Review- Blood Guilty (1st Irish)

The Fab Marquee review by Diánna Martin.


As the lights come up in Antoine O Flatharta's drama Blood Guilty, we are introduced to Pat (Vincent Dowling) and Dan (Christopher Joseph Jones), whose home life is the stuff reminiscent of the Collier Brothers and Grey Gardens. Time seems to have stopped in the cluttered house. Dan, who appears feeble-minded, but we later find is simply blind, constantly enjoys annoying his other elderly brother, Pat, by constantly switching the radio. The two older men bicker (well, Pat bickers and Dan simply listens as his bickering turns emotionally and psychologically abusive) about the radio and their life. I was actually fascinated by the relationship between the two actors...and felt such sympathy for Dan, who is at his brother's mercy, though we really don't believe that Pat will "send him to the nuthouse"...or do we?

The story begins to move forward a tad when Pat leaves the house on an errand and leaves his blind brother to enjoy the French station on the radio that he seems to be obsessed with; because it is now that he is alone that The Strangers come calling. Tom (Paul Nugent) and John (Aidan Redmond), his older brother, come by offering to sell blankets that they have no doubt stolen. They let themselves into the house, and once seeing that there is nobody but a mentally feeble, elderly blind man there, begin to threaten his life for money as they ransack the house. Much to their chagrin, there is nothing of value, which begins to enrage John, the elder of the two hooligans. Just as one thinks John might actually strangle Dan for fun, Pat walks in and assesses the situation.

And here is where the play ended for me. Let me start by saying that I was delighted to see beautiful work by the two older actors at the beginning of the play; their relationship was one that I bought and I felt for. It held a world of possibility for me; how did it get this way? Why was Pat such a bastard? Was Dan really so feeble or just sick of fighting? And in a theatrical world where the stage is often dominated by young actors, it was refreshing to see two seasoned older gentlemen have their day.

And bringing the two thieves/potential murderers in was an interesting ordeal, for you saw a similar dynamic between both sets of brothers - and I know that that is what the playwright and director Kevin Collins may have been going for; I know that that is what I walked away with.

However, after Pat was able to get a stab in to Tom and wound him, and John does nothing to overpower him, I just did not buy it. I didn't. There was no way, physically or psychologically (as the way John's character was set up) that he would not attack - and 98% be able to overpower Pat. One section is he strangling Dan; the next he is too hysterical to grab a small knife from a man who's obviously not his match in strength or power. Or the fact that he wouldn't just move his brother out of the house, carry him, and take him to get aid. I was completely thrown out of the play. If it came down to him not loving his brother enough and thinking of him as a burden (again, the link between the two sets of brothers), then he should have left him there and let us all go home.

What added salt to this theatrical wound...what truly ruined the play for me, was the lengthy soliloquies that Pat had as Tom was dying. As John stayed and did nothing, really, but listen to this older man rant about this and that - there were points made that would have been moving had there been some basis of reality to ground them on, since this play was established as a drama, not some stylized piece. The days of youth versus the plight of the old, of watching your dreams fade and how Pat came to where he was in life had no interest for me anymore because I no longer believed the play.

The only thing I believed...what kept me holding on...was the beautiful far away look in Dan's eye. Jones had a life going on in his character as he remained silent that was so much more intriguing for me than 98% of the show - I wanted to be where he was, in his mind. And unfortunately, we were not.

A valiant effort, but alas, potential wasted, on what could have been a good show.


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The Bronx Company, Whole in the Wall & First Irish present
Blood Guilty
The Players Loft Theater


This show has now closed. For more information about the festival, visit www.firstirish.org




THe Players Loft Theater | 115 MacDougal Street, 3rd Floor | Manhattan.

Review- A Short Wake (1st Irish)

The Fab Marquee review by Diánna Martin.

Family dysfunction comes in all shapes and sizes, from all cultures. However, something can be definitely be said for the type of relationships that are cultivated in an Irish-American household that includes drinking and physical abuse. Siblings can either stick together to keep secrets or escape to other sides of the country - or the world - as they struggle to get away from their past (and each other)... although we all know that our pasts never leave us, they just have a way of sticking to us, like gum on the bottom of our shoes; or, in some cases, can be re-routed into positive outlets such as the arts.

A Short Wake, by Derek Murphy, a Dubliner, brings us into the funeral parlor for the wake of the father of Teddy (Peter Bradbury) and Jimmy (Brandon Williams). The main centerpiece of the set is a huge casket and a few chairs - perfect, really. Held in New York, the wake is a rather pitiful affair - both sons make note of the lack of anyone coming to mourn the man in the coffin and the flower arrangements looking a bit tired. Murphy's continuous hilarious dialogue allows Bradbury, even alone, to flourish as the two-bit con in a nice suit (and greasy hair), following in his bookie father's footsteps, having moments between cracking jokes to quiet his own sadness and unease as well as conflicting feelings of the final weeks of the father's cancer as he stood by his bedside. Conflicted because dear ol' dad actually thought it was the younger brother, Jimmy, the whole time, holding his hand - Jimmy, who has not been around in ten years and hates his father with a fiery passion.

As Bradbury sips from his flask and clutches his stomach from acid reflux, we see Williams finally enter, reluctantly, into the parlour. A successful lawyer in California - as far away from New York as he can get without leaving the country - Jimmy emanates a powerful wave of tension from the moment he enters the room. He can't even get past the first few chairs in the parlour, and it's Bradbury who is making all the effort to try to get a hug and pull him into the room - to try to find a common ground and a way to get past their years of dealing with abusive parents and be brothers again.

But it's not so easy. Jimmy can't understand why Teddy is even in mourning for the man that he considers to be a horrible father, human being, and abusive alcoholic; and Teddy can't understand why Jimmy can't let it go now that the man is dead - and why his younger brother's selective memory seems to have forgotten some important points about what their mother was really like as well; her alcoholism, her abusive behavior, and what really went on during one particular night that changed all of their lives forever.

And so we have a brilliantly written and acted two-character play that is really a four-character play; because the man in the coffin and the woman that we learn more about as the play goes on become as important as the two brothers on stage who, as they sip their whiskey and gin, begin to open up to each other more and more. Is this about a couple of drunk Irishmen going over old times? NO. This is a play about family, about how memories can be completely different depending on who is telling the story, and how 30-year-old grudges can become mantras for no reason other than they exist.

