high jinks draw neighbors away from their 1950s suburban … morning line... · 2012. 10. 12. ·...
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High Jinks Draw Neighbors Away From Their 1950s Suburban Worldview - The New York Times
http://theater.nytimes.com/.../10/12/theater/reviews/debate-societys-blood-play-at-bushwick-starr.html?pagewanted=print[10/12/2012 10:42:49 AM]
October 11, 2012THEATER REVIEW
High Jinks Draw Neighbors Away From Their 1950sSuburban WorldviewBy CLAUDIA LA ROCCO
The first few moments of action in the Debate Society’s “Blood Play,” are drawn in broad, manic strokes. Abasement pipe has burst, spraying water everywhere, including on Bev, a screaming housewife, who yellsupstairs for her husband, Morty, who yells right back: “Wha wha wha what?!”
The sofa is soaked. The mural over it is ruined — or, as Bev says, “The Oriental children look like they’remelting.”
Everything about these interactions (the hysteria, the volume and speed, the innocent use of ethnic terms thatmake contemporary ears squirm or feel superior) indicates that these characters, and their 1950s suburbanworldview, aren’t to be taken all that seriously. It’s a wearying prospect to be handed at the start of aconventional play; I girded myself for a long Friday evening at the Bushwick Starr, where the popular Brooklyntroupe is enjoying a sold-out run.
But “Blood Play,” which is written by Hannah Bos and Paul Thureen, and directed by Oliver Butler, is happilysomething of a stealth machine. As the 75-minute one-act progresses, and it becomes clear we’re going to bespending a lot of time in this basement (handsomely designed by Laura Jellinek), the characters slowly emergeas more fully rounded people (though the vestiges of caricature remain).
Bev (Ms. Bos) and Morty (Michael Cyril Creighton) are new to the Chicago suburb of Skokie. Their basementbar is fully stocked, awaiting their entree into a new social world, and on this night they appear to be makingcautious inroads through an impromptu party that begins when a door-to-door photographer, Jeep (Mr.Thureen) gets into a small accident with a neighbor named Sam (Hanlon Smith-Dorsey).
Soon, decidedly sweet drinks are flowing, silly parlor games are afoot and Sam’s prickly wife Gail (BirgitHuppuch) appears to complete the gathering. She is, incidentally, wearing half of a cow costume (Sam has theudder half) and is none too pleased to have to give up her own party plans for Bev’s desperately earnesthospitality.
But, wait a minute — after a few drinks, is there an amorous edge creeping into her interactions with Bev? Oris she just terribly bored with the boorish Sam? What of the possible ethnic tensions between the Jewishcouples and the wider community? And what exactly is simmering beneath the surface of the nervously affableJeep?
The performances are all solid, and Mr. Thureen is a particular marvel. But somewhere along the line “BloodPlay” suffers from a failure of nerve, padding the script with an awkward lurch into material that strainstoward darkness. Bev and Morty’s young son Ira (Ronete Levenson) plots revenge on abusive neighborhood
High Jinks Draw Neighbors Away From Their 1950s Suburban Worldview - The New York Times
http://theater.nytimes.com/.../10/12/theater/reviews/debate-societys-blood-play-at-bushwick-starr.html?pagewanted=print[10/12/2012 10:42:49 AM]
boys, aided by a form of sinister magic that just happens to be connected to that burst pipe.
Tangled evil lurking just beneath the house? In the end “Blood Play” concludes as it began, uncomfortablyclose to cartoonish melodrama.
‘Killers - A Nightmare Haunted House’ at Clemente Soto Vélez - NYTimes.com
http://www.nytimes.com/...04/arts/you-want-haunted-weve-got-jeffrey-dahmer-in-the-house.html?_r=1&pagewanted=print[10/12/2012 10:49:00 AM]
October 3, 2012
You Want Haunted? We’ve Got JeffreyDahmer in the HouseBy JASON ZINOMAN
The haunted house is theater’s answer to the video game: interactive, addictive and often underestimated asan art form. Audience members move room to room, with surprises around every corner. While theexperience is highly structured, there are enough choices for viewers to make that no two visits are exactlyalike.
