Home of the FREE weekly email Update

Running time 0:40 - no intermission
A winter's puppet show for children three and up

Storyline: One cold and snowy winter, while others make snow men, an elderly couple build a child of snow who comes to life and makes their lives happy. When spring arrives the child must leave or risk melting, but when winter returns so does the snow child.

This is Julia Tasheva's show. She adapted the material from the classic Russian folk tale, and, with Lilia Slavova, handled the staging of the piece. She plays "Queen of the Snow Flakes" who acts as narrator of the story and the operator of all the puppets.  She designed the puppets, ranging from small hand puppets of snow flakes to large marionettes of the Snow Child herself and cut-out puppets of the old couple. A particular favorite appeared to be the snow man she brought to life and then manipulated using her own arms to gesture while singing a song.

Tasheva also designed the set - a few drapes of white silk, some snow mounds to mask the footlights and a central structure of draping fabric that acts as a rotating puppet theater. It is that central structure that allows her to move the story along at a pace that works for three, four and five year olds. The cut-out puppets of the old couple or the marionette of the Snow Child move into place quickly and then rotate out of sight to allow other parts of the story to be told.

A few simple songs help as well and Tasheva sings them directly to the children. Dimitar Naumoff not only provides the melodies for those songs but an accompanying score of incidental music that is light and distinctive, giving the production a fairly polished feel.

Directed by Julia Tasheva and Lilia Slavova. Original music by Dimitar Naumoff. Musical direction by Petko Kolev. Design: Julia Tasheva (sets and puppets) Lawson Earl (lights) Aaron Forbes (stage manager). Cast: Julia Tasheva.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
 

Reviewed December 17.
Running time 0:55 - no intermission
Large puppets and costumed actors
Appropriate for the youngest audiences

Storyline: In a winter landscape that is all white, a rust colored kitten has run away from the boy who keeps pulling his tail. The light colored animals of the woods, such as a reindeer, a magpie and a bear, try to hide him, but the boy finally finds him. When he asks why he ran away, the kitten says he is tired of having his tail pulled so the boy agrees not to do that anymore.

Slavova and her set designer Ksenya Litvak don't try to hide their magic from the audience, the rolls and rolls of fabric are spread out, hung, waved and manipulated openly so that even the youngest kids see how it is they make the effects they do. The manipulation of the puppets is also in plain sight so the willingness of the children to go along with the story is key. They know this is a made-up story being told for their benefit, and they get that much more enjoyment from it because they are party to the magic making.

To help set the mood, John C. Woldron plays the initial role as a human rather than as a puppeteer, acting as something of a transitional figure who tells the children just what is about to take place. His persona is open and welcoming.

Petko N. Kolev's atmospheric musical background score and a number of sound effects are added through the sound system at a level that competes with both the dialogue on stage and the general hubbub of the children in the audience, making the hour seem a bit cacophonous, and the pace gets a bit hectic at times. However, these problems only become apparent as the show progresses, and by that time, most of the kids are caught up in the story.

Adapted and directed by Lilia Slavova from a story by Valeri Petrov. Design: Ksenya Litvak (set, costumes and puppets) Lawson Earl (lights) Petko N. Kolev (composer) Raymond Gniewek (photography). Cast: Daniel Ardura or Matthew Welborn, Rachel Clark, Julia Tasheva, John Waldron.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
 

Reviewed December 17.
Running time 0:50 - no intermission
Clever Staging with costumed actors
Appropriate for the youngest audiences
Click here to buy the book

Storyline: Alice falls asleep as her uncle Charles tells her a non-sense story. In her sleep she dreams of living the story as she falls down a rabbit hole to experience adventures and meet characters such as the March Hare, Mad Hatter, Cheshire Cat, Mock Turtle and the Red Queen.

Shetler takes the story at just the right pace to give each of the performers a chance to connect with the smallest members of the audience. Newlon is not rushed into the rabbit hole but, rather, has a few moments to establish her character as a normal sized and unpretentious child. She brings a sense of wonder combined with a bit of skepticism to the experiences which is infectious.