Bradbury had me from the beginning. From his New York bookie attitude combined with his actual pain about his father - and the hilarious monologue he has before Williams comes on, I was delightfully absorbed. When Williams first entered, and for the first fifteen minutes after his entrance, I thought the actor had some tics and was holding onto his prep to the point where it was interfering with his relating to his brother, and his ability to take in this brother he hadn't seen in 10 years (even though we know our siblings and sometimes have to only glance at them even after that long). His anger was so consuming that it almost became a fifth character in the room. But as they began to talk more, and as he accepted his brother's gift of fine whiskey in a flask, I began to see some of the prep drop, and just see a character who was in tremendous emotional pain dealing with his smart-ass brother, and vice-versa; and once he got cooking with Bradbury, then the show took off, I felt, for him and for me. Both actors should be applauded for holding this critic in the palm of their hand, simply following along as the two wove tales tall and true about their lives and loves and their relationship with each other - and the pain they were trying to get past.

Combine truly gifted actors, with fantastic direction from Ludovica Villar-Hauser and this amazing rich, darkly comedic dialogue, and you are left afterwards simply wanting to see it again. I thought the staging was great (I never saw the director's hand, and so it goes in a well-directed piece); however, one thing I would have tried was to not open the casket so that we saw the figure inside. To open it upstage would have been better, I think; for although the acting was so good that it kept my mind off of what was in that coffin, I still kept having to block it out, especially when I had a view, it took me out of the play momentarily.

It's my understanding that many, if not all, of the 21 plays in this festival are of high caliber; however, if you see any of them, please add A Short Wake to your list. Anyone who has ever had difficulty talking to a family member, and anyone who has ever wondered what it was like (are there families like that out there?) will be taken on an emotional roller-coaster, with laughter filling in the spots where it sometimes hits too close to the bone. 



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1st Irish 2009 and Tweiss Productions present
A Short Wake
Sept 10-26, 2009
Manhattan Theatre Source


For more information and tickets, visit www.firstirish.org.


Manhattan Theatre Source | 177 MacDougal Street | Manhattan.

Review- Eli and Cheryl Jump (FringeNYC 2009)

The Fab Marquee review by Diánna Martin.

Ever see a show that you just can't get out of your head? Its emotional and psychological residue remains with you for hours, if not days, after you left the show? That is the experience I had when I went to see Eli and Cheryl Jump presented by Ignited States and directed by Nicole A. Watson. I literally could not get the characters out of my mind throughout the night, and had to email friends and post things on Facebook to tell them to go out and see it. I had a passion to go see it again.

Charles Linshaw and Cassandra Vincent | photo credit: Martha Goode

Eli (Charles Linshaw) grows up in the Southern country, son to a somewhat overbearing, yet loving mother (Cassandra Vincent, in only one of her four roles of the evening), who is such because the father and husband has passed away. Through her stories to her son (as we see in flashbacks), she instills in him a feeling that there is something besides just luck protecting him from death's door over and over again. From car accidents to walking on air over huge holes that could make him fall to his death, he begins to believe that there is some magical help from his deceased father helping him remain alive - but at a price; for every time he is saved, it seems that someone he loves dies in his place. This causes him to move into exile in NYC, keeping to himself, lest he kill innocent people accidentally.

Soon he meets Cheryl, and when she breaks his barriers and he asks her on a date, the fateful day of their meeting takes the play to a whole new level that I did not see coming. I was thrilled at the surprise, but later found it even deeper. This is an incredibly haunting piece that captures the heart before you know it's happened.

Cassandra Vincent and Charles Linshaw | photo credit: Martha Goode

Cassandra Vincent blew my mind. I cannot express how delighted I was that simply a shawl, or tying her shirt around her waist, or a pair of glasses made all the difference in creating four separate characters. Her connection with Charles Linshaw at the beginning took a little while to get cooking-but that is a comment for both actors. These are two very fine actors, with a tremendous craft; however they were not listening to each other at first, and that is my main critique of the piece. I also had difficulty relating and believing Linshaw's monologues for the first part of the play. The moments when they come back to the present and their set of tragic, possible magical circumstances I was right on board; but other times when he was telling the stories of his past he wasn't connected enough-and the monologues at times were told without properly expressing the lyrical quality of Daniel McCoy's script. However, towards the last half of the play he did find the rhythm, and the emotional connection, and it was enchanting.

Kudos should also be given to Nicole A. Watson's staging, and to Martha Goode's sound design (brilliant...I was jumping in my chair-just as I was suppose to); David Begali's lights were fantastic.

Eli and Cheryl Jump is a must see. Despite some bumps, it was redeemed with the beauty of the story, some great choices in the work, and the reveal at the end-again...will blow your mind. I was affected by this production long after I left the theater. And that is the mark of a good show.

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The New York International Fringe Festival

Ignited States in association with Crosstown Playwrights present

Eli and Cheryl Jump

by Daniel McCoy

directed by Nicole A. Watson

The Players Loft

Four performances left: Thursday August 20th at 7:15pm, Monday August 24th at 3:15pm, Friday August 28th at 11pm and Saturday August 29th at 12:45pm.

For more information and to purchase tickets, visit www.IgnitedStates.com

The Players Loft | 115 MacDougal St, 3rd Floor | Manhattan.

Review- Love, Humiliation & Karaoke (MITF)

The Fab Marquee review by Diánna Martin.

Enzo Lombard's Love, Humiliation, & Karaoke is a one-man show that takes the audience through the life and times of a gay HIV positive man who is trying to believe that love still exists - despite the odds that his life thus far has taught him. One  of the things that makes this show unique among one-man performances is the personal nature of it; for not only is he taking us on a ride through different times and places in his life that he experienced, but Lombard shares intimate details about himself as he does so - and portrays a hilarious, bittersweet love story that keeps you at the edge of your seat.

From the top of the show, Lombard brings to life several different characters from his past including his Southern boyfriend, his Scottish pal from school abroad, his mother, his Transvestite karaoke-singing neighbor, and several more, as he weaves a path from NYC to San Francisco to Amsterdam; as he takes us from present day to 1995 to 1989 and back again. These are brought to us as a series of flashbacks where he will be discussing something and then lead into another scene with "and that remembered me of the time when..." and the next bit begins. In between are moments when he sings a song that brings up memories for him in relation to the scene at hand: "Another way to rate a breakup is...the music that makes you fall apart when you're going through it. If you're losing it to, like, Air Supply, or anything on lite-FM ... it is not good."

Whereupon he falls into "I'm All Out Of Love" by said band.

Overall, it is a delightful show and had me riveted and laughing throughout most of it. His great accents and portrayals of people from his past and present and how they all lead up to where he is today, make for great character studies, and it's really lovely to watch him, without costume changes, embody the characters and then shift back to himself - creating a dialogue. I was moved many times by the love story between the man that he finally decides can accept him for who he is; and that he can accept himself in giving in to love.

