Here’s the gist:

After the breakup, who gets custody of the sex tape? When Walter notifies his ex-girlfriend Dana that he has held onto a video of the two of them making love, Dana’s husband Frank is appalled, and shows up at Walter’s door to demand that the tape be destroyed. But Walter, and African-American man with a grim sense of humor, takes exception to Frank, Dana’s white husband. Citing “historical reasons” — little things like slavery, apartheid, etc. — Walter decides to take a stand by refusing to give up the tape to an increasingly agitated Frank. By the time Dana arrives to keep the two men from killing each other, she may already be too late.

The play stars Aime’ Kelly, Delante Keys and Nick Martorelli, and tix are $10. Also up this weekend: The Sleep Detective, Our Lady of Balenciaga and Front Row Seat, all of which are works in progress that have evolved over the course of the festival. Visit philadelphiatheatreworkshop.org for more information on show times or to purchase tickets.

The Sex Tape Play, Sat., March 20, 2 p.m., $10, Shubin Theatre, 407 Bainbridge St., 215-316-1361, philadelphiatheatreworkshop.org.

by carolyn huckabay for Critical Mass, 2010. | Permalink | 6 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Categories: Arts, Big Ups, Theater
Post tags: Mark Cofta, Philadelphia Theatre Workshop, Shubin Theater, Theater

Feed enhanced by Better Feed from Ozh

Thanks to our neighbor Arden Theatre Co.’s crazy-long runs, you’ve still got time to see Tanya Barfield’s Blue Door, which Mark Cofta reviewed back in January. Here’s what Cofta had to say about the show:

Philosophy of mathematics professor Lewis, played with frenetic passion by Johnnie Hobbs Jr., can’t sleep because his wife has left him. His tossing and turning in their bed, surrounded by floor-to-ceiling books on Daniel Conway’s dreamlike abstract set, is interrupted by storyteller Kes Khemnu, who shares Lewis’ three previous generations’ harrowing survival tales.

… [A] brisk tour through Simon’s lineage — the play whips by in 75 minutes — proves fascinating, the ugliness of prejudice and ignorance balanced by the dynamism, genuineness and humor of the actors’ performances.

From now till closing night, tickets are $10 off, which is a nice incentive for us broke-ass theater lovers. And if you’re looking for something more Bardic than Blue Door? The Arden’s Romeo and Juliet, which opened last week, also got rave reviews from our critic.

Through March 21, $24-$38, Arden Theatre Co., 40 N. Second St., 215-922-1122, ardentheatre.org.

by carolyn huckabay for Critical Mass, 2010. | Permalink | 6 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Categories: Arts, Arts Events, Theater, Theater Review
Post tags: Arden Theatre Co., Blue Door, Romeo and Juliet, Theater

Feed enhanced by Better Feed from Ozh

Here’s the deal: At 8 p.m. tonight through Monday (that’s the Ides of March, hint hint), get yourself gussied up and head to the Broad-and-Vine subway stop, and make sure you’re wearing a red carnation so the folks running the show (Missoula Oblongata and Puppet Uprising) know who you are. They’ll lead you to an undisclosed location for a night of snacks (we’re hearing rumors of hot toddies and cupcakes) and theater (this year’s production, in case you hadn’t guessed, is Julius Caesar).

As that headline suggests, five companies are joining forces for this five-act endeavor — including Philly’s own Green Chair Dance Group, Puppetyranny and Fence Kitchen. Did we mention that an emperor-size party’s scheduled for closing night? Did we mention the hot toddies?

Missoula and the Uprising have been at this DIY theater game for years, presenting The Tempest in 2008 and King Lear in ‘09; tickets ($20 ahead of time; $25 at the door) have been known to sell out, so buy yours now. And don’t forget that carnation.

Through Mon., March 15, 8 p.m., $20-$25, Broad and Vine streets, puppetuprising.org, themissoulaoblongata.com.

by carolyn huckabay for Critical Mass, 2010. | Permalink | 2 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Categories: Arts, Events, Just Do It, Theater
Post tags: Fence Kitchen, Green Chair Dance Group, Julius Caesar, Missoula Oblongata, Puppet Uprising, Puppetyranny, Theater

Feed enhanced by Better Feed from Ozh

In case you missed their Philly Fringe performance last summer, Lucidity Suitcase Intercontinental obliged the audience with a video-projection recap of the happenings of Microworld(s) Part #1. When last we saw them, Milo, an expat Serbian played by actor/ director Thaddeus Phillips, and his rubber ducky Fumio, played by a watering can, escaped the collapse of the Nakagin Capsule Tower in Tokyo.