Ivey, in his initial role is as the storytelling uncle gets things going with a warmth that avoids making the story frightening, and then Jai Khalsa's White Rabbit picks up the pace with open humor. Ivey, Khalsa and Julia Stemper then double, triple or quadruple on parts as Alice meets the Caterpillar, the Mat Hatter, the Cheshire Cat and others.

Dominic Dommer's ingenious set uses cloth side panels, which, while anchored at the front of the stage, move in or out at the rear to make the characters seem larger or smaller in the highly forced perspective on a steeply raked playing surface. It works marvelously as Newlon appears to grow after drinking from the "drink me" bottle simply by moving to the rear but shrinks just as easily by moving forward after taking a bite from the "eat me" wafer. A drop down table emphasizes the scale as well.

Adapted and directed by Stephen Shetler based on the story by Lewis Carroll. Design: Dominic Dommer (set) Justin Kass (costumes) Julia Tasheva (puppets) Lawson Earl (lights) Dimitar Naumoff (composer) Raymond Gniewek (photography). Cast: Ashley Ivey, Jai Khalsa, Cara Newlon, Julia Stemper.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
 

Reviewed April 16
Running time 0:55 - no intermission
General admission seating
Charming and engaging puppetry for children ages four and above

Storyline: The high-strung duck Penelope's long wait to hatch her eggs is finally rewarded with a pair of cute yellow ducklings and one ungainly gray creature she assumes simply stayed in the shell too long. Some of the other barnyard animals reject the youngster. She's troubled, but the arrival of a swarm of swans on the pond one night reveals the reason the youngster is different - he's a swan and turns out to be a particularly beautiful one at that.

The set sets up an expectation of magic as the children enter the small theater to find a dimly lit barnyard with an intriguing dappled effect. Hidden in the darkness at either side are more traditional puppet boxes (think of a Punch and Judy Show's box). The four puppeteers are revealed as scarecrows before they begin manipulating their creations. When they do take up puppeteering, the different types of creations add to the variety of the presentation. Slavova's adaptation also uses a variety of musical episodes with pieces by Mussorgsky, Saint-Sëans, Tchaikovsky and Vivaldi to avoid boredom. There's even a song sung by a character called "Polish Duck." That song is sung in Polish by puppeteer Hanna Bondarewska, herself a native of Warsaw.

The puppet creations range from the multiple-hand Rooster who wakes the barnyard and narrates the story. At times the children in the audience can see two or even three operators working a single puppet, while at others, such as with the mother duck, they see one operator working a large Bunraku puppet. "Ugly," the title character, begins as a single hand puppet and grows into a Bunraku.

There are some lovely moments along with the more humorous or suspenseful scenes. The arrival and subsequent flight of swans, set to music, includes a delightful image of one puppeteer's hands creating winged flight without the necessity of a puppet to manipulate. Through the short performance, enough happens to keep the attention of most of the children, even those who seemed no older than four.

Adapted and Directed by Lilia Slavova. Based on the fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen. Choreographed by Irina Tsikurishvili. Music Design by Lilia Slavova and Inna Shapiro. Design: Ksenya Litvak (set and costumes) Cherie Siebert (lights) Raymond Gniewek (photography) Lawson Earl (stage manager). Cast: Hanna Bondarewska, Rachel Matters Clark, Ali Miller, Julia Tasheva.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
 

Reviewed December 4
Running time 1:20 – no intermission
t A Potomac Stages Pick for effects that captivate kids and entertain adults

Storyline: An unemployed music grinder carves a puppet from a magical block of wood. The puppet comes to life. Naming the puppet Buratino, he wants it to have all the benefits of a real boy, including a good education. He sells his coat to buy a book so he can send him off to school. Along the way to school, however, Buratino is enchanted by a local theater and sells his book so he can get a ticket to the show. Not understanding the difference between make believe in the theater and reality, he disrupts the performance when poor Pierot is being beaten in a classic routine. The theater manager chases him away but he is finally reunited with the music grinder.

