2006 Reviews

Bowie Community Theatre's - Catch Me If You Can
Colonial Players' - Splendor
Bay Theater Comany's - Barefoot in the Park

2005 Reviews

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Bowie Community Theatre’s Catch Me If You Can

Not to be confused with the movie of the same title, this Catch is fast-paced and funny, with the result that we enjoy and remember an evening well spent.

Reviewed by Dick Wilson

Bowie Community Theatre brings us a delightful farce that asks a couple of questions: Who dunnit? And Did anybody dunnit?

What might have been done, or maybe not, was the doing-in of a young woman, the wife of Daniel Corban. Corban (played by Geoff Wilner) is distraught at the disappearance of his wife Elizabeth from the remote cabin in the Catskill Mountains, where the Corbans are, or were, spending their honeymoon. The cabin belongs to Corban’s boss, who will appear later in the play. Elizabeth just up and disappeared, leaving Daniel in the proverbial lurch.

A stuffed moose head peers out from its perch over the fireplace mantel. Rustic furniture and rough-hewn walls, illuminated by the soft light of lanterns, tell us that this is a cabin way out in the woods. People — especially those on their honeymoons — don’t disappear from cabins in the woods. Maybe they do in the city, but not out here in the woods.

Corban telephones the local police sleuth, Inspector Levine, to report Elizabeth’s disappearance. Levine, in the way of good cops everywhere, is on the case immediately. But while Levine is out looking for Elizabeth, a priest, Father Kelleher (Greg Coale) shows up at the cabin in the company of — guess who? None other than Elizabeth Corban (Liza Herschel)!

Rather than being thrilled at Elizabeth’s appearance, Corban is outraged; this woman, he claims, is not his wife! The deadly serious Elizabeth begs to differ, however. When Inspector Levine (Todd Cunningham) appears and questions Elizabeth, she answers his every question faultlessly. She looks on with amused scorn as Corban becomes more and more frantic. It appears to Corban that Inspector Levine really believes that Elizabeth is who she claims to be. Her claim is supported by Father Kelleher, who has the backing of the Almighty. It would seem that Elizabeth’s position is unassailable, and that Daniel is on shaky ground. But the plot has yet a few turns to take.

The unexpected turns are maneuvered by this capable cast at high speed, with an ending twist certain to bring you up short.

Catch Me If You Can (not to be confused with the movie of the same title) is an ideal choice for a small company like Bowie Community Theatre. The play has no pretensions of great drama, but it’s fast-paced and funny, inviting the actors to exercise their thespian skills. The audience can’t help but be drawn in to the action, with the result that we enjoy and remember an evening well spent.

On opening night, the cast performed well, despite dread opening night jitters hanging in the air. A few lines were stumbled over, but not enough to disrupt the momentum.

Geoff Wilner, as Daniel Corban, and Liza Herschel, as the (maybe) wife gave standout performances. Wilner had to pace his character so as to react appropriately to slowly revealed circumstances and bends in the plot. Herschel maintained a lethal focus as she held up under Levine’s insistent probing and Corban’s denials. Her icy, unshakable demeanor sent an air of menace hovering over the play, sustaining the dramatic tension. Todd Cunningham did a fine job as the persistent sleuth, but his delivery was a little hesitant on a couple of lines.

Bowie Community Theatre’s location, out in the woods at the White Marsh Park in Bowie, is a fitting location for this play. In its quiet setting among the trees, the theater itself serves as backdrop.

By Jack Weinstock and Willie Gilbert. Director: Dan Kavanaugh. Producer: Bowie Community Theatre. Production Assistant: Janice Coffey. Sound Designer: Garrett R. Hyde. Set Designer: Craig Alan Mummey.

Playing thru February 25 at 8pm FSa; 2pm Su @ Bowie Playhouse, White Marsh Park, off Rt. 3 S., Bowie. $12 w/discounts: 301-805-0219.

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Colonial Players’ - Splendour

Climbing the Pike’s Peak of drama.

Previewed by Dick Wilson

The theater world does its best to present plays that look deeply into the human condition. That’s Colonial Players’ aim with Splendour, a 21st century play by British playwright Abi Morgan. The cast are committed to the local theatre scene, and they are determined to live up to their history of successful productions.

Splendour is a daunting play; for its production to be successful, the director and cast must ensure faultless timing and technical execution. It’s the Pike’s Peak of drama for a small theatre company such as Colonial Players.

The obstacles to the summit can be enormous, as playgoers saw with the first showings January 20 through 22. Numerous technical difficulties surfaced, and the lead actress read her lines from a script. Due partly to the play’s difficulty and partly to personal problems, Colonial Players postponed continued performance of the play until February 2 with a new actress in the leading role.

The deeper the play, the more difficult in execution it may be. Consider many (most of them, maybe) of Shakespeare’s tragedies, for example. People can see Hamlet again and again, and see deeper into the human condition each time. But Hamlet is not a play a small theatre company will readily take on.

This is not to say that Splendour is in the same category as Hamlet. But the two plays are similar in that both use dialogue to convey moods and feelings as well as thoughts. Both show a wide range of human emotions, as well, as the characters try to deal with events beyond their control.

