[NEohioPAL]Berko reviews: SINCERELY FOREVER, BLUE ROOM, A..MY NAME IS STILL ALICE

[Roy Berko]

‘SINCERELY FOREVER’ AT CONVERGENCE; CPH’S ‘BLUE ROOM’;
HALLE PRESENTS ‘A..MY NAME IS STILL ALICE ‘

Roy Berko

(Member, American Theatre Critics Association)

--THE TIMES NEWSPAPERS--

Lorain County Times--Westlaker Times--Lakewood News
Times--Olmsted-Fairview Times	


OUTSTANDING PRODUCTION OUTSHINES SCRIPT AT CONVERGENCE
CONTINUUM

In the late 1960’s and early to mid-70s the big thing
in theatre was plays which investigated the "whys of
being."  Often based on asking"why do we exist?" these
often wordy, esoteric and thought-bending scripts were
aimed at that fringe audience who wanted to go to the
theatre to think, to be challenged, to experience the
out-of the-ordinary.    Such a script is Mac Wellman’s
‘SINCERELY YOURS’, now being staged at
convergence-continuum.  

Convergence-continuum is a small professional theatre
tucked into a storefront in Tremont.  ‘SINCERELY
YOURS’ is its third production.  Obviously Artistic
Director Clyde Simon and Executive Director Brian
Breth have decided that the likes of Neil Simon are
not their thing and that Cleveland needs a totally
alternative drama center.  They intend to make
convergence-continuum just that.  They have assembled
a talented group of actors who share their vision.

Mac Wellman, the most prolific writer you’ve probably
never heard of  is a former Clevelander.  He grew up
when this area when it was dubbed "The Mistake by the
Lake."   This Cleveland often populates Wellman’s
writing, including his signature piece, "Cleveland." 
The Poetry Project Newsletter said,  "Mac Wellman
continues his exploration. . .of a low-rent rural
America, festering in the backwater pollution from the
urban environment.  Wellman's astonishing Ohio-like
world has been tagged by some theatre-goers  and
critics as 'Macland,' a world peopled by cantankerous,
wistful, confused and frightened people who have lost
parts of their body, their minds and their souls to
the perpetual machine of the American dream."   

Wellman writes audaciously deconstructive and rambling
text.  It is often based on the concept that the whole
modern view of the world lies in the illusion that the
so-called laws of nature are the explanations of
natural phenomena.  He purports that "It is not
interesting at this point in human time to portray the
real world as it seems to be in its own terms; but it
is interesting to unfold, in human terms, the logic of
its illogic and so get at the nut of our contemporary
human experience."

Director Clyde Simon is creative in his staging, most
of which takes place in the front seat of an old car,
centered in the theatre’s 50-seat, 12 by 20 foot
theatre.  He is blessed with an outstanding cast. 
Nina Domingue, as JH--the stranger with a heavy
suitcase, is amazing.  Her long, curtain-closing
speech, is riveting.  Brian Breth, Lara Mielcarek,
Geoff Knox and Josh Spencer shine.  The rest of cast
is well-focused.  Even the pre-show music by Eskimo
Taylor is on-target.

The production of ‘SINCERELY YOURS’ is outstanding. 
It far surpasses the quality of the wordy play.  This
is a must see for people interested in experiencing
fantastic acting, a creatively-staged show, and are
willing to wade through a 90-minute intermissionless
experience to get Wellman’s obvious message that
society is all messed up.

For tickets to "SINCERELY YOURS’ which are a
reasonable $12 for adults and $9 for students CALL
216-687-0074.  Due to the small audience capacity,
early reservations are encouraged. 


‘THE BLUE ROOM’ TEDIOUS AT CPH

The woman seated behind me leaned over to her
companion about two-thirds of the way through the
Cleveland Play House’s production of ‘THE BLUE ROOM’
and sighed, "This is tedious." The luke warm applause
at the conclusion of the production attested to her
judgement.  ‘THE BLUE ROOM’ David  Hare’s adaptation
of Arthur Schnitzler’s ‘LA RONDE’ lacked the spark,
creativity and variance needed to keep the audience’s
attention.  

Through a series of vignettes, ‘THE BLUE ROOM’ tells a
circular story of seduction in which ten different
couples seek intimacy, love and connection.  Each of
their encounters, however, brings emptiness,
unraveling their illusions and leaving them yearning
for something more. Two actors play all of the roles
which range from a prostitute to an actress, a cab
driver to an aristocrat.

