“Educating Rita” at 2nd Story

By Richard Pacheco

            “Educating Rita” at 2^nd Story Theater is a sheer delight, deftly acted by Ed Shea and Tammy Brown, full of verve, finesse and emotional impact.

            Ed Shea who has spent most of his time at 2^nd Story as a director has more recently returned to the stage as an actor with some riveting performances and this is no exception. He is Frank, a failed poet, once the darling of the academic world, now more ad disheveled disaster of a professor on his last legs, one his way out more dedicated to alcohol than to academia. It is a dazzling performance, full of nuance and energy as he plays the bitter professor, disenchanted with his life and too fond of the scotch nips he has hidden throughout his office.

This is all brought vividly to life with his interactions with Rita, played by Tammy Brown as the feisty, sassy hairdresser who wants to plunge headfirst into learning with passion and determination. Rita is trapped in what is for her a dead end job and a bad marriage and she views this chance for education as her way out, her escape to a better life. She plunges with all her energy and determination she can muster. She craves the world of books and theater as her rescue, her way out of the mire she finds herself trapped within. Tammy Brown is terrific and the perfect match for Shea’s Frank. Her transition from the lower class British accent to more cultured is perfect. It also offers another dimension to her performance with is robust and skilled.

It all evolves over a series of very short scenes which almost seems at times too much and too quick. But there is an emotional wave which transforms it all into something rich and resonant. It traces not only Rita’s steps towards liberation and education, but also Frank’s increasing enchantment with her, even dare say following in love with her.

Rita recounts her adventures with other students as she glides from her disenchanted ignorance to feeling she is the intellectual equal of Frank.  As she grows bolder and more self confident, Frank grows a bit angry and irritated, even to the point of being jealous when she mentions the young male students she has come to know along the way.

British playwright Willy Russell sets the play entirely in the office of an open lecturer. It was also turned into a memorable film staring Michael Caine and Julie Walters.

Director Mark Pekham deftly manages all the rapid scenes with assurance and energy. He blends it all smoothly together.

The set by Max Ponticelli is excellent, ably capturing the atmosphere of a professor’s office.

This is an excellent production that you won’t want to miss. It is a sheer delight that satisfies on so many levels.

It will be presented until May 22 at 2^nd Story Theatre, upstairs, 28 Market Street, Warren. www.2ndstorytheratre.com 401-247-4200.

“The Winter’s Tale” at the Gamm

By Richard Pacheco

            The Gamm Theatre wraps up its current season with a splendid production of Shakespeare’s “The Winter Tale” with its many twists of plot and somewhat implausible ending but all a truly enjoyable ride along the way. The large cast is winning and moves along with energy and determination.

            King Leonte is tormented by raging jealousy. The play opens with the meeting of two lifelong friends, Leontes, king of Sicilia and Polixenes, the King of Bohemia. After nine months Polixenes series to return to his own kingdom to tend to his affairs and see his son. Leontes’ efforts to convince him to stay meet with failure so he sends his wife to convince his friend. Hermione agrees and convinces him to stay. Leontes is perplexed how she convinced him to stay so easily. He suspects his pregnant wife has been having an affair with him and that the child is a bastard.  He orders one of his lords to poison his friend but instead he warns him and they both flee to his kingdom.

            Furious Leontes publicly accuses his wife of infidelity and declares her child illegitimate. He throws her in prison over the protests of his nobles. She gives birth to a girl. Despite the fact that the oracle clears his wife, all plummets into disaster with the death of his son and his wife is reported dead. His infant daughter is left on the shores of his friend’s land. Then it rolls further long with more twists and turns pilling up along the way.

            The baby named Perdita is reared by and old shepherd. When she reaches 16 she falls in love with, yes, Polixenes’ son.

            From there it is a mere matter of untwisting the twisted to resolve all well which it does.

            Fred Sullivan directs with a keen eye and supple touch. It moves merrily along with zest and finesse, well acted and energetic. His appearance in the show as the rascal and mutton chopped rogue Autolycus is pure delight, bigger than life and ribald and energetic.

            Tony Estrela, the artistic director of the Gamm is stunning as Leontes. He is a dense mixture of jealousy and remorse, all vividly conveyed with skill and flair. In his able hands the tormented king is convincing and sympathetic despite his baseless jealousy.

