The Go-Between

Translations

The year is 1833, and Owen has returned to Baile Beag, a fictional Irish-speaking village in County Donegal, Ireland. This tiny rural town was once his home. But the youngest son of Hugh, the master of the village’s secret hedge-school, Owen left home six years ago to make his fortune in the big city of Dublin. Because he can speak both Irish (Gaelic) and the King’s English, Owen’s been employed by the British as a translator. He’s working with them to Anglicize the village names and help map out Ireland for the Ordnance Survey. Owen serves as a go-between for the hard-boiled English cartographer, Captain Lancey, and his idealistic, younger orthographer, Lieutenant George Yolland, and all the Irish-speaking people of this rural community.

Evidence of Good

The Book of Grace

After a ten year estrangement, Buddy has been invited by Grace, his loving and optimistic stepmother, to come back home to South Texas. She’s hoping that a long-awaited reunion with his violent and bullying father, Vet, will patch up their mysterious longtime hostile relationship. The specific occasion for this homecoming is that Vet, a sadistic border patrol officer, is about to receive a medal for his work. And Vet’s proud of his apprehension and arrest of Mexican aliens, either trying to cross the border illegally or smuggling drugs into the country. 

Set Sail on This Campy Ship of Dreams

Titanique

Imagine you’re enjoying a guided tour of a museum—say, the Titanic Museum—which is devoted to the history of the White Star Line’s Queen of the Ocean and the artifacts recovered from the underwater wreckage of this famous Ship of Dreams. Suddenly, in the middle of this tour, a famous pop music star makes an unexpected appearance. It’s none other than Canadian singing superstar Celine Dion, whose signature ballad, “My Heart Will Go On,” became the motif and theme song of the James Cameron 1997 blockbuster film. And even more surprising is that the delightful diva claims that she didn’t just sing during the final credits of the film, but that she was actually aboard the ship during that ill-fated voyage…and survived!

Sex and Storytelling

No Such Thing

Meet Ren, an attractive, late middle-aged screenwriter, who’s superpower is her talent for powerful storytelling. At the top of Lisa Dillman’s drama, the audience finds themselves becoming voyeurs, watching and listening to a episode of intense intimacy occurring between a man and woman. The sensual encounter takes place in a dimly lit bedroom behind a translucent screen, but it’s very clear what is going on. Ms. Dillman has certainly aroused the adult theatergoer’s attention from the get-go, and her story is off and running.

A Rock ’N’ Roll Fantasy

Sunny Afternoon

During the 1960’s, the United Kingdom became the breeding ground for an international music industry. Except for  some specific details, the story of how The Kinks became one of the defining sounds of the 1960’s, sounds vaguely familiar. Almost every musical group from that time period, especially those who were labeled as part of the “British Invasion,” had similar background stories. Musical collectives, like The Kinks, The Beatles, The Animals and The Rolling Stones, primarily hailed from everyday, working class backgrounds. And more often than not, the young musicians began as members of one or more smaller groups. However, as these bands became more and more popular, a professional producer would soon join their ranks, helping promote the group and making the band more refined, rebranded and ultimately renamed.

An Emotional Whiplash

The Winter’s Tale

An audience member who’s already familiar with William Shakespeare’s Romance, THE WINTER’S TALE, will find a lot to like in Invictus Theatre’s new, powerful production. However, a theatergoer attending this play for first time may experience something akin to an emotional whiplash. That reaction comes from the common perception that this theatrical piece, often labeled as a Problem Play, feels like two very different presentations staged as one production. Just remember, though, that Time heals everything and can often lead to happily ever after.  

a play about final girls

it’s been ten years since everyone died

The press materials for this play, currently having its first full-length production at Open Space Arts, explained a few things that were new to me. First, there is apparently a cinematic term called the “final girl.” It refers to a trope that’s very common in almost every modern day slasher film. In movies such as “Scream,” “Halloween,” “Nightmare on Elm Street,” and countless others, these horror thrillers center around a group of young people being hunted down, brutally attacked and mercilessly slaughtered by a homicidal maniac. By the final reel, only one character has survived to confront the killer and thus tell the story. That individual is usually female and is referred to as the “final girl.”

Absolutely Delightful!

The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee

Your word is Delightful.

May I have a definition?

Certainly. “Giving great pleasure or enjoyment; highly pleasing.”

Can you use it in a sentence?

Paramount’s new production of THE 25th ANNUAL PUTNAM COUNTY SPELLING BEE is absolutely Delightful!

In a junior high school gym, set in a fictional small town in America’s heartland, a group of 6 sharp middle school students battle for the regional Spelling Bee Championship. The event is overseen by a trio of quirky adults, including the Spelling Bee’s head moderator, Rona Lisa Perretti, a successful realtor and local celebrity for having once won the Spelling Bee several years ago, when she was a student. Because the musical has its roots in improvisational theatre, 4 eager audience members are selected to compete with the cast at every performance, thus no two shows are ever the same. The result is always hilarious, often unexpected and delightfully wise and wacky. 

Dreams Never Run On Time

Tell Me on a Sunday

Meet Emma, a recent immigrant to the United States. She’s a pretty, perky young English woman who’s arrived in New York City late one night, planning to move in with her new American boyfriend, Joe. That relationship suddenly sours when she discovers that she’s being used. Then Emma meets Sheldon, a famous film producer, who lures her off to the plastic existence of Hollywood. Bored and ignored in LaLa Land, Emma decides to return to the Big Apple. Back in NYC she meets a younger man who travels for a living. But no surprise, he also proves to be unfaithful to her. Emma’s final affair is a frivolous fling with Paul, a married man with two children. When Paul confesses that he intends to leave his wife for her, Emma suddenly realizes that the tables have been turned. Now it’s she who’s using men the way they’ve used her. Emma’s epiphany strengthens her drive to get her Green Card and leads her toward a new life of independence. Emma acknowledges this new attitude in an eleventh hour number entitled “Dreams Never Run Out of Time.” The audience leaves the theatre knowing that our heroine has learned an important life lesson and will survive.

To Be or Not to Be

Teatro La Plaza’s Hamlet

Ask anyone for the title of a play that everybody knows and it’ll most likely be HAMLET. And especially when narrowing the choices down to Shakespearean dramas, comedies and histories, you’d be hard-pressed to find anyone who has not at least heard of this tragedy. From the time you’re in high school, most everyone will have read, studied and probably seen at least one production of the play. This is, after all, Shakespeare’s most popular tragedy, and it offers a challenging role that every actor worth his salt aspires to play. That makes this production all the more noteworthy. Elegantly written and directed by the founder of Teatro La Plaza, Peruvian theatre artist Chela De Ferrari has created a most unique and unusual retelling of the Bard’s classic that’ll be remembered for a long time to come.