Wednesday, October 21, 2015

TALL SKINNY CRUEL CRUEL BOYS@THEATER NINJAS



October 29 through November 14, 2015



Bob Abelman

‘Tall Skinny Cruel Cruel Boys’ is an intriguing but indecisive psychodrama.

To see a full review of this show, read Bob Abelman's blog here.

Roy Berko


Though not for everyone, TALL SKINNY CRUEL CRUEL BOYS will be a positive experience for those who like “thinking” person’s theater.  It also makes for a positive Halloween season scare-treat.  What’s hiding under your bed?

To see a full review of this show, read Roy Berko's blog here.

Christine Howey

In the daunting role of Brandy, Rachel Lee Kolis demonstrates a raw physicality that gives her performance a mesmerizing quality. 

To see a full review of this show, read Christine Howey's blog Rave and Pan

Andrea Simakis

The marriage of playwright and company is  match made in surreal heaven.

To see a full review of this show, read Andrea Simakis' blog or visit Cleveland.com here.

THE CALL@DOBAMA THEATRE



October 23 through November 15, 2015
216-932-3396 


Bob Abelman

Dobama’s thought-provoking but highly entertaining ‘The Call’ comes collect.

To see a full review of this show, read Bob Abelman's blog here.

Roy Berko


THE CALL is one of those special theatrical performances that encourages thinking and contemplation, while adding just enough humor to avoid depression.  The topic is contemporary, the script is meticulously written, the production well staged, the acting of the highest level.  This is a must see production!

To see a full review of this show, read Roy Berko's blog here.

Mark Horning

Much like a guitar string that is tightened to the snapping point, this show gradually ratchets up the energy until the tension is built to the point of breaking only to have calm reason and love to smooth the troubled waters in the end.  It is a roller coaster ride with a long climb and a single fast hill that at the end flattens out to a gentle coast.

To see a full review of this show, read Mark Horning's blog.

Christine Howey

It's always a shame when a play targets an important topic and falls short. But with The Call, it feels like the playwright just keeps pivoting away from the bull's-eye, firing arrows off in all directions.

To see a full review of this show, read Christine Howey's review at  Cleveland Scene

BAT BOY THE MUSICAL@BLANK CANVAS



October 16 through 31, 2015

440-941-0458 


Bob Abelman

Does Blank Canvas director Patrick Ciammaci, who routinely traverses between the worlds of classic drama and cult comedy, find common ground and create a more tempered treatment of “Bat Boy: The Musical?”  Nahhh!

To see a full review of this show, read Bob Abelman's CJN article here.

Roy Berko


BAT BOY, THE MUSICAL is a farcical show, which gets an entertaining production at Blank Canvas under the creative direction of Pat Ciamacco. To truly appreciate the show you have to go with the attitude that you are going to have a fun-filled time. It’s worth seeing the show, if for no other reason, to observe the wonderful character development by Pat Miller as the Bat Boy.

To see a full review of this show, read Roy Berko's blog here.

Christine Howey


Director Ciamacco has perfect pitch for surreal stories such as this, and once again his sprightly, inventive sense of humor shines forth.

To see a full review of this show, read Christine Howey's blog Rave and Pan


Monday, October 19, 2015

THE INVESTIGATION@CESAR'S FORUM



October 16 through November 14, 2015

216-241-6000 

Bob Abelman

The current staging of this play by Cesear’s Forum is lifeless.  This is because director Greg Cesear has little faith that the words can speak for themselves and offers his assistance to make the play – a dramatic rendering of court transcripts – more inventive.  

To see a full review of this show, read Bob Abelman's blog here.

Roy Berko

My ride home after Cesear’s Forum’s THE INVESTIGATION was done in silence.  I sit here now, trying to write a review, with welled eyes.  Oh, the inhumanity of man.  

To see a full review of this show, read Roy Berko's blog here.

Christine Howey
While The Investigation does not succeed, it is one more example of the risks Greg Cesear and his troupe love to take. And for that, they deserve a deep bow.


To see a full review of this show, read Christine Howey's review at  Cleveland Scene





Tuesday, October 13, 2015

FIRST LOVE @ NONE TOO FRAGILE


October 9 through October 24, 2015
330-671-4563 

Bob Abelman

Nothing happens in this play and it is absolutely enthralling because of what actors Anne McEvoy and Robert Hawkes bring to it. 

To see a full review of this show, read Bob Abelman's CJN article here.


Kerry Clawson


Charles Mee's "First Love" is strangely poetic as two senior citizen characters dance around the prospect of love at None Too Fragile Theater.

The first meeting between Edith and Harold - played by the excellent Anne McEvoy and Robert Hawkes - is combative when they become acquainted on a park bench. The two look comically disheveled with their ripped, dirty clothing, she with a babushka-like scarf on her head and pushing a cart full of belongings.

 

To see a full review of this show, read Kerry Clawson's review here.


Christine Howey


The superb three-person cast of Robert Hawkes, Anne McEvoy and Rachel Roberts, and their director Sean Derry, invest this script with such pulsing humanity you can’t look away, even as your mind races to make sense of a not particularly sensible plot.

To see a full review of this show, read Christine Howey's blog Rave and Pan