[NEohioPAL]Berko review: A MURDER OF CROWS & PREVIEWS

[Roy Berko]

Another Wellman script at convergence-continuum

Roy Berko

(Member, American Theatre Critics Association)


--THE TIMES NEWSPAPERS--

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


Convergence-continuum is up to its old tricks.  Since
it was founded the venue has produced out-of-the-loop,
out-of-the-norm, outside-the-mainstream-audience
productions.  Many of them have been written by
language trickster Mac Wellman, a friend of Clyde
Simon, the theatre’s artistic director.

The theatre’s latest Wellman play is ‘A MURDER  OF
CROWS,’ an environmental tragic comedy that centers on
a teenager who is waiting for a major calamity to
occur.  She is surrounded by a dysfunctional family
(what else can you expect, this is a Wellman play). 
Her mother is an emotionally drained skeleton; her
brother, who suffers from post-traumatic stress
syndrome, is a golden monument in the front yard; an
aunt and uncle secretly transport shopping bags full
of money;  and a father who returns from a gruesome
death in which he was buried headfirst in a sludge
pit. (Honestly, I’m not making this up.) 

The group lives in an unspecified heartland area,
downwind of what appears to be a toxic waste dump.  
It’s an area that Wellman has written about so much
that his fans call it “Macland.”  

Also populating the area is a murder of crows.  Murder
of crows, that ‘s a group of them, like a pride of
lions, tower of giraffes, or gaggle of geese.  These
crows sing and act like a Greek chorus and comment on
the goings on.  (Again, I’m not making any of this
up.)

The convergence production is under the usual adept
directing guidance of Clyde Simon who does double duty
as Raymond, the father.

Lucy Bredeson-Smith, who is one of the most
consistently excellent actresses in the area, is
mesmerizing as Nella, the mother.  Geoffrey Hoffman is
excellent as the gold coated son.  Denise Astorino
misses some of the right notes as the girl obsessed by
the impending doom.  Lauri Hammer is appropriately
obnoxious as the bigoted aunt.  Wes Shofner gives his
usual excellent performance as the father.  The crows
aren’t much as singers, though they must have been
watching the movements of our feathered black friends,
as they do everything except fly around the theatre in
their attempts to imitate the birds.

CAPSULE JUDGEMENT:  Wellman is definitely an acquired
taste. I still haven’t learned to savor his
concoctions.   That doesn’t mean you won’t.  If you
like abstract concepts, in a well-packaged production,
you’ll enjoy ‘A MURDER OF CROWS.’  If not, more
traditional offerings are opening at other local
theatres. 

‘A MURDER OF CROWS’ runs at 8 pm on Thursdays, Fridays
and Saturdays through September 23  at
convergence-continuum’s artistic home, The Liminis, at
2438 Scranton Rd. in Cleveland’s Tremont neighborhood.
 Tickets are $12 general admission and $9 for students
and seniors. For information and reservations call
216-687-0074. Seating for this production will be
limited to about 40.

UPCOMING EVENTS

Verb Ballets, ‘NATURE MOVES,’ presented on September
15 and 16 at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History. 
Call 216-231-1177 or 800-317-9155.

‘LET FREEDOM RING,’ a musical of social conscience,
presented by Ensemble Theatre at the Cleveland Play
House from September 1-17.   216-321-2930.

‘M4M,’  an all male version of William Shakespeare’s
‘MEASURE FOR MEASURE,’ Cleveland Public Theatre,
September 28-October 14.

‘WILD PARTY,’ Kalliope, with the assistance of
Cleveland Contemporary Dance Theatre, presents a
musical based on Joseph Moncure March's 1928 poem
about Queenie, an ambitious, manipulative Vaudeville
dancer.




Roy Berko's web page can be found at www.royberko.info.  His theatre and dance reviews appear on NeOHIOpal, an on-line source.   To subscribe to this free service via the World Wide Web, visit http://lists.fredsternfeld.com/mailman/listinfo/neohiopal.

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