November 09 Theatre Reviews

NOVEMBER 09 THEATRE REVIEWS

Tiny Kushner Shorts at Berkeley Rep Mirrors The American Experience

Tony Kushner's West Coast premiere of his Tiny Kushner that opened in
October at Berkeley Rep is in effect a "Big Kushner" regarding the
panorama of contemporary American viewpoints the playwright is able to
depict in five short acts. Presented from a fast paced East Coast
perspective, the shorts are directed with the expertise of Berkeley
Rep's artistic director Tony Taccone.

The first play, Flip Flop Fly, catches the audience's attention in its
portrayal of two culturally opposing females, a popular young American
song writer (played by a vibrant Valeri Mudek) and the sophisticated,
exiled and deposed Queen Geraldine of Albania (authoritatively
interpreted by Kate Eifrig) who meet on the moon after their deaths. We
are reminded of Jean Paul Sartre's No Exit in which a lesbian, an
attractive female, and a male survive side by side despite their
differences. In Kushner's play the women's contrasting characters are
presented in vaudeville style ending in a hilarious song and dance
routine.

Veloren Sein or Ambivalence revolves around a gay patient (performed by
an endearing J.C. Cutler) in love with his lesbian psychiatrist (Kate
Eifrig)., with their lovers Jim Lichtscheidl and Valeri Mudek hovering
about their partners while the patien tbegs his unconvinced shrink to
love him.

The third, a solo entitled East Coast Ode to Howard Jarvis, is
brilliantly played by Jim Lichtscheidl who presents individuals from
all walks of life who devise a scheme to prove they are exempt from
paying taxes because they do not legally exist. This clever fantasy,
although overloaded with details and never ending verbosity, has the
audience
racing to keep up with the narrator's rapid delivery and quick change
of characters.

In Dr. Arnold A. Hutschnecker in Paradise, we return to afterlife on
the moon where a psychoanalyst (convincingly played by J.C. Cutler)
complains to psychiatrist (Kate Eifrig) that he spends five days a week
analyzing Richard Nixon. This amusing satire on psychotherapy revealing
the character of Nixon is highly entertaining.

Only We Who Guard the Mystery Shall Be Unhappy revolves around Laura
Bush in Paradise addressing three little Iraqi children who died with
thousands of other children because of American aggression.. Laura
Bush, well interpreted by Kate Eifrig, tries too justify husband
Bushie's actions by condemning Saddam Hussein as a cruel dictator who
needed to be overthrown. This piece has more of a moral tone than the
four others in its implication of America's tactics that caused the
death of innocent children.

Kushner offers sharp perceptions of the American scene set in a fantasy
of the afterlife depiccting the fantastical aspects of psychoanalysis.
Fantasy and truth about America experiencing a universe in peril
presented on a light note is what renders Kusnher a meaningful and
profound recorder of our times.

Tiny Tony plays through Nov. 29. For info and tickets call 510-647-2949
or click on BerkeleyRep.org. Dr. Annette Lust

When The Kids Are Away, The Parents Will Play

The San Francisco Playhouse just opened the World Premiere of The

First Day of School by Billy Aronson to kick off its new season. Susan
(Zehra Berkman) and David (Bill English) meet outside an elementary
school on the first day of school after dropping off their children.
They begin by comparing notes on their kids new teachers. With a whole
day to kill, they decide to fulfill a mutual fantasy and begin
propositioning other parents. They introduce themselves by saying to a
fellow parent, "Do you want to have sex with me?" The comedy takes
flight by the reactions they get. Susan begins by speaking to Peter,
played by a flustered and neurotic Jackson Davis. David follows suit by
speaking to Kim played by Marcia Pizzo as a righteous PTA activist, who
turns him down. Next, David speaks to Alice played by Stacy Ross as an
unapproachable, high powered attorney. Scene II opens up into Susan and
David's comfortable living room beautifully designed by Bill English.
Peter comes home with Susan and Alice comes home with David, and then
much to David's surprise, Kim also shows up. Peter, Alice and Kim seem
to be very uptight to swing with Susan and David. Scene III is again
in Susan and David's living room four years later where everyone is
having lots of fun and this evidently has been going on the first day
of school over the ensuing four years. High school student actors
Torie Laher and Myles Landberg show up, when the parents are upstairs
as teens who stumble into the midst of things. Chris Smith's smooth
direction and his talented cast make the most of Aronson's deft touch
with comic situations. Imaginative costumes suited to each character
were created by Bree Hylkema and Kimberly Richards' movement design.
In this fantastically funny new comedy by Billy Aronson I found myself
continuously laughing out loud! However, our protagonists in The First
Day of School yearn for a connection that will stave off their
loneliness. They hurdle into sexual situations hoping to find something
in the arms of others to sustain them in the empty world of conformity
and daily routine. Theirs is an eternal quest and Aronson opens the
skin of the mundane to expose longings we all understand.

