"The Torch Bearers"

August 29, 2010 — I couldn't really get into this production of the comedy "The Torch Bearers" at the Peterborough Players in Peterborough, New Hampshire. It's extremely rare for me to be disappointed by a Players performance, but I think the problem with this one is that it's dated. Many works survive the test of time and are relevant in any era, but this isn't one of them. Written in 1922 by George Kelly, it concerns an egomaniacal female stage director who convinces a woman with little talent she can play a part in a play after the original actress bowed out due to her husband's death.

I found the dialog unfunny for the most part. The situations weren't particularly amusing, and the play became tedious for me, not helped by the uncomfortably warm theater on an unseasonably hot late summer afternoon. The second act, which is about a fumbling cast of clueless, incompetent actors attempting to stage their play before a live audience, did have its funny moments, but two-thirds of the play were a drag. The problem wasn't the acting, which was brilliant, especially by the always excellent Lisa Bostnar and the popular scene-stealing Carmen Decker. The sets were beautifully constructed and the costumes were stunning. The problem was out-of-date humor.

"The Mystery of Irma Vep"

August 25, 2010 — The Barnstormers Summer Theatre in Tamworth, New Hampshire is wrapping up its 80th anniversary season with "The Mystery of Irma Vep," a hilariously funny play by avant-garde playwright Charles Ludlam. Two of the Barnstormers' best actors, Scott Severance and Billy Butler, play seven, or maybe eight, male and female roles. A non-stop barrage of puns, double entendres and lots of sexual innuendo, some of it subtle, some blatant, and outrageously campy over-acting, keep the play moving at a manic pace.

The many costume changes took place with amazing speed, and the actors, sometimes undergoing two or three role changes in minutes, slipped into their various impersonations without a hitch. With locales from the English moors to Egypt, then back to the moors, the two-hour play needed two intermissions to facilitate its set changes.

This was a great season-ender for the Barnstormers. After driving to Weirs Beach just the day before, and leaving for a trip to the North Country for the annual Moose Festival in two days, I didn't really feel like driving to Tamworth and was regretting having made the reservation on this date. However, I had no regrets at all once this outlandishly funny play got underway. It was definitely an evening well-spent.

"Crossing Delancey"

August 24 — At the beginning of the summer theatre season, when I learned "Crossing Delancey" was going to be staged at the Winnipesaukee Playhouse at Weirs Beach, New Hampshire, I put it on my list of must-see plays. I had long been curious about it, never having seen the 1988 movie with Amy Irving, nor a stage production.

I saw it tonight, the last performance on the final evening of the Winnie's season. Sweet and sentimental as it was, it didn't work for me. I just couldn't get into it. It had its funny and poignant moments, but the actors just weren't making their characters likable for me, a problem I've had with more than one Winnipesaukee production this summer. I missed some dialog when the actors mumbled their lines.

Sorry I couldn't give a better review, but this production just didn't inspire me in any way. I was happy when it was over.

"Hair"

August 18, 2010 — In 2005, I saw a cleaned up presentation of "Hair" at the now closed Lakes Region Summer Theatre in Meredith, New Hampshire. The performance I saw tonight was not cleaned up at all. This was definitely an R-rated show. All the profanity, brazen sexuality, drug use and bashing of "traditional" American values of the original were kept intact. The only thing omitted was the final mass nude scene, but this was North Conway, New Hampshire, not Broadway.

In this production by the Mount Washington Valley Theatre Company at the Eastern Slope Inn Playhouse, the cast was in costume and circulating through the audience in their roles as drugged out hippies 15 minutes before showtime. The walls of the theatre were covered with peace symbols, "Make Love Not War" signs and other '60s counter culture paraphernalia.

Dated, yes, but still grandly entertaining. The talent was terrific and the songs, "Age of Aquarius," "Good Morning, Star Shine" and others, were belted out with great enthusiasm. The cast circulated through the audience throughout the play, occasionally teasing audience members and drawing them into the spirit of the performance. Some may have found it a bit uncomfortable, like when one of the actors ripped off his jeans on stage and came down and handed them to a woman in the audience (he was wearing underwear).

I loved this show. This is the type of play the Eastern Slope Inn Playhouse really does well. It reminded me of the Playhouse's production of "La Cage aux Folles" in 2007 in its energy, exuberance and unbridled sexiness.

"The Ghost Train"

August 12, 2010 — In observance of their 80th season, America's oldest professional summer stock theatre is repeating their first-ever production in 1931, "The Ghost Train." That theatre is The Barnstormers in Tamworth, New Hampshire, where I have enjoyed many performances over the years.

This production of "The Ghost Train" was a little disappointing to me, although most of the audience seemed enthralled by it. I thought the actors didn't seem quite comfortable in their roles, even though this was the third performace of the play. There was more stumbling over lines than I'm used to hearing at a Barnstormers production. Even Dee Nelson, one of my favorites and winner last year of the New Hampshire Theatre Award for best supporting actress, wasn't at her best. An exception was Scott Severance who pretty much stole the show in an over-the-top performance as a dandy British tourist, although at times I found him more annoying than funny.

