The curiously clever and titillating thread that runs through David Ives’ hilarious trio of comedies is a pair of red silk panties that keeps turning up in the oddest places. If that doesn’t make you sit up and beg to know more, I don’t know what will.
Ives has taken inspiration from Carl Sternheim whose writings were between the repressive era of Wilhelmine Germany and the chaos of the Weimar Republic. These, however, are set it in modern times. As Ives notes, it is very, very loosely based on Sternheim’s satirical work about a socially ambitious, middle class family. The production is directed by the brilliant Michael Kahn.
If you enjoyed Ives’ “translaptations” of French comedies – The Metromaniacs, The Liar and The School for Lies – you will fall hard for this riotous gem. “The Panties” is set in 1950 in Boston, Massachusetts on the July 4th holiday. A young couple goes into town to watch a parade when the wife’s white panties burst their elastic moorings and go southward as witnessed by their neighbors. Oh, the humiliation, as Joseph berates his wife, Louise, whose friend, Trudy, gifts her a pair of red silk panties – all the better to seduce the couples’ newest tenant Jock Revere and cuckold her husband. “A white cloud about her feet,” rhapsodizes Jock, a self-proclaimed poet who swooned over her panties’ descent.
Unfortunately for Jock, Louise falls for another new tenant, this one the hapless, Jewish hairdresser, Benjamin, who’s a bit of a perv. At the same time, Joseph locks eyes with new neighbor, Jones, a lady gym coach, and the game’s afoot.
In “The Profit”, we are fast forwarded to the coke-fueled, mid-80’s where Wall Street go-getter Christian is desperate to make partner in the Wasp-dominated Hamilton, Shaker & Shaw. His sponsor is his paramour, Sybil, a blue-chip heiress whose recommendation demands hot sex, peppered by blackmail. When his blue-collar parents arrive to spoil his scion façade, will he play it her way or not? Let’s just say there’s a body in the closet and much mayhem to consider when the airhead daughter of the firm’s CEO, William Hamilton, arrives.
Lastly, in “The Profit”, we are transported to modern day Malibu and the fabulous seaside home of Louise who is having an emotional breakdown. Her sister, Ursula, clad in sackcloth and rocking a New Age mindset, has dissolved the family fortune and Louise will lose her billionaire LA lifestyle along with her umbilically attached cellphone and in-house robot. A rabbi, a homeless surfer dude and a giant sea snake augur the end of the world in this madcap folly. Did I mention they are related? You will see. And you will love it. The cast is formidable and fierce.
Highly recommended.
With Carson Elrod as Joseph Mask and Joe Jones; Kimberly Gilbert as Louise Mask; Julia Coffey as Trudy Rezner, Sybil Rittenhouse and Omega; Tony Roach as Jock Revere, William Hamilton and Jack Revere; Kevin Isola as Benjamin Mandelshtam, Christian Mask and Rabbi Mandelshtam; and Turna Mete as Young Woman, Milly Hamilton and Ursula Mask.
Costumes by Frank Labovitz, Scenic Design by Alexander Dodge, Lighting Design by Nancy Schertler, and original music and sound design by Elisheba Ittoop.
Through January 6th at the Lansburgh Theatre – 450 7th Street NW, Washington, DC 20004. For tickets and information contact the box office at 202 547.1122 or visit www.ShakespeareTheatre.org.
“We don’t live alone. We are members of one society. We are responsible for each other. And I tell you that the time will soon come when, if men will not learn that lesson, then they will be taught it in fire and blood and anguish.” These are the words of the Inspector. They are as applicable today as they were when J. B. Priestley penned this thriller during the time of the London Blitz.
(l-r) Jeff Harmas as Mr. Birling, Hamish Riddle as Eric Birling and Andrew Macklin as Gerald Croft in An Inspector Call. Photo credit: Mark Douet
Inspired by the English poet John Donne who wrote the indelible phrase, “No man is an island”, Priestley was moved by his desire to see social change. His play debuted in London in 1946. This recent iteration, re-worked by Director Stephen Daldry of Billy Elliot and The Crown fame, is performed by the British cast and kicks off a major U. S. tour. Winner of 19 major accolades, including multiple Tony, Olivier and Drama Desk Awards, it is the longest running revival of a play in history. Shakespeare Theatre Company, in collaboration with the National Theatre of Great Britain, presents this classic play on the anniversary of philanthropist Sidney Harman’s 100th birthday.