Paata Tsikurishvili adapted the 1936 children's book by the Russian, Alexi Tolstoy (not to be confused with that more famous Tolstoy, Leo), which was itself an adaptation of the story of Pinocchio from the 1883 book by Italian author C. Collodi which first told the tale which has since become a staple of children's stories. He directs this charming piece while Irina Tsikurishvili choreographs. Added to his usual design team is Ksenya Litvak who has been Classika's resident puppet designer. It is a good match for her training at the St. Petersburg State Theatre Arts Academy and her experience at Classika fits right in with the traditions that the Tsikurishvilis brought from the Republic of Georgia in the former Soviet Union.

Miguel Jarquin-Moreland has the lead role, making his entrance emerging from the wood in a piece of pure theater that calls on the audience to leave their skepticism outside and accept the magic of simple story telling. He's a charmer from the start, appealing to the children in a very open, personal way. Mike Spara as the music grinder turned "Papa Karla"  and Nathan Weinberger as wood-chopping "Giuseppe" combine in that first effect as they free the puppet from the block of wood.

Irakli Kavsadze is back doing his marvelously effective clowning, leading and then following the ensemble through some of Irina Tsikurishvili's choreographed chase scenes using all the skills of mime. The chases are particular hits with the younger members of the audience for the use of slow-motion comic effects. But not all is frivolity as the script retains some morals for all ages including the music grinder's injunction to his "son" Buratino: "Learn well so you can live well."

Adapted and directed by Paata Tsikurishvili. Choreographed by Irina Tsikurishvili. Design: Anastazia Rurikov Simes (costumes) Ksenya Litvak (puppets) Cherie Siebert (lights) Raymond Gniewek (photography) Lawson Earl (stage manager). Cast: Philip Fletcher, Catherine Gasta, Irakli Kavsadze, Anna Lane, Miguel Jarquin-Moreland, Greg Marzullo, Mike Spara, Irina Tsikurishvili, Nathan Weinberger.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
 

Reviewed December 4
Running time 2:00 - one intermission

Storyline: A combination of traditional fairy tales finds a prince in search of a bride leaving his kingdom just as a neighboring kingdom's princess arrives seeking shelter after her own kingdom has been taken over by a wicked sorcerer and his daughter. The prince battles the evil interlopers, frees the princess' kingdom and then wins her hand.

The first act moves along fairly well with no fewer than six songs, and benefits from the bright performances of Ali Miller as the princess from the Shiny Lakes Kingdom about which she sings nicely in "My Sparkling Land," and Suzanne Edgar and Jesse Davidson as the royal pair in need of a match for their son. But the same three seem to get bogged down in the darker scenes when they play the evil witch, the wicked sorcerer and his scheming daughter. Here their performances become too heavy and drawn out.

The second act drags both because it is dominated by the three over-done characters and the fact that it has way too much non-singing, non-musical material. There are but three songs in the act, not enough to perk up the attention of children who have begun to loose interest. Michael W. Bigley plays the prince and he looks every bit the prototype of a handsome young would-be king.

Litvak's sets are a colorful collection of drapes (mostly green) and covers over tables and chairs (mostly gold) while the costumes are the expected theatrical versions of medieval storybook characters. As lit by Cherie Sierbert, the world of the good kingdom has a very different feel than the land under the control of the wicked sorcerer. A magic cauldron emits bubbles rather than vapor while a theatrical fogger seems to be triggered in the fly space every forty-five seconds or so, whether or not the plot calls for it.

Written by Inna Shapiro. Music composed by Anatoly Deriev. Directed by Lilia Slavova. Choreographed by Lilia Slavova. Design: Ksenya Litvak (set and costumes) Cherie Siebert (lights) Raymond Gniewek (photography) Amilarlynn Corbett (stage manager). Cast: Michael W. Bigley, Jesse Davidson, Suzanne Edgar, Ali Miller.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
 

Reviewed October 2
Running time 0:50 - no intermission
Appropriate for ages 4 and up

Storyline: A poor fisherman, married to a shrewish woman, catches a magical golden fish who promises him a great ransom if he will release her. He does so out of the goodness off his heart without asking any reward. His wife is furious that he didn't ask for at least a new wash tub and sends him back to the sea to find the fish. He succeeds but his wife is still dissatisfied and keeps coming up with ever increasing demands for the poor fisherman to make of the fish. 

