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face=Georgia><FONT color=#333333>Ensemble’s ‘The North Pool’ offers interesting,
not intriguing bait and switch</FONT></FONT></SPAN></B></P>
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face=Georgia>Bob Abelman</FONT></SPAN><SPAN
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face=Georgia>Cleveland Jewish News, The News Herald, The Morning
Journal</FONT></SPAN></I><SPAN
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face=Georgia>Member, International Association of Theatre
Critics</FONT></SPAN><SPAN
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face=Georgia><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: ; mso-bidi-font-family: arial">As has
been noted in these pages on a number of occasions, playwright </SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: ">Rajiv<SPAN style="COLOR: "> Joseph has a remarkable
proclivity for examining </SPAN>big-ticket issues by way of small-scale
stories.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN></SPAN></FONT></P>
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style="FONT-FAMILY: "><FONT face=Georgia></FONT></SPAN> </P>
<P class=MsoNormal
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face=Georgia><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: ">In his “Mr. Wolf,” </SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: ; BACKGROUND-IMAGE: none; BACKGROUND-REPEAT: repeat; BACKGROUND-ATTACHMENT: scroll; BACKGROUND-POSITION: 0% 0%; mso-bidi-font-family: helvetica">the
infinite possibilities of the universe are explored by way of a parent whose
child has been abducted by an astronomer and the infinitesimal odds of finding
her alive.</SPAN></FONT><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: "></SPAN></P>
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style="FONT-FAMILY: "><FONT face=Georgia></FONT></SPAN> </P>
<P class=MsoNormal
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face=Georgia><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: ">In his </SPAN><SPAN
style='FONT-FAMILY: ; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"'>2010 Pulitzer
Prize-nominated<SPAN style="COLOR: "> drama <SPAN
style="BACKGROUND-IMAGE: none; BACKGROUND-REPEAT: repeat; BACKGROUND-ATTACHMENT: scroll; BACKGROUND-POSITION: 0% 0%"><FONT
style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #fbfcfc">“Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad
Zoo,”</FONT></SPAN></SPAN></SPAN><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: "> </SPAN><SPAN
style='FONT-FAMILY: ; COLOR: ; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"'>Man’s
inhumanity to Man is examined through a running narrative supplied by a tiger
trapped in a cage that is surrounded by the Gulf war.</SPAN></FONT></P>
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style='FONT-FAMILY: ; COLOR: ; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"'><FONT
face=Georgia></FONT></SPAN> </P>
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face=Georgia><SPAN
style='FONT-FAMILY: ; COLOR: ; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"'>And in
his one-act “</SPAN><SPAN
style='FONT-FAMILY: ; COLOR: ; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"'><FONT
color=#333333>The North Pool,” which premiered Off-Off Broadway in 2013 and is
currently on stage at Ensemble Theatre, Joseph breaks down the nature of ethnic,
racial and religious prejudice by placing two people – a public high school vice
principal and a transfer student – in a room. </FONT></SPAN></FONT></P>
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color=#333333 face=Georgia></FONT></SPAN> </P>
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style='FONT-FAMILY: ; COLOR: ; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"'><FONT
face=Georgia><FONT color=#333333>While the small confines of the vice
principal’s office (realistically rendered by set designer Walter Boswell) makes
for an intense evening of theater, it can also be argued that Joseph has set his
sights so small as to keep this interesting play from becoming particularly
intriguing. </FONT></FONT></SPAN></P>
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color=#333333 face=Georgia></FONT></SPAN> </P>
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face=Georgia><I style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"><SPAN
style='BORDER-TOP: windowtext 1pt; FONT-FAMILY: ; BORDER-RIGHT: windowtext 1pt; BORDER-BOTTOM: windowtext 1pt; COLOR: ; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0in; PADDING-TOP: 0in; PADDING-LEFT: 0in; BORDER-LEFT: windowtext 1pt; PADDING-RIGHT: 0in; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family: arial; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in'>For
more of this article, go to </SPAN></I><I
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style='BORDER-TOP: windowtext 1pt; FONT-FAMILY: ; BORDER-RIGHT: windowtext 1pt; BORDER-BOTTOM: windowtext 1pt; COLOR: ; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0in; PADDING-TOP: 0in; PADDING-LEFT: 0in; BORDER-LEFT: windowtext 1pt; PADDING-RIGHT: 0in; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family: arial; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in'><FONT
color=#0563c1>www.clevelandjewishnews.com/columnists/</FONT></SPAN></I><I
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