Displaying items by tag: Redtwist Theatre

There’s nothing new about Antigone. Sophocles wrote it in 440BC, and we all read it (under duress) in high school, my most vivid memory of which is Mrs. Thatcher printing ‘ANTIGONE’ on the chalkboard, and Patrick Tyrrell sneaking up to print ‘P’ at the beginning. Recent adaptations have used Antigone to comment on The Patriot Act; have styled the dead Polynices as a terrorist threat and Antigone into a "dangerous subversive;" and as a commentary on the shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri.

Today, Redtwist Theatre presents a new translation by Anne Carlson, whose “light-fingered, colloquial and cutting” language provides a fresh view of Greek tragedy in the twenty-first century. Her translation makes the entire production not only accessible but topical.

The story is simple. Antigone is sister to Eteocles and Polynices, who led opposing sides in Thebes' civil war and died fighting each other for the throne. Kreon, king of Thebes decrees that Eteocles will be honored while the rebel brother Polynices lies unsanctified on the battlefield. Antigone defies the edict,buries her brother, and argues the immorality of the edict and the morality of her own actions.

Kreon remains intransigent until blind Tiresias prophesies that all of Greece will despise him. Urged on by the terrified Chorus, Kreon finally relents. Too late, of course: Antigone has hanged herself and a grieving Haemon attacks Kreon, then slays himself. Kreon, beside himself with remorse, then learns his wife Eurydice has killed herself. Kreon, a broken man, stumbles away.

So many of the themes portrayed in Antigone speak directly to 2022. It exposes the dangers of the absolute ruler, a king to whom few will speak their true opinions freely and openly– does that ring any bells? Civil disobedience is a major theme: the individual’s right to reject society's infringement on her freedom to perform a personal obligation. Certainly SCOTUS would do well to reflect on this.  Citizenship is also at issue: Kreon holds that citizenship is a contract, and Polynices’ attack on the city revokes his citizenship. For Kreon, as absolute ruler of the state, loyalty to the state comes before family fealty. He is punished by Haemon killing himself when he finds Antigone dead.

Redtwist Theatre is a tiny storefront venue that takes advantage of its close quarters by inviting the audience into the action. Director Christine Freije extends this – at first I thought the various people sweeping the floor and wiping the walls were … I don’t know, maybe being extra-careful about covid cleanliness? until Antigone arrests them by slamming her shovel into the ground.

Antigone, played by Isabel Alamin, beautifully portrays the deeply-committed and doomed woman. When she’s onstage one sees nobody else. Natalie Welber, as her sister Ismene, demonstrates the ambivalence of a law-abiding citizen wrenched from her comfort zone by love of family. Brian Parry paints the spectrum from Kreon’s monarchical obstinacy to the anguish of a bereaved father and husband, and Nick Shank’s Haemon ably depicts filial love eroding under Kreon’s stubbornness. Peter Ferneding brings a welcome injection of humor as Guard. As so often in Greek theatre, Chorus has a big role, and Andrew Bosworth as its leader keeps the story woven together. The remainder of the Chorus played additional roles: Joan Nahid [Euridice], Peter Ferneding [Guard], Maddy Moderhack [Messenger] and Javier Carmona [Teiresias] slid effortlessly from one role to another.

I can’t wait another minute to praise Costume Designer Anna Bodell! I do some sewing myself, and I have to admit I was occasionally diverted from the play’s action by trying to figure out: what is he wearing? and how did she do that?!  Ordinary clothes are pieced together in extraordinary ways, with stunning results.

The stark simplicity of the set and economy of props keeps our focus on the performances, while light and sound preclude a curtain. Director Christine Freije knits it all together seamlessly – and all is made possible by Anne Carlson’s fresh translation.

I loved Antigone – I may go see it again!

Let me apologize for gushing (and being late with this review), but Brian Parry’s performance as King Lear at Redtwist Theater is nothing short of astounding. One of the finest Shakespeare performances I have ever seen, Parry brings goosebumps and rushes from his first few lines. He acts the role deeply and well. He is King Lear.

But Parry is also a consummate thespian, there is no other way to describe it – a master of delivery of the Elizabethan English, with cadence and emphasis so deft that the language is clear as a bell. While English is filled with ancient words whose meaning changes over centuries, the new meanings are accretions on top of the old ones. When uttered with skill, we hear with both our modern minds and our primitive souls. With Parry we hear it all.

My intuition tells me every actor on that stage knows what Parry is up to. I have to imagine they were all drawn to this demanding work because of their passion for it, and perhaps because they would have a chance to be immersed in such a wonderful enterprise with Parry as Lear. 

The story of King Lear is a mythical tragedy, a storyline set up by Shakespeare to allow for drama. The aging king decides to divide his kingdom among his three daughters. Determining which portion to give to each, he asks them how much they love him.

The oldest, Goneril (Jacqueline Grant) and middle daughter, Regan (KC Karen Hill) both married, are effusive in their expressions, and they warm the cockles of Lear’s soul. Hill and Grant open what will be noteworthy performances, on par with Parry.

