Running time 2:15 - one intermission
A new bright comedy with Sarah Marshall in a series of vignettes

Storyline: Friends who have formed a neighborhood club to read and discuss novels are being filmed for a documentary. As they respond to interview questions and as their meetings are filmed, more is revealed about their quirks and proclivities than they may have expected. Through it all, we see the interviews of outsiders the filmmakers collect to provide context for their portrait of the club - authors, agents, book buyers, critics.

Zacarías' conceit of having the "club" being filmed for a documentary creates many opportunities for short snippets interspersed throughout the central story and also a way to cut from scene to scene in quick succession. It is a useful technique and Olcott uses it well to pace the performance and keep the progression of the story clear to the audience. It also gives JJ Kaczynski the chance to create projections that give the audience information on just what is going on. The members of this book club are a strange lot. From the control freak who founded the club to her non-literary husband, and from the insecure co-founder to the latest editions to the group, they are all endowed with traits that need to be hinted at rather than emphasized.

Olcott has selected Lise Bruneau to lead the group and she magnifies every one of the character's many peculiarities. Sasha Olinick punches up the lack of confidence of her co-founder. Jason Paul Field and Connan Morrissey are a bit smoother in their renditions of the founder's husband and a charter member of the group. The most restrained, and therefore most effective performance of the club members is given by Erika Rose as a newcomer through whose eyes we see some of the peculiarities of the group's behavior. Matthew Detmer, who was so marvelously peculiar as the title character in last season's A Prayer for Owen Meany, brings some of that quirkiness to his role here as an outsider invited into the inner sanctum of strangeness. Sarah Marshall's uniquely quirky stage persona and her ability to throw away a line in just the right way to make sure you get its import is well displayed in her series of eight "interviewees." She's funniest as the book buyer for the Wall Mart chain, but her literary agent and her college co-ed are pretty sharp as well.

James Kronzer has provided a set that is distinctive as a single locale and serves the projection-intensive play very effectively. The rear wall is a geometric pattern of beams against a white wall that feels like a contemporary version of a Tudor-style or even Elizabethan exterior - Shakespeare's Globe as interpreted by Saul Bass perhaps? The living room setting is on a platform raised and just a bit upstage, allowing a large amount of space downstage and to the sides to accommodate Marshall's vignettes in a space separate from the book club's meeting area. All in all, it is a handsome production.

Written by Karen Zacarías. Directed by Nick Olcott. Design: James Kronzer (set) Rosemary Pardee (costumes) JJ Kaczynski (projections) Colin K. Bills (lights) Matthew M. Nielson (sound) Danisha Crosby (photography) Jennifer Schwartz (stage manager). Cast: Lise Bruneau, Matthew Detmer, Jason Paul Field, Sarah Marshall, Connan Morrissey, Sasha Olinick, Erika Rose.

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Running time 2:10 - one intermission
The plot of the pirate adventure novel enacted on stage
Click here to buy the novel

Storyline: Young Jim Hawkins, a boy in 18th Century London, gets caught up on a struggle over a map showing the location of pirate treasure on a Caribbean island. He signs aboard as a cabin boy on a voyage to find the treasure and is befriended by a one-legged pirate (Long John Silver be his name) who turns out to be the leader of a mutinous band of cutthroats. On the island, he discovers the long-marooned and slightly demented former-pirate Ben Gunn and together they foil the plot of the mutineers.

The adaptation is by Ken Ludwig, the same Ken Ludwig who gave us original works such as Lend Me A Tenor, Leading Ladies and Shakespeare in Hollywood and adaptations of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, The Three Musketeers and the completion of The Beaux' Stratagem. He's an expert at stage exposition, so it could be expected that he could deliver this convoluted plot in a minimum of stage time, freeing up precious minutes for spectacle and character. In Robison's staging, however, those minutes seem squandered. The program lists the fight director (Richard R. Ryan) before the set designer (Jeff Modereger) which might lead you to expect massed combat scenes with exciting sword play. But the small cast provides insufficient numbers of combatants (eleven performers handle twenty-eight named roles) and the sword play is perfunctory except when Mark Mineart as Long John Silver wields his mighty saber.

Mineart's Long John Silver is as vibrant and personable as you could want as he throws his weight around with grace on one leg and a crutch and spouts his lines with a guttural semi-British accent that is somewhere between those of great movie Silvers Wallace Beery and Robert Newton. Marybeth Fritsky, in a touch reminiscent of Peter Pan and other "pants roles" where young boys are played by actresses, is young Jim Hawkins. The clarity of her performance is key for she (he) is the narrator of the piece and every word spoken is important to following the story. There are a host of fine supporting performances as well but the amount of doubling gets to be a distraction. Michael Tolaydo is fine as Jim's Father but not five minutes later he's back on stage being wonderful as the blind man Pew. A few minutes later he's just one of the pirates with Robison blocking the pirate scenes so as to hide him in the "crowd" of less than half a dozen. The most distracting aspect of the doubling is Tuyet Thi Pham, a very petite and feminine actress, who plays Jim's Mother and a widow. She  also plays the female pirate Anne Bonny without any explanation provided to explain that there really was a lady pirate by that name who was almost as famous as the Irish Grace (or Grania) O'Malley whose story was told in the recent Broadway flop The Pirate Queen.

The finest feature of Modereger's set is the floor, a compass painted on a rotating turntable. It is backed by simple wooden slats on either side of the stage. There is a big black void in the middle which is never really put to good use. At one point a sheet is raised in that space as a sail and at another more slats form a back wall. But there's no indication of scudding clouds and storms in the English port nor of blue sky in the Caribbean. Matthew M. Nielson provides a soundscape that is impressive at times, especially with the storm sounds that fill the theater before the show begins. But his movie score style background music is performed by electronic keyboard rather than recorded orchestra, and, as a result, sounds thin when lush sounds seem called for. (After all, how good would the work of Korngold, Steiner or Waxman sound without a studio orchestra?) At the other end of the spectrum, Rosemary Pardee has provided thoroughly satisfying costumes for English gentlemen and pirates alike.

Written by Ken Ludwig. Based on the novel by Robert Louis Stevenson. Directed by Blake Robison. Fight direction by Richard R. Ryan. Design: Jeff Modereger (set) Rosemary Pardee (costumes) Kenton Yeager (lights) Matthew M. Nielson (sound and music)  Danisha Crosby (photography)  Cary Louise Gillett (stage manager). Cast: Jeff Allin, Ethan T. Bowen, Marybeth Fritzky, Mitchell Hébert, Mark Mineart, Tony Nam, Tuyet Thi Pham, Stephen F. Schmidt, Michael Tolaydo, Jonathan Watkins, Michael Anthony Williams.