            Karen Carpenter is the epitome of the unjustly accused Hermione, all poise and presence. She is sympathetic in her dignity and conviction, her protestations of innocence at being wrongly accused.

            Jesse Hinton is the longtime friend, King Polixenes, an honest man, a loyal friend. Hinson is excellent in the role, poised and elegant, full of confidence and a sense of royalty.

            Mark S. Cartier is wining at the old Shepherd. Nora Eschenheimer is charming as Perdita, easy going and energetic. Florizel, King Polixenes’ son is played by Jeff Church with gusto and finesse.

            The large cast is right on the mark, full of sincerity and liveliness. It is well worth seeing, an outstanding production.

            The set designed by Patrick Lynch is a bit stark and plain with not much to it. IT is not very evocative. The Jessie Darrell Jarbadan costumes are also fairly simple, not very elegant for royalty.

            The first act seems a lot like Othello minus Iago with its severe ever mounting jealousy. The second act seems more comedic in nature.  So it is more upbeat at the end however implausible it might be.

            "The Winter's Tale" runs through May 29 at the Gamm Theatre, 172 Exchange St., Pawtucket. Tickets are $41-$49. Call (401) 723-4266, or visit gammtheatre.org.

           

“Arnie, Louis and Bob” at Trinity Rep

By Richard Pacheco

            “Arnie, Louis and Bob” currently at Trinity Rep is a world premiere by Katie Pearl who take something that would have been perfect fodder for someone like Pinter or Durang or Ives and turns it into something that is flooded with gimmicks and grows more and more pretentious and willful as it goes on. The tale of two brothers and a cousin, all of whom are eccentric and massively dysfunctional veers from amusing to indulgent playwrighting.

            It all goes awry when in the first act playwright Pearl rises to regale the cast about the goings on it is clear it is about to take a wrong turn. It is suddenly self indulgent and pretentious. 

            The three men live in their dead mother’s home and are wildly eccentric, each with their own foibles and quirks. Arnie dedicatedly follows an Indian guru while pursuing his lawn cutting business. And Bob drives a Zamboni for a living while dreaming of a better life and meeting pop stars and finally there is Louis who fights an often losing battle with depression while struggling with his autobiographical novel.

          

  The play was conceived when Perl was a graduate student at Brown and convinced the artistic director Curt Columbus to develop the play at Trinity through workshops leading to this production. Pearl has been thus far in her career a highly experimental playwright. This play is no exception. She lets her imagination run amuck here with the uncles meeting Peter Pan and Taylor Swift. What happens is it goes far off course with Pearl becoming a big part of the play often setting new directions for it mid stride.  It ends up too fantastical with little tether to reality and unfocussed and random. She consonantly regales the stage hand who also takes part to  “listen to the characters” advice which Pearl ends up avoiding regularly while pursuing her own fantasy indulgences amidst the cravings of her characters. Yes, it is about growing older, trying to find a mate and putting up with your relatives.

            It draws from the best of Trinity’s talent, Timothy Crowe, Stephen Berenson and Brian McEleney who area all delightful in their respective roles. IT also incorporates playwright Pearl who intrudes and redirects the action through out from her first appearance and stage hand Julia Atwood who also turns out to be a talent and amusing as she goes from playing Peter Pan to Taylor Swift with skill and dexterity.

            The first act offers plenty of promise and hints of richness, but the second act goes totally off track with its fantasy laden quirks like Bob after an encounter with Peter Pan floating off through the window never to be seen again. There is much potential here but largely unresolved.

Director Melissa Kievman who developed it as well as directed it needs to help the playwright clen of the self indulgent aspects which overwhelm the play at nearly every turn from when the playwright steps onstage,.

The set by Michael McGarty is insanely cluttered and overdone with too much visual clutter all over and making it at times hard to focus with a sensory overload.

