Horizons Theatre - ARCHIVE
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November 3 - 29, 2006
Bulletins from
Fatland
Reviewed by
Brad Hathaway |
Running time 1:20 - no
intermission
A solo show of vignettes on women's body-image |
Caren Anton performs this series of vignettes as one of four solo-shows in
Horizons' repertory Still Going Solo being
performed at the Warehouse on 7th Street NW. The script is less a play than
it is a collection short single-character scenes on a single topic, the struggle
a series of characters have over their body image - in a word "fat." The
characters are as different as a sumo wrestler, an African American pastor,
an East London housewife, and a Big Easy waitress. Anton manages to make
each a separate entity and to make the audience glad to have made the
acquaintance of each of these women, if only for a few minutes. With only
eighty minutes to work with, Anton moves through about ten different
characters swiftly.
Storyline: Women from many different walks of life have one thing in
common, a belief that they weigh more than they should. Each has a different
solution to her "problem."
Written
by Silver Spring writer and Tulane University graduate (she says New Orleans
is her "country of origin") Shelley Herman Gillon, this collection of
monologues is bright, insightful and only slightly self indulgent. It shows
signs of having been honed nicely so that excesses that might have been in
earlier drafts have been excised, leaving just the sharpest of material. For
example, the take-off on television's "Sister Wendy," the nun who lectures
on art, could have gone on interminably given the wealth of targets for
humor in the thousands of years that women's forms have been represented in
"fine art." Gillon's creation confines herself to just a few prime examples,
most notably the lush rotundity of Botticelli's "The Birth of Venus." The
restraint saves the humor.
No solo show can be better than the performer
on stage. This is not a limiting factor here. Caren Anton imbues
each character with an individual personality, she manages to make each
likeable in a different way. She not only finds a unique vocal pattern for
each character, she also adopts an individual posture for each. The key to
the success of the evening, however, is that each of her creations is held up for
examination, but not held up to ridicule. Even the mother teaching her
daughter how to vomit to avoid "corpulence" is not completely without redeeming values.
Each of the characters are given a specific
item - either prop or apparel - to set her off from the others. Those items
are hanging on the back wall of the small stage, along with eight framed
costume sketches that might have represented a challenge to a costume
designer because of the body shape of the actress involved.
Written by Shelley Herman Gillon. Directed by
George Grant. Design: Valerie St. Pierre Smith (costumes and visuals) Maja
E. White (lights) David Lamont Wilson (sound) J. Paul R. Ring (stage
manager). Cast: Caren Anton.
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March 18 - April 11,
2004
Unspoken Prayers |
Reviewed March 20
Running time 1 hour 30 minutes |
This is another in the line of handsome, well mounted and well performed
plays that Horizons has produced in part because of a fascination with the
issues being raised. As with others, this show is the subject of post-show
discussions after each of the performances. These discussions feature guests
with solid credentials in the field involved. For this show, with its focus
on victims rights and capital punishment, the guest's credentials range from
the ACLU to Amnesty International and from a defense attorney to a
prosecutor. The discussions may well be fascinating and useful, but the
concentration on even the most controversial of issues reduces what would
otherwise be an evening of theater to a preparation for a discussion almost
as if the play itself was a homework assignment required for a class
project.
Storyline: The lives of a happy upper middle
class couple are shattered by the abduction, rape and murder of their
youngest daughter by a teenager. While they may grow closer as they support
each other through the initial strains of the tragedy, their bonds are
stressed by a possible difference of opinion over the appropriate punishment
for the young perpetrator.
Allen's script focuses tightly on the issues
of capital punishment, victims' rights, and the relationship of justice and
revenge. She creates highly likeable characters for the parents and their
children while the perpetrator who may be put to death is never introduced.
His fate is a matter of intellectual interest while the members of the
victimized family become real-life people caught in a terrible situation.
While the daughter's death takes place early in the play, her spirit remains
a presence in the household and she has a number of posthumous scenes which
give her character even more emotional impact, especially scenes played with
her surviving older sister.
As is often the case, Caren Anton is a
delight to watch as she takes the part of the mother through the widest
range of emotions from the positives of motherly pride/pleasure and marital
affection/partnership to the depths of despair and pain. She is well matched
with Stephen Partick Martin as the father, although Martin is called upon by
the script to be somewhat less sympathetic and even has to don clown makeup
and a multi-hued fright wig in a metaphorical touch that falls a bit flat.
Fine supporting performances from Sarah Fischer and Karen Novack as the
daughters complete the family picture. Cody Jones and Ricardo Frederick
Evans play multiple parts, some of which are merely mechanical but each has
one fine opportunity with a role that has a single strong scene - Jones as
the mother of a condemned inmate, Evans as that inmate - and each takes full
advantage of the opportunity.
