Jordan Wright
March 1, 2016
Special to The Alexandria Times
 Faran Tahir as Othello and Jonno Roberts as Iago in the Shakespeare Theatre Company’s production of Othello, directed by Ron Daniels. Photo by Scott Suchman Director Ron Daniels presents Othello on the cavernous stage of the Sidney Harman Hall against an industrial-looking backdrop giving heft to the drama that is about to unfold. Daniels has chosen a curious, and fascinating, interpretation in casting an actor as Othello, a Moor, who is not black. Played by Faran Tahir, an actor of Pakistani descent, Daniels gives his Othello a fresh look, broadly hinting that the “Moor of Venice” was a Muslim converted to Christianity. It dovetails neatly with the line, “Your son-in-law is far more fair than black,” delivered by the Duke of Venice (Ted van Griethuysen).
It’s a bit stunning at first – certainly an intriguing political perspective for our times. Yet after adjusting to that unusual twist, we have Shakespeare’s brilliantly dark tale – of love and war, blatant racism and the destructive power of jealousy, coupled with the duplicity of man.
 Othello Press Photo captions OTHELLO_007Faran Tahir as Othello, Patrick Vaill as Cassio, Jonno Roberts as Iago, and Jackson Knight Pierce as Soldier in the Shakespeare Theatre Company’s production of Othello, directed by Ron Daniels. Photo by Scott Suchman Set Designer Riccardo Hernandez gives us an austere set – five massive factory fans spread out across the second level, churning and whirring in rhythm, and a collection of rusted oil drums pressed into service as chairs, tables and occasionally weapons. It’s that simple. Ditto for Costume Designer Emily Rebholz who dresses the men as modern day soldiers in World War II Army uniforms and the Venetian senators in Edwardian cutaways. The women, Desdemona wife of Othello (Ryman Sneed) and Emilia (Merritt Janson) her handmaiden, get simple dresses reminiscent of Isadora Duncan and her Grecian muses. All the better to cut to the action and drama.
 Ryman Sneed as Desdemona and Faran Tahir as Othello in the Shakespeare Theatre Company’s production of Othello, directed by Ron Daniels. Photo by Scott Suchman. Though there is a great deal of fuss and feathers in Act One in setting up the conflicts, trickery and ultimate betrayals, the drama really gets underway in Act Two, when Iago’s (Jonno Roberts) cruel machinations begin to come to fruition. As Othello’s aide-de-camp, Iago has already primed the pump by convincing the lovelorn scion Rodrigo to give up his fortune in jewels to buy Desdemona’s affections – a ruse to bankrupt the besotted fool and hoard the jewels for himself. Next he has duped Cassio that she will fall helplessly into his arms as soon as Othello turns his back on his adoring wife in a fit of jealous rage. And thirdly, and most horridly, he has ingratiated himself with Othello by convincing the General his innocent wife is a lowly cheat. All so he can have the chaste lady for himself. It’s an absolute wonder he can keep all his stories straight.
As the plot’s pendulum swings back and forth from Venice to Cyprus, Lighting Designer Christopher Akerlind suitably alters the mood, veering from soft spots for the ladies and fiery red hues for Othello’s increasing jealousy. Be prepared for the loud fusillade of retorts from the soldiers’ rifles as they celebrate Othello’s win against the Turks. Here Composer and Sound Designer Fitz Patton adds bawdy bar songs to the drunken celebrations. It’s the same point at which the tide begins to turn against Cassio who, snockered, delivers the line, “Reputation, reputation, reputation. Oh, I have lost my reputation. I have lost the immortal part of myself, and what remains is bestial.” Yet another weakness for Iago to capitalize on.
 Patrick Vaill as Cassio and Natascia Diaz as Bianca in the Shakespeare Theatre Company’s production of Othello, directed by Ron Daniels. Photo by Scott Suchman. By the time Cassio’s jealous lover Bianca (Natascia Diaz) appears to obfuscate matters, Othello has gone quite mad and we see him on his knees in Muslim prayer and vengeful rage, “She must die!”.
STC has assembled a mighty cast, diverse in performance levels, yet able to capture the pithy parts and animate them cohesively.
