<div dir="ltr"><div class="" style="padding:0px 340px 0px 0px;border:0px;outline:0px;vertical-align:baseline;float:left;width:880px"><h1 id="article_title" class="" itemprop="name" style="margin:0px 0px 20px;padding:0px;border:0px;outline:0px;vertical-align:baseline"><font color="#ff0000" size="4"><span style="font-weight:normal">Raves </span><span style="font-weight:normal">excerpted Bob Abelman and Mark Horning's early reviews...</span></font></h1><h1 id="article_title" class="" itemprop="name" style="margin:0px 0px 20px;padding:0px;border:0px;outline:0px;vertical-align:baseline"><i style="font-size:small;font-weight:normal"><font color="#0000ff" size="6"><span style="font-style:inherit">Actors’ Summit’s production of ‘Chapatti’ is a study in mixed emotions</span></font></i><br></h1><div id="article-author-container" class="" style="color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:inherit;font-size:14px;font-style:inherit;font-weight:inherit;line-height:16.8px;margin:0px;padding:0px;border:0px;outline:0px;vertical-align:baseline"><div class="" style="margin:0px;padding:0px;border:0px;outline:0px;font-weight:inherit;font-style:inherit;font-size:0px;font-family:inherit;vertical-align:baseline;width:60px;float:left"></div><div class="" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 60px;padding:0px 0px 0px 10px;border:0px;outline:0px;font-weight:inherit;font-style:inherit;font-family:inherit;vertical-align:baseline"><div class="" style="margin:0px;padding:0px;border:0px;outline:0px;font-weight:inherit;font-style:inherit;font-size:0.75rem;font-family:inherit;vertical-align:baseline;line-height:26px"><span class="" style="margin:0px;padding:0px;border:0px;outline:0px;font-weight:inherit;font-style:inherit;font-family:inherit;vertical-align:baseline;display:inline">By: <a class="" href="https://www.axs.com/contributor/mark-horning-axs-contributor-1202" itemprop="author" style="margin:0px;padding:0px;border:0px;outline:0px;font-weight:inherit;font-style:inherit;font-family:inherit;vertical-align:baseline;color:rgb(0,105,170);text-decoration:none">Mark Horning</a> </span> <span class="" style="margin:0px;padding:0px;border:0px;outline:0px;font-weight:inherit;font-style:inherit;font-family:inherit;vertical-align:baseline;display:inline">AXS Contributor</span> <span class="" itemprop="dateCreated" style="margin:0px;padding:0px;border:0px;outline:0px;font-weight:inherit;font-style:inherit;font-family:inherit;vertical-align:baseline;display:inline">Feb 26, 2016</span> <span class="" style="margin:0px;padding:0px;border:0px;outline:0px;font-style:inherit;font-family:inherit;vertical-align:baseline;display:inline;color:rgb(179,179,179)">5 days ago</span></div></div></div><div id="contributor-data" class="" style="color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:inherit;font-size:14px;font-style:inherit;font-weight:inherit;line-height:16.8px;outline:0px;vertical-align:baseline;padding:0px!important;border:0px!important;height:1px!important;overflow:hidden!important;width:1px!important"><span id="contributor-id" style="margin:0px;padding:0px;border:0px;outline:0px;font-weight:inherit;font-style:inherit;font-family:inherit;vertical-align:baseline">1529226</span><span id="contributor-title-id" style="margin:0px;padding:0px;border:0px;outline:0px;font-weight:inherit;font-style:inherit;font-family:inherit;vertical-align:baseline">482786</span><span id="title-term-id" style="margin:0px;padding:0px;border:0px;outline:0px;font-weight:inherit;font-style:inherit;font-family:inherit;vertical-align:baseline">16541761</span><span id="article-type" style="margin:0px;padding:0px;border:0px;outline:0px;font-weight:inherit;font-style:inherit;font-family:inherit;vertical-align:baseline">6</span><span id="article-published-date" style="margin:0px;padding:0px;border:0px;outline:0px;font-weight:inherit;font-style:inherit;font-family:inherit;vertical-align:baseline">y2016m02d26</span></div></div><div id="article-main-col" class="" style="padding:0px 340px 0px 0px;border:0px;outline:0px;font-size:14px;font-family:lato,Arial,sans-serif;vertical-align:baseline;float:left;width:880px;line-height:16.8px"><div id="article-body" class="" style="margin:0px;padding:0px;border:0px;outline:0px;font-weight:inherit;font-style:inherit;font-family:inherit;vertical-align:baseline"><div class="" style="color:rgb(51,51,51);margin:0px 20px 0px 0px;padding:0px;border:0px;outline:0px;font-weight:inherit;font-style:inherit;font-family:inherit;vertical-align:baseline;float:left;max-width:33.3333%"><img itemprop="image" id="defaultImage" src="http://d1ya1fm0bicxg1.cloudfront.net/2016/02/promoted-media-optimized_56d0ae589f7a6.jpg" alt="(l-r) Director Brian Zoldessy, Neil Thackaberry as Ben and Annie McEvoy as Betty " style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; max-width: 100%;"><div class="" style="margin:0px;padding:0px;border:0px;outline:0px;font-weight:inherit;font-style:inherit;font-size:0.75rem;font-family:inherit;vertical-align:baseline">(l-r) Director Brian Zoldessy, Neil Thackaberry as Ben and Annie