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October 17 - November 11, 2007
redshirts
Reviewed by Brad Hathaway

Running time 2:20 - one intermission
t A Potomac Stages Pick for a thought-provoking and entertaining new play
Performances at the Silver Spring facility

Storyline: Four players of the (fictional) Tennessee Southern University football team turn in English papers with disturbing similarities which convince their professor that they are the product of prohibited copying and collaboration, a violation of the university's academic standards and ethics regulations. They maintain their innocence, citing the fact that each was assisted by the same school-provided tutor which could account for the similarities.  Their coach is caught between his desire to win games, his loyalty to his players and his stated determination to support the academic mission of the college.

Lou Bellamy of the Penumbra Theatre Company of St. Paul, Minnesota directs with a sure hand on a colorful set featuring artificial turf with yard markers for a floor and a projection screen at the rear to display football video and images that change place fluidly. This is a joint production with Bellamy's company and most of the cast comes from the roster of regulars at his thirty-year old institution that specializes in giving black artists a theater in which to excel. While issues of race are involved in Yeaton's play, he avoids the stereotypes that can kill a story such as the one he's telling. The four athletes are different from one another, each with distinct strengths and weaknesses. James T. Alfred gives a high powered performance as a motivated manipulator who blends hip-hop street slang with Muhammad Ali-like protestations of greatness. He is a player who works every angle to get an advantage. (When test results show he is not suffering from Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder, he asks if he can get special accommodation by claiming to be retarded.) Will Sallee reveals the deep longing for acceptance, especially the acceptance of his family, as a motivating factor for his hard working if only moderately skilled running back. He's the only white player in the otherwise all black backfield, which Alfred's character explains by saying "We needed some diversity". Ahanti Young's performance avoids the trap of the "dumb jock" image with an emphasis on strength of will, and Cedric Mayes, who was so very impressive at Theater Alliance as both the schizophrenic patient in Blue/Orange and the time-traveling history student in Insurrection: Holding History, is solid again as an athlete who really does have the intellectual power to succeed academically, even if he doesn't know it.

The rest of the cast also have distinctive personalities to portray, although they are a bit less humanly complex. Kimberly Gilbert gives a seductively light touch to the young tutor with a flair for flippantry. Kimberly Schraf matches that light touch in her exchanges with Alfred's ADHD test taking athlete while showing a highly believable limit to her willingness to put up with his attempted manipulation of a system of which she is such a part. Regina Marie Williams gives a ramrod strength to the English professor who detects indications of academic fraud. She does a fine job with the material but it is here that Yeaton's script begins to falter a bit when the evidence seems so very conclusive in her recitation. Her opposite, the coach with many motives, is played by James Craven with a bit too much swagger, but he makes a number of scenes work well including his confrontations with the English professor and with the tutor.

A note about the title: In some of the literature on the play, the title is rendered as redshirts. In others, it is REDSHIRTS. In still others, it is Redhshirts. We've retained the all-lower-case version of the first notice we received, but more than the capitalization is questionable here. In a collegiate league that limits students to only four years of playing on a team, the term "redshirt" refers to the practice of placing an athlete on a roster of players who practice with the team but won't play in games during a season, thus saving one year of eligibility for later. It is a practice that is only briefly mentioned in the play and has no relevance to the events portrayed. Yet, given the prominence of the title, you keep waiting to find out just what redshirting has to do with anything. It is an unnecessary distraction.

Written by Dana Yeaton. Directed by Lou Bellamy. Design: Lance Brockman (set) Matthew J. LeFebvre (costumes) Michelle Habeck (lights) Martin Gwinup (sound and video) Ann Marsden (photography) Martha Chaprnka (stage manager). Cast: James T. Alfred, James Craven, Kimberly Gilbert, Cedric Mays, Will Sallee, Kimberly Schraf, Regina Marie Williams, Ahanti Young.

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Running time 2:20 - one intermission
t A Potomac Stages Pick for superb performances in an emotionally involving, life-affirming story 
Click here to buy the script
Click here to buy the novel

Storyline: In a small Louisiana town in 1948, the godmother of a poor black young man condemned to die for the murder of a white man asks a black school teacher to help him. The help she seeks, however, isn't to try to overturn the verdict or fight the death penalty. She simply wants him to help the young man face his execution with the dignity of a man.

As you might expect from the author of The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman, the story offers no simple choices, no quick solutions and no scapegoats. There is bigotry and hatred underlying the worldview of characters white and black, but there are no cartoon stereotypes here. In the condemned young man there is great strength and an underlying dignity, but he is very human with a temper held on a tight leash by cruel confinement, not just in a jail cell and ultimately to an electric chair, but all through life, to a station and a role in the world so far below his capacities. Alternatively, the part of the teacher could become so saintly it would negate the lessons of humanity and acceptance, but Gaines and Linney wrote about a three dimensional man.

Taylor's portrayal of the scared and confused young man who gains dignity and humanity over the course of the evening is well paced, never seeming to skip a step in his conversion. KenYatta Rogers has something of the opposite track as his character gets tested by the demands of events and his human weaknesses are exposed gradually. His is a satisfyingly complex performance with an under-girding of impressive emotional strength. Cosham keeps the character of the condemned man's godmother from becoming either a stereotype or a mere plot device, bringing an iron will and honest dignity to the role. Add to this the impressive work of Doug Brown as the minister who initially begrudges the time not spent teaching Biblical lessons, Jeremy J. Brown as the sheriff's deputy who comes to know the prisoner as a person and Lawrence Redmond as the no-nonsense sheriff who bends just a bit before the force of Cosham's will, and you have an ensemble of note. Rachel Leslie adds to the mix with her portrayal of the teacher's love interest, a woman with strong views of her own.

Two questionable choices divert attention from the central story at odd moments. One is the decision to have Taylor underneath a table as if confined in his cell. The audience spends a few precious minutes trying to figure out why he makes his initial entrance from under a tarp under a table where he's been all along. Later, a discussion of the view of a tree outside the one and only window that the prisoner can see is staged facing a window too high on the wall to admit a view of anything but sky ... and, in fact, Tony Cisek has not placed a tree outside that window on his dramatically impressive set. Both of these digressions, as unnecessary as they are, are minor and fleeting diversions from a compelling and rightly troubling evening.

Written by Romulus Linney based on the novel by Ernest J. Gaines. Directed by Timothy Douglas. Design: Tony Cisek (set) Bill Black (costumes) Dan Covey (lights) Jonathan R. Herter (sound) Danisha Crosby (photography) Cary Louise Gillett (stage manager). Cast: Doug Brown, Jeremy J. Brown, Beverly A. Cosham, Rachel Leslie, Lawrence Redmond, KenYatta Rogers, Shane Taylor.