My only problem was that sometimes I was confused about why the Karaoke was so important. I know that it was part of the title and songs have meaning in our lives and remind us of the people from those times that we shared them with, or that we heard when events occurred. He talks about his neighbor at the top of the show who sings karaoke, but I wasn't sure about its relevance as much...until I read the script. Perhaps it was due to MITF length constraints that parts were cut out, but a few of the scenes and fragments of scenes that explain the importance of the Karaoke, and his being a competitor, were left out. It wasn't until I read the script that I was then able to appreciate it. So, I would recommend that he leave it in its full length so the audience gets the full effect.

I think Lombard's piece will make anyone who is a romantic and who has lived in weird, fun places with relatively strange and unique people will find themselves nodding and having fun, for the story is just too well-told not to.

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Love, Humiliation & Karaoke was presented as part of the 2009 Midtown International Theatre Festival (now closed). For more information on the artist, visit www.enzolombard.com

Review- Hiding Behind Comets (Nicu's Spoon)

The Fab Marquee review by Dianna Martin.

I have to give playwright Brian Dykstras credit for creating a fantastic "what if" situation in the Nicu's Spoon's production of Hiding Behind Comets, a play about how the Jonestown Massacre, which occurred 30 years ago, effects three 20-somethings in a rural part of America. In fact, there is so much potential in this show's concept, plot, and social commentary, that it makes it all the more frustrating that the play missed the mark on various levels to the point that it wasn't until halfway though the play that I actually cared about what was happening on stage.

David Tully (Troy), Rebecca Challis (Honey), and Oliver Conant (Cole)
Photo Credit: Katie Rosin/Kampfire PR

Upon being seated in the theatre, the actors interacted with the audience casually, as if you were a patron in a bar. Unfortunately, my interest in most of the characters once the play started waned quickly. A brother and sister who are twins, Honey and Troy (Rebecca Challis and David Tully) are running their father's bar, while Honey tries to set her friend Erin (Kiran Malhotra) up with her brother. Despite it being nearly empty, they cannot close the bar because it's too early, and there is one lone customer; Cole (Oliver Conant) who becomes increasingly more and more hostile in a short period of time after the play starts when he asks about the cigarette machine. In fact, I as an audience member was wondering, since Cole was so hostile, rude, and obviously a troublemaker, why Troy didn't just kick him out of the bar; I mean, after all, it is the family bar. Ah, but if he did, we wouldn't have a show...and therein lies the beginning of my unease with this production, which only got worse before it got any better.

I question the playwright and the director for making decisions such as that, that were so unbelievable in real life, so when Tully takes Malhotra downstairs for sex, leaving his sister alone in the bar with this man who is obviously a loose cannon, I was completely thrown out of the play. Then, when Challis begins to flirt with Conant and talk about how she lusts for her brother, somehow feeling that she can confide with him, I felt the dialogue simply spiraling out into left field...nothing seemed important enough to me; the characters, their situation. I think it's because I just didn't believe any of it. At all. And that problem lies in the script more than anything else.

David Tully (Troy), Rebecca Challis (Honey), and Kiran Malhotra (Erin)
Photo Credit: Katie Rosin/Kampfire PR

I feel the play really started halfway through, when Conant began what is actually a beautifully acted and written monologue about the nightmare that was his job as a guard for Jim Jones back before the massacre and through it. In vivid detail he described the horrors he witnessed and took a part in; and how he made it out of there alive. This is when I woke up, when I began to have an interest; and the ignorance of the younger characters about anything having to do with the Jonestown Massacre was an interesting commentary on our current generations who don't seem to know facts of the past or learn from them. Then came an interesting scenario of why Conant really is in the bar that night - and what he plans to do. It was a brilliant situation. There were some good moments between Tully and Conant after Troy convinces his sister and her friend to leave and let him close up, because he knows that their patron is dangerous, but it was still drawn out and again began to get tedious because of excess dialogue that should have been trimmed. I did appreciate, however, the acting between the two men, and Tully's angst with the situation.

Unfortunately, I walked out of the theatre really having only gleamed some sort of enthusiasm for the long monologue that Conant told, and certain aspects of the last half of the play, which is a shame because it could have been so much more. I think with careful re-writes, and actors really dealing with each other in every moment, not just when there is a gun in someone's face, this play could be tremendous. But as it is now, it makes mostly for a wonderful short one-man play.

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Nicus Spoon presents
Brian Dykstras'
Hiding Behind Comets
July 8-26, 2009 (Wed-Sun @ 8pm)
The Spoon Theater

Tickets are $18 and are now available online at www.spoontheater.org or by calling 866-811-4111. Tickets may also be purchased in-person at the Spoon Theater Box Office, 1 hour prior to performance.

The Spoon Theater | 38 West 38th St, 5th Fl | Manhattan.

Review-Planet Connection's Wrap Up: Hound & Suckers

The Fab Marquee reviews by Dianna Martin.

Glory Bowen and Frank Calo's Planet Connections Theatre Festival was a whirlwind of theatrical entertainment that, as mentioned in a previous review, I applaud for going above and beyond attempts at not only presenting solid Off-Off Broadway Theatre, but also combining creativity with philanthropy and raising awareness. It was my delight, then, to find that two plays chock-full of some of my favorite genres (vampires, horror, mystery and suspense) were to be presented - and that one, Suckers by Duncan Pflaster (one of my favorite contemporary playwrights), and Hound, by John Patrick Bray, based loosely on Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's The Hound of the Baskervilles (another one of my favorite tales of all time). Since I saw both towards the end of the run of the Festival, it's my pleasure to say that this Festival ended with a bang - and then some; I had a blast. Neither piece took themselves too seriously (except some deeper moments in Hound, which I'll get to) but these two plays, themed around murder, madness, and the supernatural, allowed the audience to laugh right along with the actors/writers/directors.

Hound is a dark comedy, with emphasis on the dark, because we are dealing not with the famous Sherlock Holmes so much as we are the life - and emotional duress - of Dr. Watson (tenderly played by Cavan Hallman). The performance that I attended, Watson's dear friend Sherlock was played by Ryan Knowles, who was not even mentioned in the program (other than the leaflet saying he would be doing that night's performance) so I must make a mention that for someone who obviously hadn't worked on the show nearly as much as the other actors, played the character very well, exhibiting the "know-it-all-because-he-usually-does" that we have come to expect of a Holmes character, but in a fun manner that allowed for him to be entertaining. Hallman embraces the sorrow that Watson feels for the loss of his wife, blaming himself for her death, since he was unable to cure her. As he finds himself drawn to solve a case that might bring him closer to the threshold of the hereafter, and therefore his wife, he meets a myriad of strange and beguiling characters, from the strange Mortimer (Elizabeth Stewart) who is indeed odd yet in many ways delightful, to the bizarre Mrs. Hudson/Mrs. Barrymoore (brilliantly played by Meredith Dillard) to the fiendish Stapelton (Blaine Peltier). Althought there were times that I felt Hallman was allowing himself to be mired in what was supposed to be depressing his character and not always taking in the other actors as much as he could have, sort of holding onto his prep and being resigned to depression when there were moments of levity that could have been shared with other characters, I overall truly enjoyed his performance, and felt his anguish was palpable. Dillard and Stewart were a joy to watch as they created characters that stuck in the mind of this almost surreal world that director Rachel Klein has laid out for us.