As told by a storyteller and acted out by the principal characters, Pushkin's simple story is the framework on which Synetic's Paata Tsikurishvili hangs a series of sparkling visual effects and a number of brightly energetic performances. The clarity of his staging makes the story understandable to even the youngest child, while its simplicity never feels "dumbed down" for youngsters. Indeed, one could be excused for thinking it would be great if some theater works intended for sophisticated adults would understand the importance of telling the central story so clearly and making all the elements work toward the same end.

With Greg Marsullo as a welcoming storyteller getting things off to an energetic start and Irakli Kavsadze's clown-like makeup, costume and precision of mannerisms as the fisherman, the children in the audience know from the opening moments exactly what kind of show they are about to see and are quickly drawn into the world of the story. Kavsadze is marvelously understandable in a role that doesn't give him a spoken line for a long time. He excels in physical comedy, most notably his syncopated running in place. When he does have a line, however, he booms it out with an audience-pleasing bluster. Catherine Gasta is less successful with the role of his shrewish wife, but it is, after all, a less sympathetic character.

The real magic begins when the sea effect is introduced as the fisherman goes off for his day's work. Litvak has designed a sea of a big, blue cloth animated by the ensemble in movements that Choreographer Irina Tsikurishvili has devised with Anna Lane as the Golden Fish emerging from its folds. The effect is so good that it doesn't seem to grow tiresome even as the crotchety old woman sends the fisherman back again and again to make increasingly outlandish demands on the fish. Indeed, the last time the effect is called for, the designers introduce a new element to keep the concept interesting with the fish seeming to swim below the surface for the first time.

Alexander Pushkin's tale adapted and directed by Paata Tsikurishvili. Choreographed by Irina Tsikurishvili. Design: Ksenya Litvak (set and costumes) Cherie Siebert (lights) Raymond Gniewek (photography) Lawson Earl (stage manager). Cast: Nicholas Allen, Catherine Gasta, Irakli Kavsadze, Anna Lane, Greg Marzullo.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
 

Reviewed October 1
Running time 1:20 - one intermission
Appropriate for ages 6 and up
Click here to buy the book

Storyline: Young Volka takes a break from a long session of procrastinating over a geography project for school to go for a swim. He discovers an old clay jar and, of course, when he opens it a genie emerges who is extremely grateful for being released from two thousand years of imprisonment in the jar. The genie wants to help his "new master" in every way he can but his knowledge is so outdated he simply gets Volka in deeper and deeper trouble. Finally, taking control of Volka's voice during the presentation of the geography project, he has this bright young student spouting the "facts" of geography as understood in his own time.

Classica veteran Josef Villanasco is a genial genie who makes even the youngest in the audience feel unthreatened. His comic bits become predictable as the show progresses but there isn't much subtlety in his approach that the adults who are accompanying their children might enjoy. Young Marshall Swing, in his sixth show at Classika, makes a pleasant Volka worrying about his school work, trying to charm his mother and appease his teacher. As his fellow student, Daniel Ardura gets into comic predicaments that get chuckles and a few big laughs from the kids in the audience.

The supporting adults - Hanna Bondarewska as Volka's mother and Kate Hundley as his teacher, are a bit wooden, and being adults, can't quite get away with the level of over-acting that the young actors can. Still, they carry the story ahead and set up the predicaments for both kids and the genie.

Ksenya Litvak's set of stacked boxes and Cherie Siebert's lighting design are serviceable through most of the show, but there is one moment of real theatrical magic as a strobe light is used to illuminate the billowing smoke emerging from the clay jar out of which Villanasco's genie appears. Litvak also designed a colorful costume for Villanasco that is every youngster's idea of what a genie would wear.