McEvoy as Betty</div><div class="" style="margin:0px;padding:0px;border:0px;outline:0px;font-weight:inherit;font-style:inherit;font-size:0.75rem;font-family:inherit;vertical-align:baseline">Actors’ Summit Theater (Used With Their Permission)</div></div><div id="article-copy" class="" itemprop="articleBody" style="margin:0px;padding:0px;border:0px;outline:0px;font-weight:inherit;font-style:inherit;font-size:1rem;font-family:inherit;vertical-align:baseline;line-height:1.8"><p style="color:rgb(51,51,51);margin:0px 0px 1.5em;padding:0px;border:0px;outline:0px;font-weight:inherit;font-style:inherit;font-family:inherit;vertical-align:baseline"><a href="http://www.actorssummit.org/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank" style="margin:0px;padding:0px;border:0px;outline:0px;font-weight:inherit;font-style:inherit;font-family:inherit;vertical-align:baseline;color:rgb(0,105,170);text-decoration:none">Actors’ Summit</a>’s production of Chapatti, by <a href="http://www.irishplayography.com/person.aspx?personid=2947" rel="nofollow" target="_blank" style="margin:0px;padding:0px;border:0px;outline:0px;font-weight:inherit;font-style:inherit;font-family:inherit;vertical-align:baseline;color:rgb(0,105,170);text-decoration:none">Christian O’Reilly</a> is a study of contrasts. Dan lives a life of darkness. His small rented bungalow is dark with heavy curtains drawn much like he has covered his soul from the small joys that dance just outside his existence. His only companion and “speak-mate” is a small mongrel terrier named Chapatti that he found as a stray when doing the last of his construction work in London and fed him part of his Indian cuisine lunch, thus the name for the dog and the play.</p><p style="color:rgb(51,51,51);margin:1.5em 0px;padding:0px;border:0px;outline:0px;font-weight:inherit;font-style:inherit;font-family:inherit;vertical-align:baseline">“Chap,” as Dan calls him, is the only thing keeping the sad retiree from making his “final journey.” When more or less bum rushed from the vet’s office after Chap is found “well enough for his age,” Dan decides to end it all. It was at the vet that Dan could interact with other pet owners and keep his connection with humanity.</p><p style="color:rgb(51,51,51);margin:1.5em 0px;padding:0px;border:0px;outline:0px;font-weight:inherit;font-style:inherit;font-family:inherit;vertical-align:baseline"><span style="font-family:inherit;font-style:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:1rem;line-height:1.8">....The other part of this complicated equation is Betty. She is around Dan’s age and widowed from a loveless marriage. In spite of that (and the nineteen cats plus a fresh box of kittens) Betty is a life of mirth and light. She spends her days caring for an elderly woman, Peggy, who owns a sixteen year old cat, Prudence. Between the Betty and Prudence they are the only reason the old woman gets out of bed each day.</span><br></p><p style="color:rgb(51,51,51);margin:1.5em 0px;padding:0px;border:0px;outline:0px;font-weight:inherit;font-style:inherit;font-family:inherit;vertical-align:baseline">The two love starved souls (Dan and Betty) meet by accident when Dan plows into Betty while leaving the Vet’s Office for the last time causing Betty to drop a box of kittens. He is drawn by her lovely laugh and sparkling demeanor. They meet again when Dan involuntarily gets involved in finding the owner of a dead cat....</p><p style="color:rgb(51,51,51);margin:1.5em 0px;padding:0px;border:0px;outline:0px;font-weight:inherit;font-style:inherit;font-family:inherit;vertical-align:baseline"><span style="font-family:inherit;font-style:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:1rem;line-height:1.8">....Neil Thackaberry* plays Dan with aplomb. He keeps the accent under control so that it does not become a distraction. He successfully navigates the choppy waters of a sad man who suddenly rediscovers glimpse of happiness. Anne McEvoy as Betty delights as the Yang side of the production to Dan’s Ying. Her laugh is infectious as are her mannerisms. The two work well together as they discover each other over the course of the play.</span><br></p><p style="color:rgb(51,51,51);margin:1.5em 0px;padding:0px;border:0px;outline:0px;font-weight:inherit;font-style:inherit;font-family:inherit;vertical-align:baseline">The set consists of two chairs, a small table, a clothes rack with small table and a rolling tea cart. The rest of the “props” (including the kittens and dog) are conjured up for our imaginations to see.</p><p style="color:rgb(51,51,51);margin:1.5em 0px;padding:0px;border:0px;outline:0px;font-weight:inherit;font-style:inherit;font-family:inherit;vertical-align:baseline"><span style="font-family:inherit;font-style:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:1rem;line-height:1.8">Shooting From The Lip (An Opinion):... charming at its core and extremely well acted...... It is the happy/sad play that will have you thinking about a lot of issues.