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New Edgecliff Theatre goes to the edge with Square One
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Photo By Michael Shooner
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Elizabeth A. Harris and Matthew Johnson strike up an
unlikely relationship in New Edgecliff's Square One.
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Steve Tesich wrote SQUARE ONE in 1990, but the play opening this week in a production by NEW EDGECLIFF THEATRE has an eerie prescience of today: While America is recovering from an unnamed national disaster, Dianne (Elizabeth A. Harris) and Adam (Matt Johnson, fresh off his gig as Tartuffe with CSF) meet on a park bench. Although they have nothing in common, they decide to marry in the midst of a country awash in vigilance and the need for reconstruction, which has imposed governmental power over most dimensions of everyday life. The play uses dark humor to provide a timely warning. CSF's REBECCA BOWMAN directs the production at the Artery Theatre (913 Monmouth St., Newport) through May 31. Tickets: 513-763-3844 ...
Remember two years ago when a half-dozen theaters in Cincinnati came together for an impromptu festival of plays by Lanford Wilson? Even with all that, they didn't exhaust the supply. This week IF THEATRE COLLECTIVE is offering SYMPATHETIC MAGIC, winner of the 1997 Obie Award (as in "OB" for Off Broadway) for best play. Director ED COHEN has assembled a cast of local theatrical All Stars, including MATTHEW PYLE (Know Theatre Tribe's artistic director), CORINNE MOHLENHOFF (a CSF veteran who just finished the run of Tartuffe) and TOM STOREY (a veteran community theater actor and director) to portray a group of friends and family in San Francisco. They wrestle with a bushel basketful of personal crises -- marital problems, an unwanted pregnancy, AIDS -- that play out against a startling discovery by one of the characters who is an astronomer. IF has a limited history but a fine track record: Last fall's staging of Israel Horovitz's Lebensraum (which also featured Pyle and Mohlenhoff) should have been better attended, since it was one of the season's better productions. As with several other theater groups, IF has abandoned the Aronoff's Fifth Third Bank Theater. Sympathetic Magic, running through May 25, will be at Xavier University in the Gallagher Center's new Studio Theater. Tickets: 513-745-3939 ...
They've spent a year moving and building scenery and playing small roles. Now the Acting Intern Company at ENSEMBLE THEATRE OF CINCINNATI takes center stage with this week's production of LAST CALL, a compilation of original works and brief pieces by Neil Labute, Eric Lane and Ann Marie Healy. The nine performers will provide answers to some tough questions about romance, heartache and heartbreak: Is breaking up really hard to do? How do you put your life in order after love is gone? Why does tragedy bring people closer together? Performances are at 10 p.m., following Triple Espresso (which has been extended through May 25 -- call for details) Wednesday through Saturday; there's also a 2 p.m. show on Saturday. Tickets: 513-421-3555 ...
ETC's interns -- and those from the Playhouse and CSF and aspiring young performers from other small Cincinnati theaters -- will be featured in THE BAR TOUR Thursday beginning at 7:30 p.m. You can catch brief performances at Kaldi's, Hamburger Mary's or Arnold's (or bar hop from one to another), and then meet up with everyone at 11 p.m. at Arnold's. It's a benefit for the League of Cincinnati Theatres. ... Speaking of the League (which exists to promote the local theater scene), they've launched a new promotional campaign. If you see a show at ETC (Triple Espresso, Hedwig and the Angry Inch), CSF (The Gingham Dog), Know (This Is Our Youth, Corpus Christie) or Falcon Productions (The Bible: The Complete Word of God (abridged)), you can get a discount for a friend. Just write your name and contact info on your ticket stub, which becomes a coupon your friend can use for a special deal to see the same show. Tickets redeemed this way will be entered into a drawing for prizes. The program is cleverly named STUBS -- "Sharing Theatre's Usual Best Shows." More theaters are expected to join the program.
E-mail Rick Pender
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Previously in Curtain Call
Curtain Call: Theaters, Actors, Etc. For The Know Theatre Tribe, This Is Our Youth
By Rick Pender
(May 7, 2003)
Curtain Call: Theaters, Actors, Etc. ETC shines light on important piece of darkness
By Rick Pender
(April 30, 2003)
Curtain Call: Theaters, Actors, Etc. NKU says Y.E.S. to new plays
By Rick Pender
(April 23, 2003)
more...
Other articles by Rick Pender
Full of Hope CCM revue Songs for a New World presents an array of stories and emotions (May 7, 2003)
Boiling Point Three women get their chance in The Smell of the Kill (May 7, 2003)
Simple and Amusing High energy show celebrates wrong-headed show-biz aspirations (April 30, 2003)
more...
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