February Theatre Reviews

February 08 Theatre Reviews

Solo Hip Hop Artist Danny Hoch Rocks Berkeley Rep Audiences

Hip Hopper, Obie Awardee, Danny Hoch returns to Berkeley Rep with his
new show
"Taking Over" to perform to standing ovations. Casually arriving on
stage
carrying a beer bottle, approaches the mike to begin his endearing
tales
of his Brooklyn home town with characters of different ethnic
backgrounds.
Of the nine characterizations Hoch presents, his interpretation of
Francque,
a newly arrived Frenchman, who sells luxury condos at an Open House, is
one of
the most authentic. Hoch delivers a suave and arrived condescending
Frenchman
with a perfect accent and elegant manner. What was the Frenchman doing
in New York, asks a perspective buyer. "Only realizing the American
Dream", he
responds with a gleeful smile.
Hoch's interpretation of a taxi dispatcher-El Dispatcher-who screams
and swears
at his foreign born drivers who can't find a street or an address and
confuse
street names is is one of the most hilarious ones.
In contrast to the fast-speaking cab dispatcher who rattles away
instructions
to cabbies is laid back Kaitlin, who evokes a young flower child street
vendor of
scarves who seems to have just discovered the wonders of marijuana and
a relaxed
life style.
We also meet Marion, a black social worker; Kiko, an ex-con; Stuart, a
developer;
a rapper and, last of all Danny, a performer.
Danny Hoch is not only a brilliant impersonator but also a clever
casting
director who knows how to discover and present characters that,
even though they live side by side in the same area, offer contrasting
traits and cultural backgrounds.
The ensemble of his show disengages a feeling of human warmth and care
as
it unfolds the desires and frustrations of the inhabitants of the
Brooklyn neighborhood with whom Danny grew up side by side.
For information for upcoming Crrie Fisher show call 510-647-2949 or
visit
www.berkeleyrep.org
Annette Lust, Member Bay Area Critics Circle and Dominican University
Faculty

ACT's "Plow" Debunks Hollywood Myth

The ACT opening of "Speed-the-Plow" at the Geary
Theatre last Wednesday, January 9 was like the opening
of a Hollywood premiere. We were greeted with
spotlights, screaming fans, video cameras and t.v.
reporters that put us in the mood for what we about
to see--a parody of the film industry.
The 90 minute play is in three half hour segments
set up before the audience with the house
lights on. The first segment is in Bobby Gould's
office. Bobby Gould (a suave Matthew del Negro) is
the studio's new head of production. Charlie Fox
(played with comic flair by Andrew Polk)--his less
successful, longtime colleague, brings him a package
deal for a trite screenplay with a major box office
star attached. Enter Karen (a shy Jess Campbell)--a
temp receptionist, who agrees to give an artsy novel a
courtesy read and report her findings to Bobby that
very evening. In the second scene in Bobby's apartment,
Karen influences Bobby to give up his project
with Charlie and produce the film version of
the book. In scene three back in Bobby's office,
Bobby stabs Charlie in the back saying he won't make
the buddy movie, effectively ruining Charlie's career.
Instead he will make the novel movie because he and Karen
are deeply in love. However, Charlie wins out in the
end by proving Karen to be an opportunist, and he and
Bobby are back in the saddle again.
Much credit for the impact of the play goes to the
director, Loretta Greco. Directing Mamet is like
directing a musical score and demands perfect timing.
Sharply paced and magnetically performed, all of the
actors are right on target.
"Speed-the-Plow" plays through February 3. Tickets
are available through ACT Ticket Services, 405 Geary
at Mason, 415-749-2228 or online at www.act-sf.org.
ACT's next production, "The Blood Knot" by Athol
Fugard opens on February 8 and plays through March 9.

Re-orient 2007-2008 at the Magic Explores Facets of Life in the
Middle East

Golden Thread Productions opened its 8th annual
festival of five short plays concerned with the Middle
East on January 10 at the Magic Theatre.

The first play of the evening was "22 Minutes
Remaining" by Ignacio Zulueta, which was earlier
presented last fall by the Dominican Community
Players. A Lebanese woman (a heartfelt performance by
Lynne Soffer) receives a courtesy call that her
village is about to be bombed, while sirens shatter
our ears. According to the Jerusalem Post this event
actually happened in Gaza on July 27, 2006.

A poem, "I Sell Souls" by Simin Behbehani was
conceived and directed by Torange Yeghiazarian. Her
concept was beautifully mimed by Lynne Soffer and
Garth Petal as Julian Lopez-Morillas recites the
lines. The lighting and scenic design was especially
effective.