Adapted and directed by Inna Shapiro. Based on the story by Lazar Lagin. Design: Ksenya Litvak (set and costumes) Cherie Siebert (lights) Raymond Gniewek (photography)  Lawson Earl (stage manager). Cast: Daniel Ardura, Hanna Bondarewska, Kate Hundley, Marshall Swing, Josef Villanasco.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
 

Reviewed May 14
Running time 2 hours 35 minutes
Joint Production with Synetic Theater
Click here to buy the book

Storyline: The Devil journeys to Moscow at the height of the Stalinist era to host his annual ball in a city that is “neither Heaven nor Hell.” For his Queen of the Ball, he picks Margarita who is in love with “The Master,” a writer who was working on a novel about the torment of Pontius Pilot but who has been shut up in an insane asylum. All three worlds - Moscow, the Asylum and the Jerusalem setting of The Master's novel - come into play in a blend of imagery and movement.

Roland Reed, the playwright in residence at Synetic, tackled the tough task of turning novel into play, something he has done with great skill here at Synetic and at its previous collaborative partnership, the Stanislavsky Theater Studio. His adaptation for the stage of Dostoyevsky's The Brothers Karamazov was a rather too full evening but hued closely and clearly to the novel's story, and his work on Chekhov's The Seagul kept the atmospheric nature of its source. His best work was Host and Guest which we called "absorbing, mesmerizing, riveting – and different."  In adapting Bulgakov, he concentrates on the opportunities for stagecraft more than the elements of story, and it makes the result a bit confusing, especially in the second act when the blend of different worlds is at its most complex. He and his partners could not have known when they decided to stage this story that the news in the real world would make the visual imagery of a key plot event so strong as to distract from the rest of the story - once they get to the beheading which is so marvelously staged, it is difficult to focus on the subsequent plot points with the thoughts of Nick Berg so forcefully driven home.

Paata Tsikurishvili directs as well as taking the role of the master. As a director he marshals marvelous images along with his designers Anastasia Ryurikov Simes and Colin K. Bills. As a performer, his stage presence is as strong as ever, and his ability to communicate his character's thoughts as clearly as his actions remains extraordinary. That cast includes Armand Sindoni who, after impressing in a smaller role in Crackpots, commands the stage here as the devil figure. Just in case anyone might miss his resemblance to Lenin, his entrance features his profile backed by billowing red banners creating a living version of a propaganda poster.

Irina Tsikurishvili both choreographs the entire production and acts as well as dancing in the role of Margarita. Her work is clean and clear but uses one strange effect that simply doesn't seem to work in context. She has a scene where she views herself in a full length mirror. Visible in the mirror is her "reflection" which is a partially unclothed dancer doing an undulating dance that one supposes is supposed to be a reflection of what Margarita thinks she may look like. But the use of a dancer with a very different body type than Tsikirishvili's creates a striking distraction in an evening with a few too many distractions.

Written by Roland Reed based on the novel by Mikhail Bulgakov. Directed by Paata Tsikurishvili. Choreographed by Irina Tsikurishvili. Design: Anastasia Ryurikov Simes (set and costumes) Colin K. Bills (lights) Irakli Kavsadze and Paata Tsikurishvili (sound) Stan Barouh (photography). Cast: Nicholas Allen, Dave Bobb, Philip Fletcher, Catherine Gasta, Miguel Jarquin-Moreland, Irakli Kavsadze, Anna Lane, John Milosich, Geoff Nelson, Armand Sindoni, Mike Spara, Irina Tsikurishvili, Paata Tsikurishvili, Nathan Weinberger.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
 

 Reviewed February 28
Running time 2 hours 10 minutes

Storyline: Vanya has been overseer of an estate for a quarter of a century in Tzarist Russia while the owner has been off making a name for himself as a professor. The proceeds of Vanya's efforts have supported the professor and his late wife, Vanya's sister. But now the professor has returned with a new young wife. Jealousies and regrets overwhelm Vanya, his neighbor who is in love with the professor's new wife and everyone else on the estate.

In casting Brian Mac Ian as Vanya and Renata Loman as the professor's new wife, Classika attempts to recreate the chemistry that worked so well in last Fall's Chekhov's Jokes. There, they were fairly matched in a farcical contest of wills in the short playlet The Marriage Proposal. Magic doesn't strike again. This time out, Mac Ian seems too young for the role and Loman seems to be searching for someone to play against with the power she had last fall. She does find a worthy match this time in Kim Curtis as Astrov, the neighbor who lusts after her. Their scene where he puts his most emphatic moves on her is the emotional highpoint of the evening.

