August Wilson is one of America’s great playwrights, as I pointed out in my recent CityBeat column. Timothy Douglas’s sterling production of Jitney at the Cincinnati Playhouse is a great reminder. A group of unlicensed cab drivers in 1977 Pittsburgh josh, argue and ponder their future, threatened by urban renewal. Douglas is one of America’s most respected interpreters of Wilson’s plays, and this production shows it. Through Nov. 12. Tickets: 513-421-3888.
If you want one more example of Wilson’s playwriting, Northern Kentucky University is staging Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, the 1927 story about a Blues singer doing her best to hang onto her legacy as a musician, even as the world moves on. Through Sunday. Tickets: 859-572-5464.
Cincinnati Shakespeare Company has a formidable group of actors who regularly perform in classic works. For an outstanding example of what they can achieve, check out Bernard Pomerance’s The Elephant Man. Veteran actor Giles Davies completely inhabits the role of John Merrick, a horribly deformed man, rescued from a freak show in Victorian England, only to become a spectacle for upper-class visitors. Brent Vimtrup plays the doctor who hoped to improve Merrick’s life, and Kelly Mengelkoch portrays a stage actress who takes the time to understand the man behind the deformity. Their performances are among the best onstage this fall. Through Nov. 5. Tickets: 513-381-2273.
Elsewhere onstage: The clever comedy The Foreigner is being presented at the Covedale Center for the Performing Arts (through Nov. 13). … Wrapping up this weekend are Ensemble Theatre’s thought-provoking tale of the life of an inner-city youth cut short by senseless violence, brownsville song (b-side for tray) (through Sunday). Know Theatre’s tongue-in-cheek noir detective tale Pulp has it’s final performance on Saturday, and Know’s immersive scary walking tour at the Mockbee, The Other Rhine, a co-production with Hit the Lights! Theatre Company from New York, runs through Halloween night on Monday.
Ensemble Theatre’s popular casual Saturday morning seminar series, Caffeinated Conversations, continues this weekend at 11 a.m. This month’s topic is stage management: What do these behind-the-scenes professionals do? (Hint: They keep performances running smoothly and on time. They’re often the busiest person backstage.) Learn more, ask questions and have a cup of coffee. $10. Reservations: 513-421-3555.
One more way to ready yourself for Halloween on Monday: Tune in to WVXU (FM 91.7) on Saturday evening for LA Theater Works (8-10 p.m.). The first hour will be a new version of the radio thriller about an invasion from Mars, H.G. Wells’ War of the Worlds. This one, recorded in 2009, features actors from the Star Trek universe, including Brent Spiner (the android Data) and the late Leonard Nimoy (Spock). The second hour will present Arthur Conan Doyle’s The Lost World. John de Lancie (“Q” to fans of Star Trek: Next Generation) is the director of both productions.
Rick Pender’s STAGE DOOR blog appears here every Friday. Find more theater reviews and feature stories here.
This article appears in Oct 26 – Nov 2, 2016.
