Dysfunctional Family Makes for Dark Comedy in The Lyons

” This is a show that deals with life, death and everything in between–” The Lyons at 2nd Story

The lives of a dysfunctional family take center stage in the black comedy The Lyons, which opened in previews January 10 and is running through February 9 at Warren’s 2nd Story Theatre.

The Lyons was written by Nicky Silver and debuted on Broadway at the Cort Theatre in April 2012. This is a show that deals with life, death and everything in between.

Paula Faber, a veteran member of the theater’s acting company, gives a tour de force performance as Rita, the overbearing wife of Ben Lyons (Vince Petronio), who is dying from cancer. Rita, stuck in a 40- year loveless marriage, now thinks of the future without Ben and plans to re-decorate their home. Ben lays in his hospital bed and speaks in a flurry of profanities. He is constantly annoyed by Rita and despises her.

Their grown children Curtis (Kevin Broccoli) and Lisa (Lara Hakeem) also come to his hospital room to pay a visit.

Lisa has left an abusive marriage and is a recovering alcoholic. Curtis, who is gay, has had little to do with his father, who is homophobic.

Throughout the play, all the resentments between the Lyons bubble up to the surface.

Rita is a fundamentally selfish woman who will not spare anyone’s feelings. However, she is not a one dimensional caricature either. Late in Act One, while her husband sleeps under dimmed lights, Rita realizes how empty her life will be once Ben is gone. The man she has spent so many years with has occupied a major part of her time and energy. Faber masterfully manages to gain the audience’s sympathy in a short monologue.

Broccoli dominates most of Act Two, when Curtis has a fateful encounter with a wily real estate agent (Jeff Church) who is not who he appears to be.

Broccoli gives a note perfect performance as Curtis, a troubled man who writes short stories for a living and has a non-existent love life.

Petronio has a lot of funny moments as he quarrels with Rita about her plan to redecorate their living room after he is gone. There is also a touching and bittersweet moment when he reveals that despite all the hostility he expresses toward Rita, deep down he really loves her.

The dialogue is witty and sometimes poetic. One exchange goes like this:

Ben: “Rita, I’m dying!”

Rita: “Just try to be positive.”

Lucia Gill Case plays Ben’s nurse, who has some tart repartee late in the play with Curtis.

Mark Peckham directed the production, which moves at a brisk pace. The downstage theater provides an intimate setting for a show like The Lyons.

The four lead actors convincingly portray a family at odds with each other. The Lyons all seek happiness in their own way, and by the end, you are pulling for them to find it.

2nd Story Theatre DownStage, 28 Market Street, Warren, RI 02885, Box Office:401-247-4200, Web:2ndstorytheatre.com, Email: [email protected]

Contemporary Plays Around for 24 Hours

“Sooner or later at every 24-Hour Play Festival, there arrives a moment where everyone comes together for the common cause of ripping up tiny bits of paper.” – Andy Hoover, playwright (one of six) for CTC’s 24-Hour Play Festival.

In February, 1920, a group of Princeton student thespians staged their first production. Their theater was a dorm room and a blanket hung over a string that served as a curtain. What started as an exercise in parody and improvisation became a tradition for Princeton’s Theatre Intime. Their 24-Hour Play Festival is still billed as a “wacky, caffeine-fueled tradition [where] everything but the kitchen sink gets thrown into some wild productions, all written and staged in just 24 hours! Written by various authors. Directed by various directors.” Princeton alum and CTC Artistic Director, Christopher Simpson, brought the tradition to South County in 2006 and now Contemporary Theater Company is poised to present their version of the festival for the ninth year running.

The premise seems simple enough until you break down the elements that make this unique offering possible. This is not improvisation, which CTC covers excellently with their late Friday evening Micetro series, but there is still very little time for structure, forcing the writers, directors and performers to think fast, think once and commit to those choices, however bizarre. Much like Christopher Guest’s loosely structured mockumentaries (Best in Show, Spinal Tap, etc.), there are a few guidelines, but the artists are left to their own devices in connecting the dots. At the start of the day, writers are given a short list of prompts and challenges and a few set lines that they must include in their pieces. Examples of guidelines include: “Two people speak the exact same line at the exact same time for very different reasons,” “include an ‘unstageable’ event” (which, in a past festival, resulted in a whale exploding onstage), and “someone has a gun that they didn’t know they had.” In addition, there are six lines that all of the writers must include in each play, giving audiences a chance to anticipate their usage in each piece. Directors are prompted to include elements such as: “Make the audience do something,” or “A musical number, sung sincerely” (an official composer is on standby, ready for such a prompt).

Although all of the action takes place on January 11, the social media campaign is well under way to hype the event. Statuses from various participants betray a level of anxiety that would seem to indicate that work is already underway, although nothing can really be done in advance. On the big day, potential audiences can go to the Contemporary Theater Company Facebook page to see a play-by-play of the festival’s progress, from initial writing sessions at midnight, to actor auditions at 9 am, to frenzied, on-the-fly technical preparations as crews scramble to create costumes and props based on little more than a Red Bull-fueled fever dream.

Other than showing off the talents and versatility of the assembled artists involved, why produce such an insane event? The resulting plays are not only untested, but are still dripping wet. Anything can happen here, and as exciting as that may be to watch, there is no shortage of suffering going on behind the scenes leading up to the 8 pm curtain time. The answer lies in the process, not necessarily the final product. Much like CTC’s work with South Kingstown High School in the Testing 1,2,3,4 series, the idea is to bring together the community for an immersive, collaborative happening. Trust is the watchword here as there is simply no time to take on individual points of view or take too much time to protect any one person’s vision. The festival is a distillation of the sweat of many to create something new, ephemeral and, as the previous eight events have proven, something brilliantly compelling and hilarious.

