Third RailApril 25 - May 24, 2008
Review by peanutduck
Kupper’s legendary combative cockerel could rule any roost. Don’t attack palsied Cuomo and Steinkamp, a.k.a. judo-masters-in-training and sexy finger champs. And the third piece happily left me in the dark. The plays are irreverent but not cruel; with laughter comes acceptance - and vice versa - of our personal disabilities/challenges/foibles/eff-ups/humanity.
2 comments:
The wicked and humane genius of Peter Barnes (The Ruling Class) is raucously realized by Third Rail. We went preview night and laughed and squirmed through the whole show, just as the playwright would have it. I'll bet the razor is just that much sharper after a few more performances.
Damon Kupper is brilliant, opening the show with fearless strutting (I nearly wept). John Steinkamp comes out swinging in the second play (you could not wipe the grin off my face). I'd say to go for just that, but there is so much more. Everyone was great, and I very much enjoyed my first experience of Mr. Cuomo.
Where'd they get those guest MCs? The less you know about the content, the better. And grab one of the home made cookies in the lobby - best ever!
I was not as knocked out by this show as I had expected to be -- but I can't fault the actors for that; I just wasn't that impressed with the writing. But the physical work of Kupper, Steinkamp, and Cuomo in the first two sketches is incredible and exhausting to watch. Stevens is marvelous as a judo instructor handling "the impossible task." I was puzzled that the final sketch opened with the couple declaiming their comments in bed, as if in a stand-up club; no sense of post-coital intimacy there. That sketch improved with the physical comedy.
Post a Comment