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Peer Reviews Dinner and
a Show Reviewed by Deborah Ward Entire contents are copyright © 2007, Deborah Ward. All rights reserved.
"An evening of comedic and dramatic one act plays," bills the program handed to me at the Rud. "Great," I thought. One-act plays confuse me. Why write a one-act play? Do the writers not have the ability to write a complete play? Are their artistic brains too far over the edge to focus for any extended amount of time? I could say that I just put my foot in my mouth, but luckily, I didn't actually say what I was thinking, so I guess I just put my foot in my brain. What I am going to actually say is that this was one of the most enjoyable, thought-provoking, twisted, side-splitting evenings that I have spent at a theatre production. Although a small venue, the Rudyard Kipling is a quiet, intimate, cozy display of local talent, and we have massive amounts of talent in Louisville. Six of the eight plays performed were written/directed by local authors Bill Breuer, Todd Zeigler and John Hetzel. So why write a one-act play? To accomplish what the actors, writers and directors of these eight plays have done -- intrigue the audience and spark imagination. About the acting and casting -- PERFECT! I don't want to give away too much in hopes that I can intrigue you to go see this experience. The First and Echo and Narcissus delve into the always debatable topic of what makes a marriage work. These two completely different stories made me question, "How many times have my husband and I had knock-downs over taking out the garbage?" and, "Have these drag-out fights over the garbage kept us from being like Echo and Narcissus?" I must say that, thanks to An Unmeasured Postlude to Martin Sheen, I will never be able to watch The West Wing without seeing the spirit of Todd Zeigler lurking in the shadows of the set, just waiting for an opportunity to worship the high and mighty father of Emilio and Charlie. Hitler, The Struggling Artist transforms our view of Hitler as it shows the transformation of Hitler the Painter -- unable to obtain success on a canvas -- to Hitler the Artist who used humans as his canvas. Something New takes three dissenting views on suicide -- comedy on the verge on misunderstood darkness. Does it end life? Give one power over others? Or earn money? A Difference of Opinion argues the age-old money-making question, "What do people really want?" while Gateway of the Soul tackles the difference of opinion between science, religion and philosophy. The show ended with the show-stopping (literally and figuratively) Tiger in a Cage, which draws you into the criminal mind then ends in............out of the cage.
Dinner and a Show
Mar. 2-10, 2007 Sight & Sound Posted Mar. 6, 2007
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