The Skin Game [B]

Warning: I think I liked this play better than my friends who went with me.

It's a John Galsworthy play from 1920, and it's very dated. It's about the conflict between English gentlemen (and women) and rich English people who are not (yet?) gentlemen. The play's purpose seems to be to pose questions, rather than to suggest answers. While this is somewhat unsatisfying, I like this kind of puzzler.

The show was marred by a partial power failure in the middle that lead to lessened lighting, and NO AIRCONDITIONING!

The Agony and The Agony [A]

This was a reading at the Vineyard theatre of a new Nicky Silver play, and it was one of the funniest evenings I can ever recall. I loved the show. If it every gets produced as a full-fledged production, run right out and see it.

Beast on the Moon [C+]

This play is billed as being about the Armenian holocaust, but it's not. It's more about the struggles of one Armenian family that immigrated to America, and the personal difficulties they had. Granted these personal problems were all shadows of the Armenian holocaust, but the actual events of the holocaust were only a backdrop to the personal struggles and successes of this family. It's a very nice show, but ultimately it didn't grab me.

People Are Living There [D]

I really like Athol Fugard, but I really didn't like this show/production. I found it slow and wandering. Occasionally, I got involved in the pathos of the characters, but only occasionally.

Miss Julie [C]

This show got good reviews, but it just didn't work for me; maybe it was because of the hot, uncomfortable theatre. Anyway, I did like some of the banter, and I did find it intellectually interesting how the characters balanced (or failed to balance) their desires with their status, and I did feel the tension as the plot evolved. With all those "likes", you'd think I liked the show better than I did, but I found myself looking at my watch and wishing it would move faster (both the play and the watch).

Screen Play [C+++]

This reading is a very amusing rewrite of the movie "Casablanca", but it takes place in Buffalo, NY, and the bad guys are the Republicans. It's quite funny, but quite unfinished.

BFE [B+]

Karen says: "unfinished but good" and I think that pretty much nails it. Not unfinished in the sense of incomplete, but unfinished in the sense of unpolished. Julia Cho, an author that I really like, has written an excellent show about teen angst - but the kind of teen angst that shows up in us adults every now and again: longing (sometimes without even knowing what we are longing for), desire, and disappointment with ourselves whether it be our physical selves or our psychological selves. All of this is viewed through the lens of the image-driven world we currently inhabit. This show definitely has something to think about… and to feel about.

The Constant Wife [B+]

This very clever period piece get's off to a slow start, but picks up nicely at the end of act one. Burton and Redgrave are both excellent, as expected, but so are the other (minor) characters. It's really a very polished night of theatre with a very witty script underlying it all.

Flight [C]

This is a show that purports to be an "almost" true biography of certain aspects of Charles Lindbergh's life. It was very interesting in an intellectual sense - I learned much about Lindbergh that I never knew, but it misses the mark as theatre: Adequate, but slightly wooden acting, and no emotional interest whatsoever.

Altar Boyz [B+]

This one's really fun. It's not great theatre, but it's a hoot to watch. It's a mock Christian Rock concert, and it pokes fun right and left, but always with gentle humor.

On Golden Pond [C+]

Even though I only give this one a C+, I would recommend seeing it. James Earl Jones is really good, and it's a pleasant enough evening's entertainment. Unfortunately, the rest of the cast is not up to Jones's level.

Light on the Piazza [B-]

Maybe even C+. It was beautiful to watch, and Victoria Clark was very good in the lead role, but it just wasn't engaging. Not my cup of tea, maybe. On the good side, I really did feel like I was in Florence. This show had, probably, the best use of lighting of any show I've ever seen (except maybe "Tommy").