The Hand Chapel is a challenging space for a
production but it rewards a good design with a striking setting almost as a
museum installation. There is no proscenium, no stage and no enclosed
theater space. Instead, there are pews on risers, a white and blond wood
architecture and a gigantic window into the woods beyond which headlights
are occasionally visible. Carl Gudenius and Maja White have designed a set
using this ambiance well. It is composed primarily of diaphanous white
curtain walls backing a playing space with white furniture. The episodic
nature of the play requires black outs which can't be totally dark in this
setting so they turn that challenge into a virtue by using blue lights
behind the curtains to emphasize the theatricality of the presentation.
Written by Claudia Allen. Directed by Leslie
Jacobson and Vanessa Thomas. Design: Carl Gudenius and Maja White (set)
William Pucilowsky (costumes) Roy Barber (music) Maya Robinson (sound)
Christopher O. Banks (photography) Maggie Contreras and Jennifer Leeson
(stage managers). Cast: Caren Anton, Ricardo Frederick Evans, Sara
Fischer, Cody Jones, Stephen Patrick Martin, Karen Novak.
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June 5 – 29, 2003
Count Basil |
Reviewed June 7
Running time 2 hours 30 minutes
Performed at Theatre on the Run |
Once upon a time, 205 years ago to be precise, a Scottish poet and
playwright living in England began a series of plays to explore human
passions - one play for each identifiable passion. The first two, covering
the passions of love and of hatred, drew considerable attention at the time
but only one, the play about hatred, was actually produced on a stage. Since
copyright and licensing aren’t involved, if they ever were, there is no real
way to determine if anyone ever did stage the “tragedy on love,” but as far
as anyone can tell, this production at Arlington’s Theatre on the Run is a
two-century delayed world premiere. Adding to the intrigue is the fact that
it is being produced by Horizons Theatre -- a company specializing in
theater “from a woman’s perspective.” That fits, for the Scottish poet who
wrote Count Basil was one Joanna Baillie.
Storyline: Count Basil is at the head of a company of the army of
Austria/Hungary supporting the Italian side in her war with France. His unit
is defending Mantua where he falls in love with the Duke of Mantua’s
daughter, a flighty beauty who would rather he stay at the court than lead
his men in battle. Despite the best efforts of her aunt and of his cousin to
keep them apart, their infatuation results in his delaying military action
which would have earned him and his men distinction. Instead, in the wake of
victory for their side, he is disgraced and the consequences of his fall are
fatal.
This
product of the very late eighteenth century is as fascinating for its
theatrical values as for its place in history, and Horizons gives it a
thoroughly professional, highly satisfying premiere with a very good cast
and a simple but effective scenic design augmented by sumptuous costumes.
The text is heavy going for a while as the modern ear adjusts to the flowery
verse, and structurally the plotting is plodding but, once you enter into
the spirit of the thing, there are riches to be savored.
The
cast features several performers with strong credentials in classical
theater. The Basil of the title is Eric Schoen, whose credits include work
at The Shakespeare Theatre and the Washington Shakespeare Company, which may
explain his ability to deliver verse intelligibly, drawing meaning as well
as meter out of the text. His love is Jessica Cerullo, known to Potomac
Region audiences for her work at Stanislavsky Studio Theater as well as the
Folger. She makes a very believable statuesque beauty to distract this
military man. Strongest among the supporting cast is Colby Codding, a
founding member of Shenandoah Shakespeare who has been working more in this
area recently. His facial expressions supplement his verbal delivery so well
that the text isn’t the only clue to the emotion of a scene. Frequent
Horizon cast member Caren Anton adds another quality performance to her
record.
Horizons’ designers do a better job than some at coping with the challenges
of this fairly new black box theater. By creating a rear wall of
sound-absorbing panels covered in sumptuous cloth and leaving the side
curtains unblocked, the echoey space is tamed so that the dialogue,
difficult enough to follow at times because of its verse structure, can be
understood. The look is elegantly simple, especially under Carl Gudenius’
shadowy lighting scheme that feels appropriate for the period.
Unfortunately, John Ward’s music is piped into the hall on a totally
inadequate sound system. That system is also used for a key sequence in the
second act for crowd noise and even pre-recorded dialogue and it sounds so
tinny as to nearly destroy the scene. The final sound effect of the show,
one that should be highly dramatic, only draws attention once again to the
inadequate system.
