Sherlock Holmes & the Case of the Christmas Carol (Artist Repertory Theatre) B

by John Longenbaugh
Directed by Jon Kretzu

Cast :
Holmes  .....   Michael Mendelson
Watson   .....   Tod Van Voris
Mrs. Hudson   .....   Vana O'Brien
Becky   .....   Amy Newman
Moriarity   .....   Tobias Anderson
Young Holmes   .....   Matthew Kerrigan
Spirit 1   .....   Nathan Crosby
Spirit 2   .....   Gary R Powell

a mixture of a Sherlock Holmes tale and the classic "A Christmas Carol".   In general I am not a fan of Christmas Shows -- this was better than most -- but had I not been a subscriber I'd of skipped it...and not missed a whole lot. Light entertainment.

Animals & Plants (CoHo Productions) Grade B

by Adam Rapp
Directed by Michael O'Connell

Cast:
Burris  .....   Christopher David Murray
Dantly  .....   Joe Bolenbaugh
Cassandra   .....   Nikki Weaver
Buck   .....   Jon Plueard

sez says:  my-oh-my..what is this all about?  Evolution I guess. The acting is top notch--esp Murray and Bolenbaugh, who both create amazing, believable, and rather shocking characters. (Drug Mules in a motel room waiting for their connection)  They are shocking not because they are particularly evil or bad people--but because they are so 'Un-evolved".  Their level of discourse, there ideas, their relationship...everything about them reeks of a kind of animal ignorance --but it is laced with a twinklings of wondering about the world and a yearning to be connected to the world in some way.   Are these characters "real" or just in the imagination of the playwright?   I suspect the former--and we (the average theater-going-audience)  have so little contact with people like this --in real life or in the theater--that we don't know how to respond, or what to think.  Theater should expose us to new ideas--and to new cultures--and to new characters--and maybe, most of all, to our own ignorance.  So I have to say good job..and I am still thinking about these guys

mjc says: the two characters are well made by the actors and the playwright, at least in my prejudiced stereotypes of the "uninformed" who see to dominate the discourse on right wing talk radio.  And, what more could you ask for in a play but well made characters who come and go and that's that.

The Last Witch (Theater Vertigo) Reading

no cast list provided but most of the Vertigo ensemble were reading

Play by ... tk

sez says -- overly long for the subject.  And the subject is how people try and capture a little power for themselves:  the witch makes claims about powers she doesn't really have to carve out a place for herself;  people with power can abuse it,  ie the govt official who comes to town to investigate reports of a witch; sexual attraction is power (no big surprise there); anger and false accusations can result in getting power for a moment--but the result of its use can't be controlled and may result in things unwanted; the power in a mother's love can  trump all else..and so on ... anyway, it is an ok play--but not really tremendously interesting.  The topic has been done better elsewhere.

mjc says:  dragged on, unlike other readings I have enjoyed this play could benefit from actually being produced.

BecauseHeCan (Profile Theater Reading) Grade D

by Arthur Kopit
Director Jane Unger
cast:
Costa Astrakhan   .....   Paul Glazer
Joseph Elliot   .....   Shelly Lipkin
Joanne Summerhays Elliot   .....   Jami Chatalas
Orin Slake   .....   Todd Hermanson
Dennis McAlvane   .....   Dennis Kelly

Plot -- FBI interviewing publisher for activities on the computer:  publisher claims he has no idea what they are interested in;  maybe someone is planting information about his past and his activities that the FBI believes are true;  publisher's life is now in jeopardy --or is it that his secrets are actually being exposed; either way--computers will disrupt  life in a negative way for ever-more.

sez says -- the cast was fine, the direction was fine, the play is dumb. I am oh-so-tired of the theme: "computers are going to ruin our lives" -- sure the information/communication revolution is changing the world, and living through that change can be stressful--and has some negative aspects. And the negative things, things that frighten us about this new technology, has become common grist for the playwright. But this new technology also has freed us in so many ways -- made our lives more interesting --and has amazing potential.  And, I am tired of the one-sided story---that says we are all in danger from the technology.   Sure, we need to be alert to the negative side of these changes--but let's not miss out on the positive side.   I will continue to rant against plays that do not explore both sides.  Let's explore change for what it is--some good comes from it, some bad.. and not engage in hand-ringing and fear mongering.

mjc says:  I am enthralled by the wonder of the gadgets that abound; perhaps I am naive but the dangers seem to me to be the same as the chance of being the victim of a robbery or murder or plane crash--these things happen there is nothing to say they couldn't happen to me or someone I love, but that doesn't mean I am going to live my life afraid or suspicious.

The Kitchen (National Theater Live) A+

by Arnold Wesker
Directed by Bijan Sheibani

Magi,night porter....Tendayi Jembere
Max, butcher...Ian Burfield
Bertha, vegetable cook.....Tricia Kelly
Frank, second chef, poultry.....Neal Barry
Alfredo, roast....Vincenzo Nicoli
Hans, fry....Marek Oravec
Peter, boiled fish....Tom Brooke
Kevin, fried fish....Rory Keenan
Gaston, grill....Stavros Demetraki
Michael, eggs....David Benson
Nicholas, cold buffet....Craige Els
Paul, pastry chef....Samuel Roukin
Raymondo, assistant pastry chef....Gerard Monaco
Head Chef....Paul McCleary
Marango, proprietor....Bruce Myers
Anne, desserts and coffee....Siobhan McSweeney
Mangols, kitchen porter....Hambi Pappas
Dimitri, kitchen porter....Sam Swann
Head Waiter....Tim Samuels
Tramp....Colin Haigh