The play takes place in a railroad station where a group of passengers has been stranded when they miss a connection and learn there won't be another train until the next morning. That is, of course, except for the ghost train, which the creepy station master informs them may cause the death of anyone who sees it. The train effects were well-done, consisting of bells, roar of the steam engine, screeching brakes and flashing lights. Overall, I don't regret having seen the play. It was sufficiently funny and suspenseful with a neat surprise twist at the end. It just wasn't up to The Barnstormers' best work.

"Tartuffe"

August 10, 2010 — Could I relate to "Tartuffe," a 17th Century play by Moliere? I'm more at home with "Bye Bye Birdie," "Hair" and Agatha Christie mysteries, plays I can understand. True, I enjoy Shakespeare, but explanations of the bard's works abound. He's familiar. We see his plays over and over. We studied him in high school. Moliere plays are rarely staged anywhere any more. We know little about him. And the 17th Century is so...so...well, so 17th Century.

"Tartuffe," as presented by the Peterborough Players in Peterborough, New Hampshire, translated from the French by artistic director Gus Kaikkonen, is above all hilariously funny, but also completely relevant to 21st Century sensibilities. Spoken in rhyming verse by a cast of New Hampshire's best actors decked out in splendid 17th Century French costumes, with a bit of slapstick now and then, and some occasional present-day slang thrown in, the play pillories religious hypocrisy. When the play was first staged in 1664, Louis XIV loved it, but banned it anyway when the Archbishop of Paris threatened to excommunicate anyone who performed in it.

There's an enormous amount of dialog in the play which the actors pulled off without a hitch for the most part, but there were a few uncomfortably long pauses that may have been deliberate, but could just as well have been caused by someone forgetting their lines. But that's a minor complaint. Kaikkonen's translation, great comic performances by Players regulars Ian Merrill Peakes, Lisa Bostnar, David Haugen, Carmen Decker, Dale Hodges, Karen Peakes and a terrific supporting cast made for a wonderfully entertaining evening.

"Dr. Cook's Garden"

August 5, 2010 — Returning to the Winnipesaukee Playhouse in Weirs Beach, New Hampshire for the first time since seeing "Scotland Road" on July 13, I was amazed at the transformation of the stage. Far from "Road's" stark, white-walled set with a single chair for a prop, tonight's set consisted of a 1960's-style fully furnished doctor's office alongside a receptionist's office and waiting room, also furnished in '60's tradition.

Tonight's offering was "Dr. Cook's Garden" by Ira Levin, author of "Deathtrap" and "Rosemary's Baby." The Levin style is to take normal, happy people in everyday situations and gradually plunge them into a dark, sinister world of fear, danger, sometimes the supernatural, and often death. In "Dr. Cook," young Dr. Tennyson returns to his small hometown in Vermont for a visit after completing his internship in Chicago. He's joyfully welcomed by friends and associates, including his mentor, Dr. Cook. He's overwhelmed with invitations to visit various families and urged to stay longer than the single weekend he planned. The overall feeling is one of warmth and good intentions. However, the tone of the play turns sinister when a vile secret is revealed.

The original Broadway play lasted only a week when director George C. Scott walked out and there were threats to blow up the theater if the production went ahead. The sensitive and controversial subject matter would make nary a ripple today, but was rarely addressed publicly in 1967.

This production of "Dr. Cook's Garden," however, left me unsatisfied. The actors just weren't up to making their characters compelling, especially during the first half of the play which sets the stage for the darkening, fateful second half. They would have done better to speak in their normal voices rather than imitate Vermont accents, which would never have fooled a Vermonter. I sensed a lack of enthusiasm in the audience. At one point, I overheard someone behind me whisper, "Boring." The tense, suspenseful events of the play's last hour, however, were gripping enough.

Not every production can be a winner. I'm looking forward to their final play of the season, "Crossing Delancey." I'm a loyal fan of the Winnipesaukee Playhouse. Most of their plays are excellent. It's a small, intimate theatre with the audience close to the stage, although plans are underway to build a new state-of-the-art theatre and campus in Meredith.

"Macbeth"

August 4, 2010 — Leave it to Artistic Director Donna Devlin-Young, Executive Manager Will Hammond and their superb acting troupe to make Shakespeare's arguably most brutal and sadistic play a fun evening for families. This evening, Theatre Under the Stars staged "Macbeth" at the Jewish Center of New Hampshire in Manchester. The play was performed on a children's playground and the cast made effective use of playground equipment as part of their stage.

Although somewhat shortened, the play was faithful to Shakespeare's original. Superfluous dialog and characters were cut, but so skillfully the sense of the play and its dramatic flow were unimpeded. Will and Donna had the lead rolls of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth and played their parts with such evil menace, they drew appreciative boos from the enthusiastic audience.

The players were dressed in full period costume, the only way I like my Shakespeare. The witches were a hoot. All supporting actors turned in excellent performances and it was a thoroughly enjoyable evening, in spite of some very un-Elizabethan background noise, such as fire sirens and planes flying overhead. Several children in the audience, no doubt bored with all that incomprehensible (to them) dialog, found their own entertainment on some playground equipment behind the audience and out of the way of the action.

Theatre Under the Stars' 2010 season is nearing its end. What's left of their schedule can be found on their website at:

http://www.shakespeareinthevalley.com/