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Running time 2:05 - one intermission
t A Potomac Stages Pick for a charming coming of age musical
Click here to read our review of the recording
Click here to buy the CD
Click here to buy the movie 

Storyline: A sentimental but humor filled tale of adolescent sexual awakening for a fifteen year old boy spending the Summer of 1942 on a vacation island off the coast of Maine. The peer pressure from his friends contrasts with the attraction and affection he develops for an "older woman," a newlywed whose husband has shipped off to fight World War II.

The script for the musical is the work of Hunter Foster, best known as the star of both Urinetown and Little Shop of Horrors on Broadway (and brother of Thoroughly Modern Millie and Drowsy Chaperone star Sutton Foster). He and composer, lyricist David Kirshenbaum weave the score into the story with smooth transitions and recurring themes. Many of the stronger songs, like "Someone To Dance With Me," are delivered together with spoken dialogue with the song being sung early on and then reprised, all within the same scene. Other songs, such as "The Walk" and "The Movie" are essentially musicalized scenes which work well precisely because of the combination of rhythm and pace of patter matched to a satisfying melodic line. There is a charm duet, "Like They Used To," that will bring a smile to your face, and 1940s' swing pieces including a jitterbug. Internal monologues act as soliloquies: "I Think I Like Her" for Hermie and the beautiful "Promise of Morning" which Snow makes touching.

The slowly emerging bond between Hermie and Dorothy is not the only relationship that drives the show. The friendship between Hermie and his two buddies provides a good deal of comedy as well. Since they are 15 year old boys, that comedy is pretty juvenile stuff, but it works to establish the level of innocence on which the story is based. Michael Vitaly Szonov is very good as the randy teen who reduces a textbook on sex into twelve easy steps that can be kept on a cheat sheet when on a date. The comedy number "Unfinished Business" has a fine sense of youthful energy and there's a funny bit when Hermie tries to buy rubbers from the town druggist, played with a droll wink by Christopher Block. Jennifer Timberlake, Katherine Ross Wolfe and Meghan Touey blend nicely as the girls the boys date and as a narrating/commenting trio a la the Andrews Sisters. Will Gartshore is sorely underutilized as Snow's husband who departs for the war about ten minutes into the show. But before he goes, he gets to join Snow on the lovely "Little Did I Dream."

The idealized world of the summer getaway island is beautifully realized in James Kronzer's set which recalls his Helen Hayes Award winning set on this same stage for The Drawer Boy in 2003. Then it was the wheat fields of Canada that were so warmly recreated. Here it is sand and sky and a nifty peel-open structure of a shingled beach house that Dorothy and her new husband had rented for the season. The surf is left to the suggestion of Matthew M. Nielson's sound design and he, to his credit, avoids overdoing the sound effect, providing just a hint of wave and wind. The time is evoked most effectively in Rosemary Pardee's period costumes which look appropriately like they just came out of a photo spread in Life. She's at her best with the outfits for the constantly changing trio of girls, ranging from beachwear that pre-dates the invention of the bikini to Rosie the Riveter's blue overalls and red polka dot bandanas. A six-member orchestra plays the accompaniment from off stage, requiring an amplified approach to the sound for the entire show. Nielson's system handles the task without becoming too artificially intrusive.

Music and lyrics by David Kirshenbaum. Book by Hunter Foster based on the novel and screenplay by Herman Raucher. Directed by Meredith McDonough. Music direction by Christopher Youstra. Choreographed by Ilona Kessell. Design: James Kronzer (set) Rosemary Pardee (costumes) Michelle Elwyn (properties) Daniel MacLean Wagner (lights) Matthew M. Nielson (sound) Stan Barouh (photography) Shari Silberglitt (stage manager). Cast: Christopher Block, Will Gartshore, David McLellan, Ryan Nealy, Michael Vitaly Sazonov, Nancy Snow, Jennifer Timberlake, Meghan Touey, Katherine Ross Wolfe,

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Running time 1:10 - no intermission
A solo performance piece based on the life
 of Elia Kazan
Performed at the Silver Spring facility
Click here to buy Kazan's autobiography

Storyline: Alone in a chair, famed theater and film director Elia Kazan recalls his career and the pressures that led him to testify before the House Committee on Un-American Activities, admitting his own brief membership in the communist party in his youth and giving the names of other members of the theater and movie communities who were members with him.

For the record, Elia Kazan was one of the most successful directors of dramas on stage and film in the middle of the twentieth century. He won the Tony Award for Best Director of a Play three times (All My Sons, Death of a Salesman, J.B.) and directed Tennessee Williams' biggest hits, A Streetcar Named Desire and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. He won the Oscar for Best Director twice (Gentleman's Agreement, On The Waterfront). His films included East of Eden, Baby Doll, Splendor in the Grass and A Face In The Crowd.

Kobylinski provides a script that surveys Kazan's own view of his life and work. From what she puts in his mouth, it is hard to see what made him a great director - that seems to be a given. What she does make clear, however, is the intensity of the pressure he felt when the Congressional investigators demanded names. Of course, Kazan was not the only famous Hollywood or Broadway personality to be faced with that pressure. It would be interesting to know what, if anything, was different about his experience before the committee and just why the result was so different. Some, like Bud Shulberg and Larry Parks, gave testimony and named names. Others, like the famous "Hollywood Ten," did not. Why Kazan was one who named names and not one who refused remains unexplored.

Physically, the production makes a striking visual virtue out of the sheer size of the the Silver Spring facility. Foucheux/Kazan is isolated in a small chair on a small, low platform in the center of a large dark space. Lit dramatically from the side, shadows loom on the side walls. Foucheux fairly whispers the early lines of the play, forcing the audience to pay close attention. Indeed, he uses the power of softness to draw the audience into the performance time and time again as bombast succumbs to introspection. This dynamic range provides variation when the script does not. It keeps the piece moving even when it might bog down in biographical background - titles of plays and films, names of actors and actresses, times and places of meetings. But there comes a time when tricks of technique can't keep the piece going. Once the names have been named, there doesn't seem to be much left to say.

Written and directed by Leslie A. Kobylinski. Design: Grant Kevin Lane (set) Justin Thomas (lights) Steve McWilliams (music) Matthew M. Nielson (sound) Danisha Crosby (photography)  Maribeth Chaprnka (stage manager). Cast: Rick Foucheux.

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Running time 1:35 - no intermission
t A Potomac Stages Pick for three superb performances in a striking production
Performed in Bethesda
Click here to buy the book

Storyline: In St. Petersburg in 1866 a poor young man, enraged over the paltry sum he is offered for his watch, kills the pawnbroker. Fyodor Dostoyevsky's novel follows the young man's descent into insanity under the twin pressures of guilt and fear of discovery.

It took Dostoyevsky over five hundred pages to tell the story of the descent into insanity of Russian peasant Raskolnikov, whom so many students have struggled to understand, as detail after detail of his story is revealed. There have been efforts to dramatize the novel before, but none quite so successful. Perhaps that is because each movie, television mini-series and play seemed to try to do too much and took too long doing it. Here, in just over ninety brisk minutes, the essence of the piece is presented in stark outline with nary a digression from the central story. With one set, three actors and just an hour and a half to work with, the pruning and cutting has been surgical, leaving a fascinating whydunit (as opposed to a whodunit).

