BROOKLYN BOY REVIEWED Re: Fw: Off Broadway West Theatre Company presents Lillian Groag's THE LADIES... CURSE OF THE STARVING CLASS Reviewed by Jeffrey R Smith
BROOKLYN BOY
Reviewed by Jeffrey R Smith of the San Francisco Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle
Currently the Ross Valley Players are presenting BROOKLYN BOY: a father-son reconciliation story told by playwright Robert Margulies.
While the tale may have a Yiddish patina, beneath its veneer and at its core it is a story told with nearly infinite renditions and permutations both Gentile and Jewish.
George Lucas, leaping into the future and outer space, told a similar story using Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader as his principals.
While Manny Weiss in this play may have denied his son Eric Weiss a sense of recognition, Dastardly Darth unapologetically lopped off Likeable Luke's hand with a light saber—fortunately for his love life, it was Luke's left hand and bionic hands were FedEx'ed about the cosmos like stardust and Victoria's Secret.
At its psychological center is a gnawing piece of inevitable irony: while Mom dishes out unconditional love, Dad expects a little something in return: up front no less.
As it turns out, Dad is the person who goads, taunts and provokes us to become who we are.
Mom may be our security blanket but Dad is our electric cattle prod.
When this critic borrowed an airplane from the United States Navy and flew it home to show Mom and Dad, Mom was at least marginally impressed; Dad pretended (I think he pretended) to be unimpressed: "Its so small," were the words he used to trivialize my accomplishment.
While Mom would be happy to learn that we were living safely and comfortably in the Land of the Lotus Eaters, Dad wants us tilling the rocky soil of Ithaca, producing bumper crops, raking in the farm subsidy and delivering the harvest to the commodities exchange for a killing AND distinguishing ourselves in battle at Troy.
While MR Margulies does make his point, he inches his way along, waxing a bit too prolix in doing so.
MR Margulies is into high-definition: he favors lots of fine literary brush strokes—as opposed to broad ones—to detail his high-resolution story.
Fortunately great acting, intelligent casting and rock solid directing by Phoebe Moyer keep this Aspidistra flying for its well-intended two hours and twenty minutes.
Matthew Lai delivers a masterful and no doubt strenuous performance as Eric Weiss: a writer who has made his way to eleven on the bestseller list, with no encouragement from Dad.
Most of the comedy emanates from Timothy Beagley (as Ira Zimmer).
Ira is the boyhood friend of Eric.
In contrast to Eric, Ira seems to have been earmarked for mediocrity right from the day he returned home from the family moyl (mohel).
Ira represents the identity that Eric is trying to sidestep.
As is the case in these identity sagas, the more one tries to shed his or her preordained identity or fate, the more one assumes it.
Think of Oedipus.
If you enjoy quality performances and well-crafted scripts, this play is for you.
If you are working for a living, as opposed to feeding off a trust fund like an aphid, you might see it on Saturday night—as opposed to Friday night: just to be certain that you are sufficiently refreshed, both mentally and physically, when the curtain goes up.
For tickets call 415-456-9555 or visit www.rossvalleyplayers.com.
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THE LADIES OF THE CAMELLIAS
Reviewed by Jeffrey R Smith of the San Francisco Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle
The Off Broadway West Theatre Company is currently performing Lillian Groag's tour de farce: THE LADIES OF THE CAMELLIAS.
Rarely does an intimate, under 99-seat, theatre achieve such superlative production standards as this little jewel presently ensconced at the cozy Phoenix Theatre on Mason Street in San Francisco.
Alameda's own: Joyce Henderson burnishes this well crafted script; paying close attention to all the details that distinguish the true art of the stage from mere acting, strutting and fretting.
The entire cast is clearly dedicated to the art of theater as well as to its entertainment value.
In addition to directing the show, MS Henderson shares a leading lady role as la Regina della Italiana Stage: Signorina Eleonora Duse.
A collaborative effort by the company has created a coherent and convincing set design—a welcome rarity amongst small theaters—that clearly establishes the period and the place this well researched piece of sophisticated yet farcical comedy.
Playwright Lillian Groag uses delicate, veiled language to politely describe the twisted and sordid details surrounding these two high-maintenance divas of the nineteen century European stage.
The script achieves a cautious balance: ribald but not tawdry, risqué but not profane, bawdy but not vulgar.
If you attend the play you might listen carefully to the discreet language used by Benoit (superbly played by Graham Crowley) as he recounts his train ride, escorting a naughty over-sexed monkey, to Marseilles.
Fortunately, for the sake of decorum, the clarity of Benoit's narrative side-steps any anatomic details: mon dieu: the monkey was certainly no Curious George.