With a spartan set that had no real furniture to speak of except for the delightful easel with cue cards indicating where the characters were at any given time "back at the study" or "the next morning at breakfast", Klein allowed the characters to have free reign to follow impulses and make big choices in their work (or at least it seemed that way from my eye - and regardless it being a directorial or actor choice, it was great) - it allowed the audience to go on this mythical journey with Watson (and Holmes, always nearby to save his friend) and focus on this otherworldly situation...and never question it. On the one hand it kept a reverent eye on Doyle's original piece, but took it to another level. I was reminded of an almost Tim Burton-esque world of Sherlock Holmes. It was indeed a treat.

Speaking of Otherworldly, this leads to one of my favorite things in the world: Vampires! And when I can have vampires, comedy, a playwright whose work I enjoy and an actor whose work is tremendous all at the same time, I am a very happy camper. Suckers was directed by Duncan Pflaster as well as written by him, and I was excited to see how that was going to work. Having recently seen his amazing Ore, or Or, I was interested to see what he was going to do with my zeal for the Ol' Fanged Ones. I was not disappointed. Pflaster did not take himself seriously at all in this piece, and it allowed the actors - and the characters - to again, as in the above discussed piece, make full, dynamic choices that made the evening so much fun to watch. When an innocent couple is taken to a coffee house by a not-so-innocent couple of vampires on the pretense of good books, a happening scene, and great coffee (while taking a small shot at pretentious coffee houses, which I adored), they actually go to the lair of the leader of a vampire clan, the absolutely fabulous Elvis (Shawn McLaughlin), who is looking for an equal to stand by his side and be his queen. His boy toy David (Joe Fanelli) is too busy living in a world where he is the star of a musical, and Elvis is drawn instead to Romaine (Paula Galloway) because she is an intellectual who is strong in spirit as well as a born leader. As the other vampires in his lair are plotting his downfall, he tries to make her see the benefits of being a vampire - and that two queens are better than one! (Moments like that in the play are so much fun).

There are fabulous moments of his hypnotizing her with sound effects, and a goth coffee barrista (Eric C. Bailey) who is under cover to undo the undead. It's a delightfully campy ride all the way from beginning to end. What steals the show for me, entirely, is Shawn McLaughlin. I saw him previously in Pflaster's Ore, or Or, and it is clear to me that no matter what type of play he is doing, be it a concerned gay roommate or the delightfuly gay and diabolical Vampire, he has a quality that allows him to use his humor and way with the text to have fun on stage with his fellow characters and the audience. I look forward to seeing more of his work, in other kinds of pieces. I applaud Pflaster for directing in a way that allowed the actors to have so much fun on stage that the audience could do nothing but go along for the ride and enjoy themselves as well. Though not profound like Pflaster's other piece that I've mentioned several times now, it wasn't supposed to be. Sometimes it's great to just be prolific and allow the audience to eat it up like that great dessert you put off because of the calories but you finally give in and are so happy you did.

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Hound and Suckers were both presented as part of The Planet Connections Theatre Festivity, now closed. To learn more about the Festival, visit www.PlanetConnectionsFestivity.com

Review- This Isn't Paradise (RHE Productions)

The Fab Marquee review Dianna Martin.

It can be a very ambitious project to produce, write, and star in a play, especially when said play has a lot to say...or at least a lot that it is trying to say. Unfortunately, This Isn't Paradise, by Richard Hymes Esposito, directed by Robert Haufrecht, lives up to it's name and then some. It is a play with problems from the beginning, and painfully what keeps the audience interested and holding on, what makes it work on a certain level is that you keep thinking something is going to come of it...or that it's going to get better. However, with the exception of a few moments, it does not. It is a play with a lot of potential, but no payoff, unfortunately.

David H. Holmes (Mark) and Eden Marryshow (Raul)
photo credit: NuansArt.com

The play begins with recordings of speeches of President nominee Barack Obama in the darkness, before we are introduced to a real estate firm and the day to day life on the job of those employees trying to deal with working for commission in an economy such as this. There are debates on politics in the office and generic hijinks that come with working in an office setting that is far from the corporate world. From the beginning, I was struggling to understand (besides the economy references that were used as jackhammers over the audiences heads) why the long, drawn out recordings of Obama's speeches in the dark? Was it to solidify our understanding that we are in a recession and that it's effecting even the real estate world? I think we're all already on the same page with that.

These obvious economic problems seem to generate some tension in the office, for the protagonist/lead/playwright Robert (Esposito) is the only one there, it seems, who is not for Obama, and he is also the most disturbed and disturbing character in the play. There are characters that are all there for different reasons; Mark is a regular NYC trust-fund kid in his mid-twenties who is trying to work a little on the side while he pursues acting (played with depth and interesting choices by David H. Holmes). Heather (Elizabeth Woodard), the new girl on the block so to speak, walks the thin line between flirting and dating Esposito to get ahead in the company because she has a daughter and needs to put food on the table. The entire first act is an introduction to the characters, but seems to be little more than that. There were many moments where it was confusing because it seemed that Esposito either forgot his lines or was doing a partial improv. I was unsure (really thinking the former), but as an actress myself, I'm the last one to give an actor a hard time about it; however when said actor is also the playwright and the dialogue is oftentimes stale, it lends to general confusion for the audience as well as the actors. I applaud the actors for muddling through what seemed an attempted re-hash of Glengarry Glen Ross with Esposito attempting a cross between Deniro's Taxi Driver and Michael Douglas' Falling Down. One funny moment was when a statue of Obama is the cause of a fight, but unfortunately moments like this were few and far between.

R. Elizabeth Woodard (Heather) and Richard Hymes-Esposito (Robert)
photo credit: NuansArt.com

To make matters worse, the soundtrack that is used is wonderful R&B/Funk/Soul/Rock hits from the 70's that I enjoyed - but has absolutely no bearing on the play. This play is very much a 2008/2009 play - to the year, I might add - and in selecting music for soundtrack, I would like to ask what relevance the music had for the show, other than they were great tunes?

