"Pride and Prejudice"

February 28, 2020 — After reading Pride and Prejudice, Mark Twain said he wanted to dig up author Jane Austen and beat her over the skull with her shin bone. Too bad he didn't live to see Kate Hamill's re-imagining of the Austen classic as performed by theatre KAPOW at the Derry Opera House in Derry, New Hampshire. I'm sure he would have been pleased.

You could enjoy this madcap, irreverent adaptation of Pride and Prejudice without having read the book, but familiarity with the characters and plot would help. I never read it, but I may have seen one of many TV adaptations sometime in the past. The names Bennet, Lizzy, Mr. Darcy and Pemberley had a familiar ring to me.

All the players were dressed in stunningly beautiful, white 19th Century formal attire, except for the sneakers of various colors they all wore. Surprisingly, there's no credit for a costume designer in the program. Two actors who played dual roles, Peter Josephson as Mr. Bennet/Charlotte Lucas, and Rich Hurley as Mary/Mr. Bingley, simply donned floor-length white sashes when playing their female role. Josephson also placed a ribbon on his head held in place by a chin strap.

Jess Vaughn moved the play along with her vocals, mostly from the '80s, sung in front of the live band at the back of the stage. Making the band clearly visible rather than in a pit was the right decision. Vaughn also played the dual roles of Lady Catherine and Miss Bingley.

Glittering costumes, witty dialog, broad physical comedy, all executed perfectly by one of the largest casts I've seen in a tKAPOW performance made for a thoroughly enjoyable evening. Among the players not already mentioned were Laurie Torosian as Mrs. Bennet/Servants, Emily Karel as Lizzy, Carey Cahoon as Jane/Miss de Bourgh, Victoria Volokitkin as Lydia, Bretton Reis as Mr. Darcy and Nicholas Meunier as Wickham/Mr. Collins. The band consisted of music director Jake Hudgins on keys, Ben Ferrari on guitar, Tate Pinyochon on bass and Alex Fellows on drums.

Artistic director and tKAPOW co-founder Matt Cahoon was director and production designer. Once again, Tayva Young's lighting expertise brightened a tKAPOW play. Trey Haynes was the light board operator.

"Amelia"

"God will punish us for what we have done here." —Mary Chesnut after seeing Andersonville prison

February 23, 2020 — Bryan Halperin brought his play, "Amelia" by Alex Webb to the Winnipesaukee Playhouse (the "Winni") in Meredith, New Hampshire, a year after a successful four-performance run at the Hatbox Theatre. Halperin, one of the co-founders of the Winni, directed this very moving two-actor performance.

Set designer Hannah Joy Hopkins' minimal set consisted of a large wooden four-sided platform lying horizontally on the stage floor, open in the middle, with a post at each corner, and a screen in the background on which dim photographs of the Civil War era were projected.

Sheree Owens portrays Amelia, a headstrong young 19th Century southern woman, opinionated and outspoken, a feminist and women's rights advocate long before these issues were fashionable or even heard of. The program lists Wayne Asbury as "Ethan and others," the others being many diverse characters, male and female, among them Amelia's father, mother, a Union soldier, a Confederate soldier, a slave and others, all without costume changes or any change in his appearance, but masterfully with demeanor, attitude and inflection, in such a way that his many characters are always identifiable.

The play begins just before the Civil War. Amelia simply doesn't know her place in the opinion of her parents and others, shocked by her outspokenness, but Ethan finds it amusing. His tolerance of her opinions lead to a warming of their relationship. When news reaches them that rebels have taken Fort Sumter, Ethan and all other able-bodied men are eager to join Union forces and defeat the Confederacy, a job predicted to take no more than ninety days. Typical of her style, Amelia proposes marriage to Ethan before he reports for duty.

Amelia and Ethan exchange letters early in the war, but after more than two years pass in the estimated ninety-day conflict and Confederate victories pile up, Ethan's letters cease. This begins Amelia's harrowing journey to find Ethan, traveling alone through war zones. Along the way, she encounters a number of Asbury's characters. She's protected by a Union soldier, then later threatened by a sadistic Confederate.