The central difference, of course, is that no matter how enveloping a video-game world may be, it can’tsimulate the reality of being chased by a man with a power drill. “Killers: A Nightmare Haunted House,” atClemente Soto Vélez Cultural Center, the latest theatrical scare show by Timothy Haskell, exploits thisadvantage splendidly. Instead of startling audiences with ghosts or vampires or movie villains, theproduction is peopled with real-life serial killers like Jeffrey Dahmer and Ted Bundy.
You enter the dark, smoky house in groups of six and over the course of 40 minutes, you get a view of thedining room of Ed Gein, the graveyard-robbing lunatic who inspired the makers of “The Texas ChainsawMassacre” and “The Silence of the Lambs,” and the streets where Jack the Ripper prowled. These celebritykillers appear in economically plotted, vividly designed vignettes that end with a strategically timed shock.It may be the sudden sound of a chain saw or something slithering around your feet. And what’s thatsmell?
Mr. Haskell stages these mini-dramas and sleights of hand with the panache of a seasoned magician. Hisproduction includes limited dialogue, sticking primarily to an evocative and detailed visual vocabulary,steering clear of indulgent theatrical flourishes and thematic self-importance. Paul Smithyman’s productiondesign is, like so many of the greatest horror movies rooted, in a grim realism. The sets are full of emptyspaces interrupted by chaotic messes; the lighting is stark and the sound cacophonous. This is a no-nonsense haunted house, a taut, assured production that knows exactly what it wants to do (scare the hellout of you) and performs its task with ruthless, coldblooded precision.
“Killers: A Nightmare Haunted House” continues through Nov. 3 at Clemente Soto Vélez Cultural Center, 107
Suffolk Street, at Rivington Street, Lower East Side; hauntedhousenyc.com.
'Judas Kiss' to West End - Entertainment News, International News, Media - Variety
http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118060632?refcatid=19&printerfriendly=true[10/12/2012 10:55:03 AM]
Posted: Fri., Oct. 12, 2012, 12:01am PT
'Judas Kiss' to West EndEverett to reprise role as Oscar WildeBy DAVID BENEDICT
LONDON -- Director Neil Armfield's production of the Oscar Wilde bio-drama "The Judas Kiss,"toplined by Rupert Everett, will transfer to West End's Duke of York's theater for a four-month runbeginning Jan. 9.
Produced by Robert Fox, Theater Royal Bath Prods., Hampstead Theater and Chichester FestivalTheater, the revival of David Hare's play originated at U.K. regional Hampstead Theater.
The West End incarnation will retain its full cast.
The original 1998 production starring Liam Neeson and Tom Hollander transferred to Broadway,where it ran for three months.
Contact David Benedict at [email protected]
Almeida director to depart - Entertainment News, International News, Media - Variety
http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118060613?refcatid=19&printerfriendly=true[10/12/2012 10:59:42 AM]
Posted: Thu., Oct. 11, 2012, 11:41am PT
Almeida director to departAttenborough exits London theater in springBy DAVID BENEDICT
LONDON -- Michael Attenborough, a.d. of the Almeida Theater, will step down from his post inspring 2013.
Attenborough has been at the helm of the 330-seat North London venue for 11 years. During histenure he has presented 32 U.K. and world premieres including plays by U.S. dramatists LynnNottage ("Ruined"), Gina Gionfriddo ("Becky Shaw"), Stephen Adly Guirgis ("The Last days ofJudas Iscariot"), Edward Albee, David Mamet, Sam Shepard and Theodore Ward. Fourproductions have transferred to the West End and one show, "Festen," also had a Broadway run in2006.
The theater's current production is "King Lear," helmed by Attenborough and starring JonathanPryce. Despite a recent cut in in its Arts Council England grant -- the theater took an unexpectedlyhigh 39% hit -- the company remains one of the capital's leading not-for-profits. Competish for thea.d. slot is expected to be fierce.
Contact David Benedict at [email protected]