Fuerza Bruta means Break Free, and this is what we the audience get to do as we watch the performers tell their stories. Reality, the world we just came from no longer exists ( at least for the next 65 minutes) as we get caught up in the action and music of this spectacular presentation. The visual effects that we see are indeed mind-blowing and the performers are in great shape
Taking a Czech novel from the 1930’s translating it and adapting it to the stage is a difficult task but Jason Loewith and Justin D. M. Palmer has succeeded in creating a fascinating world where man’s self destructive nature finds its match.
The early monologues featuring rapid speech and pointless ramblings about apartments came across as whining. I found all four of the characters as insecure losers devoid of ambition and self-confidence. Why Ruth has to move so often is never adequately explained and Astor’s unwillingness to work makes couch surfing an urban survival skill for him.
Oh, Boy! is a light-weight romantic farce containing lovable characters exhibiting comically innocent yet questionable behavior especially for engaged or married couples….Kudos to director Terry McCabe and music arranger/director Kingsley Day for remounting this 1917 musical in the exact style of the original.
Sherman’s latest comedy is a clever tribute to Yiddish Theatre as well as to vain glorious stage actors. Set in Chicago at Ruskin Theatre, we meet Jack Shermerinsky (Craig Spidle) a middle aged failed stage actor famous for doing TV commercials out of LA. Jack has agreed to do a staged reading in Chicago with his wife Lisa (Janet Ulrich Brooks) to appease Jack’s mother Ester (Roslyn Alexander).
The creative folks at Raven Theatre continually mount worthy productions of classic plays. Their latest is Neil Simon’s The Odd Couple. Neil Simon is know as “the father of modern comedy” and his classic work , the1965 Tony Award winning play (Best Play), The Odd Couple is considered by many as the finest stage comedy ever written. I agree
The ensemble of four actors all commit to their characters and the physical nature of the work wonderfully. Tiffany Ross as Elisabeth is so cold and stoic throughout the play, but bursts into feverish screaming fits when trying to get the attention of her brother. Antonio Brunetti is a manic Nietzsche, struggling to control his inner urges because he is on the cusp of happiness for the first time in his life. John Kahara is hilarious and lovable as Paul Ree…
Eventually, Kani, Ntshona and Fugard settled on a powerful script that, through storytelling, humanized the torturous living of blacks in South Africa from apartheid policies of the white government.
When Iowa passes a law forbidding a registered sex offender from living within 2, 000 feet of places where children congregate …the Deputy must enforce the law by evicting and transporting the sex offender away from those places.
Bertolt Brecht’s plays challenge the most talented theatre troupes and his 1919 first full-length play is a particular difficult work to stage. But leave it to the genius of director Zeljko Djukic to allow complete artistic collaboration from all parties including actors, musicians, lighting, set designers to explorer the subtleties and nuances in Brecht’s initial work, Baal.