Stand-up comedy actress Sara Razavi, presents "The
Monologuist Suffers Her Monologue." In this comic
monologue, playwright Yussef El Guindi calls for a
deeper understanding of the Palestinian plight.

Sara Razavi also stars in "Pistachio Stories" by Laura
Shamas, a funny and touching play in which two
seemingly harmless bags of red pistachios set off a
chain of doubts about a strange van that seems to have
them under surveillance.

"Between this Breath and You" by Naomi Wallace was the
final play of the evening. Beautifully directed by Amy
Mueller, this was the most ambitious play of the five.
The outstanding cast--Lopez-Morillas as a Palestinian
man, Ali El-Gassier as an Israeli janitor and Danielle
Levin as an American nurse are all connected in an
event regarding an organ transplant.

Re-orient 2007-2008 plays Thursdays, Fridays and
Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 7 p.m. through
February 3 at the Magic Theatre (Fort Mason Center,
Bldg. D, 3rd Floor, San Francisco). Call 415-626-4061
or go to www.goldenthread.org for tickets and
information about upcoming events.

Ross Valley Players' "The Cocktail Hour"--A Family
Ritual

Set in upstate New York in the mid-1970's, "The
Cocktail Hour" by A.R. Gurney, follows John (played by
Eric Burke, a young Nick Nolte look-alike), who
returns home to get his family's permission to produce
a new play he's written about them aptly titled, "The
Cocktail Hour." Without actually reading it, Bradley,
his patrician father (T. Louis-Weltz), his wife Ann
(brilliantly portrayed by Christine Macomber) and
younger sister Nina (Beth Deitchman) are certain that
John's portrayal of them is one of ridicule. John's
play is his pay back for all the neglect and
unhappiness his family, especially his father, has
caused him. Director Maryann Rodgers skillfully
brings to the surface Gurney's poignancy as well as
the vulnerability of the characters. A wonderful set
by Bruce Lackovic expands the stage to show the whole
downstairs floor of the house--living room, bar,
office, music room and library. "The Cocktail Hour"
runs through February 17 at the Barn Theatre, Marin
Art and Garden Center, Ross, Fridays and Saturdays at
8 p.m., Thursdays at 7:30 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m.
Call for tickets: 415-456-9555 or go online at
www.rossvalleyplayers.org. Coming up next at Ross
Valley Players will be "Shadowlands" by William
Nicholson from March 14-April 20, 2008.

Flora Lynn Isaacson

Youth, Sex, Betrayal, Greed in The Scene at the S.F. Playhouse

New York playwright Theresa Rebeck's Scene, performed at the S.F.
Playhouse in a West Coast premiere under the expert direction of Amy
Glazer, brings a portrayal that is as sordid as it is comical
concerning today's morals. At the play's start we meet antagonistic
heroine Clea, an attractive young upstart who both despises and prides
herself that every man wants her for sex. And, in order to boost her
self-esteem, she proceeds to use sex to conquer one male after the
other. Charlie, married to Stella, is her present victim, who at first
firmly resists Clea's advances but then lets it all happen because he
is married to an all too perfect wife. Moreover, Clea allows Charlie
to free his sexual impulses and be himself emotionally as well as
physically. But after she has won her victory, Clea will move on to
conquer others, betraying Charlie who in turn has betrayed his wife,
who, in turn, will betray Charlie by going off with Lewis, Charlie's
best friend.
Rebeck's dramatic action, characterization and dialogue reflect
with astounding frankness the youth of today's lack of moral decentcy
and quick readiness to abandon responsibility to suit their own
cravings. Beneath a dialogue filled with banale bantering, swear words
and frequently utilizing the F word that provokes easy laughter, along
with uninhibited love making that excites the audience, Rebeck offers a
serious moral lesson. The play is more than the highly sexy black
comedy it proposes to be. Rebeck is bluntly satirizing and criticizing
the bad conduct of our present generation. And it is for this reason
that after one leaves the theatre and looks back at the play one no
longer sees it as an exciting and amusing momentary sensual experience
but a deeper one provoking us to think seriously about the very
behaviour that at the moment only made us laugh.
A slim, youthful and sexy Heather Gordon plays Clea as an
authoritative, unscrupulous and provocative female. Aaaron Davidman,
artistic director of the San Francisco Traveling Jewish Theatre, moves
from the reserved and indifferent male to Clea's passionate lover.
Nancy Carlin, who stepped in at the last minute to replace the original
Stella (film and T.V. star Daphne Zuniga), rose to the challenge with a
convincing interpretation of the staid Stella who melts into a warmer
more compassionate human being at the play's end. Howard Swain's
interpretaaton of the eccentric Lewis enriches his role with comic
moments of expressive facial and body movement that lightens the darker
side of the comedy.
Scenic design by Artistic director Bill English are minimal and
varied enough to allow for changing sets and allow actors to move
freely on a constricted stage space.
Michael Oesch on lights magically and rapidly solved a couple of
technical problems that a good-willed audience and ardent fans of the
S.F. Playhouse applauded.
Theresa Rebeck's plays, including The Scene, well known to the
New York stage, have not as yet been performed on the West Coast. She
has written abundantly for TVand film and will publish her first novel,
Three Girls and Their Brother, in the spring of 2008.
The S.F. Playhouse continues to strengthen its reputation as an
intimate family style theatre in the heart of downtown San Francisco to
successfully bring this season's theme of "connection" to the fore with
the thought-provoking as well as exhilarating Scene by Theresa Rebeck.
The Scene runs through March 8. For info. Call 415-677-9596 or
TicketWeb.com.

