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style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: #333333; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">Fine
Arts Association’s ‘One-Acts’ hit the spot<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns =
"urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p></o:p></SPAN></B></P>
<P
style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; BACKGROUND: white"
class=MsoNormal align=center><B style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: #333333; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><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">News-Herald
</I></SPAN><SPAN
style="LINE-HEIGHT: 115%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">4/8/11</SPAN><SPAN
style="LINE-HEIGHT: 115%; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P
style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; BACKGROUND: white"
class=MsoNormal align=center><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: #333333; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">Watching a collection
of one-act plays can be a lot like chowing down exclusively on hors d'oeuvres—a
tasty but hardly satisfying experience. <SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Not so with the 15<SUP>th</SUP> annual
one-act festival at Willoughby’s Fine Arts Association, titled <I
style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal">Modern Twist</I>.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>This panoply of dramatic canapés makes
for a filling and gratifying evening’s entertainment.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; tab-stops: 156.0pt"
class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><SPAN
style="mso-tab-count: 1">
</SPAN><o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">Director and festival
founder Ann Hedger selected lesser known but intriguing works from five renowned
20<SUP>th</SUP> century playwrights who represent the more mainstream theatrical
food groups.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Each play is
efficiently staged by Hedger, nicely appointed by scenic designer Paul Gatzke,
and marvelously performed.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: #333333; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-style: italic">The
evening begins with <I>A Matter of Husbands</I>, a two-hander written by Ferenc
Molnar in 1923.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>It is a
</SPAN><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">comedy
of manners that finds an earnest young wife in the drawing room of the glamorous
actress she suspects is having an affair with her husband.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>True to formula, the confrontation is
casual, the conflict lacks casualties and the scenario plays out in predictable
fashion.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">What makes this play
so captivating is that the unfazed diva’s plausible denial is a performance
piece so richly layered with reverse psychology and female cunning that the wife
finds herself apologizing for her foolishness as she exits.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>What makes this play so engaging is
Jordan Renee Malin and Nancy Shimonek Brooks.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>These are two superb actors who listen
and respond with such fluidity that they complete each other’s thoughts while
having the discipline not to complete each other’s sentences.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN><o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><o:p><FONT
size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><FONT size=3><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic">This
is followed by <I>27 Wagons Full of Cotton</I>, penned by Tennessee Williams in
</SPAN><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'">1946.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>As with so many of Williams’ works (<I
style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal">A</I></SPAN><I
style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN" lang=EN>
Streetcar Named Desire</SPAN></I><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN" lang=EN> comes
to mind)</SPAN><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'">, this
Mississippi Delta drama depicts a </SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN" lang=EN>brutal
coupling between a delicate and irresistibly sensual young thing and her
insensitive counterpart.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Here,
</SPAN><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'">Jake is an abusive,
down-on-his-luck cotton gin owner who burns down a rival’s business.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>His rival, Silva, seeks revenge by
ravaging Jake's wife, Flora.<SPAN style="COLOR: #333333"><SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN><o:p></o:p></SPAN></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: #333333"><o:p><FONT
size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><FONT size=3><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: #333333">Robert McCoy and Bob
Kilpatrick are riveting as the dangerous men lured by Flora’s pheromones.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>They mark their territory and define
their characters’ base nature by simply walking onto the stage, adding texture
and tension as the play progresses.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</SPAN>Angela Savochka is convincingly naïve and fragile, but she does not
secrete sultriness.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>As such, her
Flora comes across as a sympathetic victim of what Jake and Silva bring to the
dance rather than the knowing participant Williams intended.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN></SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN"
lang=EN><o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN"
lang=EN><o:p><FONT size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; BACKGROUND: white"
class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: #333333; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-style: italic">Although
playwright George Kaufman wrote for the Marx Brothers in the 1920s and 1930s,
his drawing room comedy <I>The Still Alarm</I> calls to mind Laurel and
Hardy.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN></SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: #333333; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">Set
in the bedroom of a hotel, which is on fire, two well mannered Englishmen
casually conduct business as usual as flames rise by the minute.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN><o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; BACKGROUND: white"
class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: #333333; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; BACKGROUND: white"
class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: #333333; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">Oblivious
is how Stan Laurel responded to Oliver Hardy’s bluster, and oblivious is how the
delightful Mark DePompei and Carl Simoncic react to the crisis at hand<SPAN
style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic">.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN></SPAN>Don Knepper, as the bellboy, and
Brendan Sandham and David Malinowski, as the firemen, work a bit too hard for
the laughs that master craftsman Kaufman delivers on a platter.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>This silly one-act is a welcome relief
from the tension that precedes it and the powerful drama that follows.
<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; BACKGROUND: white"
class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: #333333; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; BACKGROUND: white"
class=MsoNormal><I><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">Hello,
Out There</SPAN></I><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-style: italic">
was written by William Saroyan in 1942.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</SPAN></SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">An
itinerant gambler is arrested for rape and jailed in a small Texas town. The
only one who hears his plea of innocence and call for justice is a young, lonely
girl who cooks and cleans for the prisoners.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; BACKGROUND: white"
class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; BACKGROUND: white"
class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">The
plot is simple and the action is limited, but the dialogue is poignant and the
performances by <SPAN style="COLOR: #333333">David Malinowski and Mary Britta
Shirring are brilliant. Their desperation and desires are palpable.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>In a marvelous, existential moment at
the end of the play, the girl replaces the gambler in </SPAN></SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">the cell and calls
out the same despairing words he cried at its beginning: "Hello out
there."<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; BACKGROUND: white"
class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; BACKGROUND: white"
class=MsoNormal><I><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: #333333; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">Pullman
Car Hiawatha</SPAN></I><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: #333333; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-style: italic">
by Thornton Wilder </SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">takes us on a
metaphorical journey by train through the American landscape</SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: #333333; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-style: italic">
of the 1930s and is the most ambitious and abstract effort of the evening.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>The play </SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">introduces techniques
Wilder would use in future plays (<I style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal">Our
Town</I>, for instance): a virtually bare stage; the suspension of conventional
time; the planes of life and death; and a sensible, omnipresent stage manager to
help progress the plot.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</SPAN><o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; BACKGROUND: white"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><o:p><FONT
size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; BACKGROUND: white"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><FONT size=3>Brendan Sandham’s
portrayal of the down-to-earth narrator is a bit too reminiscent of a
fast-talking pitchman, but he nicely facilitates the storytelling in this
piece.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>The play is teeming with
warmth and humanity, which flows from the stage thanks to a very talented
ensemble cast.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Maria R.
Fitzgerald’s performance as the Insane Woman is absolutely captivating.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Look for Mark DePompei in the shadows
after his character’s wife passes away in transit. <SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN><BR><BR>Unlike many other evenings of
one-act plays, this one is something to feast on. In fact, it leaves you hungry
for more. <o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; BACKGROUND: white"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><o:p><FONT
size=3> </FONT></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'">Modern
Twist: 15<SUP>th</SUP> Annual One-Act Festival<SPAN
style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic">
</SPAN></SPAN></I><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-style: italic">runs
through April 16 at the</SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"> Fine Arts
Association’s Corning Auditorium, 38660 Mentor Avenue, Willoughby.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>For information or tickets, which are
$20 to $22, call 440-951-7500 or visit<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</SPAN><A href=""><FONT
color=#773377>www.fineartsassociation.org</FONT></A></SPAN><I
style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN"
lang=EN>.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></I></P></FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>