Casting is a key to the success of any show, and Robison solved many of his potential production problems the day he hired Aubrey Deeker, Mitchell Hébert and Tonya Beckman Ross. Deeker, one of the best things in Robison's first staged literary work at Round House, Camille, and almost always one of the best things in any show (think Mary's Wedding, The Cripple of Inishmann, Love's Labor's Lost) is the solid pivot around which this entire project revolves, and he's simply fascinating in the role of Raskolnikov. One actor and one actress are all that is required for the rest of the roles. Mitchell Hébert demonstrates again his unsurpassed ability to reveal the inner workings of the mind of his characters, especially in the role of the interrogating police inspector. Tonya Beckman Ross creates sharp distinctions between the roles she plays from bubbly young girl to the aging pawnbroker.

The design team has produced a visually stunning and sonically intriguing presentation. The set consists of a circular platform tilted at an angle backed by a curved dark structure of girders and glass. A single distorted metal chair sits at the center. A ring-like metal structure hovers above it all with lights that not only shine down on the cast, they seem to combine into layers of light both illuminating and obscuring the unfolding story as Raskolnikov's mind approaches insanity. The classical sound of the Bergonzi String Quartet highlights moods and moments with sharp dramatic effect.

Adapted by Marilyn Campbell and Curt Columbus from the novel by Fyodor Dostoyevsky. Music Directed by Blake Robison. Incidental music by the Bergonzi String Quartet. Design: Robin Stapley (set) Bill Black (costumes) Kenton Yeager (lights) Matthew M. Nielson (sound) Stan Barouh (photography) Jennifer Woodham (stage manager). Cast: Aubrey Deeker, Mitchell Hébert, Tonya Beckman Ross.

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Running time 2:25 - one intermission
t A Potomac Stages Pick for a fun back stage battle of egos
Click here to buy the script

Storyline: The legendary talents of Orson Welles and Laurence Olivier are brought together at a crucial time in both of their lives - Welles' having reached what he desperately hopes is the bottom of a long decline, and Olivier at what he hopes is the start of a new series of triumphs as he establishes the National Theatre in London. The force that brings them together is theater critic Kenneth Tynan, who, hoping to impress Olivier sufficiently to win the post of Literary Manager of the new National Theatre, proposes Welles as the director for a new production of Ionesco's Rhinoceros. The two forces of nature clash in the rehearsal hall.

Jerry Whiddon returns to Round House to direct the Potomac Region premiere of this backstage comedy. He does a fine job of controlling the focus as the fast paced events play out. This is never easy with a play of larger-than-life characters, for there must be times when even a towering ego like Welles has to be quietly in the background while fellow towering ego Olivier is having his big moment of creative panic. Whiddon shows his skill at keeping things moving, and, at the same time, keeping things clear. Of course, it helps that he has a well structured text with which to work. Austin Pendleton's script is not only filled with marvelously quotable wit, it has a strong storyline. In this production there is rarely a moment when it isn't exactly clear what is happening. The use of a narrated opening and closing allows the central battle to play out without the necessity of working exposition or resolution into the meatier scenes, and those scenes are the really fun portions of the play.

Whiddon brings two marvelous talents to the Potomac Region to create these two iconic figures. Wilbur Edwin Henry understudied both roles in the play's Off-Broadway run and took the role of Orson Welles at the Alley Theatre in Houston before coming to Round House to repeat it. He stamps about the stage in an oversized performance that is both a great deal of fun and touching at the same time. Here is a colossal ego with a massive intellect acutely aware of his own failure to reach the heights he expected of himself. Anthony Newfield's Olivier is a more tormented soul who fears failure and genuinely wonders if he is deserving of all the success he has had. He's struggling with a sense of guilt as well over his marital complications. Both are fascinating to watch individually and they combine to combust in the heat of the rehearsal process.

This is not a two-person play, however. Will Gartshore does some very good work as the critic, Kenneth Tynan, who brings the two egos together for his own purposes. He has a great number of superbly caustic lines to deliver and he lands zinger after zinger with aplomb. Tynan's emphysema and the cigarettes he continuously puffed complicates Gartshore's tasks but he manages to avoid being a distraction at the wrong moments without seeming to time his coughing spells for maximum dramatic effect. Connan Morrissey and Kathryn Kelley create Olivier's two wives: Joan Plowright who is in the cast of the play they are rehearsing and Vivien Leigh, his former wife who drops in to stir things up a bit. Kelly, as Leigh, has one of the best exit lines to be heard on a local stage this season. Rounding out the cast is a very funny Clinton Brandhagen as the celebrity struck stage hand.

Written by Austin Pendleton. Directed by Jerry Whiddon. Design: Daniel Conway (set) Kathleen Geldard (costumes) Timothy J. Jones (properties) Daniel MacLean Wagner (lights) Matthew M. Nielson (sound) Stan Barouh (photography) Jennifer Woodham (stage manager). Cast: Clinton Brandhagen, Will Gartshore, Wilber Edwin Henry, Kathryn Kelley, Connan Morrissey, Anthony Newfield.

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Running time 1:45 - one intermission
A stage adaptation of Antoine
de Saint-Exupéry's 1943 book
Click here to buy the book

Storyline: A 1930s aviator crashes in the Sahara Desert. As he begins to suffer from dehydration he is visited by a strange young boy who regales him with tales of his own travels through the universe. As the dehydration becomes more severe the aviator comes to believe he is a wild fox but the young prince tames him.

The novel by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry has fascinated children and adults since it was first published in 1943. Its author, a French pilot, had actually once crashed in the Sahara Desert and suffered the hallucinatory effects of dehydration before being rescued after four days without water. The highly fictionalized version of his experience has been adapted for radio, television, live action movies, cartoons, an opera and even a musical by the team that created My Fair Lady and Camelot. It can fascinate creators. Can it fascinate an audience? Sometimes yes. Sometimes no. This time? No.

The charm of the original story carries things along for a while. There's the drawing that most adults see as a hat which is actually a snake that has swallowed an elephant. There's the tale of the prince's home asteroid and the mystery over why he only appears at sunset. Soon, however, the show is overtaken by the tour of the universe - a series of scenes featuring Jen Plants as the King, the Conceited Man, the Business Man, the Lamplighter and then the Geographer - stereotypes held up to momentary ridicule. Plants is fine but can't really bring the series to life. Elaine Yuko Qualter does a bit more with less, playing the Rose in the prince's story of the plant that rivals the beauty of his home asteroid's forty-four sunsets each day.