But his youngest daughter, Cordelia, is less effusive, and more rational – pointing out to Lear she must love him more since she has no husband splitting her away from him. Angry, Lear disinherits and banishes Cordelia and the Earl of Kent (Cameron Feagin) who has defended her. Cordelia’s suitor abandons her after this loss of wealth – though the King of France steps in to marry and rescue her.

Enter tragedy, as we learn the people who really love Lear have been cast off, and the two oldest daughters and their husbands begin to diminish Lear’s standing – refusing his 150 person retinue, and tossing him between castles like an unwanted in-law.

The whole company is so remarkably good there is not a performance that falters – an electricity of excellence coursing through the stage. Particularly impressive were Kayla Raelle Holder as Lear’s youngest daughter Cordelia and Mark West as Edmund, illegitimate son of the Earl of Gloucester. Cordelia challenges Lear, and Holder has the chops to do it. Edmund is conniving and duplicitous, a bastard figuratively and literally – and West’s eyes glisten with his evil cunning.

Complicated roles and performances were those of King Lear’s Fool (Liz Cunningham) and the Earl of Gloucester’s legitimate son, Edgar (Robert Hunter Bry). Both play their character, as well as an alternate characters. Cunningham’s Fool took awhile to grow on me, for Shakespeare makes fools speak in puzzling ways – but I caught on.

And Bry’s Edgar is unprepossessing at first, outshown by his half evil half brother Edmund. When he adopts alternate characters - one a rustic bumpkin who guides his blinded father to safety - Bry shines. It occurred to me after this show that I had never really seen King Lear live before – though I have seen scenes from it. The role calls to actors – Glenda Jackson notably took it on in New York recently – and this production at Redtwist Theatre gives us a glimpse of the best that actors can be when inspired. Don’t miss it (it runs through August 2 at Red Twist Theatre at 1104 W Bryn Mawr. 

"Attention must be paid," Arthur Miller pleads in his Pulitzer Prize winning play "Death of a Salesman." What is now required reading, "Death of a Salesman" asks its audience to consider the worth of one pathetic old man. The play debuted in 1949, at a time when America was coming out of a war and questioning the value of personal fulfillment. For that theme alone this play will always be relevant. 

The intimate space at Redtwist Theatre makes for an overwhelming experience. In many of the scenes there's an almost voyeuristic feel. As if you're in someone's living room listening to something you shouldn't. Director Steve Scott uses this atmospheric effect to create a palpable intensity. After the lights go out on the final scene, an audience gasped in unison. 

Brian Parry delivers a powerhouse performance as Willy Loman. Both tough and weak at the same time. His Loman is still feisty, making the ending all the more tragic. Jan Ellen Graves' Linda Loman is played calm and collected and rarely sentimental, but lively when the moment is right. Matt Edmonds gives a standout performance as Biff. There are such revelations in Edmonds' interpretation. 

Like Tennessee Williams and Eugene O'Neill, Arthur Miller knew America. He knew the sad and melancholic ways average people live. "Death of a Salesman" should make us uncomfortable. We should bristle at the idea of one average man getting used up and thrown away. It's a warning that if you don't take control of your own destiny, society will toss you aside. Willy Loman skirts through life on quick fixes and delusions. In a way, all of us are Willy Loman and Miller asks us to look beyond the superficial. As "On the Road" had also inspired a younger generation to live life differently than their parents, so does "Death of a Salesman." The moral here is that nobody wants to end up as Willy Loman. 

Through March 5 at Redtwist Theatre. 1044 W BrynMawr 773-728-7529

www.Redtwist.org 

It is with a heavy heart I confess that I cannot recommend the play Eroica.  David Alex’s melodrama is not without merit or redeeming character – but for most people it will probably not be worth spending 70 minutes to extract them.  

The story is compelling and worth telling: during the height of the Vietnam War, college was a refuge for young men wanting to avoid being drafted. A nascent war resistance movement was not widely embraced, and the “average American” at the time viewed “draft dodgers” with suspicion. 

This was especially so in small towns in the Great Plains states, where Eroica is set. Playwright Alex is dead-on in rendering the details of the story of that time. America has not yet relinquished its perception of itself as an ever-righteous world savior, honed in World War II. But the war in Vietnam is not going well. Better-off young men go to college, or join the Army Reserve – as did President George W. Bush – to avoid the military. Its ranks swelled with the less affluent. Some young men fled to Canada, others ended up conscripted.

Alex’s story turns on a champion high school basketball coach, Victor (Felipe Carrasco) young enough to be in the Army, but who has somehow earned a medical deferment from the draft. The action, and plot, turns on one of his former charges, Charles (Garrett Young), a top basketball player, who was kicked off the team by the coach after he tore up a house in a rowdy party. This ended Charles's chance at college, and he has received his draft notice. He stalks the coach and his family as he exacts his revenge.

I’ll avoid revealing the spoiler, in case you want to see it. It is moderately entertaining. But the language of the characters is just a tad too formal. And there are some elements that are unexplained: why does the coach’s sister, Grace (Sarah Koerner), a major character, walk with a cane (or for that matter, why she is even in the play). Other elements get too much explanation: the play’s title, Eroica, is from Beethoven’s symphonic work (and the play is set during his 300th anniversary of his birth), which was first dedicated to Napoleon, then the dedication was scratched off when he named himself emperor. We hear even more about Beethoven, far more than we need to.