The Waitresses
Monique....Katie Lyons
Molly....Rebecca Humphries
Winnie....Sarah Mowat
Hettie....Rendah Heywood
Violet....Rosie Thomson
Gwen....Ruch Gibson
Daphne....Stephanie Thomas
Cynthia....Rebecca Davies
Betty....Sarah Sweeney

sez says: this is beautifully done (choreographed) so it is fun to watch -- and the topic is a perennial--because it is one that we as humans, keep asking and don't know the answer to.  That is, what is your dream?  What is freedom?  What would a fulfilled life be?  The answer is not some ephemeral, ie: that you want a car, or sex. Maybe you draw closer when you say you want a real friend, or a loyal spouse.  But when your life is so hectic--busy--driven (preparing food for 2000 people a day in The Kitchen) you don't have time to think, to dream, to contemplate life.  As one character says: "Put a man in a factory and he makes a little knob all day...eventually he becomes a little knob."

And in the end, The Owner asks:  Is there something I don't know? Is there something I need to know?  What is there more?

Also, this seems to be a metaphor for the international situation, after WW2. The play was written in the 1950s.  The people who work in the kitchen are from all over the world--and they have a variety of problems getting along, that seem to mirror national antagonisms at the time. For instance Peter is a German who was in a fight with a crowd that has encircled him the night before the play is set--there is anger that in the end he just shakes everyone's hands and walks away. There is a lot of reference to people/nations who can't accept apologies and they must be brought to order by threats and being given a 'big scare'. Peter says yes, the Germans once built triumphant arches--but that didn't work out so now they are using their skills to build bridges. 

Over the top outstanding is actor Tom Brooke, as Peter. What a fabulous performance.  The acting all round was first rate but his was inspired.
mjc says:  This was another wonderful experience at NT Live.  The production values, choreography, acting, is just so superb.

Gem Of The Ocean (Portland Playhouse) A

by August Wilson
directed by Michael Weaver

Eli   .....   Victor Mack
Aunt Ester   .....   Brenda E Phillips
Black Mary   .....   Andrea White
Rutherford Selig   .....   David Seitz
Solly Two Kings   .....   Kevyn Morrow
Citizen Barlow   .....   Vin Shambry
Caesar Wilkins   .....   Kevin Jones

sez says: I've seen this play before (in Ashland) and this is by far the better production.  It does not have the  fancy set that Ashland used, or sadly, as big an audience. But it is a better production.  It's focus is on the characters, their relationships and the situation the Black community faced (and indeed the nation as a whole faced) at the end of the 19th century. While the challenge was not fully articulated it was an ever present issue that required action.  That was, to determine "what is freedom" and how to get it -- as individuals and/or as a community? 

We have the two book ends: Solly and Caesar

Solly Two Kings had been a conductor on the Underground Railroad under slavery but when he got to Canada, he realized he could not live in freedom while others were still enslaved and he had to go back and do what he could to end slavery.  He was still working to help others--and he would not ignore the need for action to end new forms of slavery and oppression that were being instituted under different names, like debt and exploitation in the workplace.

Caesar had fought hard and suffered to establish himself in the world as it existed.  He was now wealthy and he was more than willing to accept his success alone.  He had not come up easy--and he was fine with being the instrument of the status quo (a sheriff) to keep others down.

In the middle are the remaining characters: primary among them is Aunt Ester (who appears in other Wilson plays). She is nearly 300 years old and carries the memory of those years.  She also knows about the City of Bones --the beautiful city of bones--where people speak with flaming tongues --and where there are 12 gate keepers.  (And when you leave the play you might want to ask yourself :What is the City of Bones?  One young man I talked to after the play told me he thinks that maybe we all have our own City of Bones, a place we need to visit and from which we might find what we need to direct us toward freedom.)

And there is Citizen Barlow--he wants his "soul washed" -- because he is carrying around a bucket of nails (things with which to build, or to use to crucify). His acquiring those nails led to a death that he feels guilty about.   He is the future--a man given a name that will be hard to live up to.

There is so much going on in this play that it would take all day--maybe all week--to write about. And I've already said more than I should--giving away some of the story.  In short, just go see this play, you'll be glad you did and I bet you'll feel better-off for the experience. It certainly will give you lots to think about.  In fact we found a nearly identical topic being explored in "The Kitchen" at National Theater Live...see the next review

mjc:  Portland Playhouse once again does a superb production of an August Wilson play.  This is the second production which is outstanding, better than other productions in bigger locations that we have seen.  Go see this play!

It Can't Happen Here (FUSE) Reading

large cast-names not provided / done on a Monday night in Oct 2011

Sinclair Lewis wrote the (relatively famous) book, then he participated in turning it it into a stage drama--eventually it was even made into a movie... The story of a right wing dictator getting voted into office and democracy being destroyed, followed by the rise of resistance to the new regime. The resistance fighters must make many significant sacrifices --and the play ends with the movement on going, but not yet successful.  A similar story was told by Margaret Atwood in The Handmaid's Tale.  There are probably many others. It is a story worth retelling-- there are dangers we need to remind ourselves about. 
There was a great deal of disparity in the skill demonstrated by the readers, a few were very very good, a few seemed like this might have been their first read through.  Still it required a lot of coordination becasue of the number of characters in the play. All in all it was a fine reading..not brilliant, but fine.