James Kronzer provides a fairly realistic looking crashed airplane which would take up most of the stage at many theaters, but which leaves a plenty of space available on the large stage at Round House. Just why the plane is tangled up in ropes is never really explained and even creates an unfulfilled expectation that perhaps the ropes will be used for some sort of flying effect. The plane never does move, however. For Jen Plants' tour of the universe, a small stage is dragged on making the tour a series of scenes in its own show-within-a-show. The result is a bit convoluted and even schizophrenic - of course, that might not be inappropriate for a show about ever-increasing hallucination.

Written by Rick Cummins and John Scoullar based on the book by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. Directed by Eric Ting. Design: James Kronzer (set) Kate Turner-Walker (costumes) Michelle Elwyn (properties) Colin K. Bills (lights) Leyna Marika Papach (sound) San Barouh (photography) Che Wernsman (stage manager). Cast: Jamie Klassel, Jen Plants, Elaine Yuko Qualter, Craig Wallace.

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Running time 1:45 – one intermission
An engaging retelling of the horror classic
Performances at the Silver Spring facility
Click here to buy the novel

Storyline: Two men occupy the stage, one a musician with no spoken part, the other a storyteller.  The classic tale of horror is retold from the viewpoint of The Creature, raising questions of right and wrong regarding both creation and creator.

This is the first of three one man shows in the Round House Theatre’s “New Works Solo Series” featuring Silver Spring theater artists. Jon Spelman begins the series with his unique adaptation of the classic Mary Shelley story. Usually the focus of the story is on the trials of Doctor Frankenstein, and while many interpretations of the monster, known only as “The Creature,” have been made, seldom has the story been told so well solely from his point of view. While technically a two man show, with Jesse Terrill in a non-speaking role as a violinist accompanying the storyteller, it is Spelman’s presence on stage that occupies the mind and eye. Indeed, often at the beginning of the show, before its “secrets” are revealed, the musician’s frequent interruptions seem almost superfluous.

The set plays many roles for the retelling. Perhaps the single similarity between the Synetic show and this one is the way that a unique looking set is used for many separate scenes. At the Round House stage, mossy green vegetation hangs from the ceiling, and dramatic lighting sets the mood as the story grows from a simple “Once upon a time” into a visual and mental exercise that considers what is right and wrong in creation, and where our responsibilities lie for that which we create. Spelman employs the available space well in his storytelling, and without giving too much away, the combined effects of the lighting, staging, and a few simple props serve well in enabling the show to achieve its desired effect: to make us think.

Upon entering the Silver Spring theater it becomes apparent that this is not a horror in the classical gore and blood sense. This is a thinking person’s thriller, where the choices made and the responsibilities abandoned serve to create a scene of terror much more affecting than a show that goes merely for surprise or some cheap shock. Nick Olcott’s direction and staging are in collaboration with Spelman’s writing and abilities as a storyteller. It is that pairing that results in a moving performance which leaves one with the question: Who is responsible for the monster’s destructive acts? Frankenstein? The Creature? Or perhaps, society itself.

Written by Mary Shelley. Adapted by Jon Spelman. Directed by Nick Olcott.  Design: Jon Spelman and Nick Olcott (set) Justin Thomas (lights) Danisha Crosby (photography) Maribeth Chapmka (stage manager). Principal cast. Jom Spelman, Jesse Terrill.

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Running time 3:00 - two intermissions
t A Potomac Stages Pick for engrossing staging of meaty material
v Includes very brief partial nudity and some strong language
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Storyline: Three decades in the friendship of school chums as viewed through the memory of the surviving one after the possibly miraculous death of the other. The deceased was a strangely diminutive boy whose voice never changed.  He had a certainty that he was the instrument of God after a freak baseball accident in which he inadvertently caused his friend's mother's death and had a series of visions of his own death. The strength of his faith and its impact on others is the underlying topic of a series of vignettes from his brief life.

The adaptation by English playwright Simon Bent streamlines what is often referred to as a "sprawling" novel, stripping it to its essence and retaining much that is directly relevant to its theme of religious faith (as opposed to sectarian loyalty - this is a "Christian" piece but not a specifically Roman Catholic, Lutheran, Baptist or Episcopalian view). In Bent's hands, the story doesn't "sprawl," it progresses in dramatically linear but not necessarily chronological order. It retains a clear focus until, unaccountably, Detmer drops the Meany mannerism and launches into a rambling stand-up comedy routine a-la Mort Sahl. The routine has the feeling of a collection of the good lines from the novel that wouldn't fit in Bent's drama but he was loath to discard them, so he assembled them in a scene that just doesn't work.

Still, there are well over two and a half hours of theatrical magic here. Robinson moves the large cast about the open spaces of the very large stage that James Kronzer's design often leaves uncluttered with a fluidity that seems nearly organic. Despite the very episodic nature of the script, the production never seems to pause to allow the actors to get to their marks for a new scene. The one exception to this is a refreshingly honest approach to the use of cables for flying effects. It almost seems that Robinson said "we can't hide the lines so why don't we let the audience see what is being done?" It draws the audience into the event.

Detmer finds the trick of balancing innocence and wisdom with sometimes cutting and caustic wit and a streak of sentimentality that makes this Owen Meany a fascinating character from start to finish (except for the aforementioned comedy routine). His fixations are clear, his humor sharp and his affections plain. Ian Kahn is the narrator/friend, and while he does much less with the role than Detmer does with his, he is a solid support throughout. Lawrence Redmond captures your attention with his first words as the painfully disgruntled older Meany (quite a name, that) and Kimberly Schraf as his suffering wife joins him in building a portrait of a couple torn by whatever it was that afflicted them - miracle or something else. Handling multiple smaller parts with aplomb are a host of local stalwarts, each of whom has multiple moments to shine.

Written by Simon Bent based on the novel by John Irving. Directed by Blake Robison. Choreography by Karma Camp. Design: James Kronzer (set) Kate Turner-Walker (costumes) Michelle Elwyn (properties) Daniel MacLean Wagner (lights) Matthew M. Nielson (sound) Stan Barouh (photography) Che Wernsman (stage manager), Cast: Matthew Detmer, Ilona Dulaski, Tiffany Fillmore, James Gardiner, Laura Giannarelli, Ian Kahn, Kathryn Kelley, Michael Kramer, John Lescault, Gia Mora, Sasha Olinick, Carl Randolph, Lawrence Redmond, Betsy Rosen, Stephen F. Schmidt, Kimberly Schraf.

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Playing in Bethesda
Running time 1:55 - one intermission
t A Potomac Stages Pick for a delightful summer diversion
Click here to buy the book

Storyline: A musical telling of Mark Twain's story, set in 1876, of Hugh Gregory, the proprietor of Deer Lick Missouri's general store, pickle barrel, fishmonger and clinic who loves lovely Mary. Mary loves him back, but her uncle can't stand him and specifies in his will that she will inherit his fortune only if she marries anybody but Hugh. A mysterious stranger comes to town and courts Mary. When Mary's Uncle is killed, events transpire to have a hanging and a wedding on the self same day.

