Theater
There are moments in Hideous Progeny (especially early in the second half) that grip and move the audience. But there are not enough of them. I dare this gifted troupe of theater makers to be more inventive, take greater risks, and live up to their so obvious promise. Hideous Progeny by Emily Dendinger. Staged by…
The Chester Theatre Company’s production, directed by Ron Bashford, runs over two hours with nary a dull moment and the actors seem to be having as wonderful a time as the audience.
There is nothing shocking, nothing sensational, nothing revelatory, in this workmanlike production of ARMS AND THE MAN. Nor should there be, as the play doesn’t give much room for innovation.
The likable Commonwealth Shakespeare Company staging leans very heavily on the comedy in ALL’S WELL THAT ENDS WELL, minimizing the Bard’s melancholic undertow.
Enthusiasm simply wasn’t enough to salvage the production — the musical comedy 2010 contains too many pitfalls to overcome.
The production is set in France of the 1920s and artfully combines evocations of both Paris and the Forest of Arden: The city of lights is represented by miniature versions of famous landmarks: the Arc de Triomphe; Notre Dame, the Eiffel Tower — that twinkle at night and serve as props as well as set.
Now why, you might ask. Why is there no reaction? Why does everyone involved, chose to ignore the scandal? Because, playwright Alan Ayckbourn would say, that is how most of us are. To paraphrase “Hamlet”: We rather bear the troubles we know, than — by opposing them — create even bigger ones.
This is a highly satisfying evening of light theater that provokes its audience to bursts of recognition, laughter and sorrow in quick succession.
French writer Jacques Jouet is a critic, playwright, novelist, and short story writer. His novella “Upstaged” is an ingenious comedy about theatrical transformation that runs with the notion that when art is live anything might go, that perhaps Pirandello’s six characters in search of an author didn’t go far enough and come up with a better play amongst themselves.
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