And that brings us back to Andy Hoover’s quote from above. At one point during the festival in 2010, barely 15 minutes before showtime as the audience filtered in and took their seats in anticipation, the festival’s writers, actors and directors gathered together. This assemblage was not a moment of unity before presenting the big event. This was not a last minute tweaking of details. All available bodies were gathered in order to furiously rip up colored pieces of paper and pour them into an urn. This one moment symbolized the frantically collaborative ethos that defines the 24-Hour Play Festival. No one person is less valuable, no need lesser than any other. And if an urn of construction paper is still required minutes before opening, then everyone is ready to jump in and make it happen. This is not a rarity in theater, but nowhere else do roles and responsibilities become so blurred in the service of a finished series of fully blown plays ready to present to a paying audience. So, to fully experience the 24-Hour Play Festival, tune in to their Facebook page and then head over to South Kingstown High School auditorium on January 11 to witness the results of CTC’s signature event – 24 actors, six writers, and six directors working midnight-to-midnight to conceive, rehearse and perform six original 15-minute plays. The process may stand alone, but the work can only truly come to fruition with an audience. Think of yourself as just one piece of colored paper ready to join hundreds of others in the spirit of collaboration. No matter what happens, you’ve never seen anything like it before.

CTC presents the 9th Annual 24-Hour Play Festival at SK High School Auditorium. 8 to 10:30 pm, January 11. Visit contemporarytheatercompany.com/box-office/ for tickets or call 401-218-0282. All tickets, $12.

The Artists’ Exchange’s Christmas Carol Brings Tidings of Joy

If Harold had his way, the world would exist solely at the tip of his purple crayon and maybe that wouldn’t be such a bad thing. What a child transfers from hand to paper is a direct manifestation of how they see the world, or at least as they would like it be. This notion is the central conceit for Artists’ Exchange 10th Anniversary production of Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. Director Clara Weishahn has crafted a simple, but effective framework for a retelling of the Christmas classic along mostly traditional lines, but with a sentimentally contemporary flavor. A festive family gathering starts with a traditional recitation of the story, with family members jockeying for parts, and a simple child’s drawing becomes the medium through which we are thrust into Victorian England and the world of Ebenezer Scrooge.

Weishahn, working with the Gateways for Change program affiliated with Artists’ Exchange, has assembled a lively and large cast all with varying degrees of ability, but no shortage of enthusiasm and infectious joy. A bare stage is quickly transformed through the use of backdrops that mirror the drawings of a small child (a heartwrenchingly adorable Simone Pellegrino) who is our medium into the world of Scrooge. Fittingly, Pellegrino is Tiny Tim in her mind’s eye and her ebullient family fills in the rest of the tale as her drawings continue to set the scene. The scenery is often sparse, but well-crafted, and we often wonder where some of the set pieces have gone to, they were so captivating (a cleverly designed four-poster bed, for instance, makes an early appearance in Scrooge’s bedroom and is never seen again). However, with the show set to take up residence at The Park Theater this weekend, more stage space and scenic options are available to Weishahn, and Amanda Hall’s paintings will have a more profound effect. Dan Fisher’s lighting won’t be in use at The Park, but it’s great to see someone finally able to light the Theatre 82 space to full advantage.

With a steely Tom Chace handling Scrooge duty, the story unfolds at a rapid-fire pace, assuming (correctly) that we’re all familiar enough with the plot and the language to concentrate on how it unfolds. Marley and the Ghosts are all done simply, but with enough style to invoke the otherworldliness of it all without trying too hard to resort to technical wizardry. Each specter tends to have a beautiful entourage in tow, which works to best effect with Christmas Present (a captivating Beth Alianiello), but we first see them with Jacob Marley, bestrewn with the expected chains and dourly pounding home the metaphor for the gobsmacked Ebenezer (Harold Ashton is replaced by AE mainstay Mark Carter for the Park run). The ghost ensemble is a nicely crafted device to allow all manner of scene changes, but also allows Weishahn to frame four very different and varying performances with a stylistic unity that makes them stand out more fully.

Other moments in this Christmas Carol that warm the heart and convey Dickens’ message with acuity are a touching and nicely acted moment between young Scrooge (David Kane) and the lost object of his affection, Belle. Mia Ray and Kane have a touching chemistry in a scene that sets the stage for a tearjerker of a closing moment at the height of Scrooge’s epiphany. The party scene during Christmas past is also a delight, replete with lusty cheer and an infectious sense of jubilance that seems to fairly burst from Roger Lemelin as the ever-elated Fezziwig. The scene is one of the best uses of the entire ensemble and, once again, the infectiousness of youth is ever-present. Even the tasteful and well-placed underscoring is performed live by a young musical duo, Misha Dubuc and Sierra Lavoie, directed by Chace.

This Carol is not the high-end extravaganza offered by Trinity Rep or the ambitious left-field version running at Courthouse, but Artists’ Exchange production is true to the spirit of Dickens and, at least in the intimate studio space of Theatre 82, manages to evoke sentimentality without becoming saccharine. The key takeaways in this outing are redemption, joy and simplicity. Scrooge’s money may make everyone else happy in the end, but a simple gesture and the ringing of a bell open his heart forever. Hopefully the large scale of The Park can maintain that intimacy, but it still won’t be large enough to contain the joy.

