Quick Hit Theater Review: Women of Will

Tina Packer. Photo: Matthew Murphy

Women of Will
By Tina Packer
Directed by Eric Tucker
Starring Tina Packer and Nigel Gore
Design TeamL Valerie Bart (Scenic and Costume Design), Les Dickert (Lighting Design), Daniel Kluger (Sound Design)
The Gym at Judson

What's it All About?
The women of Shakespeare's plays and the playwright's enlightenment about the roles of women with the passage of time. Tina Packer developed Women of Will, an overview of more extended works: five plays called Women of Will: The Compete Journey during a 15-year period when she was artistic director at Shakespeare and; Company in Lenox, MA.where both works received their world-premiere productions. It's a mix of history lesson, Shakespeare lesson and advanced scene study class as Packer and costar Nigel Gore discuss the text and scenes in between performing them. The "Will" in the title studies the women found in Will Shakespeare's work as well as the "will" that propels the women to and through power structures and the "will" alternately defined in Elizabethan English as sexual desire. Packer shows how Shakespeare moves from portraying women as either shrews or virgins (including The Taming of the Shrew; Henry VI) to merging the sexual and spiritual to create heroines who are people in their own right and who have the power to change the world (like Juliet). Finally, he offers women who are ut for revenge, like Lady Macbeth.

What are the Highlights?
Fascinating stuff if you're a Shakespeare fan. Packer suggests several interpretations for one scene and enacts them all, each giving different takes on the action. Her Lady Macbeth is riveting.

What are the Lowlights?
If you didn't like that Shakespeare class in college, this one's not for you. Having other actors more appropriate to the roles (a teenage Juliet and an African American Othello, for example) while Packer and Gore comment on the scenes might make the presentation even more interesting.

More info:
Following Tuesday evening performances of the Overview of Women of Will, Packer and Gore have been giving post show talk-backs. Beginning March 19 they will welcome some moderators (additional names and dates to be announced).

• , Tuesday, March 19 Carey Purcell a New York based writer, reporter and theatre critic who offers a fresh and feminist perspective from a progressive young woman. Purcell is a frequent contributor to The Huffington Post, CareyPurcell.com, Alternet.org, NewYork.com, and WHERE New York Magazine to name a few.

• Tuesday, April 9 Andy Buck, a dramaturg for Lynn M. Thomson’s “America-in-Play” theater company and curator of a series of staged readings at Brooklyn College with director Mary Beth Easley and playwrights Mac Wellman and Erin Courtney. Buck has also been a writer for publications such as Playbill, TheaterMania and TDF Stages.

• Date TBD Carol Gilligan, an American feminist, ethicist and psychologist, who is a Professor at New York University and a Visiting Professor at the University of Cambridge. Gilligan is best known for her 1982 work, “In a Different Voice,” her text on gender studies.

• Tuesday, May 7 Deirdre Donovan, a regular contributor to CurtainUp.com, who has also published articles in The Washington Post, and The Boston Globe to name a few. Donovan is a member of The Shakespeare Society, as well as the English-Speaking Union/New York Brach and has been their Treadwell Scholar at Stratford.

• Tuesday, May 14 Linda Winer, chief theater critic and arts columnist of Newsday, a position she’s held since 1987. Winer has been teaching critical writing at Columbia University since 1992 and has been a jurist for the Pulitzer Prize in theater eight times.

Women of Will: The Complete Journey – Packer’s five-play series that explores and deconstructs William Shakespeare’s most famous female characters – will begin performances April 5 and will run bi-monthly over alternating weekends.

The performance schedule is as follows: now through March 28

“The Overview” is performed Tuesdays at 7 pm, Wednesdays through Fridays at 8 pm, Saturdays at 2 pm and 8 pm, and Sundays at 3 pm;

From April 9 through June 2 “The Complete Journey” will be performed as follows on alternating weekends: For the performance schedule, visit http://goo.gl/vq3DP. Tickets are $75: www.WomenOfWill.com; 212-352-3101. There will also be a limited number of $25 student rush tickets available for each performance sold at the Box Office.