Liam Brennan as Inspector Goole and the cast of An Inspector Calls. Photo credit: Mark Douet
The drama opens to haunting atmospherics. Fog as thick as pea soup wailing sirens and the sound of bombs place us at the height of wartime London towards the end of the Edwardian Era. The Birlings, well-ensconced in their elegant home, are celebrating their daughter Sheila’s engagement to Gerald Croft – who by all measure is cut from the same cloth. The parents and son Eric are eager to welcome Gerald into their well-heeled family circle, though Mr. Birling, anticipating a knighthood that will propel him into the ranks of the royals, warns Gerald to be on his best behavior until then. A small boy, acting as silent witness, appears to be a metaphor for the impending downfall of a family and the struggles of the most vulnerable, as he raises the curtain, lifting it up to afford himself a view of how the upper crust lives. That the grownups will become entangled in the suicide of a beautiful, young woman is the train that drives the mystery.
Christine Kavanagh as Mrs. Birling, Jeff Harmer as Mr. Birling and Lianne Harvey as Sheila Birling in An Inspector Calls. Photo credit: Mark Douet
Hitchcockian overtones combined with a brilliant set design by Ian MacNeil, seemingly straight out of a Tim Burton movie, lend an eerie atmosphere to a plot that unfolds through Inspector Goole’s careful line of questioning. And just when you think the story will have a predictable outcome, it goes all topsy-turvy, several times over. In a bizarre chain of events that appears to tie the girl to each character, we watch a privileged family become unhinged and witness a whodunnit that will have you at the edge of your seat.
Diana Payne-Myers as Edna and Lianne Harvey as Sheila Birling in An Inspector Calls. Photo credit: Mark Douet
A rare treat for theatregoers.
With a brilliant cast consisting of Liam Brennan as Inspector Goole; Christine Kavanaugh as Mrs. Birling; Jeff Harmer as Mr. Birling; Andrew Macklin as Gerald Croft; Lianne Harvey as Sheila Birling; Hamish Riddle as Eric Birling; Diana Payne-Myers as Edna; and David Curry III as the boy.
Stephen Daldry, Director; Julian Webber, Associate Director; Ian MacNeil, Scenic and Costume Designer; Rick Fisher, Lighting Designer; Stephen Warbeck, Music; Sebastian Frost, Sound Designer; Charlotte Peters, Associate Director (Tour).
Antoinette Robinson as Viola – Photo credit Scott Suchman
The last words you’d expect to hear while settling into your seat for Twelfth Night, are an airline boarding announcement. “Thank you for choosing Shakespeare,” the disembodied voice offers up to the audience. But this is the unorthodox journey you are about to embark on in Director Ethan McSweeney’s fantastic in-flight interpretation of Shakespeare’s text (okay, it’s a tad over-emphasized) and his modern-day application. In Feste’s own words, “Nothing that is so, is so.” Count on it.
McSweeny, along with Set Designer Lee Savage, gives us one of the company’s most exciting openings to date. STC’s soon-to-retire Artistic Director Michael Kahn long ago mentored McSweeny who was told by Kahn to come back in 20 years. He has. And it’s paid off handsomely.
Hannah Yelland as Olivia and Antoinette Robinson as Viola. Photo credit Scott Suchman
Set in an international departure lounge our characters line up for airport security checkpoints only to soon be tossed about like ragdolls when a freak snowstorm throws their plane off-course. Viola (Antoinette Robinson) surrounded by the plane’s lost baggage, regains consciousness amid the blowing snow. If at this point you aren’t sitting straight up in your seat with your jaw hanging open, go home. If you are, then you’re in for a wild ride worthy of “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland” meets Fellini.
McSweeney has chosen a modernist stage setting never before utilized in Sidney Harman Hall. Side walls are stripped away to reveal the theater’s original configuration when it was once expected to double as a concert venue. It is surprisingly beautiful with dark wood paneling, high walls, viewable side walkways, and elevated catwalk.