The Artists’ Exchange presents A Christmas Carol at the Park Theater in Cranston December 19th, 20th, 21st, with 2 showings on the final day (the 8pm show is a Holiday Gala at Rhodes on the Pawtuxet). For more details and tickets go to www.artists-exchange.org Created In Our Image

“If I could stick a knife in my heart

Suicide right on stage Would it be enough for your teenage lust Would it help to ease the pain? Ease your brain?”

– Jagger/Richards, “It’s Only Rock and Roll (But I Like It)

“We created rock ‘n’ roll from our own image, it’s our child — it’s like the rock ‘n’ roll star in his highest state of grace will be the new savior, rocking to Bethlehem to be born…”

– Cavale, Cowboy Mouth

A relationship doomed to failure and the search for rock’s messiah in the ashes of self-destruction. That’s one way to sum up Cowboy Mouth, but that’s the TV Guide version. The play was dashed off by Sam Shepard and Patti Smith working in tandem, on the same typewriter, capturing their torrid romance in a frenzy of jagged prose of the sort that invites interpretation and reflects the depth of the authors’ intelligence and backgrounds, but also betrays their naiveté. The latter is particularly true of Smith and it is her voice that comes through the louder of the two. This point is crucial in approaching Cowboy Mouth, for this is no Fool for Love or any of Shepard’s more celebrated and certainly more stageable later works. Not that Cowboy Mouth is as inscrutable as all that, but the script is of a certain time and place and Smith’s street urchin/post- Beat/pre-Punk flights of fancy have a rhythm and a forward motion that presents less of a challenge for the audience as it does for a director and an actor.

In 1971, when the play was written, rock music was buried in progressive noodling and country-tinged album rock. Young proto punks were waiting in the wings and watching the nascent glam rock of Bowie, Bolan and friends as they slowly took over the world and created the “leper messiah” archetype that looms large over the setting of Cowboy Mouth. The Woodstock idols were dying by the handful (all seemingly at the age of 27) and the idea of a star burning bright and flaming out onstage for our sins is predicted by Smith’s alter-ego, Cavale, just in time for Ziggy Stardust’s imminent “rock and roll suicide.” OUT LOUD Theatre, led by Director Kira Hawkridge, takes on Cowboy Mouth with passion and precision, but the context is elusive. Much like an attempt at the original Spring Awakening (or even this author’s own experience tackling Andre Gregory’s experimental Alice in Wonderland), taking on edgy, controversial work outside of the original paradigm can be an uphill battle.

OUT LOUD has already triumphed by resurrecting the former Newgate Theater space at Mathewson Street Methodist Church. This Downcity locale is an upstairs black box in the heart of Providence and Hawkridge and crew have been able to take the room and make it a showcase. Scenic Designer Marc Tiberiis II has worked in tandem with Hawkridge to faithfully adhere to the script’s extremely specific stage directions while still putting their own stamp on the design. Bare bulbs hang from the ceiling creating a surreal canopy for the debris-strewn stage featuring a “fucked up bed,” papers, feathers and clothing. All of this is prominently flanked by two guitars on one side and a drum set and microphone on the other. It’s an impressive mess and a terrific use of the space, with the city-facing windows serving as a backdrop upstage. It is here that Cavale and Slim pace and grapple, dream and postulate, never leaving, only imagining what could happen if they did. We learn fairly quickly that Cavale has kidnapped Slim at gunpoint, taking him away from his wife and child in order to groom him as the next great rock & roll hero. Cavale regales Slim with tales of mad poets and rock tragedies, feeding his romantic yearnings, yet driving him into fits of rage that he attributes to his separation from his now estranged family. He expresses the desire to leave many times and ignores any attempt by Cavale to subdue him with threats until he again momentarily succumbs to her worldly-wise proselytizing. It’s all bullshit, of course, as Cavale’s underdeveloped pretensions only thinly disguise her depression and yearning for some spiritual redemption. She seeks to be a muse, not the star herself, while Slim artlessly bashes away at drums and guitar, making up for his lack of skill by channeling all of the angst and pain showered upon him by this dead crow walking. And then there is Lobster Man, who appears, literally, as a lobster until the gorgeously staged climax, which is the show’s most perfectly realized moment. Cowboy Mouth wears its symbols on its sleeve and, once again, we see the influence of Smith’s writing over Shepard’s here. The play is more about rhythm and feeling, leaving scant room for actual character development, which is where the pitfalls exist for anyone attempting this short, yet epic melodrama. Attempt to find effective transitions and through lines, and you sacrifice that rhythm. Play the rhythm and the audience is left to experience the play as a torrent of images and emotions with little understanding or empathy for anyone.

The two principals, Sarah Leach and Sam Appleman, rage for 60 minutes, expertly staged by Hawkridge, but plowing through beats and moments of discovery until the net effect is exhaustion. References to Genet and other historical figures come across as rote at times and one has to work hard to try and piece together the patterns of Cavale’s often beautiful speechifying. Once again, the roles are so very specific and so rooted in the actual lives of Patti Smith and Sam Shepard that creating living, breathing people who we believe in is an unenviable task. The pair are game to try and obviously very skilled, but they come across as too clean, too youthfully earnest and too carefully distressed. Costume Designer Katie Hand’s meticulously designed wardrobe is evidently well-planned, but the precision rips in the clothing and the tousled, but squeaky clean hair deny us the ability to immerse in their squalor. (The Lobster Man costume, however, is a brilliantly conceived creation and the sight of Birk Wozniak slowly turning his gas-masked crustacean head and softly hooting and grunting is beautifully eerie.) Appleman’s Slim is less conflicted than petulant here and the yelling that the script calls for comes from a place of volume, not torment.