Information Amelia is able to glean about Ethan's whereabouts eventually leads her to Andersonville. In desperation, she cuts her hair, dons a Union uniform and poses as a man. There was little to prepare the audience for the emotional impact of this play. The rather lighthearted beginning gives no indication of the gut-wrenching path it's headed for. Two excellent actors bring home all the brutality, savagery, appalling death toll and deprivation of the war.

Christmas 2019

December 24-25, 2019 — For the 10th year in a row, I traveled to southeastern Massachusetts to share Christmas with my extended family. Once again, the weather cooperated and there were no travel problems. Many thought it was the best Christmas ever. That's a tough decision to make. They've all been memorable get-togethers, filled with warmth, happiness and humor.

The fascinating thing to me is the growth of the family. Babies at that first party are now 10, and those that were 10 are now in college. And of course, marriages and births have brought new members to the family.

You can see my video and photo coverage of this year's festivities at this link:

https://www.linwoodstreet.com/christmas19/

"A Tuna Christmas"

December 15, 2019 — This madcap comedy is set in the now fictitious town of Tuna, Texas, although the Texas State Historical Association says such a community once existed. The Peterborough Players in Peterborough, New Hampshire presented A Tuna Christmas by Ed Howard, Joe Sears and Jaston Williams, directed by Players artistic director Gus Kaikkonen, with a cast of only two actors, Tom Frey and Kraig Swartz, playing eleven characters each, both male and female. Scenic design was by Emmy Boisvert. Special mention for this particular production has to go to costume designer Lisa Streett-Liebetrau.

Frey and Swartz, Players audience favorites and two of New Hampshire's finest comic actors, outdid themselves in this frenzy of rapid backstage costume changes, skillfully executed by actors, dressers and director. Swartz had appeared in the play some years earlier, but it was all new to Frey who said he was warned it would feel like being mugged. In one incredible scene, Frey plays two characters, each in different costume, in a shoving match. How? You have to see it!

Christmas is approaching and everyone is wondering if Vera Carp will take the prize for yard decoration for the 15th year in a row. Will the local theater production of A Christmas Carol go on, or will it be scuttled by censors and a threat by the electric company to cut the power because of unpaid bill? This doesn't look good for Stanley, out of prison, who is scheduled to appear in the play  as part of his community service, ending his probation so he can finally get out of this dead-end town. Will the unidentified "phantom" once again vandalize yard decorations?

The dialog is every bit as hilarious as the antics of the actors and the costumes. This is rural Texas, good people with small-town values which can be easily put aside for convenience. Baptists not allowed to drink? Pretend you're a Methodist. Cheating is OK if it helps someone, like fulfilling Stanley's community service.

You might not expect to find Broadway-quality shows in a theater in the New Hampshire woods, but never under-estimate Peterborough Players. This summer theater, established in 1933, has expanded its season to include three live plays in the winter, along with high-definition screenings of productions from the Met and National Theatre and other organizations.

"The Norwegians"

November 10, 2019 — There are four things that would help you in your understanding and enjoyment of "The Norwegians" by C. Denby Swanson. (1) Having lived or spent time in Minnesota. (2) Intimate acquaintance with Norwegians. (3) Having been a fan of the radio show "A Prairie Home Companion." (4) Having seen the movie "Fargo," preferably more than once. None of the preceding are essential, but without this exposure, some of the Minnesota/Norwegian humor may be lost on you.

Minnesotans and Norwegians are "nice." They're unfailingly polite, fair-minded and helpful, even Norwegian hit-men like Tor (Dan Tetreault) and Gus (Ryan Orlando). They've been hired by Olive (Melissa O'Neil) to kill her ex-boyfriend for a sin no worse then dumping her. Olive's recently acquired friend, Betty (Tracy Mullen Cosker), who she met in a restroom, also has put out a hit on her own boyfriend, who happens to be Gus, unknown to Tor.

