[NEohioPAL] Berko review: BEYOND BELIEF AN INTIMATE EVENING OF PSYCHOGICAL ILLUSION @ Playhouse Square

[Roy Berko]

Must see BEYOND BELIEF at Kennedys-Down-Under

Roy Berko

Member, American Theatre Critics Association

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Intriguing, fascinating, fun, confounding, involving and surprising are just 
some of the words I heard from the audience after the opening night performance 
of BEYOND BELIEF, award winning Joshua Seth's display of illusion at Playhouse 
Square's Kennedy's-Down-Under performance.  (The theatre is located below the 
Ohio Theatre's lobby.)

Psychological Illusionist, voice-over artist, hypnotist and mystery entertainer 
are all names that have been used to describe Kent native Joshua Seth.  He's 
“one of the busiest illusionists touring the globe today.”   Seth, who lives in 
Bath, and was brought up in Akron, recently returned from yet another cruise.  
This time he was performing on a ship going around the Hawaiian Islands.  
Immediately after his opening night performance here, he was jumping on a plane 
to fly to Baltimore, where he was to perform before over 3000 midshipmen at the 
Annapolis Naval Academy.

Seth, whose father was a hypnotherapist, fell in love with illusion when taken 
to see a Blackstone the Magician show when he was eight.  He started to delve 
into the field.  His present show grew out of the concept of mentalism, which 
allows him to work with the audience to influence people's thoughts and create 
illusion.  

During the performance, Seth proved that his reputation as presenting “A high 
Energy, One-of-A-Kind Show” was true.  He also displayed why he won First Place 
at the Academy of Magical Arts' “Magic Castle Olympics” for his mentalist act.

It's pretty hard to describe the 90-minute show without giving away all the 
intrigue.  Plus, the show varies from night to night depending on the audience 
and the performer's mood.  It's probably enough to say the fascination and 
excitement centered on illusions which included muscle tensing, emails, dreams, 
rings, blink responses, cards, head and hand shaking, $100 prizes, lottery 
tickets, and audience participation.  


The Kennedy space is a perfect venue because it is intimate and allows for 
immediate interaction with the spectators.  Due to the small venue, everyone 
gets into the act.  (Yes, he even got a Times newspaper theatre critic on 
stage.) Seth conjured up people's numbers, names, hobbies, pets' names and 
travel desires.  It's fun, it's astounding, it's a delight for everyone.

The “kid reviewers,” my grandson's, Alex (15), Noah (13) and Ian (11), who often 
go to shows to give the viewpoint of younger audiences, were perched on their 
front row seats, laughing, cheering, guessing how Seth did the illusions, and 
left full of excitement and delight.  Yes, it's a show for everyone, young and 
old alike.  (I'd recommend that the kids be 10 or over.)

 Capsule judgement: Beyond Belief:  An Intimate Evening of Psychological 
Illusion is a one of a kind experience that is a must see!  Call for tickets 
immediately, as the show, in its present run, will only be offered three more 
dates (February 3, March 3 and 24), and the 80 seats will go fast as the word 
gets out.  Fun, delight, full of intrigue, a MUST SEE!

For more information on Joshua Seth and to obtain a coupon for discount tickets 
for the Kennedy show, go to http://www.beyondbeliefshow.com.  For tickets call 
216-241-6000 or go to www.playhousesquare.org.
 
Roy Berko's blog, which contains theatre and dance reviews from 2001 through 
2011, as well as his consulting and publications information, can be found at 
http://royberko.info.  His reviews can also be found on www.coolcleveland.com 
and www.NeOHIOpal