It contuse through May 8. For tickets, call the box office at 401-351-4242. Group Sales at 401-351-4242 or online at online at: http://www.trinityrep.com

           

“Blues for Mr. Charlie” at Trinity Rep

By Richard Pacheco

            “Blues for Mister Charlie” is James Baldwin's second play, a tragedy in three acts. It was first produced and published in 1964. It is dedicated to the memory of Medgar Evers, and his widow and his children, and to the memory of the dead children of Birmingham.The play is loosely based on the Emmett Till murder that occurred in Money, Mississippi, before the Civil Rights Movement began.
            It opens up with Reverend Meridian Henry coaching the Negro students through their lines. They are interrupted by Parnell Jones who brings them the news that Lyle Britten will be arrested for the murder of Richard Henry. For where once a white storekeeper could have shot a "boy" like Richard Henry with impunity, times have changed. And centuries of brutality and fear, patronage and contempt, are about to erupt in a moment of truth as devastating as a shotgun blast.
            Intended as a companion piece for the current production of “To Kill A Mockingbird” it was intended as a staged reading and the actors, enthused by the material learned their lines. Yet the element of staged readings still lingers over the production in its sparse setting. The action shifts back and forth between past and present. The structure is loose and makes valid points as if they were clichés. What it has in abundance thought is raw energy and fierce passion, a call to arms.

            The play has many rants and diatribe not as well written as “To Kill A Mockingbird” the companion play at Trinity. It tells pretty much the same story without as many twists and turns. Yet it tackles racism as it once existed in this country with relentless zest and conviction.

            There are some strong moments in it. Jude Sandy is Meridian Henry, an impassioned preacher whose son is shot for flirting with a white storekeeper at least that is what the story is. Sandy is focused and powerful at many times during the production with an honest and passionate performance.

His son Richard Henry played by David Samuel has returned to his hometown after spending time up north and hitting some bad times, things like drug addiction. Now, back in his hometown, he seethes with rag and resentment is angered by the racism which surrounds him in his hometown. It makes him rebellious to the customary behavior in the town, the rampant racism which is everywhere. Samuel is a solid presence. He is vibrant and determined in the role, full of raw passion and energy.

The murderer is the bigoted Lyle Henry played by Mauro Hantman, is the husband of the shopkeeper and manages to slyly cover up his hatred and his bigotry in particular for Richard whom he despises. Hantman is on the mark as the bigoted man who oozes a slippery bigotry which he intends and does in fact cover it up.

Stephen Thorne is the white liberal newspaperman with integrity and dares to speak out against the bigotry and defend the blacks from the over racism. He is defensive of Meridian and Richard and it tests their friendship. Throne is sincere and poised in the role, utterly convincing.

Friday, Alexis Green doubled as Grandma Henry and Richard's friend Lorenzo, as she covered, script in hand, for an ailing Ashley Mitchell.

Director Brian McEleny used the same cast as “Mockingbird” and the same sparse set of a classroom setting and disperses the cast throughout the house as he does in that play.  It is not as tight as “Mockingbird” and originally  meant to be a staged reading but the actor’s enthusiasm propelled them to learn lines.

Much of the play is seen as flashback with Richard Henry already dead as the play opens. Baldwin’s characters seem more like entrenched stereotypes who are so antithetical that what divides them seems totally unbridgeable.

The ending is direct and brutal, not at all subtle.

It will be presented again On March 27 and April 1 at 7:30 pm A the Chase Theater at Trinity Rep. Tickets are $25. Trinity Repertory Company, 201 Washington Street, Providence, RI  1(401)351-4242 or www.trinityrep.com

“A Skull in Connemara” at The Gamm Theatre

By Richard Pacheco

            Playwright Martin McDonough’s play “A Skull in Connemara” currently at the Gamm is dark and funny, propelled by vivid performances and keen direction. The 1997 Olivier Award nominee for best comedy takes a look at a gravedigger; a Connemara man hired to exhume skeletons in an overcrowded graveyard and comes upon in his duties the grave of the wife he was once accused of killing. This is the middle play in the Martin McDonagh trilogy. It asks the question of who killed Oona, the wife of Mick the gravedigger.  It does not answer it but instead frolics through some dark humor with determination and quirky dialogue.

            One of the issues with the play is it meanders along seemingly looking for a direction or its plot. It is by far not McDonagh’s best work. It seems as if something crucial is missing here. There is a lot unclear and it doesn’t seem to work that well.

            The cast is excellent across the boards.

