I‘ve been a vocal critic of Syracuse Stage’s Producing Artistic Director Timothy Bond over the past few years. […]
Theater
Directors considering any play must decide what to emphasize. What are we trying to convey to the audience? If I’d been wrestling with Chapter Two, I’d want to tell a good love story, and nail as many of the jokes as possible. North Country Director Brian Ure apparently had different priorities. Damned if I know what they were.
Victoria Girmonde is radiant and daffy (in that order) as Mz. Grim…. She speaks in a weird breathy singsong that drops at the end of every phrase – it’s a parody of the sexed-up dragon lady…intoxicated with pleasure in her own attractiveness.
What lifts the National Players production is the performers… These are great actors. The part of Atticus, in particular, was well played by Jacob Mundell – dignified yet vital, unshadowed by Gregory Peck’s immortal movie performance.
I took a week off from Moss Island and didn’t record a podcast either. The world kept turning. Riots in Baltimore, candidates pandering, more Cosby accusers, Antonin Scalia mentally composing ways to say “The founders never intended to allow gay marriage…” Social media posts and tweets and shares all insisting, “If only everybody in the world could be just like me things would be wonderful.” And the New York Times wrote a piece about toilet seat bidets.
God of Carnage, as presented by Players of Utica, is a production with more substance to it than it lets on. The relative brevity and smaller cast do not detract from the potency of the piece. On the contrary, it is a tidy package that is full of laughs and real, awkward moments to which we can relate more than we might care to admit.
POEM: Opening Night
NEWS: God of Carnage
MOVIES: Going Clear
SOUND COLLAGE: Three.3
ESSAY: Struggling With Christianity
Cold hot panic
Rushing thought bubbles
Easing in find the voice
Never let them see you shake
I was in the middle of a monologue when my lines disappeared, erased from my brain like a computer disc by a magnet. Time stretched and indecision congealed; in that moment I couldn’t have told you the name of the play, let alone what I was supposed to say next.
Mysteries are tricky – like farce, the mix of ingredients and the clockwork progression must be precise. Most elements aren’t as they seem at the beginning, and the pleasure for the audience lies in solving the puzzle as things unfold. While a novel has the comparative luxury of making sure every piece is just right, a live production is complicated by technical limitations (lighting, sound and set), and especially by the actors: flubbed lines and inconsistent accents can irretrievably alter the recipe.
mossislandsounds.com 