Andrew Weems as Sir Toby Belch, Derek Smith as Malvolio and Hearth Saunders as Feste. ~ Photo credit Scott Suchman
Though you are undoubtedly familiar with the play’s plot of unattainable love – the Countess Olivia of Illyria (Hannah Yelland) loves Malvolio (Derek Smith) who becomes imprisoned in a dog carrier while sporting full Scottish regalia (he misinterpreted the memo), and Viola loves Sebastian (Paul Deo, Jr.) who thinks she’s his male page, Cesario, etcetera, etcetera. Here, Fabian (Koral Kent alternates with Tyler Bowman) is imagined as a wanton child, expected to do Sir Toby’s bidding. There is enough mistaken identity to keep us intently intrigued and plenty of cleverly conceived costuming by Jennifer Moeller to bedazzle and amuse.
Jim Lichtschedl as Sir Andrew Aguecheek. Photo credit Scott Suchman
Cowardly Sir Andrew Aguecheek (Jim Lichtscheidl) is portrayed as a wannabe rock star and sports-minded dilettante – think polo, tennis, fencing – who along with Sir Toby Belch (Andrew Weems), a slovenly, bathrobe-clad, karaoke-singing drunkard in love with Maria (Emily Townley), manage to provide enough comic relief for two plays. Together they lean heavily on cocktails from the on-board beverage cart and lines of cocaine to fuel their madcap revels while Orsino (Bhavesh Patel) and Curio (Matthew Deitchman) whirl about on scooters, entering and exiting the scene in flashy, slim-cut, brocade suits. To remind us this was written in 1602 with a holiday theme, a Christmas tree figures into a hide-and-seek skit of insanely hilarious proportions.
But it is Feste played brilliantly by Heath Saunders who grounds the goings-on with original music by composer Lindsay Jones. Saunders, who in real life plays twelve different musical instruments, plays bass and guitar here. His dulcet voice both anchors and ameliorates the lunacy.
Highly recommended.
At the Shakespeare Theatre Company’s Sidney Harman Hall through December 20th at 610 F Street, NW, Washington, DC 20004. For tickets and information call 202 547-1122 or visit www.ShakespeareTheatre.org.
The Lansburgh’s stage was drenched in red for Director Alan Paul’s Romeo and Juliet – the carpet, the soaring pillars, the balcony, the walls, even the balloons floating from the ceiling when Romeo first spies the captivating Juliet at a party. Was it red for the color of blood, as in the knife fights the Montagues wage against the Capulets? Or lipstick red for romance? Either way, Paul’s production was on fire, as in fire engine red, reflected by Dane Laffrey’s set design.
Ayana Workman as Juliet and Andrew Veenstra as Romeo in Shakespeare Theatre Company’s production of Romeo & Juliet, directed by Alan Paul. Photo by Scott Suchman.
This freshly minted staging put me in mind of the Jets and the Sharks from West Side Story, Leonard Bernstein’s famous borrowing of R&J as his inspiration. As here too the characters live in contemporary society and Romeo’s gun-toting, knife-wielding friends are portrayed as dissolute Italian gang members, while Juliet gads about in blue jeans as the typical lovelorn teen. There are no innuendos, no subtleties in Paul’s staging – just raw sex, raw anger and pure sensual passion. Oh, yes, it’s hot, like the business end of a gun when Tybalt (Alex Mickiewicz) and the young Montagues put out a hit on Romeo.
Alex Mickiewicz as Tybalt, Jeffrey Carlson as Mercutio and Andrew Veenstra as Romeo in Shakespeare Theatre Company’s production of Romeo & Juliet, directed by Alan Paul. Photo by Scott Suchman.
We have choreographers Eric Sean Fogel to thank for the constantly swirling action, and David Leong to thank for the fight scenes, though it couldn’t have come together quite as believably if there weren’t an outstanding cast to thank for this refreshing reinterpretation of the characters – Andrew Veenstra as the pugnacious, hipster Romeo; Jeffrey Carlson as his stylish club kid buddy Mercutio (scene stealer alert!); Ayana Workman in a version of Juliet that oozes girlish innocence; and Inga Ballard as Juliet’s wise-cracking, no nonsense Black nurse.