One aspect I will mention that saves this play to a degree is the talent of fellow salesman Reno (Jesse Wakeman) whose comic timing was delightful. As the sleazy real estate agent who fakes an Australian accent to get clients, he went with the flow of the show and stood out as an oasis of entertainment in the production. I look forward to seeing more of his work in the future.

This was an ambitious project, and I wish that director Robert Haufrecht would have made some adjustments so that this play, which does smack of potential, could go beyond that. It seems all was put on Esposito's shoulders, and at this time in life it was simply too much.

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RHE Productions presents
Richard Hymes-Esposito's
This Isn't Paradise
June 18-29, 2009
78th Street Theater Lab

Tickets $18. To learn more about the show visit www.ThisIsntParadise.com

78th Street Theater Lab | 236 W 78th Street | Manhattan.

Review- Paved Paradise Redux: The Art of Joni Mitchell (TWEED TheaterWorks)

The Fab Marquee review by Dianna Martin.

Paved Paradise Redux: The Art of Joni Mitchell, starring John Kelly, is one of the best concerts/performance art shows I have been to in years. Produced by TWEED TheaterWorks in association with Robbi Kerns, I was captivated throughout the entire show.

John Kelly
photo credit: Austin Young

I tried explaining the show to a friend, who tossed it off as "Oh, cool, you saw a Joni Mitchell drag show. That's great. Wanna go for coffee?" - and I had to try so hard to express that this was so much more than that. This was an Event, and John Kelly (whose credits span from Broadway to Carnegie Hall to the San Francisco Symphony, The Warhol Museum...and the list goes on) had everyone in the beautiful Abrons Arts Center in the palm of his hand. From the moment the show begins, you hear a recording of one of the live shows' announcers in the darkness of the theater, and then as the curtain rises, we see Kelly's back to us, upstage basked in the gorgeous lighting by Ben Kato, with bassist Paul Ossola on one side and pianist Zecca Esquibel (who is also the musical director of the piece) start to sing and play. As Kelly hits Mitchell's high notes and sings her melodies, in a gorgeous dress (the costumes, by Gabriel Berry, were fantastic) he turns around...and although we are well aware that there is a man inhabiting the costume, that is where that thought ends.

Instead of, as my friend said, "A Joni Mitchell drag show," Kelly became Mitchell completely; he embodied her as a person, singer, musician (he not only sang her songs but played several different guitars and a dulcimer). I found myself listening to her songs like I never had before, and feeling the emotion behind them...again, like I never had before. I wept; I laughed. He would punctuate moments with dialogue to the audience and go into certain mannerisms of hers that would have the audience laughing out loud. Within those moments he was having fun being her; and then he would grin and it would be Kelly grinning as Joni grinning at herself. Nothing is more delightful, when attending performances, than to see performers have so much fun doing what they do - while doing it incredibly well.

The evening, broken up into two acts, culminated in a change of clothes onstage as we saw Joni become Kelly; not missing a beat and there was a murmur of respect as the audience felt Kelly acknowledge that no one can truly BE Joni; that he is someone else underneath, a gifted entertainer and performer who has taken us on a journey for a little while and allowed us to experience Joni from a vantage point of love, respect, and humor.

If you have an opportunity to see this, don't hesitate for a moment.

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TWEED Theater Works & Robbi Kerns present
John Kelly's
Paved Paradise Redux: The Art of Joni Mitchell
June 18-27, 2009
Abrons Arts Center

Tickets are $20-25, visit www.tweedtheater.org for more information.


Abrons Arts Center | 466 Grand Street | Manhattan.

Review- The Imaginary Invalid: By Prescription Only (Planet Connections Festivity)

The Fab Marquee review by Dianna Martin.

The Planet Connections Festivity has brought together a long list of shows all in the name of the greater good; each show highlighting a particular cause or organization that helps those in need or our environment. Hats off to this endeavor to combine the world of Off-Off Broadway Theatre and the creative minds behind it with just causes to benefit the community. One of those shows I have seen so far is The Imaginary Invalid: By Prescription Only, and although I respect the message trying to be made by the production, I had trouble with it's actual execution - and feel that the attempt to go for an stylized effect unfortunately exceeded the actual depth of the play and got in its way.

The Imaginary Invalid: By Perscription Only, written and directed by NYIT Award-winner Aliza Shane, is loosely based on Le Malade Imaginaire by Moliere. Arganne (Stasi Schaeffer) is a wealthy, agoraphobic hypochondriac whose addiction to the pills - and the doctors prescribing them for their own gain, not her health - is spiraling her life into nothing more than sleep, ranting, eating pills, and receiving enemas. Her surly, entertaining and often funny maid/assistant Toinette (Michelle Foytek) and sister Beralde (Kymberly Tuttle) are trying to save her before it's too late; for her health and to save her relationship with her rebellious teen daughter Angelique (Ayelet Blumberg). Let's not forget the other villain of the story (the main ones being the doctors), her money-grubbing husband (Kevin Mitchell) who is just waiting for Arganne to O.D. so he can inherit her estate (some fun moments in the show are his joy when he thinks she has died).

Mother's Little Helpers

Combine this premise with the amazing choreography of Chandra Calentine as she has the doctors also play the actual grips of the pills themselves incarnate, as they rattle off facts about each medicine's uses and side-effects while in fluid and graceful motion, and one would think you have a recipe for a fantastic show.

Alas, that is not the case. Yes, there were moments when I was enjoying the show very much, but to do so I had to get past so many other moments when I was so annoyed with actors not creating a believable life on stage and the main character's voice and entire existence which I understand is supposed to be annoying; she is so into her medicines that she sees nothing else. However, most of the time she opened her mouth I wanted to cringe. I understand the usefulness of this to a degree as having us understand her character, but after a point I felt that I needed to take a pill myself to get through the rest of the play every time she whined - which was continuous. By the end I could have cared less of her fate. I don't look to the actress for this; I, instead, see it as a directorial choice. Although this is a dark comedy, and a stylized piece, there were times I wanted it to just share the message it was trying to get across (the dangers of always believing doctors and allowing pills to be the answer to all our problems) and devil be damned with it's absurdist intentions. I just think the story around what it was trying to do fell flat of the actual message...which is a very important one.

I cannot, however, stress the delightful choreography and movement of the "pill people/Doctors" (Anthony Aguilar, Melanie Bell, Harlan Short, Emily Tuckman, Ebru Yonak); they are, to me, what saved the play. I found that the moments when they are telling us what these medicines are and what they do, as we see a desperate (and exasperating) Arganne shoveling them into her mouth, it pulls the meaning of the piece and its importance into the light of day (or, the great lighting by David Monroy). I would have just liked to have seen moments of actors really dealing with each other - even in the framework of a stylized piece. The moments that I chuckled with enjoyment and went with the flow were there, but I felt this piece could have been so much more than what it was.

