<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN">
<HTML><HEAD>
<META content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1" http-equiv=Content-Type>
<META name=GENERATOR content="MSHTML 9.00.8112.16502">
<STYLE></STYLE>
</HEAD>
<BODY bgColor=#ffffff>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial>
<P style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; LINE-HEIGHT: 115%; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"
class=MsoNormal align=center><B><SPAN
style="mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-language: EN-US"
lang=EN><FONT size=3>convergence-continuum’s ‘True Story’ is a disarmingly
charming comedy <?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><SPAN style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN"
lang=EN><o:p><FONT size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal
align=center><SPAN style="COLOR: #1f497d; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial"><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="COLOR: #1f497d; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial"><FONT
size=3>News-Herald, Chagrin Valley Times, Solon Times, Geauga Times
Courier<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal
align=center><SPAN style="COLOR: #1f497d; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial"><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><SPAN style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial"><o:p><FONT
size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal
align=center><FONT size=3><SPAN
style="COLOR: #1f497d; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial">This review will appear in
the News-Herald</SPAN><SPAN style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial"> on 8/30/13<B
style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"><o:p></o:p></B></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; LINE-HEIGHT: 115%; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"
class=MsoNormal align=center><B style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"><SPAN
style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial"><o:p><FONT
size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></B></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial"><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="mso-bidi-font-style: italic">“This is a story about a guy, a
writer, and another guy, also a writer, and a dad (the first guy's dad), and a
play the first guy wrote, and the people in Hollywood who want to turn that play
into a movie, and what happens with the people in Hollywood, the first guy, the
second guy, the first guy's dad, and what they learn about themselves and the
world.” <SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN></SPAN><SPAN
style="mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold"
lang=EN><o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; BACKGROUND: white" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold"
lang=EN><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="mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold"
lang=EN>So begins </SPAN><SPAN style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial">Roberto
Aguirre-Sacasa’s</SPAN><SPAN
style="mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold">
<SPAN lang=EN>disarmingly charming “</SPAN></SPAN><SPAN
style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial">Based on a Totally True Story,” currently in
production by convergence-continuum in Tremont.<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="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial"><o:p><FONT
size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; BACKGROUND: white" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial"><FONT size=3>The guy is Ethan, a
self-absorbed and excessively unassuming playwright and writer of “The Flash”
comic books.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>His structured,
shallow and solitary existence in New York City gets thrown into disarray when
one of his plays gets optioned for a Hollywood horror film, he meets and falls
in love with Kevin, who is a novelist and writer for the “Village Voice,” and
his father announces that he is leaving his mother for another
woman.<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; BACKGROUND: white" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial"><o:p><FONT
size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; BACKGROUND: white" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial"><FONT size=3>More than just a synopsis of
the storyline, Ethan’s rambling opening monologue also tells us that “True
Story” is all about the storytelling.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</SPAN>It will be quirky. <SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>It will
be personal.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>And we soon discover
that Aguirre-Sacasa, who is himself a comic book writer, will employ comic book
structure, conventions and vernacular to drive his play.