Highly recommended.
At the Shakespeare Theatre Company’s Sidney Harman Hall through March 27th 2016 at 610 F St., NW Washington, DC 20004. For tickets and information call 202 547-1122 or visit www.ShakespeareTheatre.org.
 (L to R) John Ahlin as Mr. Dangle, Robert Dorfman as Mr. Sneer, and Robert Stanton as Mr. Puff in The Critic – Photo by Scott Suchman. Director Michael Kahn presents a rollicking game of “skewer the critic” when he rolls these two irreverent comedies into one fast-paced production. In the immortal words of Mr. Puff, “Anyone can be a critic. All you need is a paper, a pen and a well of resentment.” Ouch!
 Sandra Struthers as Actress 1, John Catron as Actor, and Charity Jones as Actress 2 in The Critic – Photo by Scott Suchman. That an 18th-century British farce could pair so seamlessly with an American existentialist whodunit, might not seem so surprising a task. But that a singular cast could take on and exquisitely conquer such disparate settings and characters proves that humor is as delectable to Britain’s upper crust as to the American playgoer – notwithstanding a mere two hundred-year span.
 (L to R) Charity Jones as Signora Decollete, John Ahlin as Mr. Dangle and Robert Dorfman
as Mr. Sneer in The Critic – Photo by Scott Suchman. Adapted by Jeffrey Hatcher (The Turn of the Screw, Tuesdays with Morrie and A Confederacy of Dunces), The Critic is a tale of two self-important theatre critics, who pull a fast one on their frivolous colleague, aptly named Mr. Puff (Robert Stanton), by conning him into thinking an important producer will attend the rehearsal of his new drama, “The Spanish Armada”. The two snarks, Mr. Dangle (John Ahlin), an imperious lady’s man, and his equally conceited cohort Mr. Sneer (Robert Dorfman), devise a plan to make a fool of Mr. Puff and therefore tank his play.
 Charity Jones as Actress 2 in The Critic. – Photo by Scott Suchman. At the rehearsal they tell Puff that the influential Mr. Sheridan tolerates neither foreign terminology nor Shakespeare. Hobbled by these and other last minute concocted restraints, Mr. Puff complies by making ridiculously inappropriate revisions while the performance is ongoing. Actors are flummoxed, ham-handed mishaps revealed and props misfire to the delight of the conniving critics. Meanwhile we are treated to uproarious comedy, eye-popping costumes by Murell Horton and towering pompadours by a crew of wig builders led by Kelly Anne Johns. Lavish period sets are courtesy of Scenic Designer James Noone.
 (L to R) Robert Stanton as Moon and John Ahlin as Birdboot in The Real Inspector Hound – Photo by Scott Suchman. At first glance The Real Inspector Hound appears to be a light-hearted comedy cum murder mystery replete with mishaps and misrepresentations. But it is so much more. Tom Stoppard’s play-within-a-play treats us to a pair of bloviated theatre critics who hash out their reviews and boast about their past successes. “Did you see my review in neon?” asks Birdboot (John Ahlin), an over-the-hill roué whose predilection for actresses has him salivating after the play’s leading ladies. His cohort, Moon (Robert Stanton), is more concerned with the play’s analytics and his fellow competitors. “Élan without éclat” he insists describing a play he reviewed after which Birdboot trumps Moon by whipping out a viewfinder stocked with transparencies of his quote in all its marqueed glory. As they sit there wallowing in their professional triumphs and chomping on chocolates, we note a body on stage half-hidden beneath the Victorian settee. It’s been there all along, though only we seem to be aware of it.
 Foregroud: Robert Stanton as Moon and Naomi Jacobson as Mrs Drudge; background: Robert Dorfman as Inspector Hound and John Catron as Simon Gascoyne
in The Real Inspector Hound – Photo by Scott Suchman. The action takes place at Muldoon Manor in the foggy marshes of Essex, England where Lady Cynthia Muldoon (Charity Jones) is entertaining her guests. A murder has been committed in the nearby hamlet and the police are hard on the heels of the perp. The parallel whodunit involves a dashing cad, Simon Gascoyne (John Catron); the incapacitated Major Magnus (Hugh Nees); an adorable ingénue, Felicity Cunningham (Sandra Struthers); a haunted parlor maid, Mrs. Drudge (Naomi Jacobson); and of course, the natty Inspector Hound (Robert Dorfman).