Sonny's Blues, Harlem and Beyond at Lorraine
Hansberry

James Baldwin's play, Sonny's Blues, presented by Word for Word Company
in association with the Z Space Studio, opened at the Lorraine
Hansberry Theatre on February 9 to a standing ovation. In flashback
style and presented through a narrator/character, Baldwin's play
depicts the relationship from an early age between a brother
schoolteacher and his younger brother obsessed by jazz. The older
brother's structured life as a schoolteacher married with children, who
has also been in the army, is not Sonny's choice of a life style.
Sonny, a young man in despair, lives only for his dream of becoming a
jazz pianist. As a child he refused to go to school and soon fell into
a group of drug addicts where he could freely play the piano and do
drugs to bury his frustration. Later he will attempt to flee Harlem to
avoid this life style and the drugs that will bring about his
ruination. And because Sonny's brother has promised his mother, who
always wondered about Sonny's secret activities, he will take care of
his younger brother and persist in an arduous attempt to help him.
Because of his own limited views, it will take Sonny's brother almost a
lifetime to understand Sonny's need to find himself through his music.
Unable to exteriorize his feelings, Sonny will be understood only when
his older brother takes the time to listen to Sonny's pain through the
playing of his music.
The play offers an intimate psychological portrayal of the author and
his younger introverted and troubled brother. But Baldwin's portrayal
goes beyond family, race and the Harlem where he grew up. It takes us
to the plight of all blacks in a world where they are not heard, and
even beyond race to all family ties where one is not listened to.
The narrative is directed by Margo Hall utilizing a variety of stage
areas and movement on a large, almost empty stage. Acting credits go
to Peter Macon as the brother/narrator, a responsible, mature and
conventional citizen attempting to penetrate the wall between himself
and his younger artist brother. Da' Mon Vann's Sonny, physically suited
to the role of the emaciated, troubled drug victim artist, brings out
these qualities a bit too subtley on an emotional level. Margarette
Robinson steals the show as the Mama and in other female and male roles
with her deep singing voice and magnetic stage presence. Allison L.
Payne is a buoyant Isabel among other roles. Mujahid Abdul-Rashid moves
with dignity and authority from Creole to Father. Robert Hampton
captivates the wasted allure of Sonny's drug addict friend convincingly.
Sets and props (Lisa Dent) are kept to a minimum on the bare stage that
actually strengthens the content as it allows for a deeper
concentration on the dramatic narrative.
Laura Hazlett's costumes, simple and modest, harmonize with the
characters and milieu.
Marcus Shelby's original musical score provides the musical background
and sometimes the foreground without ever detracting from the narrated
action. The award-winning composer, bassist and Bay Area teacher is
committed to the use of jazz to convey the history and legacy of
African-Americans.
Baldwin's tribute to brotherhood contains more than a psychologically
penetrating study of family relationships. It is also a poetic
rendering of the importance of listening to others through an art form.
In Baldwin's own words, "A lot of negro style, the style of a man like
Miles Davis, or Ray Charles or the style of a man like myself-is based
on a knowledge of what people are really saying and on our refusals to
hear it. You pick up the beat, which is more truthful than words."

Word for Word Company, founded by Joanne Winter and Susan Harloe, in
its aim to utilize short stories for dramatization, has succeeded in
staging works of various periods and kinds in the Bay Area and Beyond.
After the run of the play in San Francisco and in other areas of
California, the company will perform in several French towns. In this
fruitful collaboration with the Lorraine Hansberry Theatre, Word for
Word continues to spread the word about their highly original form of
bringing literature to the stage.
Sonny's Blues plays through March 2. For information call 415-474-9900
or go to www.zspace.org or lhtsf.org.
Annette Lust, member Drama faculty Domincan University and S.F. Bay
Area Theatre Critics Circle.

