80’s Greed Explored in Burbage Theatre’s Excellent ‘Junk’

August 1, 2022August 31, 2022 michaelhobanLeave a comment

by Tony Annicone

After two long years, Burbage Theatre Company brings Ayad Akhtar’s Kennedy Prize winning drama “Junk” to audiences. It’s also the New England Premiere and their last show of their 10th season. Junk is based on a true story and it’s essentially The West Wing meets the Wolf of Wall Street. Junk is a sprawling epic about the Rockefellers and Vanderbilts of the 1980’s who make and break the rules of uncharted waters of finance while creating vast amounts of money for themselves. The money they garner is unbelievable as they engineer the first hostile takeover of a Dow Jones corporation and introduce the concept of debt as an asset. Is morality possible with the high stakes of involvement with money?

FIVE WOMEN WEARING THE SAME DRESS

February 18, 2022March 18, 2022 michaelhobanLeave a comment

FIVE WOMEN WEARING THE SAME DRESS (10 March to 3 April)

Burbage Theatre Company, Wendy Overly Studio Theatre, 59 Blackstone Avenue, Pawtucket, RI

1(401)484-0355 or www.burbagetheatre.org

Reviewed by Tony Annicone

Burbage Theatre Company’s opening live show of 2022 is the Rhode Island premiere of “Five Women Wearing the Same Dress” written by Alan Ball in 1993. Ball as a screenwriter wrote American Beauty, True Blood and Six Feet Under. In this hilarious comedy, the audience finds five very different bridesmaids trapped together in a room, all trying to avoid joining in the wedding reception because the only thing they have in common, is not wanting to be there at all. Each one of the women has a special relationship with the bride, Tracy. The show is set in Knoxville, TN at a wealthy family’s home. It has a lot of humorous lines and situations but also has heart with a serious part of the second act that hits home for the audience. Director Allison Crews casts these six roles splendidly, making each of her actresses into five unique and well-defined characters. Her expert direction wins the whole cast a standing ovation at the close of the show.

Burbage Theatre’s ‘Hand to God’ a Thought-Provoking, Uproarious Comedy

November 15, 2019November 26, 2019 michaelhobanLeave a comment

Reviewed by Tony Annicone

Burbage Theatre Company’s second show of their ninth season is “Hand to God” by Robert Askins. It’s the Rhode Island premiere of a dark comedy that not only leaves you laughing but contains strong dramatic moments blended together splendidly by director Kate Kataja. The show also contains perfect and spectacular technical effects. Set in a Lutheran church basement in Texas, “Hand to God” centers on a shy boy, Jason, who lost his father six months ago, and his relationship to his mother, a teacher; the church’s pastor, and two other students, the girl next door and the bully. They are involved with a “puppet” ministry when Jason’s puppet takes on its own persona, a darker side of the boy who speaks some of the thoughts he is keeping bottled up inside him. Askins uses the name Tyrone (based on the Tyrone Family in “A Long Day’s Journey into Night”) for this evil puppet. The main point is the lack of communication between mother and son on the loss of his father which he blames on his mother overfeeding him. These feelings fester into huge misunderstandings between them which leads to things being hammered out after some very dark and troubling occurrences of violence. The brilliance of this five member cast pours out to the audience all night long which wins them many laughs and a spontaneous standing ovation at the close of the show.

“OUR TOWN” (Burbage Theatre, Pawtucket, RI)

March 1, 2019March 16, 2019 michaelhobanLeave a comment

Reviewed by Tony Annicone

Let’s all head up to Grover’s Corner, New Hampshire at the turn of the 20th Century for the fifth show of Burbage Theatre’s eighth season. The show is “Our Town”, Thornton Wilder’s 1938 Pulitzer Prize winning play. The show tells about life in Grover’s Corner, New Hampshire from 1901 to 1913. This version is intimate and timely. It features a stage manager who not only explains the action of the characters but also becomes part of the show. Through the use of flashbacks, dialogue, and direct monologues, the other characters reveal themselves to the audience and interact with them. Director Mark Peckham picks the best performers to play these roles and molds them into these town folk splendidly. His cast pantomimes the props and handles the transitions from scene to scene beautifully. Peckham makes the message of live each day to its fullest ring true for contemporary audiences in the 21st Century, too.

THOM PAIN – Burbage Theater

January 1, 2019January 20, 2019 michaelhoban1 Comment

Reviewed by Tony Annicone

Burbage Theatre’s first show of 2019 is “Thom Pain” (based on nothing) which is a one man show. The play was a finalist for the 2005 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, which was won by “Doubt” by John Patrick Shanley. “Thom Pain” was written by Will Eno in 2004 and even though this Thom Paine isn’t based on the real Thomas Paine who uttered “These are the times that try men’s souls” but this one can be trying too. The main character delivers a stream of consciousness existential monologue. He is like you, only much worse. This surreal and real one man show follows Thom Pain as he desperately, and hilariously, tries to save his own life, to save your life and does so in that order. Or to at least make life into something worth dying for. In his quest for salvation, he’ll stop at nothing He tells the audience that he has suffered greatly in his lifetime. His stories are of various calamities including a young boy with a dog who died horribly, who is then stung severely by bees and when the boy grew up his experience with a woman. It is about love, pain and loss with the performer interacting with the audience and breaking the fourth wall with his monologues and soliloquies. Director Vince Petronio blocks the show marvelously using the whole playing area and he obtains a phenomenal performance from his leading man.

SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE – Burbage Theatre Company, Pawtucket, RI

July 26, 2018August 26, 2018 michaelhobanLeave a comment

Reviewed by Tony Annicone

Burbage Theatre Company’s first show of their season is the adaptation of the 1998 Academy Award winning romantic comedy “Shakespeare in Love.” It comes to the stage, complete with sword fights, secret trysts, and backstage drama. Young playwright Will Shakespeare is short on inspiration until he encounters the beguiling Viola, and their star crossed love inspires a masterpiece. Will has writer’s block with his current play he’s working on “Romeo and Ethel, the Pirate’s Daughter” which is a half ass mess. “Shall I compare to thee to a something, something, is the problem Will is facing. His patrons want comedy but Will wants more but can’t figure what that could be. Then he meets Viola, a smart beauty who loves his work and lights his creative flame. But Viola has a secret, and “Romeo” is turning out be anything but a laugh fest. Filled with action packed adventure, fiery romance, and wit, get ready to fall head over heels in love with this lush, lavish and lusty production that celebrates the power of live theatre. Jeff Church directs this Lee Hall adaptation of the Academy Award winning screenplay and comes up a winner with his huge 19 member cast.

THIS IS OUR YOUTH, Burbage Theatre Company

February 3, 2018February 3, 2019 michaelhobanLeave a comment

by Tony Annicone

Burbage Theatre Company’s alternating winter show is “This is Our Youth”, by Kenneth Lonergan who also wrote the Academy Award winning “Manchester by the Sea” in 2016. It was his first play written in 1996 and is about two disillusioned 1980’s upper West Side kids. Their parents went from have nothing liberals to financial have-it-alls with troubled family relationships and examines the lives of three post adolescents. It’s about two days in 1982, two years after Reagan became president. It is a play about relationships, the battles of youth and contains three characters with the focus on 21 year old Dennis and 19 year old Warren. Both are college drop outs and troubled sons whose fathers are financially successful but aren’t successful in their marriages. Dennis is a small time drug dealer and very manipulative while Warren is more sympathetic after being thrown out of his house by his abusive father. It hasn’t been a home for Warren since a tragedy nine years ago and he brings toys of the past with him in his suitcase as a reminder of happier times. The third cast member, Jessica remains in college and has some of the funniest lines in the play as she brings Warren out of his sexual draught he’s had for a long time. Allison Crews mines the layers of this show adeptly presenting a beautiful balance between comedy and the hidden pathos lurking underneath the pot smoking adolescents of the past.

She casts the three roles splendidly and obtains the best from each of them. Leading the cast as the seedy, volatile and aggressive Dennis is James Lucey who runs roughshod over his friend. His smart aleck character is excellently played especially impressive is James’ meltdown in the second act with the death of Stewie, the belittling behavior of his mother towards his father and his own aggressive behavior towards Warren and his girlfriend. Warren is excellently played by Brooks Shatraw whose character is very comic and awkward in Act 1 but however in Act 2, captures the inner pathos that captures the hearts of the audience at his tragic revelation from his past. Brooks delivers a terrific debut performance with Burbage, remaining onstage almost the entire show. Jessica is well played by Cassidy McCartan who has the best one liners in the show. She has some dramatic moments in Act 2 where she regrets her intimacy with Warren. So for a look at how adolescents grew out of bad habits of the past and hopefully into more productive lives in the long run by learning from their past mistakes, be sure to catch “This Is Our Youth” at Burbage Theatre Company to witness fine honed performances that can be savored all night long.

THIS IS OUR YOUTH (26 January to 24 February)

Burbage Theatre Company, 249 Roosevelt Avenue, Pawtucket, RI

1(401)484-0355 or www.burbagetheatre.org

THE GREAT GATSBY (Burbage Theatre Company, Pawtucket)

October 4, 2017December 4, 2017 michaelhobanLeave a comment

Reviewed by Tony Annicone

Burbage Theatre Company’s second show of their season is “The Great Gatsby” by F. Scott Fitzgerald. This is their first show in their new location in Pawtucket. This classic novel from 1925 has been adapted for the stage by Simon Levy, it remains the evocative story of the pursuit of wealth and romance in The Jazz Age of the roaring 1920’s. Enigmatic self-made millionaire Jay Gatsby pursues the married, moneyed Daisy Buchanan as his party guests drink and Charleston their frenzied way of life at his opulent Long Island mansion.