MIDDLETOWN
Cleveland Play House (CWRU/CPH MFA ACTING PROGRAM)
The Helen Theatre
February 21-March 2, 2024
216-400-7000
Howard Gollop
A simple drama about small-town life turns out to be anything but warm escapism in Will Eno's "Middletown." Some striking and ominous visual effects by Ben Needham (sets) and Adam Ditzes (lights) help coax the audience into accepting the extraordinary emanating out of the ordinary. But what really propels the subtext is the nuanced performances of the members of the Case Western University and Cleveland Play House joint MFA program, so insightfully honed by director Donald Carrier.
Dr. Yuko Kurahashi
Set in Middletown, a small town where everybody knows everyone—but not quite, Will Eno’s Middletown is a nervous Our Town, minus Emily and umbrellas. Eno includes possible bits and pieces of references, renditions, and metaphors from Angels in America, Endgame, The Trueman Show, Expecting Isabel, many stories by Philip Roth, and Carl Sagan’s Murmurs of Earth.
To see a full review of this show, read Yuko's posts here.
