Fabuloso

Third Rail Rep
May 8 - 31, 2009

Review by The Mad Hatter

Characters seem lacking sense of urgency about what is happening at beginning. Show picks up pace and impact as story progresses. Unbelievably hysterical “Fame” dance kicks urgency in the pants. Metaphor of Arthur & Samantha as undesirable but absolutely necessary parts of any marriage is most powerful part of play.

Singlehandedly

Portland Story Theater
April 24 - May 9, 2009

Review by The Mad Hatter

Hipbone Studio’s producing wonderful work from eclectic companies. If each performance of Singlehandedly is powerful like Antonio Sacre then Portland Story Theatre has hit emotional pay dirt. Easily self indulgent art form becomes real, visceral – easily worth time, money spent. Lawrence Howard's story of young men finding self sweet, endearing.

String of Pearls

Artists Repertory Theatre **Photo credit: Owen Carey**
January 27 - March 8, 2009

Review by The Mad Hatter

Pearls become the wages of sin as they are passed. Tour de Force acting by all four women. Imagination, sensuality come to life. Female perspective put on stage to display with too much information. Slightly self indulgent but pointed when needed. Vana O'Brien's performance felt like a sledgehammer wielded daintily.

Apollo

Portland Center Stage **Photo credit: Sibyl Wickersheimer**
January 13 - February 8, 2009

Review by The Mad Hatter (Twitter/live blogging event)

Epic show perfectly fit short Twitter style. Continuous discussion during ponderously long scenes invited new insights and engagement. Direct focus difficult but real time criticism absolutely changed experience of watching. Too much intellectualism, not enough heart. Somewhat thought provoking, more like history lesson than commentary. Needs much editing for length.

It's A Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play

Public Playhouse
December 5 - 20, 2008

Review by The Mad Hatter

Charmingly captivating old time radio style show. Costumes were breathtakingly beautiful. Mary Bailey has megawatt smile. Potter/Uncle Billey hysterical. George hits all appropriate notes, differentiating himself from Jimmy Stewart's version. Foley sound effects delightfully accurate, evocative. Show was sadly under attended and needs more publicity – could become Portland holiday classic.

The Jungle Book

Tears of Joy Theatre
November 14 - 30, 2008

Review by The Mad Hatter

Pure, delightful, child's fantasy. Puppeteers create magical, believable world where animals talk and it doesn't matter they are puppets. Audience participation was a riot – it's easy to get 100 children to howl like a wolf. Set and lighting highly versatile and evocative. Puppets absolutely beautiful. Great cartoonish voices by actors.

Pterodactyls

Theatre Vertigo **Photo credit: Sam Kusnetz**
October 24 - November 22, 2008

Review by The Mad Hatter

Even absurdist theatre must be grounded in real emotion and this production seemed too disconnected. A great deal of stage business was done with backs to audience. Tommy was rather one note when angry, a lot of yelling, but showed nice range otherwise. Grace showed widest range of believable emotion.

Fools

Profile Theatre
October 15 - November 16, 2008

Review by The Mad Hatter

For an evening of laughs, foolishness, misunderstandings, love, and even intelligence, see Fools. Profile's cast shines in fast romp through the silliest comedy that Simon ever wrote. A few rough spots with timing that smoothed out as the evening progressed. Now that these actors are in sync, expect many laughs.

Big Words

Miriam Feder **Photo credit: John Wiley**
September 19 - 27, 2008

Review by The Mad Hatter

Started out stiff and slightly awkward. Hilarious when discussing shoes and internet dating, but otherwise there were literally nodding heads in the audience that were not so much agreeing with Federʼs statements as trying to stay awake. Enjoyable but perhaps too self-indulgent. See it again if the pace is quicker.

Eleemosynary

Readers Theatre Repertory
September 12 & 13, 2008

Review by The Mad Hatter

Not real life, but real drama. Dramatic relationship reads well on stage. Well acted, well read, but rather one note. Missing the tender moments that even the worst mother daughter relationships have. Itʼs a joy to see a rarely performed piece by great American playwright. Deserves a fully staged production.

Rabbit Hole

Artists Repertory Theatre

February 12 - March 23, 2008

Review by The Mad Hatter

Brilliantly acted gripping drama. Almost everyone in the audience profoundly affected. Slightly out of sync at the top of show, actors quickly found their groove. Type of story where audiences are uncomfortable because they identify with characters’ obtuse behaviors. Profound humor only punctuates terrible tragedy of loss.

Bodas de Sangre

Miracle Theatre
February 1 - February 23, 2008

Review by The Mad Hatter

Simple production does much to allow emotional power to flow into audience. Bibiana Lorenzo presentational powerhouse. Everyday musical instruments interesting element. Every actor clear voice and speech. Excellent use of space. Chemistry between La Novia and Leonardo wasn’t quite believable but enjoyable nonetheless. Death scene unclear. Really interesting show.

La producción simple hace mucho para permitir energía emocional de fluir en las audiencias. Powerhouse presentational de Bibiana Lorenzo. Instrumentos musicales diarios que interesan el elemento. Cada voz y discurso del claro del agente. Uso excelente del espacio. La química entre el la Novia y Leonardo era no absolutamente believable sino agradable no obstante. Escena de la muerte confusa. Demostración realmente interesante. (translated by Babelfish.com)

A Few Stout Individuals

Profile Theatre
January 16 - February 17, 2008

Review by The Mad Hatter

Searching for the right stimulus. Tragic farce covering a lot of ground. Actors characterizations very strong but there was an evident lack of listening to each other and trouble finding the rhythm. Second act much stronger in comparison. Tobias mesmerizing. David Bodin hilarious. Grace Hsu enchanting. Kenneth Dembo’s monologue powerful.


***I was supposed to review A Few Stout Individuals the night before. I arrived 7 minutes late and Profile theatre wouldn't let me in. They have a no late arrivals policy. I think this is great and I wish that more theatres would institute this policy. It keeps things on schedule and allows for an uninterrupted experience. -TMH

Petrouchka

Tears of Joy
December 28-30, 2008

Review by The Mad Hatter

The magic comes out to play when the puppets come to life. Too bad so much time is wasted watching the live actors. Janitor was hilarious, but Clown and Pie Lady lacked specificity of movement, intention that puppets clearly possessed. Puppets were creepy, funny, endearing. Ostrich bird-thing was my favorite.