Quick Hit Theater Review: The Flick

The Flick
By Annie Baker
Directed by Sam Gold
Playwrights Horizons

What's it All About?
Three workers at The Flick, one of the last 35mm movie theaters in Worcester County, MA, get to know each other a little -- and maybe not very much -- as they interact before and after the films show at the run-down theater. Sam (Matthew Maher) has been a round a while and is a little resentful that Rose (Louisa Krause) got promoted to projectionist, though she hasn't worked there very long. He shows the ropes about how to clean up popcorn, mop the floors, etc. to reserved new employee Avery (Aaron Clifton Moten).

Sam and Rose convince a reluctant Avery to join them in a ticket-shaving scheme that results in their being able to take home a few extra dollars each shift without the boss knowing about it. The three start to open up with each other a little over the weeks. Sam obviously has romantic feelings for Rose, but she is more interested in old movie buff Avery, who has an amazing ability to link films and their stars in six degrees of separation or less. Alex Hanna plays a couple of other minor characters who end up in the theater.

Questions are raised about the likelihood of getting close to people with whom we work -- or with anyone at all for that matter. How well do we really know a person, even if we see them every day? What about when someone's sense of right and wrong is totally messed up (like in the case of Rose). Everyone has a hidden side that might reveal surprising insight into motivations.

What are the Highlights?
Moten is a character study in privacy and insecurity. His almost smile as he struggles to remain in control, or to politely show appreciation for something he himself doesn't find humorous is brilliant. Lighting design by Jane Cox deserves mention. It really looks like a movie is showing thanks to the movie-seat set by David Zinn (who also designs costumes) and end-of-the-movie sound by Bray Poor.

What are the Lowlights?
The script is full of repetition and scenes that come to a virtual standstill as we watch the characters perform prolonged routine tasks. I get it. That's what happens in real life, but this is theater, and an hour easily could be trimmed from Baker's almost three-hour long script (there s one intermission). Director Sam Gold also collaborated on her plays Circle Mirror Transformation (also at Playwrights) The Aliens, as well as Baker's adaptation of Uncle Vanya. He obviously loves her stuff and indulges every word and every pause that every character has. It's kind of like visiting friends who want to show you every baby picture they have taken, assuming that you are just as interested in seeing 200 pictures of their child eating his birthday cake from every possible angle as they are. The first scene is quite possibly the most boring in theater history -- unless, of course, if you happen to be a big fan of every pause written into a script.

Characters never develop enough for us to decide whether we like them or not. At times, it is difficult to understand Maher's dialogue.

More Information:
The Flick runs through March 31 at Playwrights Horizons, 416 West 42nd St., NYC. The performance schedule is Tuesdays and Wednesdays at 7 pm, Thursdays and Fridays at 8 pm, Saturdays at 2:30 and 8 pm and Sundays at 2:30 and 7:30 PM. Single tickets, starting at $70: www.TicketCentral.com, 212- 279-4200; Box Office, 416 West 42nd St. (between 9th and 10th avenues. 
Christians might also like to know:
Content includes:
-- Sexual dialogue and activity
-- Language
-- Astrology
-- God's name taken in vain
-- Suicide
-- Homosexuality

Broadway Bound Testament of Mary Gives a Different Take on the Mother of Jesus

Fiona Shaw,  Colm Tóibín and Deborah Warner. Photographed at New 42nd Street (R) Studios.

Fiona Shaw presented rehearsal excerpts from Colm Tóibín's upcoming Broadway play The Testament of Mary based on his novella of the same name. Th show opens at the Walter Kerr Theatre April 22.

The Testament of Mary is set after the crucifixion of Jesus. Mary is living in Ephesus and reflects on her son's activities leading to his death. Tóibín said he was inspired after viewing a painting of the crucifixion and wondering what it might have been like to be there, after it, and to be able to speak about it. That voice is given to Mary -- and it's not the voice you might expect if you think of her as an innocent, iconic virgin.

Mary represents all of us, Shaw said, somewhere in between what was made out of her and what is expected of her. It's really the story of a mother and son (which Tóibín, a Mellon professor in the English Deperment at Columbia University, has explored in his other works "A Long Winter" and "Mothers and Sons.") She hopes to reveal Mary as a real person -- a mother whose son was late to leave home, went to the big city, hung out with a bunch of "misfits" and got into trouble. 