It may be time for us to eat a bit of crow as we have railed before over authors who direct the premieres of their own work. No, Mark Twain didn't direct this - but he didn't write it either. Aaron Posner wrote it and then he directed it for this world premiere. We have often pointed out that an author needs a strong director for a premiere -- a director who can approach the work with fresh eyes and see where it needs pruning or polishing or embellishing. Here, however, Posner directs his own work and does a great job of it. He seems to be able to critique his own writing and to work with the cast and designers on a project to polish what they have. Perhaps it is because he is, first and foremost, a director with a Helen Hayes Award for outstanding direction (for Two Gentlemen of Verona at the Folger). He's a Philadelphia-based director and Artistic Director of the Arden Theatre Company, and he comes to the Potomac Region  to direct every once in a while. He's helmed Measure for Measure, Melissa Arctic and Othello at the Folger and Headsman's Holiday at Theater Alliance. He's also, however, an experienced playwright with something of a specialty in adapting works of literature with works by Vonnegut and Wodehouse among the stories he has brought to the stage. It may also help that this is a joint production with the Delaware Theatre Company and that the show played in its 389-seat theater in Willington in April and May. They may not think of that as an "out of town tryout" before moving to Bethesda, but the team did have the benefit of a four week run to polish the piece up a bit before opening here. 

Dan Manning leads the cast, acting as a combination narrator, master of ceremonies and town preacher. His easy going presence (and his way with a guitar, harmonica and triangle) set a tone of unaffected humor. Erin Weaver as the pert Mary, both Anthony Lawton and Sherri L. Edelen, as her parents, and Scott Greer, as the mysterious stranger who appears to the hicks to be a French nobleman, throw themselves into the fun of it all with cheerful energy, and Thomas Adrian Simpson gets his moments of humor as well - especially when he sings about the knife in his back after he is murdered. (Could it be that natural causes put the knife in his back?) Weaver and Greer have the audience in stitches with a wonderfully wacky scene in which he tries to "wear down her resistance" to his proposal ("Please", "No", "Please," "No" etc.!) Each seems capable of making more out of their part than is written into it. Only Ben Dibble seems to do a simply good job with the material, but then, as the relatively colorless suitor for Mary's hand, he is mostly a topic of humor (her repeated rhymes for his first name, Hugh).

Tony Cisek's open planking set of the main street of Twain's small town Missouri is as fun as the show, with a store, an office, a farmhouse, jail, a gallows and a bandstand all on stage without seeming cramped and still leaving room for Karma Camp's dances. The image of Twain's middle-America is emphasized in Kate Turner-Walker's fine period costumes. The band, led by Christopher Youstra on both piano and accordion, features a good deal of banjo played by Dan Mazer, also known as "BanjerDan".

Book and lyrics by Aaron Posner based on a story by Mark Twain. Music by James Sugg. Directed by Aaron Posner. Choreographed by Karma Camp. Music direction by Jay Ansill.  Design: Tony Cisek (set) Kate Turner-Walker (costumes) James Leitner (lights) Matthew M. Nielson (sound) Stan Barouh (photography) Cary Louise Gillett (stage manager). Cast: Ben Dibble, Sherri L. Edelen, Scott Greer, Anthony Lawton, Dan Manning, Thomas Adrian Simpson, Erin Weaver.

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Reviewed May 15
Running time 1:55 - one intermission
A fascinating situation without a resolution
Performed at the Round House Silver Spring

Storyline: A man and a woman have awakened in a bed in a house in the woods surrounded by a body of water. They don't know who they are. They don't know what they are doing there. They don't even know if the robes in the closet are theirs. Are they man and wife? Is this their home? What has happened to them? Into the scene comes a younger woman who seems to know all. Is she their daughter? Is she their nurse? Is she their lawyer? Do they need a nurse?  Do they need a lawyer?

Among his twenty-odd plays, we have seen and raved about productions of such marvelous works as Thief River, Independence, Eleemosynary and the current offering at the Theater Alliance, Two Rooms as well as Flag Day which is actually two one-act plays with fascinating set ups. (Lets not talk about Whores which was such a disappointment three years ago.) So it could be argued that we have a soft spot in our hearts for his work. What we have, however, is a soft spot for the pleasure you get from seeing a fascinating concept well used - and that is what is missing here. The concept is full of potential and the development is all together absorbing, but its failure to resolve itself at the end is incredibly frustrating. It is like a "whodunit?" that ends as a "whoknows?" Ambiguity has its place in drama but it must be used appropriately. This play feels for all the world like the author lost interest before he completed the project and so he just stopped. Unfortunately, the audience had not lost interest and had every reason to expect some definitive resolution - even if that resolution was for the playwright to chose ambiguity. But to just stop? That is a painful case of satisfaction interuptus and turns all the enjoyment that preceded it into teasing, not foreplay.

The enjoyment comes not only from Blessing's situation, characterization and dialogue, but from the superb performances of Jerry Whiddon and Nancy Robinette as the confused couple and the bright and intelligent work of Kate Eastwood Norris as the younger woman who guides them through the exploration of their circumstances. Whiddon shows the "take charge attitude" that seems to be in his character's background and the frustration caused by his apparently newfound lack of control over his situation, and Robinette turns initial confusion into panic before it begins to resolve itself into determination. They are a great pair and they get to play off the initial energy and ultimate exasperation of Norris. All three are simply superb.

All of the satisfying action takes place on a platform set of a modern, well appointed and apparently expensive home hovering above the blue-tinged floor of the large black box in Silver Spring. The impression of being in the woods surrounded by "a body of water" is enhanced slightly by a somewhat too subtle and too brief hint of the sound of water and the shimmer of reflected ripples. Neither the visual nor the sound design compete with the performance. This allows Robinette, Whiddon and Norris to make the most of the material Blessing provides, and so much of that material is so compelling and enjoyable it is a shame that the lack of a satisfying resolution turns the experience sour at the very last minute.

Written by Lee Blessing. Directed by Rebecca Bayla Taichman. Design: James Kronzer (set) Denise Umland (costumes) Michelle Elwyn (properties) Daniel MacLean Wagner (lights) Martin Desjardins and Matthew M. Nielson (sound) Scott Suchman (photography) Jennifer Woodham (stage manager). Cast: Kate Eastwood Norris, Nancy Robinette, Jerry Whiddon.

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Reviewed April 10
Running time 2:25 - one intermission
t A Potomac Stages Pick for solid performances in a satisfying play
Winner of the Ushers' Favorite Show Award for April
Click here to buy the script

Storyline: The adult son of an English couple watches the end of his parents' marriage. His mother's desperate efforts to get his father to be more involved in their life drives him the opposite direction and results in a final separation when he finds the comfort and support he seeks with another woman. While trying not to take sides, and acting as the remaining line of communication between them, the son sees the problems from both sides.