Jim O’Brien is Mick, the dark fellow accused of murdering his wife Oona. He is totally believable as the whisky swilling, sullen and dark Mick. He is a man obsessed with dark secrets or at least the impact they have left on his life.

Mick's dimwitted helper, played by Jonathan Fisher with convincing honesty and freshness is dim and slow.

Steve Kidd is the other Hanlon brother, the constable, Thomas. Thomas is bubbling and ineffectual with delusions of grandeur being an ace detective a modern Sherlock Holmes a legend in his own mind. Kidd handles the role with sincerity and skill

The final cast member is Wendy Overly as the grandmother to the two Hanlon boys, Maryjohnny. She is found of her whiskey, or let’s say Mick’s whiskey. She is still smarting for children’s insults to her many years before. Overly is wining in the role, delivering a sincere and amusing performance.

Director Judith Swift does her best to keep it all moving along despite the mysteries inserted into the convoluted plot.

            The Michael McGarty set design  which combines a cramped living room of a tiny cottage and the grave areas is vivid and evocative.

            If you are a fan of McDonagh then you might enjoy this more.

            "A Skull in Connemara" runs through March 27 at the Gamm Theatre, 172 Exchange St., Pawtucket. Tickets are $41-$49. Call (401) 723-4266, or visit gammtheatre.org

“Yankee Tavern” at Theatre One

By Richard Pacheco

            Ever since 9/11 conspiracy theories have grown in abundance, some more plausible than others. Steven Deitz’s “Yankee Tavern” takes a close look at the event and offers its own conclusions in this impressive production with keen acting and firm direction. Deitz is a prolific and widely produced playwright who has garnered many awards over the years from a multitude of productions of his work worldwide. It is an absorbing and intriguing production filed with twists and turns and abundant in conspiracy theories.

            The jukebox in the Yankee Tavern has been topped since Sept. 11, 2001, at 8:46 a.m., just as the first hijacked plane rammed into the north tower of the World Trade Center. It ended in the middle of Don McLean’s “American Pie.” Throughout the play there is strong opinion about what really happened that tragic day and the facts used to back it up are remarkably accurate and convincing. “Yankee Tavern” uses two tried-and-true character types to deliver the message: the slightly crazy best friend and the mysterious stranger. The play is set in 2006.

The more normal characters are Adam who now owns his father’ bar while coign to college and his fiancé Janet. These two have only two areas of contention in their life. When they should let go of the dilapidated bar and Janet wonders why so many Save the Date cards for their wedding end up being returned marked address unknown.

Adam’s pal Ray is a real conspiracy theory buff, in fact he is obsessed with conspiracies which abound around every corner. He enters wearing headphones and is on a radio call in show about the rigged 2000 presidential election. Ray sees a conspiracy around every corner and thinks of his two young friends as “marsupials” who live in “protective pouches.”

Ray has his own theories about what happened with the twin towers, laying the blame not on the planes but on Bush and the Saudi royal family which Janet dismisses. But this day is different as a stranger in the bar, Palmer, a customer who orders two beers agrees with him. Palmer says that he found a hijacker’s passport in the rubble that day — or rather he planted it there, as instructed, and then pretended to discover it. Palmer seems to know a lot of things, some of them pieces of personal information about the other characters. Just who is he?

Amanda Hayter is Janet who is more concerned about her upcoming wedding and having her fiancé  finally get rid of the dilapidated bar so they can get on with their lives. She is also concerned about the nature of Adam’s relationship with one of his college professors. Hayter is energetic and sincere in her performance, a delight.

Dan Groves is Adam, the bar owner who is conflicted about how long and if he should try to hold onto the bar before the city condemns it to demolition. He is also conflicted about his relationship with his professor, a woman whom is is intrigued by and finds absorbing in many ways. Groves is full of raw energy in the role, honest and vivid in his portrayal.

Omer Courcy is Ray, the conspiracy nut. Everything is a conspiracy to Ray, there is a new one around every corner and every public incident and Ray knows everything behind all of them. He is not afraid to speak out about it either, there is no hesitation on his part at all. Courcy is a comic gem in the role, an impeccable balance between the endearing and the oddball.

