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<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; TEXT-ALIGN: center"
align=center><B style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'">No perfect 10 but
<EM>Festival</EM> entertains<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns =
"urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p></o:p></SPAN></B></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; TEXT-ALIGN: center"
align=center><B style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></B></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; TEXT-ALIGN: center"
align=center><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; COLOR: #1f497d; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'">Bob
Abelman<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; TEXT-ALIGN: center"
align=center><I style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; COLOR: #1f497d; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'">News-Herald,
Chagrin Valley Times, Solon Times, Geauga Times
Courier<o:p></o:p></SPAN></I></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; TEXT-ALIGN: center"
align=center><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; COLOR: #1f497d; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'">Member,
International Association of Theatre Critics <o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; TEXT-ALIGN: center"
align=center><I style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></I></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; TEXT-ALIGN: center"
align=center><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; COLOR: #1f497d; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'">This
review appeared in the <I style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal">News-Herald
</I>7/17/09</SPAN><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><o:p><FONT face=Calibri> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'">Watching one-act
plays is like dining exclusively on hors d'oeuvres.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>When they are good, they only whet the
appetite for something more.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>When
they are bad, it is tempting to spit into a napkin and move on to something
else.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN><o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'">Currently on stage at
the Chagrin Valley Little Theater’s intimate </SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">River
Street Playhouse is</SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"> a panoply of
theatrical canapés entitled <I style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal">The 10-10
Festival</I>—10 original, 10-minute one-act plays.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>This is the CVLT’s first attempt at such
an endeavor.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Expect some
expectoration, but this collection of largely homegrown tales makes for an
entertaining evening.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</SPAN><o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'">The thing about
10-minute one-act plays is that they are really one-scene plays.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>As such, their quality is hard to
gauge.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>In a mere 10 minutes of
theater, a really good play is capable of carrying mediocre performances and
really good performances are capable of getting lost in a mediocre play.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN><o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'">When a great play
gets paired with great performances, however, magic happens.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Such is the case with “Girl Story,” a
comedy by Cleveland Heights native Jonathan Wilhelm.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Wilhelm is one of the more accomplished
playwrights represented in <I style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal">The 10-10
Festival</I>, and it shows.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'">In “Girl Story,”
</SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">two
buddies engage in disclosure about their imperfect marriages over beer, a brawl
and a ballgame.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>The writing is
superb—crisp and caustic—and <SPAN style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic">direction
by </SPAN></SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">Don
Knepper enhances the action.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Actors
</SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">David
Malinowski and Mark DePompei, as the buddies, are brilliant and flat-out
hilarious.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">In
fact, both gentlemen deliver the goods in every one of their performances.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Malinowski and a very gifted Natalie
Dolezal are wonderful in Mansfield native Domenick Danza’s “When You Lose a
Friend,” a clever piece about a man and his over-dependency on his very personal
computer.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">DePompei
is paired with Noah Budin and Lisa Tarr in George Freek’s takeoff of the play
“Waiting for Godot.”<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Despite
DePompei’s fine performance, “After Godot” is rather slow and awkward, due in
part to co-director </SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">Yvonne
Pilarczyk’s inert staging and uninspired </SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">performances
by Budin and Tarr.</SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">
</SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">Interestingly,
Tarr delivers a beautifully toned-down, very touching performance as a waitress
in Stanley Toledo’s plodding “The Bachelor,” where she encounters a teenager who
tries to grow up too soon, played with charm by Ted Cogan.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Budin is absolutely superb in Parma
native John Busser’s “Dr. Wu Has Been Eliminated,” a burlesque comic book comedy
sketch.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>It also features the
playwright as a moronic assassin who is a partner of the equally moronic
Budin.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">As
an actor, Busser is excellent and rises above the material in both </SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">Noell
Wolfgram Evans' “Afterparty,” in which he and Corinne Halberg break up after a
friend’s baby shower, and Chagrin Falls resident Rollin DeVere's “<SPAN
style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic">On Wings of Song,” a silly little SNL skit
about the love life of bugs.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-style: italic"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">Beachwood
native Robert Fortlage’s “<SPAN style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic">A Walk in
the Park”<I> </I>is amiable but goes nowhere, even though it features the very
talented Don Edelman and Wini Kovacik as an </SPAN>older couple pondering the
intricacies of their long-term relationship.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Neither actor excels here, but Edelman
is a delight as a would-be gentleman caller in <SPAN
style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic">Wilhelm’s heartwarming “Let Me Tell You
Something.” <SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Kovacik delivers
a fine one-woman performance in Susan Apker’s touching but mundane “Two for
Tea.” <SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN></SPAN><o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><I
style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'">The 10-10
Festival</SPAN></I><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"> </SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">is
not dinner theater, but it does offer a variety of bite-sized
entertainment.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Individual tastes
vary, but there is bound to be something for everyone in this </SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'">sm</SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">orgasbord
of one-act plays.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">The
10-10 Festival<I><SPAN style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold"> continues through
July 25 </SPAN></I></SPAN><I style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'">at the Chagrin Valley
Little Theatre’s </SPAN></I><I style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">River
Street Playhouse, 56 River Street (adjacent to the main CVLT
building)</SPAN></I><I style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'">, Chagrin Falls.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>For tickets, which are $8, call
440-247-8955 or visit<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN><A
href=""><FONT
color=#000066>www.cvlt.org</FONT></A>.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></I></P></FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>