Written by Joanna
Baillie. Directed by Leslie Jacobson. Fight and movement choreography by
Karin Abromaitis. Music by John Ward. Design: Betty Beuck Derbyshire (set)
William Pucilowsky (costumes) Carl F. Gudenius (lights) Maya Robinson
(sound) Andrew Linden (photography). Cast: Caren Anton, Catherine Aselford,
Leigh-Erin Balmer, Cate Brewer, Jessica Cerullo, Colby Codding, Eric Schoen,
Armand Sindoni. |
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March 6 – 30, 2003
That Takes Ovaries |
Reviewed March 9
Running time 1 hour 55 minutes |
A collection of vignettes builds to a satisfying whole as a cast of six
women and one man bring a series of incidents to life in which women took a
stand on an issue ranging from the seemingly trivial to the truly
momentous.
Storyline: Based on Rivka Solomon’s book that presented 64 stories of women
standing up for whatever seemed important to them in a world that seemed to
expect subservience, the stage adaptation develops seventeen stories into
scenes of women fulfilling dreams, defending themselves, helping their
fellow women, taking politically unpopular positions or pursuing unusual
goals.
Using
a stage technique that is reminiscent of street theatre in the 60s with
minimal sets, colorful outfits, a strumming guitar accompanying a folk-ish
framing song (“Climbing Free”) and a fluid interchanging of cast members
into ensembles of two, three or more characters, co-directors Vanessa Thomas
and Leslie Jacobson keep the focus right where it should be – on the
stories.
There
are vignettes dealing with the response to being groped, fighting
stereotyping and resisting conformity in such things as shaving legs. There
are moving segments on a woman who had to leave children behind while
entering the United States illegally in order to afford to support them, and
another woman who exposed child prostitution in India. There’s one of a
woman pursuing sky diving and another about a woman starting up the first
sex toy shop catering to women. There’s even a top ten list breast cancer
victims compiled of reasons to remove both breasts. What they all have in
common is that the central character makes up her mind to take a stand and
take it she does.
Just
as the women involved range in age from very young to very old, the cast of
women range in age over a span of four decades. Along with Oran Sandel (the
lone man), each brings something different to the mix, but they all share a
fresh energy that makes the evening both interesting and enjoyable.
Written by Rivka Solomon, Vanessa Thomas and Leslie Jacobson based on Rivka
Solomon’s book. Directed by Vanessa Thomas and Leslie Jacobson. Original
songs by Roy Barber, Terri Allen and Todd Hahn. Design: Betty Derbyshire
(set) Kate Turner-Walker (costumes) Karin Abromaitis (movement) Laura Jean
Wickman (lights) Maya Robinson (sound) Andrew Linden (photography) Taryn
Colberg (stage manager). Cast: Karen Abromaitis, Toni Rae Brotons, Nancy
LeRoy, Janice Menifee, Oran Sandel, Colette Williams, Miyuki Williams.
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October 3 - 26 , 2002
Losing Lawrence |
Reviewed October 6
Running time 1 hour 45 minutes
Playing at Theatre on the Run |
Somewhere between a "dark comedy" and a "quirky drama," this world premiere
captures the imagination from its very first scene and holds on to it
through two very well structured short acts. The choice of subject matter,
casting and physical production combine to intrigue the audience and
probably stimulates a number of post-theater discussions.Storyline:
The widow of "Lady Chatterley’s Lover" author D. H. Lawrence, brings his
ashes home to New Mexico only to be confronted by two of her friends who had
been Lawrence’s lovers. They have different ideas as to how his ashes should
be set to rest. A reporter intrudes in an effort to get a story and he gets
much more than he expected.
Playwright Dorothy Neumann takes this play where she says her research
took her . . . beyond what is known of D.H. Lawrence’s life and into the
dark secrets hinted at in the material she uncovered. She was searching for
answers to the question of just why three ladies fought over the novelist’s
remains. While she may have been trying to make Lawrence’s character an
issue in the play, the play actually concerns the characters of the three
ladies. What did their relationship with the novelist mean to each of them
and how did they see him?
What could have been a deadly serious tome on the subject of a dead man
of letters turns out to be a lively evening with surprising plot twists,
interesting sidelights and some marvelously witty dialogue. Rosemary Regan,
as one of Lawrence’s former lovers, manages to sneak a line like "he’d be
turning in his grave . . . if he had one" with a very straight face into a
discussion of what to do with Lawrence’s ashes. Brilane Bowman is
particularly impressive as Lawrence’s widow, a woman well past the bloom of
youth but with an innate sense of self worth and a desire to turn every
event to her advantage.