Frank Piekut is Palmer a man of mystery and secrets galore who wanders into the bar for a drink and always orders a second beer for his no present friend. Piekut carries the right aura of mystery and dark secretiveness to make it work. He could have walked out of a CIA movie with the same flair.

Peg Holzemer directs with a keen touch, full of finesse and confidence. She keeps the mystery moving and the laughs coming with solid pacing.

The play is loaded with fun while also being provocative. They have a talk back at the end which always proves to be fascinating as audience an cast tackles quesoitn about the content of the play. The mysterious ending might irritate some of simply seem justified under the circumstances.

It continues on March. 17, 18, 19 at 7:30 p.m. and again Jan 22 and 23 at 7:30 p.m., with a Sunday Matinee at 2 p.m. on March. 20. All shows are at the Alley Theatre, at 133 Centre St. in Middleboro. Doors open 30 minutes prior to the performance. General admission is $20, with seniors/students at $18 — cash only at door. On opening Night, Jan.14, all tickets are $18. Free Parking at the Middleboro Town Hall

“The Hunchback of Seville” at Trinity Rep

By Richard Pacheco

          “The Hunchback of Seville” by Charise Castro Smith Currently at Trinity Rep is a wild, wacky fun filled romp that is a retelling, both vivid and imaginative of the Spanish history as they ravage the New World in the name of God.

It opens with the bold Christopher Columbus played with wacky aplomb by Jessica Ko is wild and hilarious. She comes upon land after a precarious voyage with loads of thunder and lightening and does a merry little dance with her two crew members. The entire play is a wild  and wooly ride, full of comic twists and turns finding its roots in the remnants of Spanish genocide and racism in a cockeyed phantasmagoria of history in the New World. The antics are outrageous and silly, delightfully fun.

The actions then turns to the ailing Queen Isabella who is concerned about naming the successor to her throne. The pickings are slim to put it mildly. There is her daffy daughter, Princess Juana, who indulges in idiotic baby talk and  rambunctious tantrums wild enough to put anyone into fear for their life.

Or maybe it will be Isabella’s adopted hunchback sister, Maxima Terrible Segunda, who is voracious reader with an impressive mind who has been imprisoned to a tower for her entire life.  Isabella wants to draft her to be her crazed daughter’s trusted advisor, no matter what protestations her daughter my offer.  Anyone who has spent on second with the whacked out Juana knows this is doomed to failure from the first word.

In the midst of this madness, there is the meddlesome maid, Espanta who appears at times accented by dramatic lighting to let everyone know she harbors a dark secret germane to all this madness frolicking about at court.

The  performances here are top notch.  Jessica Ko is not only the wacky Columbus at the beginning, but also as a meek maid later in the play. Ko is incisive in both roles with impeccable timing and a flair for the absurd with zest.

Then there is Janice Duclos Queen Isabella, She is full of imperious bluster and little concern for the dark side of things in her reign. She prefers pageantry and pomp to the nitty gritty facts of her daily reign.

The hunchback sister is played with poise and comic finesse by Phyllis Kay. She is cynical and a bit aloof, with a keen eye to the situation she is in and what goes on around her on a daily basis. It is a performance full of poise and understated comic flair.

Anne Scurria is the meddling maid, Epanta who insinuates herself into everything at every chance she gets. It is a delightful performance, vivid and nuanced.

There is further fine support coming from Joe Wilson Jr.'s Talib Furozh and Omar Robinson as yet another Moor. Wilson is a delight as the Moor wanted by the government with little hope of escape or reprieve. Robinson is enjoyable as his friend and ally.

The costumes by Oliveira Gajic are striking and impressive, a bold mixture of old and new, vivid and impressive.

The direction by Taibi Magar is sharp and incisive, right to the point. He emphasizes the play’s points with finesse and vigor.

The Charise Castro Smith play is imaginative, at times ribald and always funny and intriguing. It is a dark comedy that never fails to entertain or amuse, not matter what extremes it has to get to accomplish that.

There are tons of surprises along the merry way of this play.
            "The Hunchback of Seville" runs through March 6 at Trinity Rep, 201 Washington St., Providence. Tickets are $25-$71. Call (401) 351-4242, or visit trinityrep.com.