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<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; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">CMA’s
‘Endgame’ offers absurdist check and mate<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns =
"urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p></o:p></SPAN></B></P>
<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" 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="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><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: #1f497d; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><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,<o:p></o:p></SPAN></I></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">The
Morning Journal, 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,
American Theatre Critics Association <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 will appear 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">5/27/11</SPAN><SPAN
style="LINE-HEIGHT: 115%; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<H2 style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-WEIGHT: normal; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></H2>
<H2 style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-WEIGHT: normal; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold">Samuel
Beckett’s <I style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal">Endgame</I>, currently a
Cleveland Museum of Art production performed at the Cleveland Play House, is
about nothingness.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></H2>
<H2 style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-WEIGHT: normal; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></H2>
<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">This is not to be
confused with the nothing at the center of TV’s sitcom<B
style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"> </B><I
style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal">Seinfeld</I>. <SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>The nothingness in Beckett’s 90 minute,
one act work pertains to the meaningless of existence or, rather, Man’s
inability to find real meaning in his existence.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>True to Theatre of the Absurd and the
existentialism that inspired it, Beckett paints a portrait of absolute
desolation, isolation and boredom—nothingness. <SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </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"><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; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">Written
during the nuclear-era cold war, <I
style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal">Endgame</I> takes place during the final
hours of the final days of earth, which has been decimated beyond recognition
for reasons unknown by forces unrecognized.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>As the title suggests, the fleeting
enterprise of existence has finally come to its fruition.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </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; 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; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">Game.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Set.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Match.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Who wins?<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Nobody.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>What do we have to show for it?
Nothing.<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; 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; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">The
play introduces us to the last stronghold of the living—a decaying fortress
whose four inhabitants have been stripped of any semblance of rationality or
decency.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>These holdouts of humanity
consist of a tyrannical blind man named Hamm who cannot stand, his shuffling
servant Clov who cannot sit, and the tyrant’s elderly parents who are kept in
separate trashcans. “Every man,” Hamm suggests, “his speciality.”<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </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; 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; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">The
futility of their lives, and ours, is best depicted in a series of maddening and
elliptical conversations between Hamm and Clov.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>For example: <SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Hamm: “Why do you stay with me?”<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Clov: “Why do you keep me?” <SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Hamm: “There’s no one else.”<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Clov: “There’s nowhere
else.”<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; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">And
later: Clov: “So, you all want me to leave you.” <SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Hamm: “Naturally.” <SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Clov: “Then I’ll leave you.”<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Hamm: “You can’t leave us.” Clov: “Then
I won’t leave you.”<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; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">Clearly,
this play is no walk in the park.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</SPAN>Beckett himself noted that this work is difficult and that it is useless
to try to find meaning or explanation anywhere in the
script.<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; 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; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">This
is sound advice worth taking.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>In
fact, being freed from finding logic where there is none and released from the
burden of piecing together prose in search of a plot that does not exist, we
have the luxury of simply sitting back to appreciate this superb, absurd CMA
production.<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; 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; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">Under
Massoud Saidpour’s purposeful direction and inside Mark Kobak’s grey, foreboding
doomsday set design and Michael Boll’s austere lighting, this cast of
experienced professionals does justice to Beckett’s play. In fact, they are
brilliant.<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; 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; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">While
Beckett’s writing is convoluted and often contrary, there is a subtle rhythm
required in its delivery.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Finely
honed comic timing is also necessary in order to extract the humor so well
concealed by all that is morose and elusive about this
play.<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; 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; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">George
Roth as Hamm has what Zero Mostel and, later, Robin Williams brought to their
respective productions of Beckett’s <I
style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal">Waiting for Godot</I>.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>He has an immense musicality that makes
Beckett’s dialogue sound lyrical and comic timing that mines the script for each
and every nugget.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Roth’s
performance is rich and riveting, and his Hamm drives the insanity that drives
this play. <SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN><SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN><SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </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; 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; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">Terence
Cranendock, as Clov, is equally spellbinding.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>As his character drags himself about the
stage doing Hamm’s bidding, Cranendock’s acting choices are carefully
orchestrated affairs.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Every
decision by Clov seems to be laden with indecision; every action is a physically
strenuous and emotionally exhausting enterprise.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Cranendock is wonderful to watch and his
exchanges with Roth make for some truly great theater
moments.<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; 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; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">Dorothy
Silver and Mark Seven play Hamm’s canned parents.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Their expressive faces popping out from
beneath the lids of their trashcans create grotesque death-masks that add much
to the absurdity of this play.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</SPAN>And, like Roth and Cranendock, their delivery and comic timing are
impeccable.<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; 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; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">Saidpour
chose to have this play performed behind a transparent scrim. <SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Rustic black and white opening and
closing credits are projected, which is odd until one reads the program’s
Director’s Notes about how the physical comedy in this play can be seen as
“Chaplinesque.” If the scrim is an attempt to push this perception of the play’s
filmic qualities, it misses its mark.<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; 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; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">However,
the scrim also acts like the </SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">gauze
cheesecloth film directors of yore placed over the camera lens to wash out the
wrinkles of their aging actresses.</SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>It gives a misty, other-worldly glow to
the performers, which adds an interesting quality to this production.
<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; 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; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">Theatre
of the Absurd can be a depressing and, in the hands of lesser talents,
exhausting experience.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>This CMA
production of <I style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal">Endgame</I> is check and
mate by comparison. This is Beckett at its best.</SPAN></P>
<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" 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" 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'">Endgame</SPAN></I><I
style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">
</SPAN></I><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">continues
through June 11 in The Cleveland Play House’s Brooks Theatre.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>For tickets, which are $29, call
</SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">216-421-7350 or visit
<A href=""><FONT color=#0000ff>www.<SPAN
style="mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">clevelandart.org</SPAN></FONT></A></SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P></FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>