Eric Mendenhall and Elizabeth Birkenmeier inThe Cha-Cha of a Camel Spider.By Hap ErsteinWhether or not the pen is truly mightier than the sword, playwright Carter W. Lewis is out to prove in his enigmatically titled The Cha-Cha of a Camel Spider that slam poetry can trump a mercenary private army.If that sounds like an unlikely match-up, then you are grasping the … [Read more...]
Theater roundup: Two by Tracy Letts
The cast of August: Osage County, at Actors’ Playhouse. By Hap ErsteinIn order to maximize the chances of being produced in these precarious economic times, most writers now limit themselves in their plays’ cast size and physical requirements.But every now and again comes an Angels in America or a Coast of Utopia, from playwrights who dare to think on a grand … [Read more...]
Theater review: Smart, crisp ‘Farragut North’ at GableStage
Nick Duckart and Betsy Graver in Farragut North.(Photo by George Schiavone)By Hap ErsteinAnyone who has heard artistic director Joe Adler’s impassioned, rambling introductory remarks at GableStage knows he cannot repress his views on politics. So he understandably could not resist bringing Beau Willimon’s backroom, back-stabbing campaign morality play, Farragut North, to his … [Read more...]
Theater review: GableStage’s ‘reasons’ mines white-hot emotions
Erin Joy Schmidt and Ricky Waugh in reasons to be pretty.(Photo by George Schiavone) By Hap ErsteinNeil LaBute’s reasons to be pretty, with which he made his overdue Broadway debut last season, is considered more gentle than his usual exercises in the gender wars. Maybe so, but you would never know it from the opening tirade by a young, attractive woman who goes ballistic at … [Read more...]