Fringe of Marin 20th Anniversary Bay Area Awards
Call for Actors for Bay Area Actors for Fringe of Marin's 08 Spring
Season

The Fringe of Marin's bi-annual discoveries of new plays by Bay Area
and Beyond playwrights, acted out and directed by community actors
and directors, held its twentieth anniversary Awards Ceremony at
Dominican University on December 2nd. The nominees for Awards
for Best Play, Best Actor, Actress and Director were selected by a jury
comprised of members of the Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle and Bay
Area
Community writers and directors.

First place for the Best Play and Solo Award was attributed to
veteran Bay Area actor Steve North's autobiographical "This Life" in a
tie with Annette Lust's folk fantasy "Vinaigrette." Second place
winners were "22 Minutes Remaining" by Ignacio Zulueta (which will
be performed at the Magic Theatre in San Francisco in Jan.08),
"Switching Teams" by Anthony Martinez, and "Ulysses" by
Paige Lehmann. Third place went to Joanne Green's comedy "Starting to
Show" and fourth place to "A Very Private Party" by Debra Turner.
Nominations for best play went to Samantha Skinner's "Murder on the
Mind,"
Linda Ayres-Frederick's "Fiasco," and Lisa Juris' "Fly Me to the Moon."

Next up were the awards for Best Director. First
place honors went to Sasha Litovchenko for "Vinaigrette".
Second place was a tie between Cindy Brillhart-True
for "Switching Teams" and Linda Vito for "22 Minutes
Remaining." Third place winner for best director went
to Steve Galiani for "Ulysses," and fourth place went to
Hector Zavala for "Fly Me to the Moon." Linda Lowry won
a nomination for Best Director for "Starting to Show".

The first place award for Best Actress was attributed to Junelle
Barrett Porter for "22 Minutes Remaining." There was a
three way tie for second place between Erica Badgeley
for "Vinaigrette," "Ulysses," and "Fly Me to the Moon,"to Molly
McCarthy for "Ulysses," and to Joanne Green for "Starting to
Show." Third place honors went to Heather Shepardson
for "A Very Private Party" and fourth place to
Cindy Brillhart-True for "Switching Teams." Nominations
for Best Actress also went to Kathleen Freitag for "Fly Me
to the Moon, Nicole Lundeen for "22 Minutes Remaining,"
and to Sallie Romer for "Vinaigrette," "Murder on the
Mind," and "Starting to Show."

The award for Best Actor was a tie between Mike Morrow
for "Vinaigrette," "Ulysses" and "Fly Me to the Moon," and for
Steve North for "This Life". Second place for Best Actor went
to Ken Bacon for Switching Teams and third place to Anthony Martinez
for
"Switching Teams." Paul Rubio won fourth place honors for "Fiasco".

For the first time, this season the People's Vote was
initiated with the following results. "22 Minutes
Remaining" won 1st place as best play. "A Very Private
Party" and "Murder on the Mind" tied for second place.
Third place was also a tie between "Vinaigrette" and
"Ulysses." "Starting to Show" won fourth place.

Linda Vito took first place as Best Director for "A
Very Private Party" and "22 Minutes Remaining." Samantha
Skinner came in second place for "Murder on the Mind."
Steve Galiani won third place for "Ulysses" and fourth
place went to Steve North for "This Life."

Junelle Barrett Porter won first place again for "22
Minutes Remaining." Second place was won again by
Erica Badgeley for "Vinaigrette," "Ulysses" and "Fly Me to
the Moon". Joanne Green came in third place for
"Starting to Show" and "Heather Shepardson" took fourth
place for "A Very Private Party." Mike Morrow won first
place again in the popular vote for "Vinaigrette",
"Ulysses" and "Fly Me to the Moon." Steve North came in
second for "This Life," Ken Bacon won third place vote
for "Switching Teams" and Anthony Martinez came in
fourth for "Switching Teams..

At the conclusion of the awards ceremony, Linda Vito
presented a well-deserved trophy to Dr. Annette Lust
for founding and conducting the Fringe of Marin for 20 seasons.

CALL FOR FRINGE OF MARIN PLAYWRIGHTS FALL
Unproduced plays up to 20 minutes may be submitted for Fall 08 Festival
by May 1,08.
For information call (415-673-3131,10 a.m.-2.p.m.
and some eves after 8 p.m.)

Annette Lust and Flora Lynn Isaacson

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