We join our heroes as they drift through the blue-tarp ocean, filled with bottles and rigged up by opaque wires. Composed of recycled and found objects, the set quickly becomes the most charismatic member of the cast. The blue tarp fills multiple roles as the ocean, a bank, and, most memorably, a gorgeous night sky lit by twinkling stars.

According to the program, all the show’s lighting was powered off the grid by a Weza foot pump. The movable set along with the clever use of lighting created astounding and oftentimes surprising special effects that could be the envy of Blockbuster budget movies. Flashlights became a truck, the sunrise and sunset, and fuel for a shadow puppet play. (...)
Read the rest of REVIEW: Microworld(s) Part #2: The Undiscovered Country, 2/26, Painted Bride (135 words)

by emilycurrier for Critical Mass, 2010. | Permalink | 2 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Categories: Arts, Theater
Post tags:

Feed enhanced by Better Feed from Ozh

KILLADELPHIA >> It’s not a nickname a native of the City of Brotherly Love particularly likes hearing. A murder-infested Philly, dubbed “Killadelphia,” is the inspiration behind Sean Christopher Lewis’ play City of Numbers: Mixtape of a City. Lewis’ visual memoir, which takes us on a journey to understand myriad perspectives surrounding any murder, involves 12 different characters — and only one actor. Lewis takes on the roles of these characters and the narrator, not surprisingly named Sean, entwining the stories and personalities of a dozen individuals with his own to create a vivid narration.

Sean’s journey begins when he agrees to interview several murder inmates at Graterford Prison — a relatively simple assignment that suddenly makes him come face to face with the crime problem in his city. The two “worlds” in Philadelphia, between citizens like Sean and the citizens who frequent the prisons, collide when the narrator makes contact with these prisoners; inmates Rico, Bobby and others open up to Sean and reveal their experiences living Killadelphia firsthand.(...)
Read the rest of THEATER REVIEW: City of Numbers, 2/13/10 (247 words)

by Christine Adkins for Critical Mass, 2010. | Permalink | 4 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Categories: Arts, Theater
Post tags:

Feed enhanced by Better Feed from Ozh

Philadelphia’s freewheeling, progressive theater company, Pig Iron, will bring its annual benefit cabaret and auction to the Trocadero this Friday. But what’s with the event’s hammy name, “Hams Across America”? “We’re nerds who love wordplay,” says Pig Iron star Dito van Reigersberg. “And the campaign in the ’80s that tried to make a human chain across the country. And failed. We also love failure.”

Fri., Jan. 29, 7 p.m., $25-$75, Trocadero, 1003 Arch St., 215-922-6888, thetroc.com.

by brendanbianowicz for Critical Mass, 2010. | Permalink | 5 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Categories: Events, Philly Artists, Theater
Post tags: Dito van Reigersberg, Pig Iron Theater Co.

Feed enhanced by Better Feed from Ozh

When I attended the final two hours of Brat Productions‘ 24-hour Bald Soprano, I was hoping for slightly manic actors with their stomachs rambling and feet dragging. Instead, if anything, the actors seemed more finely honed after performing the same one-hour play on loop for the past 22 hours. On the other hand, the audience, a pack of boozed-up Bald Soprano groupies, seemed the most unhinged, with their own Rocky Horror-esque audience interaction.

For an Absurdist play, the actors were almost too rigidly controlled in their portrayals of two suburban couples, the Smiths and the Martins, caught in a social decorum nightmare. In a world where time doesn’t exist, comedic timing was imperative to the overall hilarity. Even so, the occasional moments of improvisation or stifled laughter were the highlights of an otherwise tightly wound production.(...)
Read the rest of THEATER REVIEW: Brat Productions’ 24-hour Bald Soprano (173 words)

by emilycurrier for Critical Mass, 2010. | Permalink | 2 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Categories: Arts, Theater
Post tags: 24-hour theater, bald soprano, BRAT productions, Movie Review, second season arts

Feed enhanced by Better Feed from Ozh

It’s not that way. It’s over here!

