[NEohioPAL] Rave Reviews for CHAPATTI...tickets on sale now

Wed Mar 2 14:59:39 PST 2016

Raves excerpted Bob Abelman and Mark Horning's early reviews...*Actors’
Summit’s production of ‘Chapatti’ is a study in mixed emotions*
By: Mark Horning
<https://www.axs.com/contributor/mark-horning-axs-contributor-1202>  AXS
Contributor Feb 26, 2016 5 days ago
1529226482786165417616y2016m02d26
[image: (l-r) Director Brian Zoldessy, Neil Thackaberry as Ben and Annie
McEvoy as Betty]
(l-r) Director Brian Zoldessy, Neil Thackaberry as Ben and Annie McEvoy as
Betty
Actors’ Summit Theater (Used With Their Permission)

Actors’ Summit <http://www.actorssummit.org/>’s production of
Chapatti, by Christian
O’Reilly <http://www.irishplayography.com/person.aspx?personid=2947> is a
study of contrasts. Dan lives a life of darkness. His small rented bungalow
is dark with heavy curtains drawn much like he has covered his soul from
the small joys that dance just outside his existence. His only companion
and “speak-mate” is a small mongrel terrier named Chapatti that he found as
a stray when doing the last of his construction work in London and fed him
part of his Indian cuisine lunch, thus the name for the dog and the play.

“Chap,” as Dan calls him, is the only thing keeping the sad retiree from
making his “final journey.” When more or less bum rushed from the vet’s
office after Chap is found “well enough for his age,” Dan decides to end it
all. It was at the vet that Dan could interact with other pet owners and
keep his connection with humanity.

....The other part of this complicated equation is Betty. She is around
Dan’s age and widowed from a loveless marriage. In spite of that (and the
nineteen cats plus a fresh box of kittens) Betty is a life of mirth and
light. She spends her days caring for an elderly woman, Peggy, who owns a
sixteen year old cat, Prudence. Between the Betty and Prudence they are the
only reason the old woman gets out of bed each day.

The two love starved souls (Dan and Betty) meet by accident when Dan plows
into Betty while leaving the Vet’s Office for the last time causing Betty
to drop a box of kittens. He is drawn by her lovely laugh and sparkling
demeanor. They meet again when Dan involuntarily gets involved in finding
the owner of a dead cat....

....Neil Thackaberry* plays Dan with aplomb. He keeps the accent under
control so that it does not become a distraction. He successfully navigates
the choppy waters of a sad man who suddenly rediscovers glimpse of
happiness. Anne McEvoy as Betty delights as the Yang side of the production
to Dan’s Ying. Her laugh is infectious as are her mannerisms. The two work
well together as they discover each other over the course of the play.

The set consists of two chairs, a small table, a clothes rack with small
table and a rolling tea cart. The rest of the “props” (including the
kittens and dog) are conjured up for our imaginations to see.

Shooting From The Lip (An Opinion):... charming at its core and extremely
well acted...... It is the happy/sad play that will have you thinking about
a lot of issues.

“Chapatti” will be on stage at Actors’ Summit from Feb. 26 through March
13, 2016. Show Days and Times are Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 8
p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m.
Actors’ Summit serves up simple, charming ‘Chapatti’

   - REVIEWED BY BOB ABELMAN
   babelman at cjn.org

Place two chairs on a stage and put Anne McEvoy and Neil Thackaberry in
them and great theater is likely to result. And it does in Actors’ Summit’s
production of “Chapatti,” a new play by Irish playwright Christian O’Reilly.

This one-act two-hander has all the elements for which this theater and its
audience have a particular fondness: Romance, good writing, simple
production values, and the founding artistic director walking the
boards......

The play examines the evolution of a November romance between two very
lonely, very likable people who happen to live just around the block from
one another. Dan, whose beloved mutt lends his name to the title of this
play......... Betty, a self-confessed cat lady, lived through a loveless
marriage and has given up hope of ever loving or being loved by anything on
two legs.

The writing is simple, charming ..........but its presentation is
deceptively and enjoyably sophisticated. While the two neighbors are
strangers, they speak in direct-address to the audience and narrate their
sorry, unassuming lives. This turns into self-reflective monologues when
the two discover each other and then evolves into witty dialogue once they
connect and a relationship takes hold.

The stage is bare save for two chairs and a coat rack between them that is
used alternately by Dan and Betty in their respective working-class homes
in Dublin. The simple set is surrounded by blackness which, while
uninspiring artistically, serves to focus all our attention on the two
actors and their heartfelt and empathetic performances.

Mcevoy’s Betty is a warm and sensitive soul, and ..Thackaberry... brilliant
handling of the more emotional moments in the play.........Director Brian
Zoldessy does well to stay out of the way of these seasoned performers
while making sure that their talents and those of the playwright are front
and center.

-- 
*MaryJo Alexander*
*Artistic Director*
*Actors' Summit Theater*
*Greystone Hall---6th floor*
*103 S. High St*
*Akron Oh 44308 *
*330-374-7568*
*www.actorssummit.org <http://www.actorssummit.org/>*
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