2012 Salute to Nurses Breakfast
.JPG)
2012 Cincinnati Reds
Dancing With The Stars finale
Home > Blogs > Arts and Entertainment > Archives > 2008 > July > 25
Friday, July 25, 2008
Futurefest opener tests, rewards patience
It’s been written that the world was made in seven days. That’s a miracle.
In the 21st century, it shouldn’t require another one to produce a play that moves along briskly rather than requiring the audience to pray for patience.
One of the perennial problems with the Dayton Playhouse’s Futurefest, which opened for the 18th year Friday, July 25, with Delora Whitney’s promising but sometimes overwrought “Adam & Evie,” is the length of the selected scripts and the often deadeningly slow pace of presentation.
Staging has been streamlined and neutralized this year to facilitate focus on the play, but writing that goes on too long, deliberate staging and methodical delivery are far more serious obstacles.
“Adam & Evie” would play much more effectively with less text and a more energetic presentation. My guess is that it’s going to have a chance to find both because Whitney’s play has plenty of potential.
It isn’t every day you encounter a first-time father of triplets holding up a very still newborn during a power outage in New York City while a devil attempts to strike a bargain he can hardly refuse.
That’s one of the best scenes in a play that’s funny, dramatic and blessed with consistently interesting mortals in Adam (Ben Norsworthy) and Evie (Annie Branning).
The Snake (David Shough) has too many repetitive and awkward scenes with God (Amy Brown), a supreme being so ridden with doubt that She lacks credibility. But he has a couple very good ones, including his dance with Evie, who’s very pregnant in her wedding gown.
Adam , who achieves several personal breakthroughs, is the heart of the play. He goes from self-absorbed sports junkie to the best, most sensitive and selfless husband ever. He’s probably too good to be possible. But under Jennifer Lockwood’s direction, Norsworthy played him with effective sardonic understatement and simple honesty.
Whitney strives too mightily to be profound, but she can easily be forgiven that sin because her writing sparkles with wit and a fresh outlook in familiar situations. “Adam & Evie” needs editing, but deserves a future.
Futurefest, which will launch six new plays, will continue with performances at 10 a.m., 3 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. Saturday, July 26, and 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. Sunday, July 27, at the Playhouse, 1301 E. Siebenthaler Ave. Tickets are $16. Call (937) 424-8477.
Permalink | Comments (0) | Post your comment | Categories: Review, Theater
Dayton church a theatrical good samaritan
There’s always Hope for little theater companies without homes of their own.
Hope Lutheran Church on Hickory Street in Dayton’s South Park Historic District has opened its doors to three drama groups that need a place to rehearse: the Encore Theater Company, a South Park group planning an outdoor production of Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” in and around the gazebo on Park Drive, and the Zoot Theatre.
Shane Anderson, a member of ETC who lives in South Park, learned about the unusual convergence when he attended a recent production meeting for “The Flight of the Lawnchair Man.”
ETC will present the local premiere Aug. 8-10 in the Mathile Theatre of the Schuster Performing Arts Center.
The good news is that the title character won’t wipe out multitudes if he crashes. Due to director Adam Leigh’s staging configuration, there will only be room for about 73 seats at each show. That could be bad news for those who wait until the last hour to seek a ticket to the show inspired by a strange and true event.
In 1982, California truck driver Larry Walters attached a cluster of helium balloons to a lawn chair and soared as high as 16,000 feet during a two-hour “flight” from San Pedro to Long Beach that ended with his arrest by federal aviation authorities.
Leigh, cast and crew have started a blog about their show. To read it, go to www.encoretheatercompany.com.
Tickets for “Lawnchair Man” are $15 at (937 228-3630.
Permalink | Comments (0) | Post your comment | Categories: Theater