In an excerpt, we saw a cigarette-smoking, bitter Mary, full of rage. Her version of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead is a different interpretation of the scripture account and doesn't necessarily hae the happy ending we expect. It's an intense performance. Watch for Shaw to be nominated for a Tony Award,

This marks a 25-year working partnership between Shaw (known to film for her role in the Harry Potter series among others) and director Deborah Warner. The two last collaborated on a New York Production for the award-winning The Waste Land.

For tickets and information about The Testament of Mary: www.testamentonbroadway.com 212-239-6200.

Theater Review: All in the Timing

LIV ROOTH, MATTHEW SALDIVAR, ERIC CLEM, CARSON ELROD and JENN HARRIS in the PRIMARY STAGES 20th anniversary production of ALL IN THE TIMING. photo © 2013 James Leynse.

All in the Timing
By David Ives
Directed by John Rando
Primary Stages

What’s It All About?
Well, it’s all about the timing, Six one-act comedies are presented by the ensemble cast of Eric Clem, Carson Elrod, Jenn Harris, Liv Rooth and Matthew Saldivar on a sharply raked and angled set decorated with stripes and clocks (Beowulf Boritt, design).

"Sure Thing" is a sketch where the outcome of a meeting between a man and woman changes as often as the conversation.
"Words, Words, Words" follows three chimps with typewriters. The researchers watch as they hope one of them will suddenly type out Hamlet.
"The Universal Language" offers lessons in Unamunda, a quirky new language designed to bring the nations -- and one particular couple -- together.
"Philip Glass Buys a Loaf of Bread" is a surreal experience in a bakery.
"The Philadelphia" gives new meaning to having a good or bad day.
"Variations on the Death of Trotsky" is, well, exactly what it says.

What are the Highlights?
Really funny, quirky little sketches that surprise and delight. Direction by John Rando is sharp and the cast shows they really do know about timing. The quick dialogue and witty humor is delivered perfectly and all of the actors get a workout delivering ranges of emotion and character.

The "Universal Language" vignette particularly was funny with Elrod spewing out dialogue that sounds enough like English so you get the gist, but which includes a variety of accents and rapid-fire plays on words that make it much more difficult to speak, I'm sure.

What are the Lowlights?
None. Well done and totally entertaining.

More information:
All in the Timing runs at Primary Stages, 59 East 59th St., NYC through April 14. Performances are Performances are Wednesday at 7 pm, Friday at 8 pm, and Saturday at 2 and 8 pm. Tickets: 212-279-4200; http://primarystages.org/allinthetiming.

Christians might also like to know:
-- God’s name taken in vain
-- Language
-- Sexual actions

Quick Hit Theater Review: Jackie

Tina Benko. Photo: Carol Rosegg

Jackie
By Elfriede Jelinek
Translated by Gitta Honegger
Directed by Tea Alagic
Starring Tina Benko
Set Design: Marsha Ginsberg
Costumes: Susan Hilferty
Presented by The Women's Project


What's it About?
Good question. This isn't the Jackie Kennedy Onassis (Tina Benko)  you know and love. She arrives at a purgatory location that looks a drained swimming pool, or possibly a sewer treatment facility, though the significance never is explained (Marsha Ginsberg, set design), carrying the burdens of her past represented by dummies made of plastic and duct tape of John and Bobby Kennedy, second husband Ari Onassis and some little ones I assumed later to be the children she lost. She looks a little like Jackie (Susan Hilferty, costume design), but this woman explains that what you saw on the outside, the image of a perfectly coiffed and attired princess totally in control of every situation -- even the president's funeral -- wasn't the real woman on the inside.

"I am not thin, but I can look it because I dress properly," she tells us.

The inner Jackie isn't perfect. She's not even controlled. She is haunted by the shooting in Dallas, gives new explanations for why it looked like she was trying to crawl out of the vehicle and why she lost so many children, She also reveals jealousy over Marilyn Monroe's intrusion into her marriage with a playboy president. She mutilates a lot of Barbie dolls to make her point and seems deranged and vampire-like at times. What helps her keep it together? Drugs. She recommends we try speed.

What are the highlights?
Benko gives a consuming, energetic performance.
I personally enjoyed the cameo by a Barbie and the look of fright on the face of an elderly man seated house left who almost got taken out by a flying Barbie doll that missed its mark on stage and visited the audience.