While the performing arts are chronically under-funded, this play is graced by period costumes by Hemihar, that resourcefully, almost magically, rise to the expected level of opulence and indulgence known to have been enjoyed by the main characters.
Barbara Michelson-Harder (Sarah Bernhardt) provides an exceptional performance: at times she expresses herself silently yet eloquently with barely perceptible gestures, huffy affected poses, eye movements, furtive glances, and body English: this woman speaks volumes with animated nuance bordering on mime.
While the leading ladies are nearly over the top as actresses playing actresses, Richard Harder (as Alexander Dumas) is at a slight disadvantage when it come to stage presence: he is playing a reserved writer trying to patiently protect his script from deviations irreverently implemented by Sarah Bernhardt and Eleonora Duse; his dignity, poise and chiseled articulation establish his character remarkably well.
If you enjoy a bit of history mixed in with your comedy, and appreciate a theater company that goes the extra kilometer to provide you a class act, this is your show.
Tickets can be reserved by calling 800 838-3006; the Phoenix Theatre is at 414 Mason Street (between Geary and Post).
Wondering what's for Dinner Tonight? Get new twists on family favorites at AOL Food.
CURSE OF THE STARVING CLASS
Reviewed by Jeffrey R Smith of the S.F. Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle
In the minds of many, Sam Shepard is the patron saint of the dysfunctional family.
While divorce lawyers, family therapists, psychiatrists, bar tenders, crime scene investigators, coke dealers, Porsche salesmen and massage therapists make a hefty income from the spawn of dysfunctional families, Sam creates an uninhibited theatrical genre from them.
BURIED CHILD, SAVAGE LOVE, A LIE OF THE MIND, FOOL FOR LOVE are just a few of his plays that serve as a gentle reminder that you do not have to have a happy childhood in order to have an unhappy marriage.
While people from quasi-normal families may think that Sam is exaggerating—indulging himself in a bit of hyperbole—those in audience raised somewhere between the lunatic fringe, feral child syndrome and shock treatments, appreciate Sam for his subtlety, understatement and sensitive restraint.
Tolstoy opens ANNA with the line, "All happy families are pretty much the same, but unhappy families enjoy a savory uniqueness."
Then too, we may not be quoting accurately: there is always a little piquancy lost in the translation.
Currently A.C.T. of San Francisco is performing Shepard's CURSE OF THE STARVING CLASS.
If you have even wondered why you can't stay married for more than two years, or why you live in a lean-to made from an automobile hood, or why you still wet the bed, or why you watch FRIENDS and reality TV, this play could have some cheap but meaty answers for a lot less than the $100+ per hour you are currently paying your therapist, acupuncturist, dominatrix or girl friend.
Peter DuBois has done an excellent job of directing this whacky piece of twisted backwater Americana: while not bridling his characters, Pete has superimposed a bit of order to the causal madness that nearly all of Shepard's characters enjoy.
Jud Williford (as Wesley) traverses the chasm between a recoiled, withdrawn and retreated young man battling for self-preservation and a maturing boy who has not given up on reaching out to the damaged goods that serve as his family.
Nor is Jud shy about sharing his personal life with large audiences either—ladies, if you are sitting rows K through W you might want to have your opera glasses discreetly at the ready: while there is no photography allowed at A.C.T., Actors Equity cannot stop you from taking all the mental pictures you like.
One appreciative lady found such artistic stimulation in Mister Williford's performance that she stood on her seat to give Jud a standing ovation at curtain call—rarely do women whistle, hoot, cat call and throw their business cards at the Geary Theatre.
Jack Willis (as Weston) gives a great performance: lending credibility to a character that is so comfortable with his own insanity that the audience senses lunacy is merely an alternative lifestyle.
San Francisco's finest homegrown actor: Rod Gnapp (as Ellis) is major asset to the show: Rod puts forth a magnum performance as the bar owner-loan shark: Rod creates an Ellis who is both ruthlessly hard nose and easy going and even likeable at the same time.
Rod is best known in San Francisco for his stunning portrayal of Artie Mitchell in genius playwright Cintra Wilson's XXX LOVE ACT.
A marvelous set design by Loy Arcenas convincingly blends the authentic architectural styles of Southwest desert rusticity with compelling evidence of wholesale neglect by the occupants.
Part of the genius of Sam Shepard is that he can turn a family tragedy into a comedy so funny that even a social worker or a domestic disturbance unit would laugh.
If you are looking for comedy and laughter in all the wrong places, this show is for you.
For tickets, borrow a quarter, find a pay phone, and call 415-749-2ACT.
Wondering what's for Dinner Tonight? Get new twists on family favorites at AOL Food.