 The cast of the Shakespeare Theatre Company’s production of The Real Inspector Hound directed by Michael Kahn. Photo by Scott Suchman Could it be Magnus, “I think I’ll go and oil my guns”, or Simon, paranoid his past loves are catching up with him? Perhaps Felicity has revenge on her pretty little mind? The tittle-tattle of the critics becomes the backdrop to the unfolding mystery as they try to discern the killer while critiquing the play and musing on their middle-aged fantasies until the otherworldly moment when they are drawn into the reviewer’s no-fly zone…the ongoing play.
Thanks to a crack cast this two-fer is so fast-paced you’ll want to secure your bowler before entering the theatre lest it blow off in a storm of bon mots.
At the Shakespeare Theatre Company’s Lansburgh Theatre through February 14th at 450 7th Street, NW Washington, DC 20004. For tickets and information call 202 547-1122 or visit Shakespeare Theatre.
Jordan Wright
November 24, 2015
Special to The Alexandria Times
 Douglas Sills as Fred Graham and Christine Sherrill as Lilli Vanessi in Kiss Me, Kate, directed by Alan Paul at the Shakespeare Theatre Company. Photo by Scott Suchman. A stunner of a show just rolled into town and utterly knocked our socks off. Cole Porter’s Kiss Me, Kate the play-within-a-play, well, not really, since it’s a musical, brought with it a fresh breeze to Sidney Harman Hall thanks to Director Alan Paul.
Using Shakespeare’s “Taming of the Shrew” as underpinning, Porter composed the music and witty lyrics with Samuel and Bella Spewack, two of the finest stage writers of their time, who penned many a Broadway show and Hollywood screenplay. In this madcap creation we are privy to the goings on backstage where all the action is set. The storyline follows two couples who are preparing their parts for Shakespeare’s classic tale – Lilli Vanessi (Christine Sherrill who also plays the man-hating shrew, Kate), and her ex-husband slash co-star Fred Graham (Douglas Sills, also in the role of her suitor Petruchio; and Lois Lane (Robyn Hurder, who also plays Bianca) and her gambler boyfriend, Bill Calhoun (Clyde Alves, who also plays Lucentio). Got it? They also have relationship issues. Who doesn’t?
 Robyn Hunter as Lois Lane and Christine Sherrill as Lilli Vanessi in Kiss Me, Kate, directed by Alan Paul at the Shakespeare Theatre Company. Photo by Scott Suchman. Add in Fred and Lilli’s dressers, Hattie (Zonya Love) and Paul (T. Oliver Reed), a backstage crew, an entire chorus line, and sprinkle with a couple of rough-tough-cream-puff gangsters played with all the requisite ‘dese, dems and dose’ by Bob Ari and Raymond Jaramillo McLeod, and it’s on!
See it for the dancing – jitterbug, leaps, high kicks and acrobatics combine with tap, waltz and rumba by the best hoofers around. Choreographer Michele Lynch co-opts every inch of real estate for each intricate routine. See it for the steamy cavorting or see it for the singing. It will take your breath away. The audience literally screamed with delight clapping wildly after each number. Sherill is captivatingly maddening as Kate in the tune, “I Hate Men” and Sills grabs the spotlight in “So in Love”. As for Hurder, the audience nearly wouldn’t let her off the stage after her first number, “Tom, Dick or Harry”, and her sizzling, negligee-clad, vamp rendition of, “Always True to You in My Fashion”. In the second act sultriness raised the bar with “It’s Too Darn Hot” led by Paul and Hattie and augmented by the dancers.