What are the Lowlights?
The obvious point is to let us know that the "princess" image we have of Jackie was a facade. It's unclear if we're really supposed to replace it with the bizarre character being depicted on stage or whether this is supposed to be a dark comedy. It's like a really long Saturday Night Live sketch that's serious, instead of funny, and we didn't get the joke to begin with. I couldn't help think that Jackie would have been mortified -- especially when this Barbie-throwing princess caught the edge of her Chanel dress and revealed the seat of her pantyhose. This might not have been planned as part of the staging -- who knows in a presentation like this one -- but either way, Jackie wouldn't have liked it.

More Information:
This is the North American premiere (and possibly the word premiere of the English translation -- for some reason this isn't known for sure) of Jackie, part of the playwright's "Princess Cycle," a counterpoint to Shakespeare's Kings Plays. Austrian writer Jeinek won the 2004 Nobe Prize for Literature for her novel "The Piano Teacher" which later was turned into a movie.

Jackie runs through March 31 at the Women's Project's new home at City Center II, 131 West 55th St., NYC.  Tickets: 212-581-1212; www.NYCityCenter.org.

Christians might also like to know:
-- Drug use
-- Material is for adults, not children.

Theater Review: Cinderella

Santino Fontana and Laura Osnes. Photo: Carol Rosegg

Cinderella Rewritten for a Social-Justice-Minded Generation
By Lauren Yarger
If you think you know the tale of Cinderella, think again. The first Broadway production of the musical from Rodgers and Hammerstein has a new book from Douglas Carter Beane (Sister Act, Xanadu, The Little Dog Laughed) that takes the story out of the land of fairytales and into a modern culture concerned about social justice.

Many of the beloved songs like "A Lovely Night," "In My Own Little Corner," "The Prince is Giving a Ball," "Do I Love You?" and "Ten Minutes Ago" still grace the score adapted by David Chase and orchestrated by Danny Troob, joined by some additions from the Rodgers and Hammerstein "trunk" (songs that didn't make it into their other musicals). The story and Cinderella's character get a makeover, however.

The book for this musical sorely needed a rewrite. The original, penned by Hammerstein, is one of the worst books of a musical ever written. It starred Julie Andrews in a for-TV production in 1957. Later, the book was rewritten and the musical starred Leslie Ann Warren and Stuart Damon in what became an annual must-watch for girls across the nation during the 1960s and '70s.

In 1997, Brandy starred in another update, but none of those versions ever made it to Broadway until its opening last night at the Broadway Theatre, where folks have been lining up to buy tickets that top out at $137 each like they're invitations to a ball where the prince will select his bride (the box office reportedly did more than $1 million in sales last week during previews). I attended the Saturday matinee where the house was populated by tons of little girls dressed as princesses wearing tiny tiaras.

But will they recognize their heroine in this new version? She's played with pluck by the lovely voiced Laura Osnes, only this cinder-sitting girl goes by "Ella" and is paired with a naive, but charming -- really, really charming -- Santino Fontana as Prince Topher, short for Christopher Rupert Windemere Vladimir Carl Alexander Francois Reginald Lancelot Herman, who's giving a ball. That announcement, sung by Lord Pinkleton (Phumzile Sojola) is intermixed with "The Time s Now," a call for social action.

This Cinderella still finds herself waiting hand and foot on a cruel Stepmother (a delightfully wicked Harriet Harris) and two unattractive stepsisters, Gabrielle (Marla Mindelle) and Charlotte (Ann Harada, whose attempts to win the prince for herself provide much comedy). Gabrielle has a softer side, however, and it attracts the attentions of a young revolutionary, Jean-Michel (Greg Hill Dreth), who calls for action against the unjust treatment of the poor by the government. When the king and queen die, a self-serving trustee named Sebastian (a droll Peter Bartlett) is left in charge until Prince Topher, off slaying odd tree monsters, can return home to the throne. (The monster slaying opens the show in a vast forest -- Anna Louizos designs the set -- with Topher wishing he could do something more significant with his life.)

Meanwhile, Jean-Michel's book about how people in other countries live inspires Ella (it's a really nice tie-in to "In My Own Little Corner" and this more pronounced, thoughtful version as directed by Mark Brokaw, is stronger than it ever has been in previous versions.) Despite the hardship she endures, Ella continues to show kindness to everyone, especially "Crazy Marie," (the always excellent Victoria Clark), a sort of homeless forest dweller who turns out to be her fairy godmother.