<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; BACKGROUND: white" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial"><o:p><FONT
size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; BACKGROUND: white" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial"><FONT size=3>Starting with this opening
monologue, the playwright employs the same self-aware direct address found in
the running, written narrative in comic books.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN><o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; BACKGROUND: white" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial"><o:p><FONT
size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; BACKGROUND: white" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial"><FONT size=3>The play unfolds like a series
of comic book panels, where a short self-disclosure by Ethan abruptly segues
into a short phone conversation, which abruptly segues into a short scene
between characters, and so on.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</SPAN><o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; BACKGROUND: white" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial"><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="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial">Although the story covers two
years of Ethan’s life, the characters inform us that some scenes have been
compressed for time and alert us to the end of a flashback with </SPAN><SPAN
style="mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-language: EN-US"
lang=EN>“Meanwhile, back in the present….” <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="mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-language: EN-US"
lang=EN><o:p><FONT size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; BACKGROUND: white" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-language: EN-US"
lang=EN><FONT size=3>Director Cory Molner and his designers, Terrii Wachala
(lighting), Clyde Simon (set/sound) and sade wolfkitten (costume), accentuate
the whole comic book motif by dividing the stage into five primary color-coded
locations that contain two-dimensional scenery.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>It’s as if we have walked into a graphic
novel minus the speech balloons floating above us.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN><SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN><o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; BACKGROUND: white" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-language: EN-US"
lang=EN><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="mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-language: EN-US"
lang=EN>All this is very clever stuff, but without a truly engaging storyline or
fully fleshed-out characters – and this play has neither – the playwright’s
pretense stretches mighty thin mighty quickly (insert your own clever Mister
Fantastic reference here).<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</SPAN></SPAN><SPAN style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial">''It's a slightly
familiar story,'' says Ethan at the end of his opening monologue, ''but that's
okay because nobody likes things that are too original or challenging.'' Yes
they do.</SPAN><SPAN
style="mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-language: EN-US"
lang=EN><o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; BACKGROUND: white" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-language: EN-US"
lang=EN><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="mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-language: EN-US"
lang=EN>Yet, this production succeeds mightily and it does so thanks to
</SPAN><STRONG><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-WEIGHT: normal; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic"
lang=EN>Zac Hudak as Ethan.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Like
the comic book hero his character helps create, Hudak saves the day.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN><SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN></SPAN></STRONG><SPAN
style="mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-language: EN-US"
lang=EN><o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; BACKGROUND: white" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-language: EN-US"
lang=EN><o:p><FONT size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; BACKGROUND: white" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-language: EN-US"
lang=EN><FONT size=3>From the play’s opening moments, which take place center
stage and within inches of patrons, Hudak turns on his boyish charm and wins
over the audience.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Most of
his character’s witty repartee defies texture or nuance, but Hudak finds
opportunities to provide both.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>We
end up caring about Ethan’s life and take pleasure in watching Hudak live
it.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN><o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; BACKGROUND: white" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-language: EN-US"
lang=EN><o:p><FONT size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-language: EN-US"><FONT
size=3>Stuart Hoffman offers us a sincere and stalwart Michael.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>This, thankfully, undermines much of the
whining that wants to seep through the dialogue.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>But it also dampens some of the
first-act affection Michael has for Ethan and makes it difficult to see them as
a couple.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Still, Hoffman’s Michael
is an interesting and believable counterpoint to Hudak’s Ethan.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN><o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; BACKGROUND: white" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-language: EN-US"><o:p><FONT
size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-language: EN-US"><FONT
size=3>As predatory film producer Mary Ellen Eustice, Lisa Wiley does her best
to breathe life into this overused archetype, and largely succeeds.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>So, too, does Clyde Simon as Ethan’s
dad, who takes a character as two-dimensional as the scenery and makes him
somewhat appealing and well-intended.<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-language: EN-US"><FONT
size=3><SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</SPAN><o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-language: EN-US"><FONT
size=3>Bobby Coyne is excellent as Ethan’s comic book editor, who pops in and
out of the play and gives Ethan the opportunity to engage in interaction rather
than merely report it.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>But as
an Apple store salesman, a video store clerk, and an L.A. actor, Coyne gives
into the playwright’s tendency to go for broad comedy which detracts from his
grander and cleverer aspirations. <o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-language: EN-US"><o:p><FONT
size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN" lang=EN><FONT
size=3>Like depictions of “The Flash” in comic books, this play sometimes seems
to go nowhere fast.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>But there
is a lot of heart and plenty of humor in this delightful production, and Hudak’s
charm makes the venture worthwhile.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</SPAN><SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN><SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN><o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN" lang=EN><o:p><FONT
size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><I
style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"><SPAN
style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial"><FONT size=3>“Based on a Totally True Story”
runs through </FONT><A name=_GoBack></A><FONT size=3>September 14 at
convergence-continuum’s The Liminis Theatre, 2438 Scranton Rd., Cleveland.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Tickets, which range from $10 to $15,
can be purchased by calling 216-687-0074 or visiting </FONT><A href=""><FONT
color=#0000ff size=3>www.convergence-continuum.org</FONT></A><FONT
size=3>.<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></I></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in -0.5in 0pt 0in" class=MsoNormal><I
style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"><SPAN
style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial"><o:p><FONT
size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></I></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><o:p><FONT
size=3> </FONT></o:p></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><o:p><FONT
size=3> </FONT></o:p></P></FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>