 The company of Kiss Me, Kate, directed by Alan Paul at the Shakespeare Theatre Company. Photo by Scott Suchman. A ten-piece orchestra led by James Cunningham stays true to the nifty sophistication of Porter’s music, coupling neatly to Sound Designer Justin Stasiw’s noises off sound effects. The triple threat is bracketed by Scenic Designer James Noone’s 1940’s period sets of Ford’s Theater’s backstage interspersed with drops depicting 16th C Italy that are reminiscent of 1940’s The New Yorker magazine’s pen and ink illustrations of the day.
Run, don’t walk, to the box office! Highly recommended.
At the Shakespeare Theatre Company’s Sidney Harman Hall through January 3rd 2016 at 610 F St., NW Washington, DC 20004. For tickets and information call 202 547-1122 or visit www.ShakespeareTheatre.org.
Jordan Wright
June 9, 2015
Special to The Alexandria Times
“Epic Bromance Upends Noted Family” might be the modern-day header for the tale of Tartuffe and Orgon, the paterfamilias of a 17th century, bourgeois family. Or it might read, “Priest and His Slimy Sidekicks Fake Poverty to Con Pernelle Clan – Maid Claims Teen Daughter Was Used as Barter”. I can’t resist one more. “Phony Preacher Tricks Prominent Businessman Who Nearly Loses His Entire Estate”.
 Suzanne Warmanen (Dorine), Lenne Klingaman (Mariane), Sofia Jean Gomez (Elmire), Gregory Linington (Cleante,) and ensemble members Stephanie Schmalzle, and Maria Leigh. Photo by Scott Suchman. In Molière’s timeless story of piety and politics the con artist, Tartuffe (aka “The Hypocrite”), brings down one of the town’s most prominent families with his fire and brimstone brand of religious fervor. As slick as a whistle, the devious flimflammer insinuates himself into the home and gullible heart of Orgon (Luverne Seifert), despite protestations from his household who see right through the hustle. “He has made me a new man without friendships or emotion,” Orgon boasts to his family, dismissing their pleadings and offering up his betrothed daughter, Mariane (Lenne Klingaman) as sacrificial lamb.
In the second year of the Shakespeare Theatre Company’s Comedie Française repertory series, Director Dominique Serrand has brought us a supremely elegant production of the play, one that is guaranteed to make your hair curl and your funny bone twitch. Serrano is also the Co-Scenic Designer with Tom Buderwitz, and the two have created a divinely muted set for the comic drama using as inspiration the symmetrical Palladian architecture of Paris’s Hôtel des Invalides, and the exterior design of the Église Saint-Gervais to evoke an aura of piety.
Lighting Director Marcus Dilliard uses the one-day timeline of the play by moving the lighting across the stage from east to west, coloring the set with the pale, cool light of day with rays of light pouring in through tall windows, and culminating in the honeyed amber tones of sunset. It is very effective and lends a compelling air of urgency to the family’s dire circumstances.
 Sofia Jean Gomez (Elmire) and Steven Epp (Tartuffe). Photo by Scott Suchman. Steven Epp plays the convincingly, deceitful Tartuffe. With his tight-as-a-drum body and spare priestly garments, he looks like an Anderson Cooper version of a Calvin Klein model recently sprung from a torture chamber. Epp’s riveting portrayal of the holier-than-thou, priest-without-a-conscience is enhanced by his ability to quickly morph from insinuating charmer, who proves his devotion through self-flagellations and submissive prostrations, to backstabbing villain. Seifert, as the duped husband and father Orgon, in thrall to the machinations of Tartuffe, gives a commanding performance infused with bluster and swagger.
 Luverne Seifert (Orgon) and Sofia Jean Gomez (Elmire). Photo by Scott Suchman. But amidst all the guile and terror inflicted on the family by Tartuffe, let us not forget what a card and social commentator Molière is. The circumstances he devises are as dark as the comedy is light – – and Suzanne Warmanen as Dorine, the wise and sassy servant, renders it brilliantly. When accused of defaming God by using a handkerchief as a bookmark between the pages of Elmire’s bible, Dorine replies, “If a handkerchief can insult God, God needs more confidence!” Oh yes! She has his sanctimonious number straight out of heaven’s gate.
