Rethinking Shakespeare

Many half-finished quotes that have adhered to my mind through the years were first introduced in Macbeth. Lines like "Is that a dagger...," "Out, damned spot...," or "Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow..." offer a good reason to revisit Shakespeare's play. In a new twist, C.A.G.E. Theatre Company's production has set it not in the usual medieval Scotland but in Scotland in 2005. At first, this version seems to be a smart route for director Michael Hagins to take. The space at the Impact Theatre in Brooklyn is rather small. On a stage of that size, the production team does not have the luxury of elaborate sets and costumes that would take up an enormous amount of space. Before the lights dim, the audience is introduced to three ladies

Chekhov in Harlem

My Friday night date has come down with the flu. There goes a perfectly good night of dinner and theater. I sit there, dejected, wishing there was some creative way to use my theater tickets another time, knowing I must put my shoes on. Am I glad I got off the sofa. Duty took me to the Harlem School of the Arts, but Classical Theatre of Harlem's production of The Cherry Orchard kept me there. This cast of seasoned veterans and up-and-comers is a great reason to fight C train woes and head uptown for a great theater experience.

In Chekhov's classic 1903 play, a former "master" returns to her estate to find that the property is to be sold to pay the Renevskaya family's debts. This was a familiar situation throughout Russia after the 1861 Emancipation Declamation that freed the serfs but also changed the economy and closed the gap between the nobility and the working class. Chekhov's grandfather was himself a serf who purchased his freedom as well as his family's.

As the Renevskayas halfheartedly ponder how they might raise the money to pay their debts, Lopakhin, a family friend, suggests they chop down the orchard and lease the land in pieces by building summer cottages. The family dismisses the idea, but when the estate finally goes up for auction, Lopakhin buys it, much to the surprise and disdain of the Renevskayas and their circle. Both Lopakhin's father and grandfather had been slaves on the estate years before.

The night was full of talent. For instance, Earle Hyman played the 87-year-old servant Firs, who offers great comic relief as he shuffles into a room and mumbles his way in and out of conversations. He also represents a time that no longer exists, since he is a serf who never wants to be released.

Every choice or step Hyman makes onstage seems deliberate but not overplanned. His impressive career has found him onstage so often that it seems his body won't steer him in a bad direction or into a choice that doesn't work. The difference between Hyman and some of his younger colleagues is stage maturity. There is a serenity in one's performance when the stage is your second home and has been for over half your life.

By contrast, Chandra Thomas, who plays Anya, the youngest daughter of the estate's matriarch, Lyubov (Petronia Paley), has moments of natural grace onstage that make her easy to watch, but not every moment of her performance feels comfortable. There are times where her character is a part of the scene taking place but is not the focal point of the action. In these moments she appears over-focused. She does not pull attention from the center of the action, but there is a subtlety that is lost in her performance, a weakness that may iron itself out as she spends more time onstage.

Most impressive was Wendell Pierce as Lopakhin

Give Me an Occupation...Now Give Me a Location...

One of the beauties of theater is the feeling that anything can happen on any given evening, making every performance night a smidge different from the nights before and certainly the nights to come. Consider that on this particular evening you have tickets to see Noo Yawk Tawk, an improvisational troupe working for two years under the direction of Richmond Shepard, and feel satisfied that there will be no other night quite like this one. This past Friday night I trotted down to Dillon's to take in the 10:40 show. The audience was not huge, and I wondered, even in the city that never sleeps, if perhaps 10:40 was too late for theater. This type of show is quite dependent on the audience. It is set up in skits that have a particular structure but garner specific details from audience members.

For example, the first skit was named Lecture. Two troupe members take center stage and, after getting a topic from the audience, proceed to give a lecture on that topic. One begins the lecture

What would you do to be first?

Have you ever been waiting with a crowd of folks for something to open or begin? There is a desire even before the official start time to get as close as possible to the front of the line. It is often accompanied by said folks nudging one another and muttering off-color comments under their breath, but it is seldom that one must worry about being personally attacked while waiting. This is hardly the case in Line by Israel Horovitz, the longest running play in off-off Broadway history, playing at the Thirteenth Street Repertory Company (TSRC). Line is the story of five people that will do anything to be the first in line. What are these people waiting for? Well, this question does not seem as important as what these people will do to get to the front. The show opens with a man named Fleming, played by Rick Sherman, waking from a night of holding first place in line behind a string of tape. There is some good

Centuries of Forbidden Fruit

Whether it was apples, chestnuts, or crab apples in the stories of the "fall", it was always Eve who started the world