Is Cowboy Mouth simply an assault on the senses? Or is there a more subtle way to blend the anarchy of rock and the tempestuousness of a love affair with something deeper and more subtle? Cavale is a poser, yes, foreshadowing Courtney Love in some ways, but she should be compelling in her ragged glory. And, to be clear, Leach has many moments in which she approaches that balance between pathetic and holy and Appleman’s slow burns are often close enough to allow us to see Slim’s struggle to stay with his grungy black swan or return to his wife and child. “I spread my dreams at your feet,” declares Leach, but we never quite see them for ourselves. Hawkridge has done a terrific job at tackling a Sam Shepard play, but Cowboy Mouth is a Shepard/Smith play and we’re missing a whole lot of Smith here. As the choice to play Led Zeppelin throughout the preshow and the opening betrays, OUT LOUD’s Cowboy Mouth is filled with pomp and grandeur, but the original sources are left behind somewhere in the past.

OUT LOUD Theatre presents Cowboy Mouth, December 9th, 12th-14th, 19th & 20th at the Mathewson Street United Methodist Church, 134 Mathewson Street, Providence. Tickets available at the door or by emailing [email protected], calling (401) 726-6523, or visiting http://www.outloudtheatre.org. A preview video for Cowboy Mouth can be found on YouTube (http://youtu.be/Xsus2KFVXaU).

A Christmas Carol Featuring Big Nazo: Haunting the House Pleasantly

When renowned masked puppet workshop Big Nazo produces visionary ghosts, no thin airy shoals are these. Charles Dickens prefaced his classic 1843 novella, “I have endeavoured in this ghostly little book, to raise the ghost of an idea, which shall not put my readers out of humor with themselves, with each other, with the season, or with me. May it haunt their houses pleasantly…” As Ebenezer Scrooge is visited in turn by four ghosts – his deceased partner Jacob Marley, the Ghost of Christmas Past, the Ghost of Christmas Present, and the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come – the audience is treated to each of their appearances in enormous form, Avenue Q mashed-up with Transformers.

The show is not intended for children to any greater degree than was the original novella, but it is not particularly scary despite its employment of Victorian funerary motifs and should be enjoyable for ages of about 7 and older. The Big Nazo ghosts, ghoulish as they are in some cases, seem relatively friendly in a way that is rather surprising from characters about 10 feet tall.

The script wisely follows Dickens’ original text and makes liberal use of its more memorable and quotable lines, but adds quite a lot of cleverness, replete with references to current events and puns – including a few real groaners. Linking modern Detroit with Victorian London is a stretch, but it’s not entirely off-base, either. There are occasional breaks of the fourth wall, as when the ghosts repeatedly bemoan their inability to fly due to insurance regulations in the theater. Scrooge’s old boss and Bob Crachit’s sickly child are both female in this adaptation, becoming “Mrs Fezziwig” and “Tiny Kim,” respectively. Scrooge himself wears Grinch pyjamas. A sizable children’s chorus sings and dances, adding to the charm that comes with a community theater casting mostly non-professional actors in this simple and well-known story. Several familiar musical numbers are performed solo, some in groups, and there are even a couple of audience sing-a-longs. Admittedly, the fake English accents occasionally result in lines being delivered that sound like “My hovercraft is full of eels,” but anyone who could not themselves recite a quarter of the text must have grown up in a cave, never having heard it from interpreters as varied as Sir Patrick Stewart and Mr Magoo. The cast did not take themselves excessively seriously, and they were having good fun with the production that was contagious to the audience.

A Christmas Carol has been adapted frequently, first for the stage within a year of its original publication using a script authorized by Dickens. Since then, it has been on the live stage, in film, radio, television, opera, and even comedic parody in hundreds of different versions. The basic framework of the plot is recognizable in Frank Capra’s It’s a Wonderful Life and Dr Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas. The story having long ago become of part of the public domain, every theater troupe tries to put their unique spin on it. There is a temptation either toward excessive sentimentality or, alternatively, caustic cynicism; probably the most notable example of the latter is the British television special Blackadder’s Christmas Carol in which the main character is transformed from a generous philanthropist into a mean-spirited miser. It is increasingly difficult to find any kind of original take on the story, but 10-foot tall puppet ghosts certainly accomplishes that.

Courthouse Center for the Arts, 3481 Kingstown Rd (RI-138), W Kingston, RI 02892, 401-782-1018, e-mail [email protected], http://courthousecenterstage.org/events/christmas-carol-featuring-big-nazo/

Thu, Fri, Sat (Dec 7, 12, 13, 14, 19, 20, 21) 8:00pm; Sat, Sun (Dec 7, 8, 14, 15, 21, 22) 2:00pm. About 90 minutes in two acts including a brief intermission.

Ticket sales: http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/511317

Facebook event: https://www.facebook.com/events/1395504824017563/

Big Nazo: http://www.bignazo.com/

Charles Dickens’ original story: https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/A_Christmas_Carol_%28Dickens%29

Assembly’s Miracle on 34th St. Turns Out To Be Manmade Assembly Theater, in Harrisville, is presenting a black and white version of the yuletide classic Miracle on 34th Street, performed by the Rhode Island Stage Ensemble. The show opened December 6 and will be performed December 13 through 15.