The play is by William Nicholson, author of Shadowlands (he also co-wrote the screenplay for the bloody period epic Gladiator). It is an intensely personal, intimate play that earned a Tony nomination for best play in 2004. Nicholson's analytical mind may tell him that at the end the breakup was the result of his mother's constant pestering of her husband as he withdraws farther and farther from the relationship. However, he leaves open the issue of which came first, the withdrawal or the pestering. His affection for both remains palpable and he avoids making a scapegoat of her, or absolving him of responsibility. The reality he puts on stage is as multifaceted as the reality he lived through. Its title, a reference both to the book that the husband was reading at the time of the breakup, and, allegorically, to the devastation of the event, may mislead people who are choosing a play to attend. On Broadway, it had a subtitle that would help: "A Play About A Family."

Jenkins portrayal of the wife goes from frumpy to flamboyant as the story progresses. In the first act, as the marriage proceeds through its final stages before the actual breakup, she's a drab physical presence. It is her constant pestering of her husband that makes an impression, not her clothes or appearance, and it is clear that she is pushing in precisely the wrong direction to mend the tenuous remnants of their relationship. Once he has made the break, however, she makes a transition in manner as well as wardrobe. The change from colorless to colorful is a reaction to the shock of the failure of the marriage.

Foucheux is fascinating to watch as he makes the transition from a withdrawn milquetoast in his own home to a determined, active man putting into action his decision to break away from the marriage and pursue a future with another woman. We never see that other woman, but the text makes it quite clear that her charms aren't of the seductive sexual kind, but rather, the accepting supportive type that are precisely what he can't find in his wife. Getman's part is essentially that of observer, and, thus, he doesn't get to do much but facilitate the audience's view of events and support the other two. However, he brings a certain boyish charm to the role.

Written by William Nicholson. Directed by James Edmondson. Design: Bill Clarke (set) Bill Black (costumes) Michelle Elwyn (properties) Daniel MacLean Wagner (lights) Matthew M. Nielson (sound) Stan Barouh (photography) Cary Louise Gillett (stage manager). Cast: Rick Foucheux, Tim Getman, Carol Mayo Jenkins.

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Reviewed February 6
Running time 2:00 - one intermission
t A  Potomac Stages Pick for a tight telling of an absorbing story 
Click here to buy the script
Click here to buy the novel

A great story is well told in this stage adaptation of a novel that hit the best selling charts in 1998 when it was selected for the Oprah Winfrey book club. The adaptation by Dana Yeaton is a taut and streamlined tale that combines courtroom drama with a birthing room crisis that would make a good episode of ER. Just in case that isn't enough drama for you, Yeaton's play is structured as a series of flashbacks from a time when the midwife is undergoing chemo-therapy for cancer. Playing the midwife is Alma Cuervo, who has the stage presence to pull off being the center around which director Mark Ramont spins the intriguing tale.

Storyline: A midwife is assisting at a home birth when an ice storm cuts off the chance to go to the hospital just as the mother suffers what seems to be a stroke. Believing that she has died, the midwife performs a cesarean section to save the baby, but her choice is second-guessed and she's tried for killing her patient.

The novel had been in the voice of the midwife's daughter, but Yeaton shifts the focus to the midwife herself placing an emphasis on the question of whether she believes her own defense and how she deals with the issues of responsibility separately from any question of guilt or innocence. Yeaton's script avoids some of the obvious public affairs/politically charged issues that might clutter up the already multi-topic story. No lengthy debates of modern medicine versus traditional treatment, lay midwifery versus managed care or even the question of fetal versus maternal rights that some might stretch to reach in these days of often acrimonious "right to life" / "pro choice" debates. Instead, Yeaton focuses on the issues of responsibility -- personal not legal. And that is a prescription for interesting theater.

Cuervo, who has a long list of credits on Broadway and in regional theater but hasn't been seen much in the Potomac Region (unless you count the tour of Cabaret that brought her to the Warner as Faulein Schneider six years ago), is a believable and sympathetic character as the midwife who had delivered (or "caught") hundreds of babies before the night that one delivery turned tragic. In her portrayal she avoids indulging in excesses that would turn drama into melodrama. Instead of allowing the character to be stuck on either side of any one issue, she manages to make her own internal debate clear without artifice.

The performances of the supporting cast varies in apparent direct relationship to the complexity of the roles they have been handed. Stephanie Burden is particularly good as the midwife's daughter, herself conflicted over some of the issues presented. Paul Morella and John Lescault, on the other hand, are saddled with fairly stiff, one sided roles as the prosecuting and defending attorneys. Lynn Steinmetz pulls off making less well rounded characters ring true as she doubles as the nurse seeing to the midwife's chemo-therapy and a doctor testifying against her.

Written by Dana Yeaton based on the novel by Chris Bohjalian. Directed by Mark Ramont. Design: James Kronzer (set) Anne M. Kennedy (costumes) Michelle Elwyn (properties) Matthew Richards (lights) Martin Desjardins (music and sound) Stan Barouh (photography) Cary Louise Gillett (stage manager). Cast: Stephanie Burden, Alma Cuervo, John Dow, Gene Gillette, Kimberly Parker Green, Rana Kay, John Lescault, Paul Morella, Lynn Steinmetz.

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Reviewed November 21
Running time 1:35 - one intermission
t A Potomac Stages Pick for fabulous family fun
Winner of the Ushers' Favorite Show Award for December 2005
Click here to buy the CD

Storyline: Starting when Frog and Toad awake from the winter's hibernation and going through the seasons to a "Merry Almost Christmas," this musical presents individual scenes for each season built on individual lessons. The amphibian pair is backed by a trio who play birds, a mouse, squirrel, turtle, snail and other denizens of their story-world.  The scenes are simple stories of the pair going for a swim, flying a kite, raking leaves, baking cookies or sledding down a snowy hill. Each is built on a catchy song which makes for a highly entertaining way to present a simple lesson: Being different is not a bad thing, being kind is a good thing, being trustworthy is admirable, etc.

The score consists of bright, catchy tunes with a hint of 1930s musical scores from Hollywood and Broadway. An overture would have worked well to familiarize the audience with the melodies, but there is a catchy entr'acte after intermission which is choreographed for the trio of supporting players in a dance featuring a delightful tap routine by Bobby Smith. The songs themselves repeat their melodic material enough times to etch them into musical memories, young and old. Kids and adults can leave humming the title song or walking to the beat of the snail's exit music. The tunes are set to lyrics clear enough for little minds and clever enough for more mature tastes. ("Winter is almost over / The snow has all been snowed / Which starts a year with Frog and Toad.")

