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<P style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal
align=center><B style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><FONT
size=3>Dobama offers intriguing Faust-on-a-bender dramady<?xml:namespace prefix
= o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office"
/><o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></B></P>
<P style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal
align=center><B style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p><FONT
size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></B></P>
<P style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal
align=center><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: #1f497d"><FONT size=3>Bob
Abelman<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal
align=center><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: #1f497d"><o:p><FONT
size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; 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=3>News-Herald, Chagrin Valley Times, Solon
Times,<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></I></P>
<P style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; 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=3>The
Morning Journal, Geauga Times Courier<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></I></P>
<P style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal
align=center><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: #1f497d"><FONT size=3>Member,
American Theatre Critics Association <o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal
align=center><I style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><o:p><FONT
size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></I></P>
<P style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal
align=center><FONT size=3><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: #1f497d">This review will
appear in the <I style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal">News-Herald
</I></SPAN><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'">on
12/9/11<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal
align=center><B style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p><FONT
size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></B></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><B
style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p><FONT
size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></B></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'">If Faust had a taste for the drink
he’d be right at home with the other tragic souls that congregate in Conor
McPherson’s Tony award-winning </SPAN><I
style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">The
Seafarer</SPAN></I><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'">, currently
on stage at Dobama Theatre. <o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><o:p><FONT
size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3><I
style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">The
Seafarer</SPAN></I><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"> takes place
in the dilapidated Dublin City home of two aging brothers, one blind and the
other recently returned.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN><SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>It’s Christmas Eve and after preparing
for an all-night liquor-saturated game of poker with their odd menagerie of
friends, a mysterious stranger arrives to reclaim what he was promised 25 years
ago.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN><o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><o:p><FONT
size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: black; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-style: italic">As
is the Irish playwright’s inclination (see last week’s review of Ensemble
Theatre’s <I>St. Nicholas</I>), this play introduces us to very likable but
seriously damaged men who, awash in sloppy, alcohol-induced unselfconsciousness,
spend the evening licking their self-inflicted physical and emotional wounds.
<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>It also has a touch of the
</SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: black; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">supernatural
to keep things interesting.<SPAN
style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic"><o:p></o:p></SPAN></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: black; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-style: italic"><o:p><FONT
size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: black; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-style: italic"><FONT
size=3>Above all else, this play offers an intriguing character study in human
frailty.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Each of this play’s
occupants—even the mysterious stranger—has his own colorful pathology, which
becomes particularly evident under the influence of alcohol.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Each of the play’s talented performers
chomps at the bit to embellish McPherson’s poignant and playful writing and give
his character’s symptoms life and lungs.<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: black; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-style: italic"><o:p><FONT
size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: black; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-style: italic"><FONT
size=3>Joel Hammer is absolutely wonderful as Sharky, the younger brother who is
trying to forget his past and forge a sober future. <SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>He is, of course, unsuccessful at both
and wears his pain and frustration with quiet fortitude despite his nature to
lash out in anger.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>His piercing
eyes, pulsing blood pressure, and brut physicality are
magnetic.<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: black; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-style: italic"><o:p><FONT
size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: black; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-style: italic"><FONT
size=3>As his older brother Richard, Bernard Canepari is delightful.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Thoroughly incapacitated—and
blind—Canepari’s Richard is joyously cantankerous and serves as the perfect
springboard for McPherson’s clever one-liners and sight gags. This includes the
dart board and the randomly thrown darts throughout the living room, which is
nicely designed by Mark Jenks.<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: black; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-style: italic"><o:p><FONT
size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: black; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-style: italic"><FONT
size=3>Larry Nehring, Tom Woodward, and Charles Kartali round out the cast and
are equally brilliant.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Nehring’s
charming everyman depiction of Ivan—that is, if every man had 80 proof Jameson
coursing through his veins—is a pleasure to watch, particularly upon the
realization that he has lost his glasses, his car, and his train of
thought.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Ivan, as well as
Woodward’s built-for-comic-relief Nicky and Katali’s silently menacing
mysterious stranger, Mr. Lockhart, are fully realized, magnificently textured
creations. There is not a moment in this production when the actors’ intensity
or integrity takes a breather. <o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: black; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-style: italic"><o:p><FONT
size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: black; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-style: italic"><FONT
size=3>The only thing lacking in this production is the hilarity, as promised in
the press release and the program, and the pacing that would keep us from
noticing its absence.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</SPAN><o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: black; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-style: italic"><o:p><FONT
size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: black; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-style: italic"><FONT
size=3>Much of the play’s humor resides in its rapid, brogue-infused
wordplay.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Director Scott Miller has
an astute eye for detail and everything in this play unfolds with great intent
and purpose but, on opening weekend, there was no established rhythm in the
dialogue.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Too often the exchanges
between characters, including the jumping on lines written into the script,
seemed choreographed rather than organic, which slowed down play’s pace and the
comic timing of the delivery.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</SPAN>Consequently, the play seemed to drag.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>This is certainly likely to improve with
time, given the pedigrees of the players.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN><o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: black; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-style: italic"><o:p><FONT
size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3><I
style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">The
Seafarer</SPAN></I><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: black; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-style: italic">
makes for an odd selection for the traditional holiday slot, although it does
offer a land of </SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: black; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">misfit
toys of sorts and red noses due to Christmas cheer are in no short supply.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>To some extent, the hope for redemption
can be found in the storyline, but mostly this is a fine piece of theater very
nicely performed.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</SPAN><o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: black; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p><FONT
size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3><I
style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">The
Seafarer</SPAN></I><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: black; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">
is a gift for avid theater goers, courtesy of Dobama
Theatre.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: black; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p><FONT
size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3><I
style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">The
Seafarer</SPAN></I><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">
</SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-style: italic">c</SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'">ontinues through December 18 at the
Dobama Theatre, 2340 Lee Road, Cleveland Heights.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>For tickets, which range from $10 to
$26, call 216-932-3396 or visit <A href=""><FONT
color=#0000ff>www.dobama.org</FONT></A><I
style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal">.<o:p></o:p></I></SPAN></FONT></P></FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>