Paul Tourville plays Kris Kringle, who is hired as a department store Santa by Macy’s. He soon develops a special bond with little Susie Walker (Juliana Eve Gudaitis), who realizes her friend really is Santa Claus. Meanwhile, Susie’s mother Dora (Candice Sampson), an event director for Macy’s, is developing her own relationship with her attorney neighbor Fred Gayley (Mike Daniels). Evil Dr. Sloat (John Campbell) questions Kringle’s sanity when he claims to be Santa Claus. When Kringle is put on trial, the only one who can defend him is Fred, who is severely inexperienced.

The sets and costumes are all monochromatic, except for Santa Claus’ trademark red suit and hat. The actors all sport silver makeup on their faces. At first, the effect is striking but soon becomes just a gimmick. Kringle is a victim of a bad makeup job. It’s very distracting and off-putting.

Tourville, who has been writing and performing for nearly three decades, makes his first stage appearance in this show. Unfortunately, he doesn’t bring the heart and warmth the role requires. Gudaitis fares much better as Susie, who wants a new house for her and her mother to live in. Daniels displayed a genuine sense of comic timing as Fred, and easily outshone his co-stars.

The show’s second half is much stronger, with Kringle’s trial dominating most of the story. Amy Simard has some funny moments as Selma Maynard, who is the prosecuting attorney. Steve Taschereau does well in a dual role as Drunk Santa and Judge Caprio. Beatriz Lopez also wins some laughs as The Elf.

Miracle on 34th Street is sporadically amusing and is sometimes sweet, but it falls short of greatness. The direction by Daniel Lee White is generally uninspired, with a huge mass of actors crossing the stage at several points in the story for no apparent reason. However, at one point, the cast members walk into the audience and sing “Silent Night” in what was easily the highlight of the performance.

Miracle on 34th Street, Assembly Theater, 26 East Avenue, Harrisville. For tickets, call 401-258-9247.

A Very Merry Unauthorized Children’s Scientology Pageant: Drinking the Kool-Aid

If the children of Scientologists in their youthful innocence performed a stage musical in the mode of a Christmas pageant about their religious movement that has driven people to bankruptcy and suicide, complete with cheesy cardboard props and scenery, the result would presumably be this black humor extravaganza. The satire consists largely in simply exhibiting the bizarre and secret – but reportedly real – beliefs of Scientology, including a demonstration by puppets of the electrical “E-meter” device claimed to be capable of measuring spiritual energy and the mythical Xenu who, as head of the Galactic Confederacy 75 million years ago, killed 178 billion people by luring them in under the pretext of an income tax investigation and drugging them next to volcanoes into which he placed hydrogen bombs.

While from such a bare description this may seem about as entertaining as being forced to watch Battlefield Earth while subjected to the Ludovico Technique from A Clockwork Orange, the audience laughter was so hard and so consistent that it often drowned out the actors. The genius of the show is in presenting the “pageant” with mock earnestness using a cast whose oldest members are in junior high school, although in most cases already with substantial acting experience. Seeing a group of children singing and dancing to songs about brainwashing and mind control is truly unsettling – not least when they all shout commands together in unison such as “STAND UP!” and “SIT DOWN!” with which the audience, amazingly, complies.

The uniformly excellent cast is headed by the extraordinarily gifted 8th grader Jenny Sullivan as Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard, who is presented as a Christlike figure beginning with birth in a manger, heralded by a winged angel (8th grader Ally Gower). We see Hubbard stranded at sea during World War II with fellow survivor Donald (Theo Bazin), who later turns up as an IRS agent investigating the movement for a litany of charges along with IRS goons (7th grader Lauren St. Jean and 5th grader Charlotte McKenna) before being brainwashed to join. Eventually Hubbard develops his “Dianetics” self-help theory of the dichotomous parts of the mind, played in brain costume as the “Reactive Mind” (6th grader Madison Durfee) and “Analytical Mind” (6th grader Danielle Durfee). Celebrity devotees John Travolta and Tom Cruise (both 5th grader Sam Dumas) make an appearance, with Cruise’s ex-wife and daughter, who have since distanced themselves from both Cruise and Scientology, represented by sock puppets. Celebrity supporter Kirstie Alley (5th grader Ariana Bianco) testifies to being cured of drug addiction, enabling her to star in the television show Fat Actress. The ensemble is rounded out by 3rd grader Edie Crawford and 1st grader Lana Lancombe, including delivery of the prefatory legal disclaimer. Much of the scenery is provided by outstanding digital projection designed by Michael Commendatore and Adam O’Brien, a wise choice by director David Tessier.

The viciousness of the satire is maintained by presenting Scientology as if the children putting on the “pageant” are oblivious to its absurdity, having all been brainwashed. It is possible to go too far with such an approach; it would be unimaginable, for example, to set a children’s play-within-a-play in Theresienstadt. Nevertheless, Scientology is an easy target because it is essentially already self-satire.

While this is a show performed by children, it is not intended for children. Anyone who thinks that The Onion is too restrained and not bloodthirsty enough will love this show.