Here’s when we must ask whether director Maggie Speer might not have pushed back a bit on the author, to make the work more playable by the actors – who all did really good work, but needed to have better orchestration. One example: during the dramatic crescendo, in a battle between Victor and his wife Sally (Sara Pavlak Macquire) the stalking basketball player Charles who has sown these seeds of discord sits in the audience's focal point, center stage, munching pretzels and drinking beer. Charles also spends an inordinate amount of time rustling through documents while other characters aren't around. And the banter about basketball while technically precise is inaccessible and excessive for most ticket buyers.

While commending the effort here by the cast, this is a case where the playwright probably gains more from the production than the rest of the parties involved, including the audience. 

Eroica is being performed at Redtwist Theatre thru August 7th.

In a cramped police station in Southern France, a handful of men argue about why they were picked up for questioning. During the Nazi occupation of France in WWII, Germany left Vichy to be governed by France. This didn't exempt the zone from mass deportation of Jews living on false papers. Arthur Miller's "Incident at Vichy" explores the dark themes of a region living in fear, holding a mirror up to our own time.

With direction by Ian Frank, Redtwist gives a faithful production of Miller's under-produced 1964 one-act. Redtwist's best asset from show to show is the intimacy of their performance space. For a claustrophobic play like this, a better space couldn't be found. There are almost as many cast members as audience members and when the room is full, there's an inherent sense of panic.

White men arguing is pretty often seen in mid-century theatre. Usually it's a vehicle for expressing the playwright's world views. "Incident at Vichy" is a play of its time period. That's not to say Arthur Miller's words aren't chillingly relevant. As each character in question slowly divulges the reasons they may be sent away, they prioritize their own right to life over their neighbor's. In those passionate monologues, Miller cuts right to the heart of human nature, which is sometimes primal.

With a large cast and a short play, it's unusual to have so much character development. The ensemble distinguishes themselves well. The play hangs on a stand-out performance by Jeremy Trager as Von Berg (an Austrian nobleman). His character is the only one who seems to express empathy and guilt about what's happening to the people around him. David Giannini and Tim Parker balance out the cast as Bayard and Leduc and turn in strong performances as well.

"Incident at Vichy" is a story of people living in fear. It's a cautionary tale of what can happen when people are apathetic. With all this history, it's shocking in America that some would-be politicians are touting mass deportations of minority groups. To that end, Miller's play has never been more essential.

Through January 10th at Redtwist Theatre. 1044 W Bryn Mawr. 773-728-75329

What can be said about a play as often produced as 'Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?' With every company that takes on this landmark play, a new audience is given the opportunity to spend an electrifying evening with George and Martha. As legend has it, Mr. Albee is quite stringent about his work and demands absolute faithfulness to his scripts for fear of being shut down.

It would be impossible not to consider the Steppenwolf's 2010 Tony Award winning revival of 'Virginia Woolf' when discussing Chicago's relationship with this play. Any theatre company producing this play will rightfully have some serious competition. Though, under Jason Gerace's direction at Redtwist Theatre, you wouldn’t know it.

What Gerace and Redtwist have in their favor is an intimate performance space. For nearly three hours the audience sits among the living room furniture at George and Martha's. When the drinks slosh and the one-liners fly, it’s the audience who must shift to avoid getting hit. To that end, this highly atmospheric production feels more alive and certainly more first-hand. This is not an easy script to decipher, each line is almost a world onto itself, and it can be easy to zone out in the recesses of a large theatre. Here, the dialog seems very navigable, so as the intensity heats up it seems to unfold naturally.

Given the challenge of such intricate language, there's an inherent sense of staginess. Its sense of reality is thereby heightened by exceedingly articulate dialog. Jacqueline Grandt's Martha is just plain mean and the way she slithers through her cutting monologues is almost scary. Though her glimmers of fragility in such subtle gestures as watering eyes and quivering lip are hauntingly tragic. It underscores the character's emotional instability. Brian Parry plays George as the co-dependent husband who has reached his breaking point. The calm timbre of his voice never loses it's comforting sound even as he's putting the finishing touches on Martha and their guests. He's able to play it in the way that these characters get exactly what's coming to them. His triumph is very satisfying.

The parts of Nick and Honey can honestly be what makes or breaks this play. Their characters are largely only there to fuel the fire. Elizabeth Argus is pretty spot-on as Honey. Her look brings to mind Elaine from "The Graduate" and when she's called upon in a moment of dark revelation, she delivers. It's not easy to play fake drunk without coming off as a cartoon character. Argus is very believable as she stumbles through glass after glass of brandy.

Redtwist Theatre has a very competent production on their hands. Grandt and Parry really understand their lines and because of that, both turn in rich performances that quickly cut through the melodrama. The artistic staff at Redtwist has also made this production pleasing to the eye in costume and set design. If you need another night with George and Martha, this is a storefront revival not to be missed.

Through October 11th at Redtwist Theatre. 1044 W Bryn Mawr. 773-728-7529