Theatre Reviews

In one of the finest productions I’ve ever witnessed at Court Theatre, director Charles Newell’s passion for Baroque metatheatricality comes across in a splendid, throughly engrossing, production of The Illusion running through April 11, 2010. This is a “can’t miss show!”

By April Smallwood Directed by Toma Tavares Langston Co-Directed by Eileen Tull Produced by Innate Volution Theatre Productions At North

This play-within-a-play has a wealthy banker – J.B. goes from a happy prosperous family man with a fine wife and a hose full of children to a hopeless and desperate man devoid of all family members. It is the ultimate man’s test of faith.

The Lieutenant is faced with a series of grisly murders resembling the work of a dead serial killer. It takes until act two to get us to meet Damien or Sunlight – the essence of true evil nicely played to the hilt by the terrific Scott T. Barsotti.

Trust plays on stage like a screenplay with many short scenes deftly using the video and live stage action to tell the story of a upper middle class family steeped in contemporary technology. We meet Annie (the amazingly truthful Allison Torem) as the 14 year old high school freshman who loves soccer and Internet chat.

Veteran actor Turk Muller plays Gippo in a stirring performance filled with a richly authentic Irish brogue and a truthful depiction of a guilt-ridden drunkard. Muller has the blarney, the alcoholic attributes and the bewildering realization that his 30 years in the IRA has gotten him nothing–not even a place to sleep.

Veteran Piven Theatre Workshop member Bernard Beck not only gave a tour de force performance as Leo Gold, a fictional Holocaust survivor but he also gave a masterclass in acting.

…Theo Ubique’s production made an effort to give the show some heart. That mostly came from Maggie Portman’s fine singing and engaging performance as Florence the main love interest for the two Chess champions.

The Artistic Director of the Silk Road Theatre Project, Jamil Khoury’s idea for a series of short plays centering on the genealogical DNA test has produced an intriguing evening of theatre. The seven plays contain humor, fantasy, personal revelation and poignancy.