Elmire (Sofia Jean Gomez), the clever wife of Orgon, has her own way of handling the impostor. In one sexually charged scene designed to prove to her husband that Tartuffe is nothing more than a fraud, she calculates an elaborate seduction to which Orgon is witness. Gomez is electrifying bringing both fire and ice to the character of Elmire.
Not to be ignored are Tartuffe’s henchmen led by Laurent (Nathan Keepers). The duo lends a deliciously evil air to the entire proceedings, lurking around corners and perching above the action, all the better to eavesdrop or threaten.
Sonya Berlovitz informs the costuming with a freshly, spare modernity by eliminating the distractions of heavily ornate brocades and embellishments and creating clothing that takes on meaning and symbolism, at the same time reflecting hilarity (as in Valere’s floral pajamas), solemnity (Orgon’s newly adopted priestly raiments and the plain, grey garments of Tartuffe) and social import (Elmire’s lavish blue gown and billowy red silk robe). The result lends more power to the story and drama to the players.
Highly recommended.
Through July 5th at the Shakespeare Theatre Company’s Sidney Harman Hall at 610 F Street, NW, Washington, DC 20004. For tickets and information contact the box office at 202 547-1122 or visit www.ShakespeareTheatre.org.
Jordan Wright
March 24, 2015
Special to The Alexandria Times
 Anthony Warlow as Don Quixote in the Shakespeare Theatre Company’s production of
Man of La Mancha, directed by Alan Paul. Photo by Scott Suchman. Set Designer Allen Moyer’s two-story iron grid with drop down catwalk provides the stark background for Director Alan Paul’s revival of Man of La Mancha now playing at the glamorous Sidney Harman Hall. Set in a bleak Spanish prison during the time of the Inquisition, the beloved musical is loosely based on Cervantes 17th century neo-biography, “The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha” – – a man known for tilting at windmills and spinning a tale or two which is precisely what he must do to stay alive in this den of iniquity where the prisoners become the masters of the Inquisition.
While awaiting their sentences, Quixote’s fellow prisoners charge him with being an idealist and bad poet in their own mock trial. In order to spare his life and keep his only manuscript of a play he has written, he cuts a deal with them. He will present his defense in the form of a charade using them as the characters in an epic adventure of knights, wizards, warlocks and maidens. And in the way of that great Arabian storyteller, Scheherazade, who saved her own life with 1001 tales, he devises a play in which he is an old man on an indefinable quest and his motley cellmates fulfill the other roles. In doing so he empowers the lowly to dream beyond their dismal lives and achieve a modicum of dignity. Ever the optimist Quixote insists, “Too much sanity may be madness.”
 Amber Iman as Aldonza and Anthony Warlow as Don Quixote
Photo by Scott Suchman. His slightly daft but ever-faithful squire, Sancho Panza (Nehjal Joshi), is a veritable font of proverbs. Quixote (Alan Warlow) soon engages them all in his life-affirming chimera as the hapless sidekick with his charmingly goofy brand of loyalty provides much of the show’s comic relief.
Through his narrative he casts the rough-hewn Aldonza (played by the lovely and dulcet-voiced Amber Iman) as his fair maiden, “A knight without a lady is like a body without a soul”, and he insists on calling her Dulcinea, a name he invents to lend a softer side to her low birth.
Iman, Warlow, Joshi, Martin Sola as The Padre and Robert Mammana as The Duke and Dr. Carrasco are all spectacular with Iman and Warlow bringing down the house with their solos. Add to that a beautiful partnership between Lighting Designer Robert Wierzel who skillfully evokes the paintings of Goya and other Spanish masters of the period; Costume Designer, Ann Hould-Ward, who plays on that dynamic; and Choreographer, Marcos Santana, who amps up the scenes with slapstick, sword fights and bench dancing (yes!) into every scene that has motion.