Inga Ballard as Nurse and Ayana Workman as Juliet. Photo by Scott Suchman.
Include Keith Hamilton Cobb as Juliet’s father, who presents us with a Capulet patriarch of fearsome presence and bullish swagger – his portrayal so credible it will scare you out of your seat.
Costume Designer Kaye Voyce delivers the atmosphere, most especially when Mercutio shows up in spiked hair and a tight silver lame suit to the masked ball, which would be better described as an electro club mix house party, and Juliet’s mother, played by Judith Lightfoot who swans around her party guests in a gold lamé gown. Totally anarchical, but at this point we are up for it.
So thank you, Alan Paul. You have gifted your audiences with a surprising and delightful, break-all-the-rules, fresh spin on the old classic. This is what theatre is all about!
Highly recommended.
At the Shakespeare Theatre Company’s Lansburgh Theatre through November 6th at 450 7th Street, NW Washington, DC 20004. For tickets and information call 202 547-1122 or visit www.ShakespeareTheatre.org.
Maulik Pancholy as Katherina and Peter Gadiot as Petruchio. Photo by Scott Suchman.
A curious production of Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew is currently showing at Sidney Harman Hall. I say curious, because it doesn’t have a real identity – unless you want to call this classic play a gender-bending musical with anti-feminist leanings. In another words, it’s all over the place in terms of direction and cast.
Oliver Thornton as Bianca and Maulik Pancholy as Katherina. Photo by Scott Suchman.
Tapping into Shakespeare’s use of an all-male cast, Director Ed Sylvanus Iskander has instead given us an ersatz drag show (I’ve seen far better) performed by an oddly uneven cast. The only thing worth holding your breath for is Tony Award-winning Jason Sherwood’s heart-stopping, gold gilded, rotating set, Seth Reiser’s intricate lighting design and Duncan Sheik’s rock music with a catchy backbeat. But, trust me, you will never hear a cast recording of Sheik’s terrific music, since the all-male voices were either gravelly or garbled and, far too often, off-key.
Matthew Russell as Tranio and Telly Leung as Lucentio. Photo by Scott Suchman.
Before I enumerate the plethora of disasters this dismal interpretation holds in store for lovers of the Bard of Avon, I must give credit to the two performers who, despite all discombobulations, kept this three-hour snoozefest from becoming even more intolerable. Peter Gadiot as Petruchio is a marvel of timing, delivery and believability. Blessedly he became the glue that held the plot, as it were, together. And the hilarious stage antics of André De Shields who exudes the classical training and timing of a true actor’s actor, most especially in a hilarious death scene.
Modern day renditions of this comedy are more likely to have the tongue firmly planted in the cheek when it comes to interpreting Petruchio’s male dominance and Kate’s subservience. Nowadays the misogynistic elements are firmly tamped down and contemporary stagings present it as a light-hearted romp with Kate’s willfulness interpreted as her independent feminist spirit. But here Iskander offers up Kate as a victim of the Stockholm Syndrome, subjugating herself and willing the other “ladies” of her acquaintance to follow her lead, which results in them genuflecting side by side in the finale with palms upraised to God, giving themselves over to the demands of the men to be good, obedient wives. I felt as though I’d been hurtled backwards into a time warp before women had the vote.
Under Eskander’s direction Loren Shaw’s costumes veer wildly from classical robes to modern street wear – dressing Bianca in a pink 50’s chiffon frock, the “obvious” males in exaggerated codpieces and Hortensio sporting silver sequined high heels after a make out session with one of the women’s suitors. What’s the point? Ask the paparazzi that appear on stage to snap photos of Bianca acting like Madonna. Maybe they can explain. And I won’t dignify the bondage scene either. So let’s just move on, shall we? Unless you need an explanation for Lucentio in 1970’s pimp’s fur coat and fedora, or a reason for Petruchio’s antlers. Hardly worth the ink.
The cast of Shakespeare Theatre Company’s production of The Taming of the Shrew, directed by Ed Sylvanus Iskandar. Photo by Scott Suchman.