A Very Merry Unauthorized Children’s Scientology Pageant, The Wilbury Theatre Group, 393 Broad Street, Providence RI 02907, 401-400-7100, e-mail [email protected] http://www.thewilburygroup.org/

Thu, Fri, Sat (Dec 12, 13, 14, 19, 20, 21) at 7:30 pm, Sun (Dec 22) at 3:00 pm. About 60 minutes in one act. Thu performances feature a “talk back” session afterward with special guests.

Othello: Shakespeare, Straight Up

Mixed Magic Theatre delivers Othello in its classic form Shakespeare was a rather good playwright. We tend to forget that amidst modern interpretations of the sort done by Kenneth Branagh or Joss Whedon. Trinity Rep a few years ago put on Hamlet as if it was an episode of Downton Abbey. One film version of Othello transfers the story to a high-school basketball court. Such theatrical conceits are common, almost de rigeur, but not at Mixed Magic Theatre who serve their Othello straight up in the classic mode.

This style of performance may seem a bit bombastic to modern tastes attuned to the small television screen, but it is very close to what Shakespeare himself and his audiences saw 400 years ago. With a minimalist set consisting of little more than floorboards painted to look like a map — “Afrika” stage right, “Italia” stage left, and a compass rose dead center — a company of actors proceed to distill to its essence one of the best and most challenging plays in the Shakespearean repertoire, a tale of jealousy, revenge and prejudice.

Ricardo Pitts-Wiley, the patriarch of a theatrical family that is the Rhode Island version of the Barrymores, gives one of the most physically demanding performances of the title role I’ve seen, a man driven mad by his own inner demons although with more than a slight push. At first a swaggering general, Pitts-Wiley’s Othello shrinks throughout the course of the play into a cowering and hesitant weakling, no small feat for an actor whose natural appearance is more the former than the latter. His Othello is not angsty or arrogant, but paranoid. Who can he trust?

Such physicality of the performance can be genuinely unsettling. Desdemona’s final scene is not softened through stage artifice and is shown with all of the violence of the literal text, but in Pitts- Wiley’s hands this makes the contrasting involuntary tenderness of it even more horrifying. Consistent with modern perspective, Stephanie Crugnola plays Desdemona as passively and resignedly accepting whatever her fate may be, rather than as an unknowing innocent.

Alex Duckworth as Iago is faced with one of the most challenging and loquacious roles in all of Shakespeare, a character whose fatal flaw is to equate justice with revenge and who believes he is in the right, no matter how evil his scheming and betrayals, because he has himself been wronged. There is something of a custom in recent decades to see Othello and Iago as twinned, or at least two sides of the same coin, sometimes even with a pair of actors alternating the roles throughout the run of performances, but here Duckworth, thin and serpentine, plays Iago more traditionally as the polar opposite of his boss.

Particularly outstanding in supporting roles are Hannah Lum as Emilia (Iago’s wife), who comes to realize the shocking moral consequences of her own unknowing action, and Bob Colonna as Brabantio (Desdemona’s father), whose vast experience as founder of The Rhode Island Shakespeare Company (TRIST) more than 40 years ago gives him a commanding stage presence. Jordan Greeley as the framed Cassio, Christopher Ferreira as the hapless buffoon Roderigo, and Ottavia De Luca as Bianca round out the core cast.

Mixed Magic’s Othello is a solid version especially well suited to the play-goer who has been turned off by the forced cleverness and gimmickry of hypermodern interpretations. I noted with some regret that there were more than a few seats available for the Saturday evening performance I attended; Pitts- Wiley’s well-acted interpretation is well worth seeing.

Othello at Mixed Magic Theatre, 999 Main St Unit 115, Pawtucket, RI 02860, 401-305-7333 http://mmtri.com/2013/11/01/othello/, Fri (Dec 6, 13) and Sat (Dec 7, 14) at 7:30pm, Sun (Dec 8, 15) at 3:00pm.

A Chorus of Christmas Carols Bruce Church, Attleboro Community Theater

Nominal Christians (or “Chreasters” as some like to call them) are often derided for the practice of showing up to church once or twice a year at the Big Masses and calling it good for another trip around the sun. Likewise, even the most reluctant of theatergoers who pay lip service to the dramatic arts, but consider seeing Phantom at PPAC the equivalent of supporting local theater, raise an eyebrow from those who are regular attendees at the dozens of offerings available across the state all year. The common response from pastors and artistic directors alike is usually, “Hey, as long as they show up at all, we’re glad to have them.” Keeping Christmas in your heart year round is surely a Christian ideal and for many, a trip to see a production of A Christmas Carol fulfills a need both secular and parochial and becomes, like Midnight Mass, a family tradition that is annually anticipated.

If there’s a War on Christmas at the governmental level, then no one told the majority of Rhode Island theaters. The plethora of Christmas Carols (and Christmas-related productions) onstage in December is mind-boggling, yet almost predictable. In such a Catholic state, it’s a no-brainer to offer some holiday theater fare amidst the Nutcrackers and Coppelias and there are plenty of non-holiday offerings abound, but Rhode Island’s often absurd number of stages always has enough Dickens on display to keep the family in good cheer for years to come. So, why A Christmas Carol? Several plays exist that have similar themes and settings and offer, if not a new, than at least a fresher take than a story written before the Civil War. But even if we take the kids to see Ocean State Theatre do Miracle on 34th Street, The Musical it feels like a pleasant one-off, a diversion from a lineage. Hearing Paul’s letter to the Corinthians read aloud at a wedding is a cliché, but it is considered part of a longstanding tradition, not uninspired repetition. There may be cleverer, more ethereal and certainly funnier Christmas plays out there, but they always feel like side dishes to Dickens’ always satisfying main course. Ed Benjamin II, Granite Theatre