Does this make sense? Of course it doesn't. You have to hang on to every word of dialog and pay very close attention as the play switches frequently between past and present. I admit I got lost in it and had to research it on the internet to decipher the plot points after I got home. I'm still not sure how to interpret the ending.

The play is rich in regional, religious and ethnic humor, although it's never mean-spirited. Best performance is by Cosker. Her character, Betty, delivers a hilarious monolog at the beginning of Act 2. The rest of the acting is good, but the play dragged a little, at least for me, especially in Act 1.

This was sort of an extension of my summer theater season. "The Norwegians" was staged at M&D at the Eastern Slope Inn Playhouse in North Conway, New Hampshire. Rich Russo directed, Dan Tetreault was the scenic designer, and Mary-Ellen Jordan was responsible for costumes.

"Deadly Murder"

October 7, 2019 — Camille (Wendi Yellin) is a skilled jewelry designer whose talent has lifted her from her humble beginnings to proprietor of her own highly successful business in New York and a luxurious apartment. Her only vice is a weakness for handsome young men. As the play opens, it's morning, and Billy (TJ Lamando), Camille's latest catch, is standing in Camille's apartment bare-chested, wearing only a towel.

Billy gets dressed, Camille prepares breakfast, their conversation is playful at first but takes a sinister turn when Billy reveals a knowledge of Camille's past she has carefully safeguarded. How does he know these things? As Billy becomes threatening, Camille orders him from her apartment. When he refuses to leave, Camille calls Ted (Thomas Daniels), the building security guard. Billy overpowers Ted, knocks him out, and gets possession of his gun. There's a warning in the show's program that there will be gunshots during the performance. I counted three, or maybe four, over the course of the two acts. To quote a famous Clint Eastwood line, "In all the excitement, I kind of lost count."

Yellin, Lamando and Daniels do a great job of carrying this tense, at times humorous, drama of double-crosses and switches, so many that any of your guesses as to where it's headed will almost certainly be wrong. There are several well-choreographed scenes of violence. Fortunately, the most gruesome act occurs out of sight of the audience. All I'll say is there's a lot of blood. Does the suitcase really contain a body? How can there be two murders in the cast of three, but two remain standing at the end?

I don't think "Deadly Murder," written by David Foley, rises to the level of Agatha Christie's best work, but it was fun. This production was staged at the Winnipesaukee Playhouse in Meredith, New Hampshire, and directed by Tyler Christie (no relation to Agatha). The set was designed by Hannah Joy Hopkins and costumes by DW.

"The Penelopiad"

October 6, 2019 — I'm late reviewing this play because, frankly, it was so original and unconventional I had trouble putting my impressions into words, except that I enjoyed it immensely. Performed at the Stockbridge Theatre at Pinkerton Academy in Derry, New Hampshire, by theatre KAPOW, "The Penelopiad" is based on the novella by Margaret Atwood, author of "The Handmaid's Tale."

Directed by Matt Cahoon, one of the tKAPOW co-founders, the play is a re-telling of The Odyssey from Penelope's point of view from Hades with her twelve maids, thousands of years after the events of Homer's tale. Carey Cahoon is featured in the role of Penelope. She also designed the costumes and set. The rest of the all-female cast plays multiple roles, both male and female.

With musical accompaniment and dances, Penelope reminisces about her life and experiences at the time of the Odyssey. It was another of the caliber of performances that have won Cahoon the New Hampshire Theatre Award for best actress in several past performances. Could this be another? She's on-stage almost without interruption for the entire play, with volumes of dialog. Her child-birth scene alone is worthy of a Tony Award.

Also appearing were Emma Cahoon, Gina Carballo, Jamie Clavet, Teddi May Kenick-Bailey, Heidi Krantz, Rachael Chapin Longo, Sheree Owens and Katie Proulx, an impressive collection of talent. Musicians were Jake Hudgins, Jennifer Perkins-Sciolla and Sam Sarel. Choreography was by Lorraine Chapman. Tayva Young, as she has in many tKAPOW productions, enhanced the play with her exquisite
lighting design.