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<P style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"
class=MsoNormal align=center><B><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">CPT’s
’13 Most American Dreams’ should let sleeping dogs lie<?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"
class=MsoNormal align=center><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; 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><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,<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; LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"
class=MsoNormal align=center><SPAN
style="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="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">on
5/25/12</SPAN><SPAN style="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><B><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><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'; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold">There
is a wonderful </SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: #222222; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">Gary
Larson <SPAN style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold">Far Side cartoon about what a
dog hears. Her master says “OK Ginger, I’ve had it.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN></SPAN>You stay out of that
garbage!<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Understand?” <SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>But what the dog hears is “Blah blah
Ginger blah blah blah.”<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: #222222; 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: #222222; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">For
many, that pretty much captures what it’s like when someone discloses about
their dreams.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Though spoken with
unbridled passion and shared in earnest, their disjointed recollections and
futile effort to make sense out of sleep-induced nonsense fall on the ear as if
spoken in an undecipherable tongue.<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'; COLOR: #222222; 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: #222222; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">Therein
lays the problem with </SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">“<SPAN
style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic">13 Most American Dreams</SPAN>,” a one-act
piece of devised theater conceived and directed by <SPAN
style="COLOR: #000010">Pandora Robertson for </SPAN>Cleveland Public
Theatre<SPAN style="COLOR: #000010">.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</SPAN><o:p></o:p></SPAN></SPAN></P>
<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: #000010; 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'; COLOR: #000010; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">For
60 minutes, cast members Amy Compton, Benjamin Gregg, Caitlin Lewins, Anne
McEvoy, and Darius Stubbs share their dreams while in the midst of dreaming
them.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>They relive the stuff of
which night visions are made—disorienting encounters with loved ones, incoherent
philosophical reflections, and haunting anxieties—and weave them together to
form a surreal <SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">s</SPAN>lice of
stream-of-subconscious REM storytelling.<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'; COLOR: #000010; 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'; COLOR: #000010; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">Their
collective dreamscape is wonderfully enhanced by eerie superimposed imagery by
Eunsu Kang, dramatic lighting and music by Joe Burke and Michael Bratt, and
minimalist post-apocalyptic set design and costuming by Ian Petroni and Inda
Blatch-Geib.<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: #000010; 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'; COLOR: #000010; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">Like
the dreams they portray, the performances are both confounding and initially
intriguing. <SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Each member of the
ensemble is superb, bringing a unique and wonderful physicality and creativity
to their work. <SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>In the very intimate
confines of CPT’s Storefront Studio, false moments and directorial missteps have
nowhere to hide, and there are none to be found in 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'; COLOR: #000010; 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'; COLOR: #000010; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">What
we are seeing on stage is a depiction of the actual, very private dreams of the
cast and director, which have been devised, detailed and dramatized from
round-table discussions and improvisational reenactments in preparation for this
performance.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>They are not the
common nightmares that everyone can relate to (such as being naked in front of a
classroom) or universal Freudian fantasies (such as one’s mother being naked in
front of a classroom) or other pedestrian musings that infiltrate our
sleep.<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'; COLOR: #000010; 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'; mso-bidi-font-style: italic">The
theater playbill explains that both the show’s title and approach are inspired
by Andy Warhol, whose 1965 film “13 Most Beautiful Boys” featured young men
revealing their inner selves by simply posing in front of the camera.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Both the film and the play, it is
argued, create a personal portrait.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</SPAN>Yet Warhol’s </SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: #333333; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">16 mm
mug shots exuded the raw sexuality of his subjects, while this play inexplicably
ignores that most prevalent and dynamic of dream themes.<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"><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">Consequently,
only f</SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: #000010; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">leeting
moments in this play strike a familiar cord with the audience.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>For the most part, </SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">“<SPAN
style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic">13 Most American Dreams</SPAN>” is an
evening of “<SPAN style="COLOR: #000010">b</SPAN></SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: #222222; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">lah
blah Ginger.”<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>It is very well done,
but undecipherable nonetheless.<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: #000010; 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'; COLOR: #000010; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">Good
t</SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold">heater
that merely reflects dream experience rather than explores or explains it is an
interesting journey until the novelty wears off.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>It could be argued that bad theater that
lulls its audience to sleep serves the same purpose and is, in fact,<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>more utilitarian.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>We tend to find our own dreams far more
fascinating than we find others’.<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'; mso-bidi-font-style: italic"><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'">“<SPAN
style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic">13 Most American
Dreams</SPAN>”</SPAN></I><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">
</SPAN><I style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">continues through
June 2 at Cleveland Public Theatre’s Storefront Studio, 6415 Detroit Avenue
</SPAN></I><I style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">in
Cleveland’s Gordon Square Arts District.</SPAN></I><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">
</SPAN><I style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>For tickets, which range from $10 to $25,
call 216-631-2727</SPAN></I><I style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><FONT face=Calibri> </FONT></SPAN></I><I
style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">or visit <A
href=""><FONT color=#0000ff>www.cptonline.org</FONT></A><B>.</B></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'"><o:p></o:p></SPAN></I></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'; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold"><o:p><FONT
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