One of the reasons for Carol’s enduring popularity is that, whether we know it or not, our conception of Christmas in the modern Western world has been largely shaped by Dickens’ careful blend of spiritualism, social commentary and longstanding Old Christmas traditions that had largely fallen by the wayside when A Christmas Carol was first published in 1843. The novella was adapted for the stage by the end of the 19th Century (Seymour Hicks’ 1901 one-man version being the early prototype for many to follow) and countless iterations continue to this day. Look at the production history of any theater, anywhere, and you’re likely to find a past, present (or future) production of A Christmas Carol and/or one of its offshoots. Is it strictly the fact that, like Shakespeare, this public domain material can be adapted and staged at will without concern for royalties? Could such a crass commercial notion be behind the constant staging of a story that cries out against such blatant financial preoccupation?

Joe Wallace, RI Shakespeare Company

Not so, according to Tyler Dobrowsky, director of the current version running at Trinity Rep. Trinity’s original version has long since become the gold standard for A Christmas Carol in Rhode Island, and while Adrian Hall’s 30-plus year adaptation is still the framework for Trinity’s production, each director takes his or her own stab at reinterpreting the script while keeping the necessary elements intact. “It’s something we take very seriously,” he says. “This is a tradition for many families in Rhode Island and Massachusetts, to celebrate the holidays. It’s an important show for us every year.” Dobrowsky maintains that, far from seeing Carol as some sort of yearly cash cow for Trinity, the theater eagerly anticipates the influx of families and schools that make the show part of their lives. And, much like the “Chreasters” with church, Christmas Carol may be the first or only time that many folks ever see live theater. For some children, such as those who visit as part of Project Discovery, Christmas Carol may be a gateway for them to explore an art form to which their exposure is minimal at best. “This is a gift we give to the people of Rhode Island every year,” says Dobrowsky. More than simply a production, Trinity decorates the entire theater, arranges fundraising (Trinity has raised almost $250,000 for the RI Food Bank from Carol-related donations alone) and generally feels “responsible” for making their Christmas Carol an experience, not just a show. The yearly changes are not for the sake of tinkering, but to offer more to those who come year after year. With Fred Sullivan, Jr. taking on the role of Scrooge this year, it’s a fresh look for those who got used to Timothy Crowe in the lead. The Ghosts have been updated and new music and choreography added, so even though many folks have seen the show over the course of decades, there is always a new take backed by Trinity’s considerable ability to deliver high production value.

Yet even with Trinity leading the way, several other companies feel just as strongly about the seasonal as well as the artistic merit of staging a show that seems to be playing on every corner. JC Wallace, who heads the Rhode Island Shakespeare Theatre, is staging an ambitious version of Carol in conjunction with the Big Nazo Puppet Lab. The ghosts are all Nazo creations, while Wallace himself tackles Ebenezer as well as directing. Wallace was looking for a way out of the usual takes on Carol, and knew that the Courthouse Theater in Kingston would not allow him room for much in the way of Trinity-esque special effects. So, he approached Nazo with the idea of a collaboration and they jumped aboard to help create one of the most unique Carols running this year. His script aims for irreverence and humor while keeping true to the main themes. He describes Courthouse’s version as “meta-aware, with topical references and a set that looks more like a cartoon, modern.” Wallace is looking for a “community flavor, inviting the audience into the show” as opposed to a more traditional, fourth wall-style of presentation. Opening on December 5, Courthouse is pushing hard for a “must-see” event and an alternative, yet complementary version for South County audiences to what Providence has to offer, with carolers, shopping opportunities and Santa himself appearing on December 7.

Another longstanding adaptation is presented by the Artists’ Exchange, who go into their 10th year presenting Christmas Carol in Cranston. Opening December 12, this version, helmed by Clara Weishahn, aims to achieve an open journey where the considerable cast, led by Tom Chace as Scrooge, starts off as a modern family, telling the tale in a living room (much like Dickens himself would read his story aloud as family and friends gathered) and transform, scene by scene, into Victorian England. “This version is essentially the novel,” says Weishahn. “What got me excited was the idea of this story being told here and now, shared by children, aunts and uncles all in the same room.” Like Wallace, Weishahn wants her theater to play to its strengths, incorporating actors from the Gateways to Change program into the ensemble. Local Cranston residents and children are all part of the production, making this Carol for and by the community it serves. In the second weekend, they move from the 82 Rolfe Square location to the grandeur of The Park Theatre, utilizing large-scale backdrops and scenic elements not available to them in the smaller space at # 82. “We’re trying to invoke the mood and feeling of the emotional quality of Dickens’ world, and the visuals reflect how a child might imagine this story as they hear it,” says Weishahn. Chace also lends his considerable musical talents to the production, with live contemporary music mixed with period Victorian Christmas offerings.

