Three Sisters at ART

Theatre savvy Americans always laugh when someone says that Chekhov intended his plays to be comedies. Maybe in Russia they are funny, but here in our vastly different culture, Chekhov always turns out downright tragic. I recently saw Three Sisters at Artists Repertory Theatre (ART), and I was pleased that while, yes, the play does turn out downright tragic, it found the irony through the gloom and in places was even humorous. I can definitely say that watching all these characters go around and around in their monotonous lives and never doing anything to eleviate their suffering, boredom, and general dissatisfaction with everything really made me want to get out and live.
I liked the show a lot, and I thought that most of the actors had really stellar performances. Marjorie Tatum played Natasha and she was just as evil as I hoped she'd be. As soon as she would come onstage I would just cringe. Todd Van Voris, who I've seen in several shows about town now, as always did a wonderful job. Patrick Dizney, who has seen more of my work than I've seen of his, was quite impressive. Making a very attractive miliatry man, it was easy to see how his Vershinin could have been a "lovesick major" in his younger years. Of course, the three sisters themselves (Luisa Sermol as Masha, Andrea Frankle as Olga, and Amaya Villazan as Irina) did very well.

So Excited for Actor School!

I've been sharing this video with a lot of people! Just in case you want to see what my graduate program is like you should check it out! I am so excited to begin in Fall!!!

Ohio University Theatre Video

Five Actors, Five Plays at RTR

Well it appears that my time with Readers Theatre Repertory has come to a close for now. Last night was the final show of their season and they will not begin again until September after I will be away a graduate school.
I really enjoyed what they chose to do with their final show, though. They did five short plays in under an hour with five different actors. The shorts were quick but powerful. They were just long enough that you could get a taste of them and then move onto something else. The woman sitting next to me joked that they were just like eating candy. Out of the five my favorites were The Sniper and Daniel on a Thursday. Really good show to all involved, and thank you for sharing this eighth season of RTR!

The Last Show You'll Ever See

"A Woman. A Trombone. Apocalypse."
I could not describe Sarah Liane Foster's one-woman show better myself. The show is presented by The Nomadic Theatre Company which works on physical theatrical forms such as clown, mask, puppetry, dance, acrobatics, etc., and let me tell you, it was hilarious! Sarah Liane Foster plays her uncomfortable, goofy character, Petroleum Jane as she attempts to get through performing a trombone concert without stopping too often to warn the audience about Apocalypse, the perils of pushing buttons, time stopping, and a plethera of other wild and terrifying explorations of thought while remembering to inform us of the closest available exits and affective safty procedures.
I totally loved the show, it was truly a blast! Plus, it's at Curious Comedy, and a cocktail with live theatre is a fabulous idea.

Frost/Nixon at PCS

There's no doubt Portland is into politics. The biggest audience I've seen at a non-musical, non-opening performance at Portland Center Stage (PCS) was last night at Frost/Nixon, and everyone was really digging the show.
Written by Peter Morgan and directed by Rose Riordan, Frost/Nixon is the story of a series of interviews with former president Richard Nixon a few years after his resignation, conducted by British journalist David Frost. No, I have not seen the new movie, so I cannot compare the two, but I did find the play a really fascinating time.
Incorporating multimedia into their set designs seems to have been a theme this season at PCS , or at least it certainly happened in R. Buckminster Fuller: The History (and Mystery) of the Universe and in Apollo. In Frost/Nixon the multiple screen background showing a number of different images really worked for me. It not only helped set mood and location, but it provided images from the time period and also gave the audience an understanding of the intimate nature the camera brought to the interviews with Nixon.
A memorable performance was given by Bill Christ as Richard Nixon. I found myself feeling truly sorry for the former president character at the end of the show. He appeared to me, a man in a world of media he could not quite understand or fit in with. A world that reduced his achievements down to his regret for his illegal involvement in Watergate. I thought the show was moving and impacting. The ensemble was wonderful. Congratulations to all.
Unfortunately, I saw the play rather late in it's run, and this is it's last weekend, so hurry over!

Freakshow

Last night a friend invited me to go see Theatre Vertigo's production of Freakshow at Theatre! Theater!
Having gone in not entirely sure what to expect, we were still a little perplexed after an hour and a half of starring at Torso Girl. The play's tale of breaking ties to this place of nightmare and security, the freak-show, brings the audience a glimpse of the sad day to day life of traveling freaks at the turn of the century in a time when economic burdens are growing heavier and side-show acts aren't selling as well as they used to. Among other characters, Theatre Vertigo gives the audience four delicious freaks; the girl with no arms or legs, the dog-faced woman, the pinhead, and aqua boy, the human salamander. The physicality and make-up of each character was alarmingly realistic and quite intriguing.
It was certainly one freaky evening, and I would recommend it to anyone with a taste for the bizarre. Freakshow is playing through May 16th, so if you can check it out you should!