Splendour adds its own dramatic complications. The action in Splendour takes place “in broken time,” bouncing chronologically backward and forward as four women exchange views and argue about any number of subjects. It’s a time of uncertainty; the country (an unnamed Eastern European nation) is in the midst of a civil war. The husband of one of the characters is the dictator, but he has fled, leaving his wife to an uncertain fate.

Just as the “time” is “broken,” so are the emotional states of the four women as they vacillate between hysteria, cynicism, stoicism and hope. The intensity rises as the play progresses, foreshadowing what is certain to be an unpleasant future. All the while they’re downing copious quantities of “chili vodka,” which loosens their tongues, colors their memories and adds to the general emotional intensity.

Splendour won the prestigious Fringe First Award at the Edinburgh Festival when first produced in 2000. The Fringe is a venue known for its willingness to produce the most avant-garde of modern drama. Splendour had to top a lot of far-out productions in order to win at Fringe.

Clearly, the company, director and actresses have accepted a challenge in Splendour. That challenge was above them the first time around. Now, production will resume with a new actress — who’s been with the cast barely a week — who will probably have to read from a script in the first productions. If they are successful the second time around, Colonial Players will have climbed a mountain.

Splendour: by Abi Morgan. Director: Barbara Marder. Production Manager: Joan Hamilton. Stage Manager: Robert C. Bates. Set Designer: Doug Dawson. Lighting Designer: Dottie Meggers.

Playing thru February 18 at 8pm ThFSa; 2:30pm Su; Also 7:30pm Feb. 12 @ Colonial Players Theatre, 108 East St., Annapolis. $15: 410-268-7373.

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Bay Theatre Company’s - Barefoot in the Park

With the help of a lively script and a superb supporting cast, Ben Russo and Megan Dominy demonstrate the stuff that pulls people apart and brings them back together.

Reviewed by Dick Wilson

This 1963 comedy, in an artful revival by Bay Theatre Company, represents a departure from the company’s usual selection of drama that’s sometimes risky, maybe controversial (for example, see our review of the 2005 hit Fool for Love: www.bayweekly.com/reviews/html). Producer Janet Luby says of Barefoot in the Park that the company was “looking for a change of pace, something more in the middle.” Barefoot is a good choice; you come away from it with the feeling that you’ve had some fun.

Barefoot may not be as conflict-ridden as some earlier Bay Theatre productions, but it portrays a theme common to all good plays: that people are emotional beings, and their connections to one another are fragile.

Marriage provides the backdrop for the emotional connection between characters. A pair of newlyweds, Paul and Corie Bratter, has just moved into a tiny apartment in New York City. Paul (Ben Russo) is a somewhat stodgy sort; he’s a recent law school graduate deeply immersed in his career. Corie (Megan Dominy) is a free-spirited woman who approaches everything with unquenchable exuberance.

As the play opens, Corie is cheerfully fussing around their cluttered apartment. A stepladder sits in the middle of the small living room-kitchen. Paint buckets and suitcases make up the rest of the decor. Not a piece of furniture is in sight.

Paul enters, breathless after walking up five five flights of stairs, seeing their new abode for the first time. He’s appalled. But Corie is fine with the arrangements.

Paul wants to work on an important court case, but Corie wants to celebrate — and the emotional thread that connects them begins to stretch. Corie’s mother, Mrs. Banks (Lucinda Merry-Browne), shows up unexpectedly to see the apartment, adding another layer of stress, and she too thinks the apartment is too small, too spare and without much potential. Still Corie’s enthusiasm can’t be dampened. Victor Velasco (Christopher Poverman), who lives in the building’s attic, makes an appearance, and a subplot involving Velasco and Mrs. Banks begins.

Thus is the setting established. Being newlyweds, Paul and Corie both have a romanticized view of love, but all honeymoons must come to an end. This pair has a chemistry that shows their marriage is solidly grounded. By all appearances, they are committed to one another and have every reason to be optimistic about their future.

However, emotions are not dependable. The tie that binds two lovers is like a rubber band: strong and stretchable, but also breakable. Every connection has a limit — a point at which the connection will snap. Russo (who appeared in the company’s 2005 production of Fool for Love) and Dominy wield their considerable acting skills to demonstrate the limits of the emotional connection between their characters. On the periphery, Mrs. Banks and Mr. Velasco must deal with their own emotional strains.

Merry-Browne, as Mrs. Banks, and Chris Poverman, as Velasco, the guy who lives in the attic, provide ample comic relief Both actors fill their roles with gusto. Merry-Browne brightens her every scene. Poverman is the odd duck, stretching the limits in new directions whenever he appears. A couple of smaller roles — a telephone repairman (Mark Paremba) and a delivery man (Robert Kauffman) — also provide effective comedic support.

But it’s Russo and Dominy who take hold of this play and never let it go. Their characters are allowed to grow — thus they make the emotional advances necessary for their relationship to succeed. With the help of a lively script and a superb supporting cast, Russo and Dominy demonstrate the stuff that pulls people apart and brings them back together.

Barefoot in the Park opened on Broadway in 1963. It was Neil Simon’s second big hit (Come Blow Your Horn was the first), and it ran for 1,530 performances. Robert Redford (who also starred in the Broadway play) and Jane Fonda appeared in the 1967 movie version.

Producer: Janet Luby. Director: Peter Wray. Stage Manager: Tupper Stevens. Costumes: Janet Luby. Playing thru March 4 at Bay Theatre Co., 275 West St., Annapolis.