Will Gartshore keeps some of the super-bright persona of Bobby Strong from his fabulous performance in Signature's hit Urinetown as he portrays the super-positive Frog, the best friend of Steve Tipton's less secure Toad. While Frog is the straight man in this team, Tipton's Toad is the gentle comic. Gartshore's leaping ability is well used in a number of the energetic dance numbers (especially in the soft-shoe "He'll Never Know" danced with rakes a-la-Fred Astaire). Tipton makes a marvelous partner in the team, and their chemistry together works well for kids as well as for the adults in the audience. Smith is at his best in the recurring gag (you couldn't really call it a "running gag") of the slow progress of a snail delivering the mail (he "puts the go in escargot") while Sherri L. Edelen and Erin Driscoll are nothing short of marvelous as various other small creatures.

The colorful, whimsical set of featuring the pair's neighboring cottages, each of which rotates to reveal warm rooms inside, is a pleasant world for these adventures to take place, and the entire thing is brightly lit (but with some shaky snow-flake effects). Rosemary Pardee has great fun with the design of costumes suggesting the different species of characters without being too fanciful and distracting from the humans playing the characters. Tony Angelini's subtle but effective augmentation of the actors voices with their wireless microphones avoids drawing attention to itself as well. The entire package is a delight for the holiday season.

Music by Robert Reale. Book and Lyrics by Willie Reale. Based on the books by Arnold Lobel. Directed by Nick Olcott. Choreographed by Michael J. Bobbitt. Music direction by Jay Crowder. Design: Jos. B. Musumeci, Jr. (set) Rosemary Pardee (costumes) Timothy J. Jones (properties) Daniel MacLean Wagner and Harold F. Burgess II (lights) Tony Angelini (sound) Stan Barouh (photography) Cary Louse Gillett (stage manager). Cast: Erin Driscoll, Sherri L. Edelen, Will Gartshore, Bobby Smith, Steve Tipton.

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Reviewed October 17
Running time 1:30 - no intermission
Performed at the Silver Spring facility
Price range $30 - $40
An unorthodox approach to a classic piece of theater of the absurd
Click here to buy the script

Storyline: A man and a woman arrange chairs for a gathering as they await the arrival of "the narrator" who may or may not give meaning to their lives.

The phrase "absurdist theater" comes from Albert Camus, who wrote about using the theater to expose the absurdity of human existence. While absurdity can be a tool in this, the play itself should never be reduced to being an absurdity itself.  The dictionary definition of absurdity (ridiculously unreasonable ... or incongruous, having no rational or orderly relationship to human life) introduces a complication - trying to show how human life could have no relationship to human life. Ionesco is noted for works that succeed in that context, but this production seems to cross over some invisible line to become, not a piece of theater about how absurd the world is, but a piece of absurd theater.

Marcus Kyd and Jessica Browne-White throw everything they have at the project, including their own bodies, which they hurl against walls, bump together and stumble around and over the hundreds of chairs which constitute the set. That energy and commitment, however, works at direct opposition to a piece about how worn out and worn down people can be at the end of their lives when they use their last gasp of energy to avoid recognizing the futility of their existence.

The joie de vivre of the characters in this production is at odds with Ionesco's terminal fatigue. The confusion is then compounded by Timar's changes to the final blow to this couple's last feeble hope. Ionesco wrote that when the narrator they had expected to explain life arrived, he turned out to be deaf and dumb. In Timar's version, on the other hand, the narrator fails to arrive at all. The end, however, is the occasion for director Timar's most effective effect, when the chairs literally turn on the pair and suffocate them.

Written by Eugène Ionesco. Translation by Martin Crimp. Directed by Alain Timar. Design: N. Erik Knauss (set adaptation from Mr. Timar's original) Denise Umland (costumes) Kenton Yeager (lights) Matthew M. Nielson (adaptation of the original sound design by Benjamin Chabas) Stan Barouh (photography) Jennifer Woodham (stage manager). Cast: Jessica Browne-White, Marcus Kyd.

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Reviewed September 19
Running time 2:15 - one intermission
A stylish re-telling of the famous story
Click here to buy the script

Storyline: A young man from a prominent family falls under the spell of a high society prostitute in mid-nineteenth century Paris. What is more, she falls in love with him. Their different social standing makes a permanent relationship let alone marriage impossible for either, but passion cannot be stilled. She succumbs first to his father's entreaties to break off the affair in order to save him from social and financial ruin, and then to the ravages of tuberculosis.  

Any production of any version of this story will rise or fall in part on the strength of the performance of the actress playing the prostitute. Her seductiveness must be so clear and effective that her effect not just on the young man but on all of Parisian society is accepted even as she is ravaged by tuberculosis. No mean trick. Angela Reed makes her Round House debut in the role, and while she has a commanding stage presence, it is hard to believe she has the power to entrance. Without that, it is difficult to accept the entire premise of the play.

Aubrey Deeker is the smitten young lover, and he makes plain both the charm of that young man and the pain he feels at the loss of his love through both the initial social ostracism and the final fatality. The finest scene in the production comes at the hand of Dan Manning as the young man's father, confronting his son's mistress with what he sees as the inescapable social facts of life. Manning is simply superb not only at embodying the attitudes of the upper class, but at showing the slow realization of the uniqueness of the relationship he had assumed was a mere fling. Sarah Marshall is fun  in a supporting role that doesn't require her to modify her own on stage persona much. Mitchell Hébert is very good as a society doctor as well.

The costumes, lights and music are all sumptuously evocative, but it is the fabulous set by James Kronzer that will probably be the thing most people remember from this production. A single long parlor hall runs in forced perspective off the stage to the audience's left. The effect is best for those sitting on the right of the house so it would be wise, if you have a choice, to select seats either on the right of the aisle (seats with even one or two-digit numbers) or the right side of the center section (seats with three digit numbers below about 107).  The projection of scene titles on the parlor walls works well, but the addition of further details works against the flow of the show in the end as "December through February" is shown as Camille works her way through her final months, letting those in the audience who might be losing patience count down as she reads letters from specific dates, getting slowly closer to February.

Written by Neil Bartlett after the novel by Alexandre Dumas, Jr. Directed by Blake Robison. Design: James Kronzer (set) Rosemary Pardee (costumes) Michelle Elwyn (properties) Daniel MacLean Wagner (lights) JJ Kaczynski (projections) Martin Desjardins (sound) Scott Suchman (photography) Cary Louise Gillett (stage manager). Cast: Aubrey Deeker, Matthew Detmer, Mitchell Hébert, Kathryn Kelley, Dan Manning, Sarah Marshall, Angela Reed, Jim Scopelitis, Vanessa Vaughn.

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Reviewed June 6
Running time 1:30 - no intermission
t A Potomac Stages Pick as a Caribbean-infused
 treat for the eye and the ear
Price range - $40 - $48
Click here to buy the CD