Three entertaining choices are onstage for mid-August. This is the final weekend for Marian: The True Story of Robin Hood (its final performance at Know Theatre is Saturday evening). I saw it when it opened earlier this month and called it “a pleasant lightweight story for a midsummer show, the zany brand of theater that’s Know’s stock-in-trade.” It’s a post-modern retelling of the legend of the British bandit who robbed from the rich and shared his take with the poor. But playwright Adam Szymkowicz has changed the pronouns, since he suggests Robin is actually Maid Marian in disguise. That turns a lot of things topsy-turvy — both for laughs and for a very modern perspective. Tickets: 513-300-5669.
Two more shows have feel-good stories. One is The Drowsy Chaperone at the Warsaw Federal Incline Theater. It’s about a guy with the blues who cheers himself up by listening to old-fashioned musical theater cast recordings. The 1928 show that he chooses (one invented for this musical) comes to life all around him in some highly amusing ways. All the while, he’s “annotating” the actors and the musical — in some very funny ways. Van Ackerman’s performance as “Man in Chair” is worth the price of admission. Here’s CityBeat’s review by Erica Reid. Tickets: 513-241-6550.
The other is The Full Monty at the Carnegie in Covington. A collection of unemployed steelworks decide that they might make some money to pay the bills by stripping. Not that they have any experience or talent. But they do have heart and camaraderie. That’s really what the show is about. It’s not terribly profound, but it has some hilarious moments. Tickets: 859-957-1940.
Rick Pender’s STAGE DOOR blog appears here every Friday. Find more theater reviews and feature stories here.
This article appears in Aug 16-23, 2017.