Marie changes Ella's rags into a beautiful white ball gown and a pumpkin and her fox and raccoon friends (puppets handled by Heidi Gilberson and Laura Irion) into a golden coach with footman and driver (Andy Mills and Cody Williams). The special effects use some nifty lighting (designed by Kenneth Posner), but hardly conceal how the magic happens (and Marie's new gown, designed by Costumer William Ivey Long, is rather silly looking to accommodate two large flexible ball frames at er hips that are necessary later for her to look like a giant butterfly while flying around.)

Ella meets the prince at the ball (a masked one -- now doesn't that make more sense since the prince can't identify Cinderella after she leaves??) where she encourages everyone to play nicely and displays her ballet talent in Choreographer Josh Rhodes's dances until midnight when she flees (I personally didn't hear Marie warn her about that). She pauses to tell Topher that he has to do something about how his government is treating the people. With that, she goes -- remembering to take her glass slipper with her.

But don't fret. Topher decides to hold a "banquet" which he hopes the mystery girl of his dreams will attend, and she does, this time in a golden gown that makes a much more impressive transition from rags than its predecessor did. Ella arranges for the prince to meet with Jean-Michel, Gabrielle and the villagers. They realize that maybe Topher's not such a bad guy after all and the prince, beginning to understand that Sebastian has been taking advantage of him, focuses on learning how to govern. He nominates Jean-Michel to run against Sebastian for the post of prime minister. Should things continue the way they are or they way they could be? Let the people decide, he decrees!

While the show is entertaining, with a lot of humor to entertain the adults bringing all those little ones to the theater, the overwhelming political message is annoying. I fully expected to see a Hope and Change or an Occupy banner displayed at the ball. Can't kids just be kids and enjoy a fairytale?

Overall, however, it's highly entertaining and lavishly done. I did enjoy Beane's decision to have Gabrielle and Cinderella become friends and there is a particularly moving moment when Ella forgives her stepmother. The new songs blend well with the old and there are some beautiful duets for Osnes and Fontana who are perfect in their roles. This is Osnes' breakout role. The show's strength, besides the score, is in its flawless casting across the boards.

And special kudos go to Music Director/Conductor Andy Einhorn, conducting the large orchestra. I never have seen a conductor smile and so obviously enjoy the music of a show before.

Cinderella has a lovely night at the Broadway Theatre, 1681 Broadway, NYC. Tickets: 212-239-6200; 800-432-7250 outside NYC; http://www.cinderellaonbroadway.com.

Christians also might like to know:
-- No content notes.

Quick Hit Theater Review: The Revisionist

Vanessa Redgrave and Jesse Eisenberg © Sandra Coudert

The Revisionist
By Jesse Eisenberg
Directed by Kip Fagan
Starring Jesse Eisenberg, Dan Drieskes, Vanessa Redgrave
Presented by Rattlestick Playwrights Theater
at the Cherry Lane Theatre

What's it all About?
David (Eisenberg), struggling with writer's block and feeling newer, fresher authors nipping at his heels, shows up at his distant cousin's apartment in Poland where he hopes to find a quiet place to make edits on the overdue manuscript of his latest novel. Maria (Redgrave) doesn't understand that he just wants to be left alone. She is thrilled to have a visitor -- especially one from the American family she knows only through the many photos displayed throughout her home (John McDermott designs the multi-roomed, cluttered home). She wants to cook for him and spend time talking. The only other person she sees regularly is cab driver Zenon (Drieskes, speaking only in Polish), who takes her on errands once a week, shaves her legs for her and drinks all of her vodka. When David and Maria finally start to bond, secrets are revealed that might revise their family's history as well as their relationship.

What are the highlights?
Eisenberg, deftly directed by Fagan, skillfully brings his own overwhelmed, hyperactive, pot-smoking character to life. Redgrave counters him with humorous depths in her character. She gives her best performance on a New York stage since her Tony Award-winning turn in Long Day's Journey into Night.

There is much, rich humor in the script.

What are the Lowlights?
The play loses focus at times.

More information:
This is the world premiere. 100 minutes, no intermission.
The Revisionist has been extended through April 21 at Cherry Lane Theatre, 38 Commerce St., NYC. Tickets: www.TheRevisionistPlay.com; 866-811-4111.

Christians might also like to know:
-- Language
-- God's name taken in vain