 Sidney DuPont (Paco), Joey Elrose (Juan), James Hayden Rodriguez (Jose), Ceasar F. Barajas (Pedro), JP Moraga (Tenorio), Nathan Lucrezio (Anselmo), and Robert Mammana (The Duke)
Photo by Scott Suchman. Many will thrill to Composer Mitch Leigh’s and Lyricist Joe Darion’s sweeping orchestration and twenty memorable songs. “To Dream the Impossible Dream”, “Dulcinea”, “I, Don Quixote, Man of La Mancha” and “I’m Only Thinking of Him”, iconic numbers from this classic musical that are brought to life by an 11-member orchestra under the deft direction of George Fulginiti-Shakar.
This is a must-see production of a must-see musical.
Through April 26th at the Shakespeare Theatre Company’s Sidney Harman Hall at 610 F Street, NW, Washington, DC 20004. For tickets and information contact the box office at 202 547-1122 or visit www.ShakespeareTheatre.org.
Jordan Wright
December 14, 2014
Special to The Alexandria Times
Photo credit The Shakespeare Theatre Company
 Sofia Jean Gomez as Ariel Lest you forget. Ariel is the feisty sprite in The Tempest who flits around doing Prospero’s bidding. And yes, here she flies, though aided by what appears to be a ship’s thick mooring line. In a way, it’s refreshing to have it be obvious, unlike an aerialist’s metal wire that reveals itself from time to time. Once you’ve gotten accustomed to it, it seems natural. As if a floating fairy might be considered “natural”!
As you’ll recall Prospero (Geraint Wyn Davies), the former Duke of Milan, is endowed with magical powers and charges Ariel and her gang of harpies with fulfilling all of his commands – – from the murder of his brother, Antonio (Gregory Linington), who stole his dukedom while he was lost at sea, to assuring the love match of his daughter, Miranda (Rachel Mewbron), and her paramour, the smitten Ferdinand (Avery Glymph). “They are both in either’s powers,” Prospero brags upon their first encounter.
 Avery Glymph as Ferdinand and Rachel Mewbron as Miranda All this makes Ariel a very busy little spirit who must also oversee her cohort Caliban (Clifton Duncan). Once the proud owner of this island of Sycorax, he has been reduced to a firewood gatherer by Prospero. Sofia Jean Gomez plays Ariel, a hissing, clawing spitfire, with a duplicitous vulnerability. “Pardon, Master, I will do my spriting gently,” she assures Prospero, hoping to gain her freedom through obedience.
 (L to R) Dave Quay as Stephano, Clifton Duncan as Caliban and Liam Craig as Trinculo Director Ethan McSweeny presents us with a spare sand-drenched set adorned with a single shipwreck. This bold arrangement allows the playgoer to more fully absorb the characters’ relationships in this lightened up script of Shakespeare’s final play, though the stripped down interpretation yet gifts the audience with all the humor, skullduggery and romance the play affords. And although there is plenty of bloodthirsty treachery plotted by both the duke’s brother Antonio and his coterie of royal thugs, there is much lighthearted whimsy to enjoy especially when Trinculo (Liam Craig), portrayed as a hapless jester, and Stephano (Dave Quay), a hilarious drunk, pair with Duncan to create a total riot fest in a classic scene of mistaken identity – – if you can mistake three men under a gabardine cloth for a spider.
 Rachel Mewbron as Miranda and Geraint Wyn Davies as Prospero Meanwhile the lords are plotting, as embittered royalty is wont to do, to murder Prospero. But the Sorcerer’s magical powers prove too strong to overcome and Prospero drugs the lords. “What’s past is prologue,” Antonio reminds us.
Adding to McSweeny’s vision Sound Designer Nevin Steinberg conjures up some jaw-dropping audio, producing a tempest filled with such thunder claps you’d be pardoned if you thought the entire theater might succumb to a roiling sea. Lighting Designer Christopher Akerlind augments the storm’s ferocity with a few masterful tricks of his own.
When at last our two lovers are joined Designer James Ortiz imagines the joyful goddesses Juno, Ceres and Iris as giant, diaphanously draped puppet masks, bringing to mind the fantastical puppetry of Julie Taymor, known best for her imaginary creatures in The Lion King.
Highly recommended.
Through January 11th at Sidney Harmon Hall, 610 F Street NW, Washington, DC 20003. For tickets and information contact the Box Office at 202 547-1122 or visit www.shakespearetheatre.org.
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