Only one truly new item for your onstage entertainment this weekend: Will Eno’s Thom Pain (based on nothing) is getting two performances at Know Theatre on Sunday and Monday evenings at 8 p.m. by #theatrecompany (read that as “Hashtag Theatre Company”). They’re drama grads from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music who have staged a pair of Fringe pieces — METH: a love story and The Gospel of Fat Kathy — since finishing up on campus). This one-man show, staged by AC Horton, features Landon Hawkins in a script described by The New York Times as “a surreal meditation on the empty promises life makes.” The CCM grads are dedicated to producing work that’s “delightfully absurd and challenges the conventions of what theater can be.” The character portrayed in this 70-minute monologue is described thusly: “He’s like you, except worse. He is trying to save his life, to save your life, in that order. In his quest for salvation, he’ll stop at nothing, be distracted by nothing… except maybe a piece of lint or the woman in the second row.” A decade ago, Ensemble Theatre staged Eno’s unusual script, a finalist for the 2005 Pulitzer Prize in drama. When I reviewed that production, I called it “a mad blend of Beckett and Mamet” and suggested that it underscored how the “nothing” of our humdrum lives “can add up to a very intriguing something.” Tickets are $15, and if you attend the Sunday matinee of Girlfriend, you’ll get a $5 discount on Thom Pain that evening. Box office: 513-300-5669.
To get that discount, you need to see the very entertaining production of Todd Almond’s Girlfriend, employing Indie Rock tunes by singer-songwriter Matthew Sweet. It’s a sweet story about an adolescent crush between Will (Montez O. Jenkins-Copeland) and Mike (Cary Davenport), who beautifully capture the breathless nature of strong first-time emotions just beyond the edge of control. The story is one that anyone who’s ever fallen in love can relate to. Just one more week to see this one before it closes on Aug. 27. Tickets: 513-300-5669.
A very different pair of performers are lighting up Chicago at the Warsaw Federal Incline Theater. Hannah Gregory as the sweetly manipulative Roxie Hart and Alex Caldwell is cold-as-ice Velma Kelly (although she’s one hot dancer). A lot of theater fans are lining up to see this production that has perpetuated the success of last summer’s inaugural season at the Incline when whole runs were sold out well in advance. You might try calling (513-241-6550) to see if a waiting list is available, but I’m told that performances are sold out through the finale on Sept. 4.
So if you’re stuck at home, unable to get tickets to Chicago, you might tune in to WVXU (FM 91.7) on Saturday evening at 8 p.m. for Gina Gionfriddo’s Becky Shaw from L.A. Theater Works. This show was a hit at Actors Theatre’s Humana Festival in Louisville in 2008. An off-Broadway staging later that year garnered enough attention to make the play a finalist for the 2008 Pulitzer Prize. Here’s the story: Suzanna sets up Max, her best friend, on a blind date with her husband’s co-worker, the mysterious Becky Shaw. Sharp wit and humor are cleverly blended with the suspense of a psychological thriller, and the result is a comedy of romantic errors. I’m surprised that no one has staged this script here in Cincinnati; give it a listen and I suspect you’ll agree.
Rick Pender’s STAGE DOOR blog appears here every Friday. Find more theater reviews and feature stories here.
This article appears in Aug 17-24, 2016.