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<P style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" align=center><B
style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><FONT size=3>Theater Ninjas offers
riveting, avant-garde one-act play<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns =
"urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></B></P>
<P style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"
class=MsoNormal align=center><B style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></B></P>
<P style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"
class=MsoNormal align=center><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: #1f497d; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">Bob
Abelman<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"
class=MsoNormal align=center><I style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: #1f497d; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">News-Herald,
Chagrin Valley Times, Solon Times, Geauga Times
Courier<o:p></o:p></SPAN></I></P>
<P style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"
class=MsoNormal align=center><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: #1f497d; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">Member,
International Association of Theatre Critics <o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"
class=MsoNormal align=center><I style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></I></P>
<P style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0in 0in 10pt" class=MsoNormal
align=center><SPAN
style="LINE-HEIGHT: 115%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: #1f497d; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">This
review appeared in the <I style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal">Times </I>papers<I
style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"> </I>2/4/10</SPAN><SPAN
style="LINE-HEIGHT: 115%; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P><FONT size=3><I style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: black">Anna Bella Eema,
</SPAN></I><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: black">currently on stage at
the Cleveland Public Theater </SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'">Storefront Studio, <SPAN
style="COLOR: black">is a fractured fairy
tale.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: black"><FONT size=3>At
its core is the simple story of a reclusive mother and her 10-year-old daughter,
who occupy the last mobile home in a trailer park earmarked for
destruction.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>They are on the verge
of eviction and, through a series of soliloquies, offer insight into their lives
and their perception of the world that awaits them outside the protective
confines of their run-down domain.<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: black"><FONT
size=3>What makes this one-act play by Lisa D’Amour so intriguing is that its
characters are broken.<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: black"><FONT
size=3>They are so socially isolated, psychologically damaged and thoroughly
disoriented that memory merges with fantasy, experience is inseparable from
imagination, and linear thinking becomes discombobulated.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>What is essentially a simple story shape
shifts into an epic fairy tale—an odd odyssey of sorts—imbued with mysticism,
talk of monsters and the colorful contours of
madness.<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P
style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto"
class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">Ms.
D’Amour’s words are poetic and an absolute pleasure to listen to, even though
the message they convey is disturbing.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</SPAN>Words flow eerily into song and back again, accompanied by assorted
percussion and woodwind sounds the actors manufacture from trailer park
trash.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>The writing is so rich,
rhythmic and textured that it is tempting to close your eyes and just listen to
the 90 minute performance.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P
style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto"
class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">Doing
so would obscure director Jeremy Paul’s creative staging, which wonderfully
facilitates the storytelling.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>As
recommended by the playwright, actors are largely confined to their own chairs
throughout the production, which establishes just how deeply rooted their
characters are to this one location.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</SPAN>Most of the dialogue is delivered in isolated corners of scenic designer
Curtis Young’s intimate, wall-less set.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</SPAN>Yet, Mr. Paul adds enough movement and interaction to make this play
visually compelling and to take full advantage of the physicality of a very
talented cast without compromising the playwright’s intent.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN><o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P
style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto"
class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">Elizabeth
Wood is electrifying as One/Irene, the 25-year-old mother of Anna Bella.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>She introduces herself as a</SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"> “thick woman,” which
describes both her looming physical appearance and her debilitating
pathology.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Ms. Wood is a force to
be reckoned with on stage, an expressive and powerful presence even when
sitting.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>She captures all that is
intelligent and derailed about her complex character.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN><o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P
style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto"
class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">An adult Faye Hargate
plays Irene’s unfortunate offspring, Two/Anna Bella.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Clearly the product of her biology and
upbringing, Anna Bella is at once innocent and mature beyond her years.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Ms. Hargate handles both to perfection,
creating a vivid portrayal of an energetic 10-year-old child woefully lost in
her Mother’s delusional undercurrent but whose intelligence and creativity
render her salvageable.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P
style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto"
class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">Both performers are
at their best during Anna Bella’s menstrual-induced h</SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">allucination.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Here, Ms. Hargate’s dark yet
delightfully effervescent Anna Bella goes on a journey that takes her nowhere,
where she encounters an assortment of animal-spirit guides who teach her
survival skills for the outside world, all played magnificently by Ms. Wood.
</SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P><FONT size=3><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: black">Cassie Neumann portrays
Three/Anna Bella Eema, a mud doll made by Anna Bella that serves as her best
friend and alter ego, and who simultaneously coddles and torments her
mother.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Ms. Neumann is wonderfully
haunting as the staring golem.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>She
also plays an assortment of outside intruders, including a clueless social
worker, a police officer and a </SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'">benevolent <SPAN
style="COLOR: black">Frankenstein, and does so well.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN><o:p></o:p></SPAN></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P
style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto"
class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">Promoted
as a dark comedy, this collaborative Cleveland Public Theatre and Theater Ninja
production of </SPAN><I style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">Anna
Bella Eema</SPAN></I><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"> is not
</SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">as
humorous as advertised.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>It is,
however, an </SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">intriguing,
thought-provoking and thoughtfully presented piece of </SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">avant-garde
</SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">drama
that should not be missed.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><I
style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">Anna
Bella Eema</SPAN></I><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">
continues through February 13 (Mondays,<SPAN style="COLOR: black"> Thursdays,
Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30pm, Sunday at 3:00pm) </SPAN>at the CPT Storefront
Studio in Cleveland.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>For tickets,
which range from $10 to $21, call </SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">216-631-2727 or visit
</SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><A
href=""><SPAN style="COLOR: blue">www.cptonline.org</SPAN></A>.</SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><o:p></o:p></SPAN></P></FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>