First Day of School plays through November 7 For tickets, call
415-677-9596 or go to www.sfplayhouse.org.Up next at the San Francisco
Playhouse will be "She Stoops To Comedy" by David Greenspan and
directed by Mark Rucker, November 18, 2009-January 9, 2010. Flora
Lynn Isaacson

The Creature Speaks!
Black Box Theatre is currently presenting Trevor Allen's The
Creature,"a World Premiere adaptation of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein."
I attended the final preview on Saturday, October 24. In most
versions of Frankenstein, the monster is nearly mute, expressing
himself only in a series of inarticulate grunts and cries. In Allen's
version, the monster speaks.
The Creature begins with the epistolary technique of a correspondence
between Captain Robert Walton (Garth Petal) and his sister. These
letters form the framework of the story in which Walton tells his
sister the story of Victor Frankenstein (Gabriel Marin) and his
Creature (James Carpenter) as Frankenstein tells it to him. Walton
sets out to explore the North Pole and expand his scientific knowledge
in hopes of achieving fame; unfortunately, the ship becomes trapped in
ice. One day, the crew finds Frankenstein near the ship, weak and in
need of sustenance. Frankenstein starts to recover from his exertion
(he was on the trail of the Creature) and recounts
his story warning Walton of the effects of allowing one's ambition to
push one to aim beyond wha tone is capable of achieving. In the
original story, Victor Frankenstein neglects the Creature out of fear,
he does not intend to create a horror. The Creature begins as an
innocent loving being and does not develop hatred until the world
inflicts violence upon him. The Creature employs the voices of three
narrators--Victor Frankenstein, the Creature, and the ship's Captain
Walton in a mercurial interwoven style.
James Carpenter, in the lead role of the Creature, is outstanding. He
brings out the humanity in his character. He has a lot of empathy for
his tragic condition and that's what makes the whole production work.
Gabriel Marin gives a moving performance as Victor Frankenstein. Garth
Petal,
in addition to playing Captain Walton, plays a whole series of minor
characters as well. Director Rob Melrose took the concept of a radio
play as a jumping off point. He seeks a presentational look.

Sound Designer Cliff Caruthers brought in live microphones. Captain
Walton (Petal) uses them to read his letters, and they are so engaging.
Some of the hanging microphones echo, so when Frankenstein (Marin)
calls out to Captain Walton from his sled on ice, it is haunting
.
The set design by Michael Locker is rather minimal and quite
functional. My main criticism of the play is that it is too long and
drawn out. I believe a 90-minute version without an intermission would
be more effective.

The Creature plays Thursday-Saturday at 8 p.m. and Sunday at 7 p.m.
from October 23-November 7 at Thick House, 1695 18th Street (between
Carolina and Arkansas) in San Francisco. For tickets, the public may
call 415-401-8081 or visit thickhouse.org.
Flora Lynn Isaacson

The Doctor and His Demon

The Royal Underground Theatre Company is currently presenting a fresh
new look at "Jekyll and Hyde," the smash Broadway musical hit based on
the novel, "The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" by Robert
Louis Stevenson. The original stage conception was by Steve Cuden and
Frank Wildhorn with book and lyrics by Leslie Bricusse.

Director Enrico Banson has re-imagined this show through a contemporary
viewpoint although it is set in London in 1886. He stripped the show
away from the original gigantic set pieces to focus on the talent at
hand. There is a candelabra on each side of the stage to set the
scene.

All of the actors (except for Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and the two
female leads), in a cast of 15, play musical instruments,
piano/keyboard, flute, violin, trumpet, double bass/alto horn, electric
bass, clarinet, alto sax, harp, and drums, as well as being able to
sing and dance.
My only criticism is that the volume of the music, at times, drowned
out the actors.

The battle between good and evil and the dual personality of man is the
theme ofJekyll and Hyde. We see onstage, a man possessed by a desire
drug induced flight into the realm of the inner sanctum of evil
inherent in man.
The highly talented Jonathan Reisfeld plays both Dr. Jekyll and Mr.
Hyde well. One is amazed as he successfully transforms himself into
the alter character. Molly Gazay as Lucy, the tart, is outstanding.
With her good looks and beautiful voice, she captures the audience.
Holly Nugent
creates a sympathetic Emma, Jekyll's fiance. Ms. Nugent is an
appealing presenceand has a pleasant voice. Chris Morrell as John
Utterson, Dr. Jekyll's lawyer and best friend, performs his role well.
Douglas Mandell, as Sir Danvers Carew, gives a moving performance
as Emma's father.

Song highlights include such hit tunes as "This Is the Moment," "A New
Life," "Alive,"
"Someone Like You," "Lost In the Darkness," and "Facade."

The period costumes by Cherilyn Chang showed an influence of modern
fashion designers
like Vivienne Westwood and Jean-Paul Gaultier.

Enrico Banson has skillfully directed this production with a highly
talented cast to create a professional, polished, exciting evening of
theatre.
Coming up next in 2010, the Royal Underground Theatre Company performs
Jonathan Larson's "Rent"-January 22, 2010-February 21, 2010.
Flora Lynn Isaacson

FRINGE OF MARIN NOV 13 TO DEC 6 AT DOMINICAN UNIVERSITY
For their twenty fourth season, Fringe of Marin's Bay Area actors and
Dominican Players stage new one-acts ranging from farce to light and
dark comedy for critics' awards at Meadowlands Hall, Dominican
University, 50 Acacia Ave, San Rafael, Nov. 13 to Dec. 6, Fridays and
Saturdays 7:30 p.m., Sundays 2 p.m., $14-$16 admission: $10 seniors &
students. Call 415-673-3131 or Jeanlust@aol.com.

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