Director Dorothy Neumann paces the play well, with a sense of escalation
as Arthur Rosenberg, in the role of the reporter, smells a great story and
digs unrelentingly for the truth that the trio of ladies may not want made
public. This one-room play takes place in one of the better rooms
constructed in the relatively new Theatre on the Run. Carl Gudenius’s set
gets the audience contemplating the world of the play before the lights go
down. It is filled with telling little details and lends itself well to the
staging of this intimate play in the confines of this small theater.
Written by Donna Gerdin. Directed by Dorothy Neumann. Design: Carl
Gudenius (set) William Pucilowsky (costumes). Maja White (lights) Maya
Robinson (sound). Cast: Brilane Bowman, Katrina Van Duyn, Rosemary Regan,
Arthur Rosenberg. |
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April 4 – 28, 2002
In Good Company: Sexual Icons |
Reviewed April 4
Running time 1 hour 30 minutes
Performed at the Hand Chapel on GWU’s
Mount Vernon Campus |
Horizons’ director Leslie Jacobson has mounted a series of In Good Company
evenings over the years. She has gathered actresses who adopt the persona of
women of the past with historical import. Using extensive research into each
character, each actress contributes her character’s input into creating a
discussion uniting, for example, Dinah Shore and Fanny Brice with Gertrude
Stein and Emma Goldman for an examination of the impact of Jewish women on
the arts. There have been evenings devoted to women of power and women of
literature. Now, in a slightly different format bringing in contemporary
characters as well, she looks at "Sexual Icons."Storyline: Four modern
women (a café owner, a doctor, a lawyer and a dancer) have an evening’s
encounter with three famous women of the past – Josephine Baker, Marlene
Dietrich and Mae West. With discussion and performances of some of the
time-slipped trio’s famous songs, they shed light on some key questions.
Have they come a long way in the 60 years between their eras or not? Who is
living in the better time and who is doing the best with the opportunities
they have? What has the new generation done with the legacy left to them by
these trend-setting/barrier-busting women?
This intersection of fact-based fantasy and more traditional character
creation has produced another interesting evening of theater. Jacobsen and
her co-conceiver and co-director Vanessa Thomas introduce the modern-day
characters first which lets the audience get to know each as an individual.
There’s the confident but still searching café owner played by Colette
Williams who gets a chance to belt a song at the end and does so in a manner
that makes one wonder why she didn’t get to sing earlier. There is the
doctor in hospital scrubs with her pager, so confident and in control. There
is the up-tight lawyer played by the production’s dramaturg Cate Brewer and
the youthful dance student. Together they constitute a view of young
womanhood in upper middle class America at the start of the millennium. This
is a slanted cross section as it ignores everything from young mothers to
minimum-wage dead-enders, but the slice of the generation it captures, it
captures with telling details.
Then, to the crash of thunder and flash of lightning, the quartet is
joined by the trio from the past. Camile McCurty Ali is strikingly slender
and elegant as Jospehine Baker, moving with the feline grace and controlled
sexuality of the famous dancer. Sally Martin stands tall with shoulders back
and assuming control in the black pants and suit jacket over black silk with
a silk top hat that Marlene Dietrich is so proud to have introduced to
acceptable society. Terri Allen sashays about in red sparkling gown,
flashing diamond & ruby jewelry and black boa of Mae West’s "Diamond Lil"
from the later days of her first film career - the time of her work with W.
C. Fields on "My Little Chickadee." Each gets a chance to discourse on what
it was like to be a leading-edge "sexual icon" of the early 1940s while
performing a song or two that capture their unique personas. They spar with
the moderns in a discussion that leaves to the audience the task of reaching
a conclusion on the issues raised.
The Hand Chapel where the show is presented is an interesting space for
an intimate presentation. With Daniel Sticco at the piano off to the side
providing both solid support for the songs and some intriguing underscoring,
the set consists of a round bed which revolves to create a small stage for
performance of some of the songs. It’s simplicity is a match for the room
itself, a modern architectural piece of white panels, blond woods and
windows. It reverberates to an intriguing soundscape by Maya Robinson that
ranges from natural thunder to an artificial thunder created out of all the
sounds of modern life – radio, traffic, sirens, cell-phone ringers.
Conceived and Directed by Leslie Jacobson and Vanessa Thomas. Musical
design and direction by Daniel Sticco. Design: Barbara Brennan (set) William
Pucilowsky (costumes) Carl Gudenius and Maja E. White (lights) Maya Robinson
(sound). Cast: Terri Allen, Camile McCurty Ali, Sally Martin, Colette
Williams, Iwanka Swenson, Cate Brewer, Mary C. Davies. |
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