I caught, I believe, hour 3 and part of hour 4 of Brat’s 24-hour production of The Bald Soprano. I knew it’d be weird, and boy was it, like Monty Python weird, but I didn’t expect it to be so damn funny, like Monty Python funny. I recommend checking it out before it wraps up at 8 p.m. Saturday. By morning, the make-up should be running, the actors should be exhausted and the weirdness should be intense.

by patrick rapa for Critical Mass, 2010. | Permalink | 7 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Categories: Arts, Theater
Post tags:

Feed enhanced by Better Feed from Ozh

Today’s cover package features a story on Miro Dance Theatre, which recently wrapped up a two-week trip to India for the new piece “How Am I Not Myself?” and is gearing up for a finale performance at the Painted Bride in late January. (We gave you the heads-up about the company’s latest venture back in November, when the performance was still very much a work-in-progress.)

“How Am I Not Myself?” centers on choreographer Amanda Miller’s relationship with fellow dancer Viji Rao; the two women discovered that despite being born on opposite hemispheres, their dance lives are quite parallel. CP’s Lauren F. Friedman chatted with Miller on the challenges of moving from classical to contemporary dance, which is the dominant theme running through the piece, and a dominant theme in both Rao and Miller’s lives.

Here’s an excerpt:

At the How Am I Not Myself? première in Bangalore, a conservative audience of traditional Indian dance enthusiasts packed the theater. “They didn’t understand what Viji was doing because it looked so contemporary, but whatever I did just looked like ballet to them,” explains Miller. “I have a feeling we might get the opposite reaction with Western audiences who know ballet but don’t know about Indian classical dance.”

Miller emphasizes that the dancers’ stories are the same, even though their styles of movement are different. “We share that we’re still connected to the classical and contemporary worlds,” she explains. “I’m very passionate about my teaching, but I make contemporary work. We each found another person who understood … how you could have passion for both, [and] maybe even contempt.”

We’d also like to point you in the direction of phillyist.com, which has for the past few weeks hosted the entirety of Miro’s travel videos. The latest, No. 19, is a clip from a performance in Ahmedebad. Check it out and tell me if you can figure out whether the dog’s cameo was intentional.

RELATED: 2ND SEASON ARTS: Gallery Watch

by carolyn huckabay for Critical Mass, 2010. | Permalink | 2 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Categories: Arts, Arts Events, Dance, Theater
Post tags: 2nd season arts, Dance, miro dance theatre, phillyist.com, Theater

Feed enhanced by Better Feed from Ozh

Chekhov Lizardbrain is a hot mess of a play, in a good way. When it appeared in Philly post-Obie this past December, I attended and thought it was extremely funny and full of all sorts of mysteries worth pondering, yet totally obtuse at times. Director Dan Rothenberg suffers from no illusions about Chekhov’s tendency to confuse: In an interview with The New York Times in preparation for its appearance in NYC’s Under the Radar Festival, Rothernberg admits that trying to explain what Chekhov is about is “so hard to do.” Here’s a snippet:

Q: Describe your show. The curtain comes up and there’s a man on stage. What’s going on?

A: The character bought a house, and we watch him remember and dream a history of buying that house. He’s re-living and changing his memories into his version of Chekhov’s plays. He has a strange system in his head. His ideas of Chekhov are very convoluted.

Q: What’s behind the concept for the show? Does Chekhov play a part in the story?

A: The piece was inspired by a fascination with Chekhov, and also with Temple Grandin, the autistic author who writes about animal behavior, specifically humans and the use of slaughterhouses, as well as her own autism, her own fascination with her brain and how it works. We took all of her brain fascinations and developed our own show around that.

Hit up NYT for the rest of the interview.

RELATED: REVIEW: Chekhov Lizardbrain @ Arts Bank, 12/10

RELATED: The Lizard Kings: Tweaked and polished, Pig Iron’s Obie-winner comes home to roost.

by holly otterbein for Critical Mass, 2010. | Permalink | Add the first comment | Add to del.icio.us
Categories: Philly Artists, Theater
Post tags: Chekhov Lizardbrain, Dan Rothenberg, Pig Iron Theater Co., Under the Radar Festival

Feed enhanced by Better Feed from Ozh