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style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: #464646; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><FONT
size=3>Rapture in Aisle 1 at Dobama’s ‘A Bright New Boise’<?xml:namespace prefix
= o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office"
/><o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></B></P>
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align=center><B style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><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><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, 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,
International Association of Theatre Critics <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
11/2/12</SPAN></FONT></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; BACKGROUND: white; tab-stops: 156.0pt"
class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: #464646; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><FONT
size=3><SPAN
style="mso-tab-count: 1">
</SPAN><o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; BACKGROUND: white" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: #464646; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p><FONT
size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; BACKGROUND: white" class=MsoNormal><FONT
size=3><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: #464646; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">Seeing
Dobama Theatre’s r</SPAN><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'">egional
premiere </SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: #464646; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">production
of Samuel D. Hunter’s “A Bright New Boise” is like stepping into
</SPAN><SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: #222222">Edward Hopper's iconic
1942 painting, “Nighthawks.” </SPAN><SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN><o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; BACKGROUND: white" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: #222222; FONT-WEIGHT: normal; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold"><o:p><FONT
size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; BACKGROUND: white" class=MsoNormal><FONT
size=3><SPAN>Replacing Hopper’s oil-based rendering of a late-night <SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: #222222">diner and its lonely
inhabitants as seen from a dark and </SPAN></SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'">desolate<SPAN class=st><SPAN
style="COLOR: #222222"> downtown street corner is Connie Hecker’s intriguing
construction of </SPAN></SPAN></SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: #464646; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">a
bleak break room in a big-box Idaho crafts store.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN><o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; BACKGROUND: white" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: #464646; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p><FONT
size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; BACKGROUND: white" class=MsoNormal><FONT
size=3><SPAN>The same dreary ordinariness that covers the canvas fills this
stage.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Flickering low-hung
fluorescent bulbs illuminate but shed no light on the assortment of lost souls
who occupy these spaces.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Both seem
to pulsate with numbing monotony, creating the impression that time
painstakingly passes one meaningless moment after another.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN><o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; BACKGROUND: white" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: #222222; FONT-WEIGHT: normal; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold"><o:p><FONT
size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; BACKGROUND: white" class=MsoNormal><FONT
size=3><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: #464646; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">On
the surface, “A Bright New Boise” appears to be telling a simple,
two-dimensional story as well. <SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Will, </SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: #333333; mso-bidi-font-style: italic">a
disgraced Evangelical, has fled his rural hometown for Boise.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>There he seeks employment in the
depressing Hobby Lobby craft store for $7.25 per hour so he can establish a
relationship with fellow employee Alex, an emotionally damaged teenager and the
son Will gave up for adoption as a baby. <SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN><o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; BACKGROUND: white" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: #222222; FONT-WEIGHT: normal; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold"><o:p><FONT
size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; BACKGROUND: white" class=MsoNormal><FONT
size=3><SPAN>As this play unfolds, it reveals the playwright’s aptitude for dark
comedy, his remarkable capacity to capture in words the intense desperation of
human suffering, and the many layers of complexity he hides just below its
surface.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Director Nathan Motta digs
deep and uncovers everything. </SPAN><EM><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: #222222; FONT-WEIGHT: normal; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold"><o:p></o:p></SPAN></EM></FONT></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; BACKGROUND: white" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: #222222; FONT-WEIGHT: normal; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold"><o:p><FONT
size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; BACKGROUND: white" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: #222222; FONT-WEIGHT: normal; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold"><FONT
size=3>We discover that all of the pathetic but very personable co-workers that
occupy this play are damaged goods who frantically cling onto the one thing that
gives their life meaning.<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; BACKGROUND: white" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: #222222; FONT-WEIGHT: normal; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold"><o:p><FONT
size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; BACKGROUND: white" class=MsoNormal><FONT
size=3><SPAN>Alex, given stunning dysfunction by Andrew Deike, uses music as a
salve for the deep wounds his abandonment has inflicted.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Anna, portrayed with endearing and
quirky charm by Kim Krane, is void of self-worth and constantly reads books
about women worse off than she is.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</SPAN>Kristy Kruz is hilarious as </SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: #464646; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">Pauline,
the socially inept and verbally inappropriate store supervisor whose life is her
work.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Brian Devers is wonderful as
Leroy, Alex’s protective half-brother whose aggressive impulses bear the weight
of his incredible insecurity.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; BACKGROUND: white" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: #464646; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p><FONT
size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; BACKGROUND: white" class=MsoNormal><SPAN><FONT
size=3>Will is played with paralyzing vulnerability by Tom Woodward, a
characteristic Woodward has effectively displayed in previous Dobama productions
but never with this degree of authenticity.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Will is a reluctant, unassuming Everyman
hero capable of healing and even rescuing the broken, plagued people around
him.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN><SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>By doing so, he could shed some of the
guilt he carries from the past indiscretions he is very hesitant to
discuss.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Standing in his way is the
one thing he clings onto for dear life: the apocalyptic death he has been
promised by his faith.<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; BACKGROUND: white" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: #222222; FONT-WEIGHT: normal; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold"><FONT
size=3><SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN><o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; BACKGROUND: white" class=MsoNormal><FONT
size=3><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: #464646; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">"A
Bright New Boise" is not easy. <SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Much
of it—perhaps too much—is left to the audience’s imagination, as is the case
with </SPAN><SPAN class=st><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: #222222">Hopper's
painting</SPAN></SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: #464646; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">.
<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>The play makes allusions to
religious fanaticism and the inertia of corporate culture, but never really
follows up. The play raises weighty existential questions but </SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: black">simply ends the way it
began—with a resounding “</SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'">Now, now, now” prayer for deliverance,
chanted by Will, in the Hobby Lobby parking lot amidst the sounds of highway
traffic.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Thy Will be done?<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Hard to
tell.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; BACKGROUND: white" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p><FONT
size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; BACKGROUND: white" class=MsoNormal><FONT
size=3><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">When
the dust clears, one thing is very apparent: the </SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'">superb acting and spot-on direction
carries this thought-provoking play and makes everything about it
engrossing.<SPAN
style="COLOR: #333333; mso-bidi-font-style: italic"><o:p></o:p></SPAN></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; BACKGROUND: white" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: #464646; 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'; mso-ansi-language: EN"
lang=EN>“A Bright New Boise”</SPAN></I><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN"
lang=EN> </SPAN><I><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'">c</SPAN></I><I
style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'">ontinues through November 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=#0076a3>www.dobama.org</FONT></A>.</SPAN></I><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: black; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; BACKGROUND: white" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: #464646; FONT-SIZE: 11pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P></FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>