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<P style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" align=center><B><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><FONT size=3>‘Stranded on Earth’ is a
convoluted mystery worth unraveling<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns =
"urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p></o:p></FONT></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'; 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'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">Cleveland Jewish
News<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'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">Member, International
Association of Theatre Critics <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'; 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'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">This review will
appear in the <I style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal">Cleveland Jewish News
</I>on 6/13/14<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<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'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></B></P>
<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; BACKGROUND: white"
class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN><B><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><o:p><FONT
size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></B></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><FONT size=3><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold">“It’s
clouds </SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; BACKGROUND: white; COLOR: black">illusions
I recall.</SPAN></FONT><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: black"><BR><SPAN
style="BACKGROUND: white"><FONT size=3>I really don't know clouds at
all.”<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; BACKGROUND: white; COLOR: black"><o:p><FONT
size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><FONT size=3><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; BACKGROUND: white; COLOR: black">When
we first meet Alexa in Eric Coble’s one-act, one-woman play </SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: #333333; mso-bidi-font-style: italic">“Stranded
on Earth,” the tormented middle-aged artist has her eyes focused on the looming,
omnipresent and </SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: #333333">descending<SPAN
style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic"> cover of clouds she envisions
overhead.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>She references the clouds
often for her</SPAN><SPAN class=apple-converted-space> mind, like the weather,
is also overcast, turbulent, and undergoing extreme atmospheric pressure.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN></SPAN></SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; BACKGROUND: white; COLOR: black"><o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; BACKGROUND: white; COLOR: black"><o:p><FONT
size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; BACKGROUND: white; COLOR: black"><FONT
size=3>The reason why her disposition is so gray and her temperament twirls like
a tornado becomes clear by the end of this thoroughly engaging 75-minute
production.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>But it requires us to
bear witness to a seemingly random series of convoluted and often funny
diatribes that taps Alexa’s memories, gives us access to her assorted
self-reflections and, eventually, reveals the nature of the trauma she’s
endured.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</SPAN><o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; BACKGROUND: white; COLOR: black"><o:p><FONT
size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; BACKGROUND: white; COLOR: black"><FONT
size=3>It is up to us to make sense of this mosaic of life experiences and
unravel the mystery of her mania.<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; BACKGROUND: white; COLOR: black"><o:p><FONT
size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><FONT size=3><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; BACKGROUND: white; COLOR: black">Alexa’s
brilliantly constructed disclosures contain language that creates vivid and
powerful images.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Each one is
separated by abrupt shifts in dramatic lighting, designed by Zachary Svoboda,
that take on a hot or cold </SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'">palette reflective of Alexa’s
particular mood<SPAN style="BACKGROUND: white; COLOR: black">.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Collectively, they run the gamut and
exhaust the full range of human emotion.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</SPAN><o:p></o:p></SPAN></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; BACKGROUND: white; COLOR: black"><o:p><FONT
size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; BACKGROUND: white; COLOR: black"><FONT
size=3>Derdriu Ring is one of only a handful of local actors who can play this
role; none could play it better.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</SPAN>Everything Ring does is intriguing despite her doing it on a bare stage,
save for an 8’ x 8’ platform that serves as Alexa’s perch, podium and artist’s
canvas.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</SPAN><o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; BACKGROUND: white; COLOR: black"><o:p><FONT
size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; BACKGROUND: white; COLOR: black"><FONT
size=3>Under Jeremy Paul’s astute direction, Ring keeps us on the edge of our
seats and listening carefully, so as to better understand how Alexa got so
broken and why, according to her own words, being human keeps slipping through
her fingers. <o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; BACKGROUND: white; COLOR: black"><o:p><FONT
size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; BACKGROUND: white; COLOR: black"><FONT
size=3>Perhaps the play’s most dramatic and revealing scene – and Ring’s best –
is when Alexa paints while discussing the creative process of making art.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>She mentions the quest for balance and
rhythm against the pulling tides and driving forces that are in her and surround
her.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>As she brushes, and then
drips, and then flails and then pounds paint onto the canvas, it becomes clear
that she is not talking about art at all.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</SPAN>She is talking about life. <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"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; BACKGROUND: white"><o:p><FONT
size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; BACKGROUND: white"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><FONT size=3>“Stranded on Earth” is a
co-production of Theatre Ninjas and Mamai Theatre and is making its regional
premiere. <SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>It is the second of
Coble’s “Alexandra” trilogy plays.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</SPAN>In<SPAN class=apple-converted-space> “</SPAN><SPAN
style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic">A Girl's Guide to Coffee</SPAN>,” performed
locally two years ago at Actors’ Summit, the artist is in her 20s and starting
out in life.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>In <SPAN
class=apple-converted-space>“</SPAN><SPAN
style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic">The Velocity of Autumn</SPAN>,” performed
locally at the Beck Center for the Arts and having just completed a run on
Broadway, she is in her 80s and facing death.<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; BACKGROUND: white"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><o:p><FONT
size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; BACKGROUND: white"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><FONT size=3>It is not necessary to
see any of the other plays to understand any one of them.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>But with writing this good, why wouldn’t
you want to.<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; BACKGROUND: white"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><o:p><FONT
size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P
style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; TEXT-AUTOSPACE: ; mso-layout-grid-align: none"
class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>WHAT:<SPAN
style="mso-tab-count: 1">
</SPAN>“Stranded on Earth”<SPAN
style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold"><o:p></o:p></SPAN></SPAN></P>
<P
style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; TEXT-AUTOSPACE: ; mso-layout-grid-align: none"
class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold">WHERE:<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN><SPAN
style="mso-tab-count: 1"> </SPAN></SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">Pilgrim Church, 2592
West 14th Street, Tremont<SPAN
style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold"><o:p></o:p></SPAN></SPAN></P>
<P
style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; TEXT-AUTOSPACE: ; mso-layout-grid-align: none"
class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold">WHEN:<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN><SPAN
style="mso-tab-count: 1">
</SPAN>Through June 22<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P
style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 4.3pt 0pt 0in; tab-stops: 1.0in 5.25in"
class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold">TICKETS:<SPAN
style="mso-tab-count: 1">
</SPAN></SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: CS"
lang=CS>$10 - $20, </SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">visit <SPAN
style="COLOR: #000099"><A href=""><FONT
color=#0000ff>www.strandedonearth.brownpapertickets.com</FONT></A><o:p></o:p></SPAN></SPAN></P>
<P
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