As much as Curtis' Astrov lusts after the professor's wife, he seems to just as passionately advocate for the preservation of the woods and forests he sees being threatened by modern development. Yes, Chekhov sounded the clarion call of environmentalism more than a hundred years ago. This translation seems to give the issue more prominence than does the original script but it is there in the original for all to see!

For the professor himself, Classika enlisted David Rothman who can be an imposing presence on a stage. Here he is hefty but it isn't made clear just what his role really is. This causes the production no small problem for almost every other character is initially defined through their relationship with the professor.

Written by Anton Chekhov. Directed by Ivan Kovatchev and Inna Shapiro. Design: Ksenya Litvak (set and costumes) Cherie Siebert (lights) Raymond Gniewek (photography) Lawson Earl (stage manager). Cast: Bill Brannigan, Kim Curtis, Renata Loman,  Brian Mac Ian, David Rothman, Stacey Lane Smith, Mary Blake Suib.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
 

Reviewed September 27
Running time 1 hour 50 minutes
t Potomac Stages Pick

Storyline: The first play is The Bear in which a widow is confronted by a visitor holding two IOUs signed by her late husband. When she is unable to pay immediately, the visitor says he will stay until paid and manages to be increasingly obnoxious. After a brief intermission, the second, The Marriage Proposal, finds a neighbor arriving at the home of a landowner, intent on proposing marriage to his daughter. None of the three can help getting into arguments with the others and their petty squabbling constantly derails the attempted proposal.

Classika is hosting Russian director Veniamin Filshtinsky for this production. He has devised a sort of introduction to the pieces in which the six performers enter in street clothes talking with each other and with the audience about Chekhov and the nature of comedy and the theater. It is an effective transition from the outside world and gets things off with a welcoming, friendly spirit. He continues the technique throughout the evening as the cast, in character, will address the audience directly and even request music cues. The set consists of a curtain, a few pieces of furniture and a hint of tree branches. When the curtain is drawn, the face of Anton Checkhov is revealed on the back wall, watching inscrutably over the mischief he created.

The Bear gets the evening off to a bit of a rocky start because the basic premise has such an obvious flaw that it takes time to get beyond the simple question of why the creditor hadn’t asked for payment earlier. The script says it is now seven months since the widow’s husband died and yet the creditor is making his demand for immediate payment with no notice and no reasonable period to comply. In the days before ATMs and check cards, such a practice would be laughable for its unreasonableness. But it stimulates a series of reactions as the three characters, creditor, widow and her servant, spar with increasing zest. Thomas Nunan as the creditor is impressively natural in his acting while Lynette Morris as the widow takes a while before she seems to be speaking from the heart rather than from a script. But once she gets going, the two spark against each other with real passion.

The Marriage Proposal is the funnier and easier to accept of the two playlets simply because its premise is so immediately acceptable and understandable. The simple oaf who can’t avoid confrontation long enough to propose marriage is nicely played by Brian Mac Ian, and Renate Loman is a fitting foil as her own bursts of temper are formidable. Adding to the boisterous fun is Barry Abrams as the landowning father. Together, they create both mayhem and madness, drawing laughs from an audience already warmed up by the first act and ready to go along with the gag. It makes a fine evening of laughs.

Written by Anton Chekhov. Directed by Veniamin Filshtinsky. Design: Felix Filshtinsky (set and costumes) Lilia Slavova (movement coach). Cast: Barry Abrams, Renata Loman, Brian Mac Ian, Lynette Morris, Thomas Nunan, John Ortman. 

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
 

Reviewed January 25
Running time 2 hours 50 minutes
Price range $17 - $22
t Potomac Stages Pick

Storyline: A college professor in a small town whose dreams of academic distinction have all but died and his wife, the daughter of the college’s president who sees his failures as her own downfall, return home from a faculty event where they both have had a lot to drink. She has invited a young, new professor and his pretty young wife back to the house for more drinks. As they drink into the in the wee hours of the morning, the love and the hate, and all the corrosion that jealousy and disappointment has worked on their relationship come to the surface.