One great aspect of this show was not the show itself but the cause it was supporting: The Hospice of New York. It's an important cause and I applaud the producers for picking this one.

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Planet Connections Festivity
Aliza Shane Production present
Aliza Shane's
The Imaginary Invalid: By Prescription Only
June 13-27, 2009
Robert Moss Theatre

Tickets are $18. For tickets, schedule and more information on Planet Connections Theatre Festivitiy, visit www.PlanetConnectionsFestivity.com

The Robert Moss Theatre | 440 Studios, 440 Lafayette, 3rd Fl | Manhattan.

Review- Le Serpent Rouge (Company XIV)

The Fab Marquee review by Dianna Martin.

Lillith. The Garden of Eden combined with an amazing soundtrack that played in my head for hours afterwards. One of the most delightful drag queens I've seen in years. Sexuality. Fall from grace. Beauty in gorgeous dance choreography. A mesmerizing set and lighting design. A desire imparted upon me to brush up on my theological history to the point that I actually did. A commanding and intoxicating Ring Master as the devil...turning one of the oldest tales into an amazing circus of the seven deadly sins.

And Lillith...again, and with her powerful acting of the phrase "Hell Hath No Fury As a Woman Scorned."

Davon Rainey as the Drag Queen
photo credit: Steven Schreiber

These are things I walked away with after seeing Company XIV's Le Serpent Rouge, an amazing work of performance art by writer/director/choreographer Austin McCormick. From the moment you are greeted, program in one hand and yummy chocolates (the 8th deadly sin, no doubt) in the other, the mood is set: you have an amazing soundtrack of tunes that I would have found in my own home to set the tone of loneliness and life; a set that is somehow a cross between the antiquity of a 18th century French brothel and Bob Fosse's film All That Jazz - I half expected Roy Scheider's image to come out saying "It's Showtime!" in French to a mirror, with fog billowing as the lights are about to go out.

And then: our lovely Drag Queen (Davon Rainey), who is the Ring Master's/Devil's (Gioia Marchese) assistant and a serpent; comes out to start the show. As the piece unfolds, we are introduced by the Ring Master to the point of The Fall of Man; when women were forever blamed as having taken a bite out of that damn apple. Well, folks - this show gives you a little background: most do not bring Lillith (a seductive Yeva Glover) into the equation, and a little "what might have really happened in the Garden"...and I for one walked out of that theatre not only wanting to know more about Lillith, but also feeling like Eve had every right to bite that apple - and that it was really Adam's fault. Now, my being a woman could have everything to do with that...or it could have been the lovely way that Rainey, Marchese, and Glover entrance the doomed couple Adam and Eve (John Beasant III and Laura Careless, respectively) to play through the seven deadly sins until finally, finally - it is jealousy that seals the deal...one that so many of us can relate to. 

(L-R): Gioia Marchese as the Devil, John Beasant III as Adam and Laura Careless as Eve

photo credit: Steven Schreiber

My only problem with this piece is that it was not longer; but then, perhaps my sin is gluttony, for I certainly wanted more than my fill. The burlesque crowd will want to see this as well as so many others; Lillith has a great number in pasties and so much of it is definitely, as the program states, "for 17 and older"; we see, in choreography, what would have happened had Adam been able to get Lillith and Eve to do anything for his attention.

A rare treat of the senses - dancers, lovers of a good, juicy tale, and those whose delights are of the more sensual nature will find this an enjoyable show. Not for the faint of heart...nor those who are offended by interpretations of a mix of Thomas Mann, Charles Bukowski, John Erskine, and The Bible itself - all wrapped into one. Definitely recommended.

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Company XIV presents
Le Serpent Rouge
May 15-June 6, 2009
303 Bond St

Tickets are $20 ($15 students/seniors) and can be purchased at www.Smarttix.com. For more information visit www.CompanyXIV.com.


Company XIV | 303 Bond St | Brooklyn

Review: When You Comin' Back, Red Ryder? (Retro Productions)

The Fab Marquee review by Dianna Martin.

Retro Productions inspired me on a myriad of levels when I sat down in my seat at the Spoon Theatre to see Mark Medoff's, When You Comin' Back, Red Ryder? To begin with, you are immediately taken in by the gorgeous set - by design team, Jack and Rebecca Cunningham, who have taken this small space and turned it into a tired late 60's diner in New Mexico. From the little bar with stools, to the checkered and worn out floor; the painted windows that had the illusion of the world outside (and the diner's name backwards as if reading it from outside would have a perfect picture). There were painted shelves with plates and saucers and ketchup bottles-but so well that I couldn't tell the difference except after close scrutiny; they created the perfect illusion. The inspiration went beyond their fabulous set, complete with an old lit Jukebox that plays some of the best country hits from that time; I was inspired to see a theatre company make it its mission to do revivals of plays that are incredibly important pieces of work; it's refreshing to see a company not only revive - but rather successfully do so at that - a play like Mark Medoff's 1973 psychological thrilling piece.

Christopher Patrick Mullen (Teddy) & Heather E. Cunningham (Angel)
Photo Credit: Kristen Vaughan

It's just another day about to begin at Foster's Diner, and the early morning shift change from disgruntled and bored Stephen, a.k.a. Red (Ben Schnickel), eager to leave the diner and the town - to Angel (Heather E. Cunningham), the kind-hearted waitress who keeps a smile on her face despite her unrequited crush on Stephen. As she sets up the diner, their boss Clark (Dave T. Koenig) and regular customer/local filling station owner Lyle (Richard Waddingham), who uses a crutch due to a stroke that has left him partially paralyzed, begin to filter in. Soon after, so do a traveling well-to-do couple, Richard and Clarisse (David Blais and Matilda Szydagis) on their way to New Orleans; Clarisse holding her concerto violin more tenderly than her husband. As they order their meal and the day unfolds, everyone's world is turned upside down when Teddy (Christopher Patrick Mullen) and his flower-child girlfriend Cheryl (Cassandera M.J. Lollar) come in.

In a play that reminds me of 1967 film The Incident, Teddy slowly begins to terrorize everyone in the diner (except for Manager/Owner Clark, who left before the action began). Be it with a knife, a gun, or verbal barbs that wound deeper than any physical trauma (especially Angel, who is constantly referred to as "fat" and openly humiliated when she was the only one who was actually nice to Teddy in the first place) Teddy slowly unravels people's relationships with each other. A Vietnam vet who has obviously not worked through his issues, weaves a psychological fabric of fear over everyone in the diner, including his girlfriend; and the disquieting factor of why nobody rushes this man when there are several of them, even if one is crippled, is a statement about people's fear in general. As his assaults swing wildly from physical to psychological and emotional, we see how it effects the others on so many levels. Clarisse comes to realize that Richard is not the man she wants or could ever hope to even try to protect her - his getting shot is not from bravado in trying to save her life but from being convinced that people like Teddy are not for real. In the end of the play, what is possibly the most interesting is watching to see who was changed for the better by this experience, and who for the worse - and by that, not being really changed at all, but business going on as usual.