At the Shakespeare Theatre Company’s Sidney Harman Hall through June 26th 2016 at 610 F St., NW Washington, DC 20004. For tickets and information call 202 547-1122 or visit www.ShakespeareTheatre.org.
James Waterston as Elyot, Jeremy Webb as Victor, Bianca Amato as Amanda and Autumn Hurlbert as Sibyl Photo by Scott Suchman
Noël Coward’s deliciously wicked Private Lives has got us in a tizzy. Is it scrumptiously witty or delightfully snarky? No matter. This heady romp of delicious vitriol is considered Coward’s best. It’s a doorknob-high glimpse into the lives of the very rich and not-so-well divorced…and we do enjoy a bit of schadenfreude through the keyhole now and again. Don’t we?
Sibyl and Elyot are honeymooners. Ditto for Amanda and Victor. Elyot and Amanda are exes whose marriage went up in funereal flames. By coincidence the couples share an adjoining terrace in a chic hotel somewhere in the south of France. When exes, Amanda and Elyot, espy one another across a boxwood planter, they go all monkey’s uncle. The question is, can their romance reignite? After some sparring and reminiscing, Amanda trills an old tune to Elyot. As they both begin to soften their stances, she merrily quips, “It’s strange how potent cheap music is,” one of Coward’s most recognizable lines.
Bianca Amato as Amanda and James Waterston as Elyot in the Shakespeare Theatre Photo by Scott Suchman
Bianca Amato as Amanda leaves no small emotion un-exploited in this hilarious verbal sword fight. Her jaw-dropped double take upon discovering Elyot and her solo Rumba in red silk Chinese pajamas, are captivating. James Waterston as her ex, Elyot, matches her parry for parry and thrust for thrust in this comedy of clever insults. He even does a respectable turn on the piano. Kudos to Rob Milburn and Michael Bodeen for the 1930’s musical selections and period arrangements, as well as the terrific lighting.
Coward saw the patterns of “emotional baggage” before the term was coined, and exploits the concept here as each couple transfers their fears and prejudices on their new relationships. He cannily intuited the futility of the snake that eats its own tail, ouroboros, while reveling in the high society that exalted it. As Amanda succinctly philosophizes, “Very few people are completely normal in their private lives.” Coward would know. He lived both sides of it.
: James Waterston as Elyot and Autumn Hurlbert as Sibyl. Photo by Scott Suchman.
The very petite Autumn Hurlbert plays Sibyl, rendering the character as crafty and manipulating a ditzy blonde as can be conjured up. But Elyot is suspicious of his new wife’s machinations and threatens to cut off her head if they don’t leave the hotel and the impending spousal confrontations. Ditto for Amanda v. Victor who duke it out before the marriage is consummated.
When the honeymooners square off in Act One, with Sybil and Victor refusing to leave, insults fly like raptors in sight of prey. That it is all fueled by cocktails and passion, gaiety and madness, is what makes being a fly on the wall so doggone alluring. And don’t we adore seeing the privileged get their comeuppance? Even the French housekeeper, played smartly by Jane Ridley, gets her digs in. “Idiotes!” she sneers at their absurdities.
Autumn Hurlbert as Sibyl and Jane Ridley as Louise. Photo by Scott Suchman.
Victor is played by the screamingly funny Jeremy Webb. Webb perfectly captures the scrappy, moon-eyed, cuckolded husband, whom Elyot describes as “all fuss and fume”, to a tee. He’s the perfect foil to the fabulously flippant Elyot, who tells him, “I think I’m cleverer than you are, but that’s not saying a lot!”
The high jinks and sophisticated repartee are backgrounded by the breathtaking sets of Allen Moyer, whose depiction of a grand hotel, and later Amanda’s bespoke Paris apartment, quite literally left the audience gasping (and applauding) in appreciation.
A rollickingly spiffy jaunt not to be missed.
Through July 13th at the Lansburgh Theatre, 450 7th Street NW, Washington, DC 20003. For tickets and information contact the Box Office at 202 547-1122 or visit www.shakespearetheatre.org.
