Northwest Classical Theatre Co.September 5 - October 12, 2008
Review by peanutduck
Engaging. Perfectly cast. Points of horrific beauty. Erickson’s direction cleverly plays the black comedy in Ibsen’s psychological drama about a beautiful, desperate woman’s destructive power. Notices: Anderson (Hedda) and Healy’s (a slippery Brack) flirtatious power play; Whitney’s (Mrs. Elvsted) complex simplicity; Hillis’s (Tesman) bumbling naivete; Angelo’s (Lovborg) barely constrained passion.
15 comments:
should be good. this group is always solid.
Good acting, interesting use of the space for this group. I enjoyed the show, but did Ibsen mean for it to be both so funny and so dark? Allison and Paul should do every show together, their chemistry in this was as palpable as when they were in Macbeth a couple of years ago.
GREAT casting, wonderful directing, good acting. I'd highly recommend this show for anyone who is interested in seeing a well-done performance and a stellar cast! Very intriguing!!!
The fact that this show was done in the shoebox made it better than any production of this show I've seen before. Because the theatre is so small made it so that you WERE in the living room watching the play unfold.
Brilliant acting, especially on Anderson's part. Supporting cast is spot-on.
And whoever said it first was right: this show was cast perfectly!
This is the first time I've seen Angelo in a role after hearing about him a lot. I was floored at his nuanced, detailed performance which was not over the top. All actors shined. Hillis' resticted George is something to see. A wonderful show all around. Don't miss it, when else do you get to see plays like this done so well.
I found the production to be quite flat. There was a great deal of energy and precision but no actual understanding of the text. As a result the characters weren't nuanced and the play ran on, and on, without any real conflict.
I saw the show last Sunday and also enjoyed it. But I feel that the performances were uneven. Healy, Angelo, & Whitney were great. Anderson was fine as always. Don't get me wrong she's talented and I enjoy her work but she seems stagnant as an actor. I'd like her to do something new. Hillis was fine as well. The director (don't know who it was) did a excellent job.
great show! simply the best work i've seen from this group. and i agree that the casting was perfect.
A solid show, but not spectacular. Very well cast, yes: Angelo understatedly magnetic for how comparatively little time he spent on stage, Healy attractive and believable as a respected and powerful member of a small city who works the angles, Hillis okay as a simple-minded husband/academic (though he doesn't really look Norwegian), Whitney fine as a bubble-headed young wife. An extra tip of the hat to Melinda Strobel as "Auntie" Juliana Tesman -- very strong and authentic performance -- and Mary Erwin was excellent as the maid. About Allison Anderson . . . I agree that she could use a change-up role. She's a strong, charismatic actress, and pulled some power out for this role, but she seemed a little brittle, a little too obviously scheming to attract scads of men who would not have seen through her. I think she played to the audience a little to much, instead of to the other characters on stage. I wonder if perhaps Hedda should be more opaque to the audience as well as to the rest of the characters. Wonderful to watch, in any case, in any show, though. The director was Racheal Erickson, and I think she did excellent work with this cast.
So, anonymous, are you bothered by the fact that NWCTC didn't enforce the "whites only" rule with this show?
. . yet anonymous-6:51pm was not bothered by the fact that the show wasn't in its original Norwegian. They should take a gander at David Loftus who's of Norwegian ancestry, but has an atypical look.
Other then that, simply stated this is the best work I've seen from Allison Anderson who shown out from an already terrific cast. If the character seems a little "too" scheming, that have more to do with a 120-year old script.
Decent point, Jeremy, but I doubt _I'd_ rush to cast me as a Norwegian character. Many other things I'm not -- Russian, Latino, West Indian, Native American, Japanese, even Mephistophelean -- before Norwegian, I'm afraid. I liked NWCTC's "Hedda," by the way.
Oh snap Loftus, Jeremy said you had an "atypical look."
I require more conflict on this page, please fight back.
Oops, I forgot. I AM Japanese, along with the Norwegian. Got carried away there.
And Murray, I strongly disagree with your demand for conflict.
"Bring it on! I prefer a fair fight to all of this sneakin' around!"
-Clifford, Henry 6, p3, Act 1, Scene 3.
Post a Comment