Most of the piece is wonderfully written, but it takes actors really dealing with each other and not falling into contrived behavior to keep a full life going at all times for some of the dialogue to not become tedious...and keep us just waiting until Teddy shows up. Unfortunately, I found the opening scene between Schnickel and Cunningham to have moments when the former was playing wrapped up in himself and his desire to leave, he wasn't allowing anything from Cunningham to land - and it was only when the other actors began to filter in that my interest was piqued again. I understand that his character is not interested in her, but our Red Ryder did not really seem interested in anything much more than his chewing gum, which was a shame. His character is very important, and I found myself disappointed that there were not as many dimensions given to this character as their could have been.

Waddingham's work was wonderful. From his physicality of paralysis and ability to use the crutch, to his dealing with his fellow actors on stage and moments where I saw him trying to really talk to people - be it Teddy or Angel or Red, Waddingham's portrayal of Lyle was truly enjoyable. He gave a breath of life to a small-town character that kept me interested. Mullen was exceptional as Teddy. It would have been very easy to just play his character as a one-dimensional sociopath. Mullen's embodiment of Teddy had so many colors and levels to his work that there was never a moment when you knew what he was going to do. I watched him as he terrorized and humiliated his fellow characters on stage, and through it all there was a specificity to every moment and choice he made. Making full choices is something that any actor who wishes to take on a role such as Teddy must do, and it was done admirably.

Although Director Ric Sechrest does a fine job with staging and made good use of the space in relation to Medoff's script, for the most part, I had a real problem with facing Cunningham upstage throughout so much of the second act. Of course, we get to see Cunningham break down at the very end of the play in a very moving moment, but I felt it did not warrant hiding her from us during so much of that second act simply to create a reveal at the end. Kudos to Ms. Cunningham for transcending the fact that she was poorly faced upstage for so much of the play.

I applaud Retro Productions for putting together a performance that had me riveted throughout much of the piece, and for simply breathing life into a play that should have been done much, much sooner. It runs through the 23rd, and I suggest people attend - for it's not often you get to see revivals like this and have them be entertaining, well-acted, and visually pleasing overall.

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Retro Productions presents
Mark Medoff's
When You Comin' Back, Red Ryder?
May 7-23, 2009
The Spoon Theatre

Tickets are $18.00 ($15 Student/Senior Discount) and are available at www.RetroProductions.org

The Spoon Theatre | 38 West 38th Street, 5th Floor | Manhattan.

Review- Mrs. Warren's Profession (BOO-Arts)

The Fab Marquee review by Dianna Martin.

When George Bernard Shaw wrote Mrs. Warren's Profession, he wasn't only writing a play presenting the problem of society's penchant for respectably marrying women into marriages for financial convenience and comparing that life to a woman working in a brothel (with the brothel perhaps being the better deal for the woman sometimes); he wasn't only making commentary on the modern day woman of the time who wanted more respect and independence in the workforce and education; he was also writing a play about a relationship between a daughter and mother. That is something that the Boo-Art's production of this play seems to have taken into account and the actors have worked on, and is also one reason among many why this production was such a joy to attend.

JOY FRANZ* (Mrs. Warren) & CARALYN KOZLOWSKI* (Vivie)
Photo Credit: Clint Alexander

Each character, albeit wonderfully written by Shaw, was given such a breath of life on stage under the direction of Kathleen O'Neill. Joy Franz was such a pleasure to watch as Mrs. Warren, and during a scene with the young, independent Vivie (fantastically played by Caralyn Kozlowski) when she has to explain what her life was like and why she had to choose work in a brothel, the rapid decline of her dialect from society lady to lower-class (which Shaw has made a point of in the original script) was so moving as she made her points and slowly explained herself to her daughter. You saw two women who were polar opposites while still being so similar; Kozlowski's Vivie as a modern young woman of her time focused on being independent and doing anything a man could do while maintaining respectability; and her mother, the prostitute who had risen financially to have anything in the world she wanted...except respectability and her daughter's respect, most of all. The final scene takes this mother daughter relationship to another level and is as heartbreaking as it is intense. Kozlowski's complex character was layered and given great depth - a wonderful character study.

JAMES DUTTON (Frank Gardner) & CARALYN KOZLOWSKI* (Vivie)
Photo Credit: Clint Alexander

The men in the play do very well overall: James Dutton (Frank Gardner), as Vivie's younger semi-romantic interest is delightful as an adorable and harmless loafer, who is as eager to marry for money as any woman of the time. Joseph Francini was enjoyable as Praed; he had the character down pat. I just wish he would have allowed himself the opportunity to be more in the moment on stage at times. The night I saw him part of his costume came undone - which means nothing to me aesthetically; but I was actually taken out of the play for a moment because I was wondering why a character such as his would not have tried to fix it while he was talking to Vivie, acknowledging the problem within the scene. David Palmer Brown was much fun to dislike as Croft, yet he also gave him more depth than simply a crafty and lecherous man. His repartee with Kozlowski was simply done and engaging. Ashton Crosby (Rev. Gardner) was a fun character that was played very much how one would expect - however it would have been nice to see him take a little more of his son's rudeness to heart.

The staging was fantastic. Director Kathleen O'Neill apparently wanted to set the stage up as a tennis match, apparently due to the repartee that goes on between the actors - and she has done so much more. With the audience on two sides of the stage, from the moment the show begins, we are drawn into another world - which can be difficult to do with a piece written over 100 years ago - and remain happily throughout the end of the play, which goes by quickly given it was over two hours. Even the long moments in between scenes while furniture was moved and sets were changed didn't bother me - because when the lights came up, we were suddenly given another point of view and got to be a part of it again. Kudos to the costumes (David Withrow, designer) - he had everything down to Shaw's description of Vivie's "chatelaine at her belt, with a fountain pen...among its pendants."

BOO-Art's production has remained faithful to the text while allowing all the subtle nuances of this wonderful Shaw piece. It is a production that should not be missed.

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BOO-Arts presents
George Bernard Shaw's
Mrs. Warren's Profession
April 1-18th, 2009
Manhattan Theatre Source

Tickets are $18 and are now available online at www.TheatreSource.org or by calling 212-501-4751. Tickets may also be purchased in-person at the Manhattan Theatre Source, 177 MacDougal Street.

