Theater Odds ’n’ Ends (8/1/16)

7/16/16, 7/20/16, 7/24/16, 7/30/16

One was not a freebie. More on that later. On July 16, I attended a series of one acts/playlets at Equity Library Theater (my first visit there, though I auditioned for many productions there in the past). There were four linked short plays with a Staten Island ferry theme. The link was a bit iffy and the four plays were uneven, at best. In an odd twist, some of the plays had an offstage reader providing stage settings and stage directions. Best Title Award goes to Nass-Holes, a treatise on the faking of the 1969 moon landing. Best Presentation Award goes to Worthless, a powerful piece for five actors which was the most fully fleshed out performance. Very strong; very moving.

July 20 was a matinée splurge of Something Rotten. Big, splashy Broadway musical with fun, sophomoric humor, and energy, energy, energy! What’s not to like? [Note to self: Avoid matinées with young kids. I’m glad they’re experiencing Broadway; I don’t need to hear the squealing.]

Next was a one-woman show directed by a former co-worker, Ron Bashford. Presented at the Stella Adler Center for New Works in Movement and Dance Theater (MAD), this was a new venue to me. Seven Devils and a French Nun – A True Story. Very enjoyable, though it’s hard to figure out whether/when it’s OK to laugh at a nun. Still, this nun rang bells, imitated priests, and a played a bunch of other nuns. Carine Montbertrand, a co-creator, was the one woman in this one-woman show and did a bang-up job.

Last, but not least, was the Instant Shakespeare Company reading of As You Like It. It’s worth listing all of the performers, some of whom are Actors’ Equity Association members (though the program omits the apostrophe, a bugaboo of mine). Charles Osborne, David Wetter, Clinton Powell, Kelsie Jepsen, Nathanael Taylor, Laura Iris Hill, Abby Wilde, Drew Bolander, Elliot Nesterman, and Paul Battiato. These folks (who were the bulk of the audience, as well) all did a fabulous job. Mr. Bolander showed a very expressive singing voice in his two songs. There were probably only five or six non-actor audience members, myself included.

This semi-staged reading (book in hand) was very, very funny. Mini-pratfalls, cross-gender double casting, funny rendition of the text. I was surprised by the audience members who had the text in front of them. I thoroughly enjoyed watching the performers as opposed to watching the script and the performers. I know very little about this company, but they seem to be really interested in performing the works of the Bard. New York peeps, you might want to check out the rest of their season. http://shakespeareinc.com/instant-shakespeare-company.html Enjoy!

ConcertMeister