</span><br></p><p style="color:rgb(51,51,51);margin:1.5em 0px;padding:0px;border:0px;outline:0px;font-weight:inherit;font-style:inherit;font-family:inherit;vertical-align:baseline">“Chapatti” will be on stage at Actors’ Summit from Feb. 26 through March 13, 2016. Show Days and Times are Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m.</p><h1 itemprop="headline" style="font-size:42px;margin:0px 0px 0px 50px;font-family:'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;font-weight:normal;line-height:1.1"><font color="#0000ff">Actors’ Summit serves up simple, charming ‘Chapatti’</font></h1><div class="" style="color:rgb(0,0,0);margin-top:20px;margin-right:0px;margin-left:50px;font-family:'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:20px"><ul class="" style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:10px;padding-left:0px;list-style:none"><li style="display:inline-block;padding-left:5px;padding-right:5px">REVIEWED BY BOB ABELMAN <br><a href="mailto:babelman@cjn.org">babelman@cjn.org</a></li></ul></div><p style="color:rgb(68,68,68);margin:0px 0px 24px;line-height:27px;font-family:'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif">Place two chairs on a stage and put Anne McEvoy and Neil Thackaberry in them and great theater is likely to result. And it does in Actors’ Summit’s production of “Chapatti,” a new play by Irish playwright Christian O’Reilly.</p><p style="color:rgb(68,68,68);margin:0px 0px 24px;line-height:27px;font-family:'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif">This one-act two-hander has all the elements for which this theater and its audience have a particular fondness: Romance, good writing, simple production values, and the founding artistic director walking the boards......</p><p style="color:rgb(68,68,68);margin:0px 0px 24px;line-height:27px;font-family:'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif">The play examines the evolution of a November romance between two very lonely, very likable people who happen to live just around the block from one another. Dan, whose beloved mutt lends his name to the title of this play......... Betty, a self-confessed cat lady, lived through a loveless marriage and has given up hope of ever loving or being loved by anything on two legs.</p><p style="color:rgb(68,68,68);margin:0px 0px 24px;line-height:27px;font-family:'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif">The writing is simple, charming ..........but its presentation is deceptively and enjoyably sophisticated. While the two neighbors are strangers, they speak in direct-address to the audience and narrate their sorry, unassuming lives. This turns into self-reflective monologues when the two discover each other and then evolves into witty dialogue once they connect and a relationship takes hold.</p><p style="color:rgb(68,68,68);margin:0px 0px 24px;line-height:27px;font-family:'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif">The stage is bare save for two chairs and a coat rack between them that is used alternately by Dan and Betty in their respective working-class homes in Dublin. The simple set is surrounded by blackness which, while uninspiring artistically, serves to focus all our attention on the two actors and their heartfelt and empathetic performances.</p><p style="color:rgb(68,68,68);margin:0px 0px 24px;line-height:27px;font-family:'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif">Mcevoy’s Betty is a warm and sensitive soul, and <span style="font-size:1rem;font-style:inherit;font-weight:inherit">..Thackaberry... brilliant handling of the more emotional moments in the play.........</span><span style="font-size:1rem;font-style:inherit;font-weight:inherit">Director Brian Zoldessy does well to stay out of the way of these seasoned performers while making sure that their talents and those of the playwright are front and center.</span></p><p style="color:rgb(51,51,51);margin:1.5em 0px 0px;padding:0px;border:0px;outline:0px;font-weight:inherit;font-style:inherit;font-family:inherit;vertical-align:baseline"><br></p></div></div></div><div><br></div>-- <br><div class="gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><em><font color="#000099" face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif"><strong><font><font>MaryJo Alexander</font></font></strong></font></em></div>
<div><em><font color="#000099"><font><font><b>Artistic Director</b></font></font></font></em></div>
<div><em><font color="#000099"><font><font>Actors' Summit Theater</font></font></font></em></div>
<div><em><font color="#000099"><font><font>Greystone Hall---6th floor</font></font></font></em></div>
<div><em><font color="#000099"><font><font>103 S. High St</font></font></font></em></div>
<div><em><font color="#000099"><font><font>Akron Oh 44308 </font></font></font></em></div>
<div><em><font color="#000099"><strong><font><font>330-374-7568</font></font></strong></font></em></div>
<div><em><font color="#000099"><a href="http://www.actorssummit.org/" target="_blank"><font><font>www.actorssummit.org</font></font></a></font></em></div></div></div></div></div>
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