Suppositional history is a specialty of playwright Mark St. Germain, as he demonstrated in Freud’s Last Session, The Best of Enemies and Camping with Henry and Tom, plays of fiction that bring together notable real-life characters, unconstrained by any knowledge of what actually occurred at their meetings. A case in point is Camping With Henry and Tom, which explores a … [Read more...]
‘Death of a Salesman’ shows Dramaworks at its best
In its 25 years of existence, Palm Beach Dramaworks has gradually altered its emphasis toward the development of new work. But seeing its current, emotionally shattering production of Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman reminds us that what it does best is tackle the major classics of the American theater, particularly the Pulitzer Prize winners. Seventy-five years ago, … [Read more...]
Dramaworks reaffirms relevance of ’12 Angry Men’ in searing production
By Sharon Geltner “One man is dead. The life of another is at stake. I urge you to deliberate honestly and thoughtfully. If there is a reasonable doubt --- then you must bring me a verdict of ‘not guilty.‘” The judge’s instructions open Twelve Angry Men, the classic American drama by Reginald Rose, set in a dingy conference room in 1954. The Palm Beach Dramaworks … [Read more...]
Older, but still relevant: ‘Twelve Angry Men’ heads to Dramaworks
Although written 68 years ago, Reginald Rose’s jury room melodrama Twelve Angry Men is surprisingly apt to our current social and political Zeitgeist. So says Palm Beach Dramaworks’ producing artistic director William Hayes, who had been planning to revive the play two years from now during the stage company’s 25th anniversary season. “With all that’s going on, the gender … [Read more...]
Character is fuel for Kessler’s new ‘House on Fire’
The gravitational pull – and push – of family is at the heart of Lyle Kessler’s comic drama, House on Fire, now receiving its world premiere at Palm Beach Dramaworks after years of in-house development. Prodigal son Colman reluctantly returns to his Fishtown Philadelphia home, a baseball memorabilia-cluttered abode, after 10 years away from his toxic father. But now the … [Read more...]
Playwright Kessler tackles family conflict in world-premiere ‘House on Fire’
Although Lyle Kessler has been writing plays for the past 35 years, he is still best known for his early unconventional family play, Orphans, which has been produced around the world and was made into a 1987 feature film that starred Albert Finney. But Kessler has a new play that he feels can eclipse Orphans, another offbeat family drama called House on Fire, developed … [Read more...]
At Dramaworks, Donohoe finds depth in Capote’s cattiness
As one-man shows — that most artificial of theater genres — go, Jay Presson Allen’s Tru, a biographical slice of Truman Capote’s life, is better than most. It takes place on Christmas Eve, 1975, soon after the great Southern writer and social butterfly has published a sizeable excerpt of his scandalous roman à clef, Answered Prayers. Shunned by his former friends from high … [Read more...]
Actor Donohoe digging deep to bring ‘Tru’ alive
Palm Beach Dramaworks audiences have seen New York-based actor Rob Donohoe many times before, in such diverse plays as Exit the King, The History Boys and The Pitmen Painters. But they have never seen anything quite like his transformation as manic-depressive gay Southern writer Truman Capote in the one-man show, Tru. Donohoe’s acceptance of the role was the condition that … [Read more...]