Schnitzler was strongly influenced by his friend
Sigmund Freud who, in a 1922 birthday card wrote to
Schnitzler, "Your preoccupation with the truths of the
unconscious and of the instinctual drives in man, your
dissection of the cultural conventions of our society,
the dwelling of your thoughts on the polarity of love
and death; all this moves me with an uncanny feeling
of familiarity."  If only Hare’s adaptation and Edward
Payson Call’s direction reached those lofty goals. 

Hare recognized the possible tedium of the concept
when he indicated when adapting the story line that he
felt challenged by the potential fatal flaw of the
repetitiousness of scene after scene. 

When the play opened it became an instant hit.  A hit
not based on the script or the production, but on the
titillation provided of briefly seeing Nicole Kidman
in the buff.

In the local production, Bradford Dover and Emily
Frankovich perform their roles adequately well.  They
attempt to give different images to each of the people
they portray.  Accents, hairstyles, costumes,
gestures, and facial expressions vary appropriately.  
The weakness of the production is not totally theirs. 


Besides the same-old, same-old of the stories, Edward
Payson Calls’ direction centers on finding a clever
gimmick and then beating it to death.  Each scene
change, and the scene changes are many and long, is
accompanied by humorous visualized messages about
love, marriage and sex from the likes of Mae West,
Bette Davis, Oscar Wilde, Willie Nelson, Dorothy
Parker and Shakespeare.  At first, this is clever. 
After a while I stopped looking up to the screens
suspended above the stage.  In addition, each sex act
was accompanied by a slide telling the length of time
it took for the coupling to take place.  Again, ten
time alerts was too much.  The number of laughs
decreased to silence before the last notification.

‘THE BLUE ROOM’ brings to a close The Cleveland Play
House’s  mediocre season which was highlighted by two
outstanding productions.  Let’s hope that next season
brings more of the likes of ‘DIRTY BLOND’ and "PROOF’
to the audiences of the nation’s oldest professional
theatre.  If not, in these times of economic
tightness, CPH  could be in serious trouble.

Tickets for ‘THE BLUE ROOM’, which range in price from
$12 to $47.50 may be obtained by calling 216-795-7000
or visiting www.clevelandplayhouse.com.

PLEASANT "A...MY NAME..." AT HALLE

Watching ‘A...MY NAME WILL ALWAYS BE ALICE’ at the
JCC’s Halle Theatre is like eating Chinese food.  It’s
filling while you are experiencing it, but shortly
afterwards you are left with an empty feeling.  The
strength of the production is also its weakness.  It’s
a nice, safe, mildly messaged review type musical.  It
doesn’t go out on a limb and take strong stands, it
will offend no one, most of the musical numbers are
pleasant, but none stands out.  You smile, clap, and
then leave the theatre.

Joan Micklin Silver and Julianne Boyd, the play’s
creators, seem to have assumed the mission of teaching
the viewers what it’s like to be a woman. 
Unfortunately, most of the pieces aren’t edgy enough
to do that.  The closest are "Friends" which takes a
short journey from two teenagers daily talking on the
phone to their still daily talking on the phone as
they traverse into old-age and "Nonbridaled Passion"
about a woman coming to the reality of an unfulfilled
life. 

The cast, consisting of Tiffany Gates, Paula
Kline-Messner, Maryann Nagel, Tina D. Stump and
Casandra Vincent are all excellent.  They sing, act
and dance well.  Highlights include a very funny
sequence of poetry readings by the very talented
Nagel; a plaintiff "I Sure Like the Boys" sung by
Tiffany Gates; Nagel and Kline Messner’s "Welcome to
Kindergarten, Mrs. Johnson" and "Friends;" Gates’
"Nonbridaled Passion;" and Vincent and Nagel’s "Hot
Lunch." 

Director Douglas Farren, Choreographer Eric van Baars,
Musical Director Marc Baker, Costumer Alison Hernan
and Scenic Designer Tony Kovacic have all done their
things efficiently.  All of the technical and
aesthetic aspects work.

‘A...MY NAME WILL ALWAYS BE ALICE" is a pleasant
evening of theatre.  If you go to experience
"entertainment-light" you’ll appreciate the
production.

For tickets and performance information about ‘A...MY
NAME WILL ALWAYS 


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