Classika Theatre has a reputation built on its family friendly programming. Every once in a while it tries to spread its wings and take on a truly mature work. These have been interesting excursions but not until now have they been as captivating as is this psychological food fight. Much of the credit must go to a new name at the theater, Constantine Tariloff who, as a visiting director, brings clarity and discipline to a play that requires both. Tariloff, a product of the Moscow Art Theater where Stanislavsky and Chekhov made history, has staged works in Russia and then in theaters in Denver, Colorado. His time here gets an auspicious start with this production.

Tariloff has a fabulous cast to work with. Kate Revelle is nothing short of marvelous as the disaffected wife, giving the part a sexiness, a vibrancy and a deep sense of intelligence that make her doomed husband’s fascination thoroughly understandable. Marcus J. Fisk is that husband and his pain over the way his career, his marriage and indeed his entire life has turned out runs deep. Rachel Speicher and Michael Way make the young couple fully human beings and not mere dramatic tools wielded by the playwright to illuminate the principal characters’ story.

There is no credit given for set, costume, sound or lighting design although the sets, costume and sound are very well done and the lighting design, while a bit too active, is effective. There is also no credit given for fight choreography. These people attack each other in more ways than just verbally and they do so within the tight confines of Classika’s small playing space. They do so with an abandon and believability that, on this tiny stage, the experience of Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? seems as much “in your lap” as it is “in your face.”

Written by Edward Albee. Directed by Constantine Tariloff. Photography by Ray Gniewek. Cast: Kate Revelle, Marcus J. Fisk, Rachel Speicher, Michael Way.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
 

Reviewed November 16, 2002
Running time 1 hour 40 minutes
Price range $12 - $15

Based on the play by Evgeny Shwartz which was itself based on Hans Christian Andersen’s fairy tale. Directed by Inna Shapiro. Design: Ksenya Litvak (sets and costumes) Cherie Siebert (lights) Timur Abashidze (music). Cast: Maxwell Hessman, Joe Baker, Heidi Volf, Caroline Kenney, Josef Villanasco, Jason Linkins, Rachel Speicher, Hanna Bondarewska.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
 

Running Time 50 minutes
Price range $10 - $15

Written by Inna Shapiro. Choreographed by Lilia Slavova. Design: Cherie Siebert (lights) Heather McDonald (costumes). Cast: Boris Kiselev or Marshall Swing, Josef Villanasco, Caroline Kenney, Wmily Wilson-Tobin or Brooke Blum.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
 

Reviewed April 13
Running time 1 hour 35 minutes

Directed and adapted from Carlo Gozzi by Inna Shapiro. Design: Misha Kachman, Ksusha Litvak (set and costumes) Cherie Siebert (lights) Lilia Slavova (choreography). Cast: Steve Dantzler, Patricia Howard, Alex Kozushin, Lauren Goldberg, Brad Minus.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
 

Reviewed February 22
Running time 2 hours 25 minutes

Written by Nikolai Gogol. Directed by Yuri Kordonsky. Design: Misha Kachman and Ksenya Litvak (set and costumes) Cherie Siebert (lights.) Cast: Caroline Kenney, Paul McLane, Stephen Shetler, Jason Basinger Linkins, Hanna Bondarewska, Tel Monks, Lou Swerda, Dwayne Starlin.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
 

Reviewed November 11
Running time 1 hour 45 minutes

Still, there is a lot here for both children and adults to enjoy. A cleaver set, colorful costumes, effective lighting and a couple of delightful performances top the list. Consistently entertaining for both children and adults are Jason Linkins as a fox who wants a friend and Lou Swerda as first a lamp lighter on a world that spins so fast that day and night switch every minute and then as a king with a distinctly low opinion of his own powers. Eric Synnestvbedt has his charming moments as the pilot. At the performance we attended Boris Kiselev was delightful as the Little Prince. Marshall Swing takes that role at other times.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
 

Reviewed September 15

Classika’s small theater works well for this production, giving an "up close and personal" feel to the evening. The set suffers a bit from the absurdist touches but the lighting, sound and costume design all work together to create a feeling of 1930’s society chic.