Manhattan Theatre Source | 177 MacDougal Street | Manhattan.

FRIGID: Are We Freaks?

The Fab Marquee review by Diánna Martin.

It's that time of year again for The Frigid Festival, a wonderful way that nearly three dozen theatre companies can put up over 150 performances and showcase their talents - and with the actors able to take home their earnings, to boot! Founded by Horse Trade and EXIT Theatre in 2007, Frigid is quickly becoming a place to find some of the most interesting and entertaining original works in NYC.


Unfortunately, Are We Freaks, a series of four vignettes that cross the threshold of somewhere between The Twilight Zone and Steel Magnolias just doesn't quite work for me. Actually, they are listed as "short plays" but I really can't call them as such. I'm a big fan of "not your 'normal' shows" and when I read that it was about abnormal women (freakishly so, in an almost sci-fi kind of way) and their relationships with each other, I was excited to go to the show. Especially when I found out that Bricken Sparacino was the writer and co-director of the evening.

The stories, however, fall flat. They are not developed enough to be left alone as short plays, in my opinion. The only one that really seemed to have an arc was the very end - and I don't want to spoil, except that it involves a character from the first "play" and it was interesting to see what had happened to her friend.

There were some stand out performances by Caitlin the Cat (Melanie Wehrmacher) - I have three of my own (yes, I'm the crazy cat lady), and I loved her portrayal of a fabulous feline - it was simply done, not over-the-top. Lizz (Uma Incrocci) was also very good; I did not have to stretch any to go along with the idea that she had become a man, and to her credit, she did not push to force-feed the idea to the audience. We bought it easily enough.

I think the ideas of the evening's stories and the possibilities of where they could have gone were there. I just had problems with the execution of the show overall as a whole, and felt that it needed a lot more work. Unfortunately, this sometimes happens with festivals due to the time limitations and requirements put upon the actors and theatre companies. However, I have seen other shows at Frigid that were well-oiled machines, so I can't use that as excuse for this production.

I applaud the ladies for an an attempt at what could have been an interesting show. I hope that with perhaps more fine-tuning to the script and its details, as well as actors really dealing with each other on stage instead of playing a concept of a character, it can return to the stage for another run and affect the audience (or, at least, this audience-goer) the way that I had hoped.

---------------
This show's last performance was March 8th, 2009
Part of the New York Frigid Festival
Presented by Horse Trade and EXIT Theatre

For more information visit http://www.frigidny.info

Review- The Ingenius Series | Any Day Now (Manhattan Theatre Source)

The Fab Marquee review by Dianna Martin.

Take your typical dysfunctional family. Add in alcoholic husbands, an increasingly senile mother, stoners, cutthroat sibling rivalry, and college students getting kicked out of school. That alone would make for a possible interesting night of theatre.

Now add the living dead. Totally straight-faced drama - as a complete "what if?". That is where The Writer's Forum Ingenius Series Any Day Now goes from being just an entertaining evening of theatre to...well, something GENIUS. Because you're being thrown for a loop from the moment the lights come up...and are entertained for all three acts.

Pen Colby (Waltrudis Buck) is trying to make chicken salad as she says to her husband, Adam (Anthony Spaldo) who is sitting quietly in a chair, "What are we going to do with you?". The man is obviously suffering from something...perhaps Alzheimer's. When adult daughter Beverly (Paige Allen) comes by, we suddenly discover that Adam was buried a week ago - although he is now up and sitting in a chair, albeit non-responsive - and that there are a series of occurrences similar to his happening all over the world.

As the play progresses we find that these living dead are not like the "zombies" that you see in the movies (one character teases the others at one point because "...nobody wants to use the 'Z' word."). They are not out for flesh...or brains. They aren't violent. They are just passive moving figures...very much like people struck with catatonia...except that they are very cold...and their bodies begin to decompose.

Sister Beverly is very concerned and frightened - and wants to use disposal of these living dead as a platform for her city/state political agenda; now if only her husband and daughter can keep up. Her sister April (Elyse Mirto) is just trying to deal with the fact that her marriage to Josh (Arthur Aulisi) is in the dumps, her dead father is up and walking around, her mother is slowly falling into senility, and her sister is backstabbing everyone who doesn't agree with her - including her family.

I found this to be a great play for a myriad of reasons, but let me just say that it took one of my favorite comfort film mediums, horror, and turned it into a drama; one that is full of laughs in the right spots, but the laughs are about the family trying to come to terms with what is happening - not because the play is cheesy at all. On the contrary, playwright/director Nat Cassidy did wonderful job taking this very seriously - and putting the basic premise that should be behind any play or film - "what if?" and making it a reality. What if the dead got up and walked on a regular day, while all this other stuff is going on in your life? What would happen? That's all this play asks - and it then delivers...with a surprising ending that holds the audience in the palm of its hand.

One of the other things that made this exceptional was that most of the cast was fantastic - with exceptional work by Mirto and Aulisi. Their delivery of both the dramatic and comedic was very entertaining, and performances like this are what helps keep the audience fascinated for three hours.

That's not to say that the show is without problems. I had issues with Beverly's husband David and daughter Jaqueline (Tim Ewing and Anna O'Donoghue, respectively). I felt that Ewing was too busy playing a henpecked and taken-for-granted husband to really deal with his fellow actors; and O'Donoghue's desire to jump onto furniture all around the room or bang on furniture while she did so became tedious very quickly and took away from her performance. I also, while delighted about the play's subject matter, was appalled at some of the video sequences they had during the show. In an attempt to show "news footage" of the apparent zombie epidemic, a few of the scenes were not well-done; the make-up on the "zombies" was awful and it nearly set the tone to "cheese factor" -- for those out in the audience not willing to go on the ride. Enough of the play had already been established to avoid that for most people, but my opinion is, if you have a good thing - don't spoil it with cheap effects. Stick to the basics and you'll come out great. Fortunately, those few moments were paltry in comparison to the rest of the play.

As the show ended, and I stood up, satisfied as one is after a really good performance, I joked to my friend, "This is like Sam Sheppard meets George Romero." And you know what? That's actually an accurate description...with more emphasis on the former artist than the latter.

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Manhattan Theatre Source
The Ingenius Series
January 6-February 7, 2009

For more information, visit www.theatresource.org.

Manhattan Theatre Source | 177 MacDougal Street | Manhattan.

The Fab Cast Review: Wickets

The Fab Cast review of Wickets by Dianna Martin.

The Fab Marquee’s reviewer Dianna Martin sits down with The Fab Marquee’s editor Antonio Miniño to talk about Trick Saddle’s production of Wickets, playing now through January 25th at The 3LD Art & Technology Center.

For more information visit www.tricksaddle.com
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