And while theaters like David Jepson’s The Granite in Westerly (Nov 29 through Dec 22) and Encore Rep in Woonsocket (Dec 6 through 15) are staying close to their traditional productions, others have been busy making a tradition out of being more, well, untraditional. Frank O’Donnell’s A Christmas Carmella directly parodies Dickens while retaining the original’s spirit. “My goal three years ago was to create a fun holiday alternative to A Christmas Carol,” says O’Donnell. “All of the sudden, I’ve got a franchise on my hands with Ant’ny Claus. Trinity owns (Christmas Carol), if you ask me, but it seems like so many others do it as well, to the point that, for a while, A Christmas Carol was literally the only show in town.” This very Rhode Island version of the story is fast becoming an alternative for those who like a little fuggedabowdit with their spirituality, and O’Donnell opens Carmella at Theatre Works in Woonsocket December 6 through 15. Mark Anderson, who also serves at Theatre Works’ president and plays Carmella’s version of Scrooge, Scrungini, says, “The first two Ant’nys broke all sorts of box office records for us. If we get a threepeat that would be perfect!” Other amusing alternatives include a Murder Mystery version by Providence’s Murder on Us (A Deadly Christmas Carol), which has been running for more than 20 years.

Space precludes mentioning all of the versions of Carol running in and near the state, but all share the same message: we are responsible for other people, especially those less fortunate than ourselves. “The choices we make in life affect other people,” stresses Tyler Dobrowsky. And, for at least one time a year, A Christmas Carol and its offspring brings families and communities together to acknowledge and share that spirit. And, for the theatrical “Chreasters” that only see one show a year, the message of spiritual redemption and rebirth at a time when the season is about to change is a double shot of Christmas and Easter rolled up in one. A Christmas Carol is a familiar, yet constantly evolving tradition here in Rhode Island and for at least one time a year, we’re all season subscribers.

Holiday Dance Gets Audiences Into The Spirit With Christmas right around the corner, local dance companies come bearing a variety of holiday offerings to help get you into the Christmas spirit.

From December 20 through 22, Festival Ballet Providence moves into PPAC for their annual production of The Nutcracker. Composed by Tchaikovsky in 1891, it is the most performed ballet in the world, making its American debut in 1944 with San Francisco Ballet. Since then, it has become a holiday staple with its charming storyline and recognizable music bringing joy to young and old alike.

With stunning choreography, majestic sets, colorful costumes and sparkling Swarovski crystal snowflakes, this marks FBP artistic director Mihailo Djuric’s 16th Nutcracker; the company is currently in the midst of their 36th season. Djuric refers to this performance as FBP’s “annual gift to the city of Providence.”

It is even more special – and memorable – for the 100 plus children selected from area dance schools who share the stage with the company’s professional dancers. In addition, two students from FBP’s Adaptive Dance Program, Sean Muldoon and Alyzabeth Bertrand, will appear in the Act I party scene. This groundbreaking program introduces children with Down Syndrome to dance.

Amazing RI native Jennifer Ricci, now in her 23rd season, will once again reprise her most famous role, Arabian. Each year audiences are mesmerized by her seductive stare, ethereal grace and flexibility. Featuring two casts, Vilia Putrius and Mindaugas Bauzys and Ruth Witney Brown and Alan Alberto will share the lead roles of Sugar Plum Fairy and Her Cavalier. The two couples will also split Snow Queen and Snow King duties during alternating performances.

FBP Center for Dance Education students Jane Schiavone and Lan Pricolo have both earned the honor of portraying Clara, the most coveted role of any young ballerina.

And, be sure not to miss RI’s most famous non-human performer, Archie the Nutcracker Dog as he dashes across the stage during the Prelude. Friday’s opening night performance will represent the 115th time he dons his red Santa suit covered with bells.

For tickets to FBP’s The Nutcracker visit: www.ppacri.org or call 401-421-ARTS.

Now in their 54th season, The State Ballet of Rhode Island will present their traditional holiday production of Coppelia December 20 through 21 at Rhode Island College’s Roberts Hall.

This ballet tells the heartwarming story of Swanhilda, a girl who pretends to be a doll in order to win back the affection of her boyfriend Franz. Set to the energetic music of Leo Delibes, this fun and playful ballet nicely captures the gaiety of European folk dance with a very lively and colorful Czardas and Mazurka.

In a break from past performances, Act III will actually include the wedding between Swanhilda and Franz. For the past 30 years or so, SBRI chose to begin Act III with the wedding already a done deal. But, according to executive director Ana Marsden Fox, in recognition of the winter solstice that will be occurring during the performance “a wedding there will be. To top it off, you may even see a snowflake or two, really getting the audience into that holiday wintery spirit.”

Coppelia will also use two casts. Peg Chobanian and Mark Marsden will dance the lead roles opening night. Kim Najjar and guest artist Eivar Martinez will have the honors for the Saturday matinee. Martinez, a native of Venezuela, currently resides in Providence and brings with him an impressive dance resume, known especially for his gravity defying leaps.

For tickets to SBRI’s Coppelia visit: www.stateballet.com.

For those looking to get an early start on the holiday performances, consider Providence Ballet Theatre’s ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas December 13 at Rhode Island College’s The Nazarian Center for the Performing Arts. Set to Samuel Clement Moore’s classic poem, this is a fun and edgy ballet with colorful costumes, dreamlike choreography, moving sets and falling snow, all which make for a magical holiday event. Previous performances have sold-out, so plan accordingly.

Founded in 2008 by Eva Maria Pacheco, a very familiar and accomplished name within RI dance circles, the not-for-profit PBT continues to grow and leave its mark on the local dance community. In the spring of 2014, Ms. Pacheco will partner with winners of RISD’s prestigious Robert Turner Theatrical and Performance Dance Project to present the premier of her new ballet The Magic Box.

For tickets to PBT’s ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas visit: www.providenceballet.org.