Gabriela heal her fractured spirit. The intensity and truth in this sequence are a marked contrast to the pseudo-theatrics prior, too often underscored by designer Jeff Gardner’s sweeping sound.
Gem of the Ocean by August Wilson
…in Gem, by contrast, Wilson makes otherworldly forces central to the narrative, furnishing a canvas for the characters’ struggle for self-realization and redemption. That makes staging it an especial challenge—one splendidly met at A Noise Within, where director Gregg T. Daniel and a sterling ensemble have forged an illuminating production.
How the Light Gets In
Several well-known works and many lesser ones have been written about women coping with breast cancer — its mutilation of the body, its testing of the spirit. In this regard How the Lights Gets In treads no new terrain. What it does do is portray four people, in their loneliness, bereavement and/or deprivation, with a poignant dignity, one bred from the simple acts of the benevolence they provide each other.
LAS MUJERES DEL MAR
A world premiere mounted at Playwright’s Arena, it’s skillfully directed by Diane Rodriguez, and framed by an array of technical elements that highlight a meaningful story.
DRIVING WILDE
…….at 95 rambling minutes without intermission, the show feels overextended. Unlike Wilde’s novelette, where Dorian is pure and uncorrupted at the start, this Dorian (Michael Kodi Farrow) comes across from the beginning as sly and manipulative. His progression from innocence to corruption ……… plays as less shocking, less dramatic…….
Deadly
Stocked with 21 songs (music by Ryan Thomas Johnson), many of which have a similar beat and cadence, the production’s most riveting feature is Keith Allan’s superlative nonmusical performance as the oily and unctuous killer, a man who delights as much in the seduction of his victims as he does in remorselessly observing the life drain from their bodies.