The Port City Players’ production of Christopher Durang’s The Actor’s Nightmare and Sister Mary Ignatius Explains It All For You had audience members busting at the sides from a show filled with slapstick, physical comedy. Albeit full of dark humor, Durang’s work brings a sarcastic and absurdist twist to situations that would otherwise be pretty mundane, and the ensemble of these two one acts understood that concept, though only to a certain extent with jokes either missing the punchline, or jokes that receive reaction from the audience too late.

The Actor’s Nightmare presented George Spelvin, played by Ric Anderson, who woke up in a production he did not know he was starring in. The ensemble went about the show as planned, but were stunned that Spelvin had no idea where he was, or what he was supposed to do, which lead to many moments of humor.

Sister Mary Ignatius Explains It All For You was more of an entertaining lecture rather than a story with an obvious plot. Sister Mary, played by Amy Solo, introduced herself at the beginning and explained her take on The Ten Commandments and God’s lessons to the audience with the help of her student Thomas, played excellently by Remy Brettell.

Given the limited resources of the Lab at Convergence, director Shawn g. [sic] Byers did a great job of working with his given circumstances. He kept his blocking simple, which allowed focus to remain on what the actors were saying, especially in Actor’s Nightmare, which is full of references to other famous shows. The set design and tech effects also kept to the simple rather than being anything too complicated for the theatre.

Finally, Byers cultivated the relationships between the characters in both shows with an ensemble that clearly bonded well during the rehearsal process. There really is no room to talk about individual, stand out performances because the two shows rely heavily on an ensemble. It took a cohesive ensemble to communicate the main messages and comedy within each story, and that shined through in this production.

For a night of continuous laughter provided by a unique two-for-one show, then don’t wait to check out the Port City Players before these shows close on October 2nd!

Director’s Note

My long love affair with the works of Christopher Durang started as a young college freshman at a small religious affiliated school tucked in the middle of nowhere Ohio. It was this young impressionable mind that first encountered the biting, dark humor that doesn’t just invoke laughter, but challenges the mind. As a closeted gay man raised in the Bible Belt, I had begun to question the religious nature of my upbringing. I didn’t understand how a perfect God could have made me wrong. It was with these thoughts that I first read Sister Mary Ignatius Explains It All For You. At the time I related to Diane. I had grown to hate religion that taught me that I was going to hell.

I left university and went to graduate school, where I revisited Sister Mary and The Actor’s Nightmare and decided to direct the two shows as my second year directing project. As I studied the two pieces together, I realized what a dynamic companion piece The Actor’s Nightmare is to Sister Mary. I ended up leaving graduate school before I was able to complete this project.

Fast-forward nine years… I read that Port City Playhouse was going to do Sister Mary Ignatius and The Actor’s Nightmare and realized it was an opportunity to complete the project I was never able to finish. The only problem was, many things had happened to me in those nine years. My perspective had changed. I had come to terms with my spirituality and come to respect and revere the lessons of my upbringing. So I reread the scripts and realized that the message for me had changed but was nonetheless ever strong and powerful. I found that unlike the naïve youth, I didn’t just identify with one character. I found little of myself in all of the characters. Like George, I have felt lost and out of place; like Sister Mary, I have felt that all-consuming righteous indignation; like Diane, I have felt the pain of loss and suffering; and like Gary, I have taken a rocky journey and found a peace that may work for everyone, but works for me… for now.

Photo Gallery

Aimee Meher-Homji	Jason Wonacott, Ric Anderson, Larissa Norris
Ric Anderson	Amy Solo
Amy Solo, Remy Brettell	Jason Wonacott, Aimee Meher-Homji

Photos provided by Port City Playhouse

Actor’s Nightmare Cast:

• George Spelvin: Ric Anderson
• Meg: Larissa Noris
• Sarah Siddons: Amy Solo
• Ellen Terry: Aimee Meher-Homji
• Henry Irving: Jason Wonacott

Sister Mary Cast

• Sister Mary Ignatius: Amy Solo
• Thomas: Remy Brettell
• Gary Sullavan: Jason Wonacott
• Diane Symonds: Aimee Meher-Homji
• Philomena Rostovich: Larissa Norris
• Aloysius Busiccio: Ric Anderson

Crew

• Co-Producers: Sisie Poole and Frank Pasqualino
• Director: Shawn g. Byers
• Stage Manager: Sarah Boyd
• Asst. Stage Manager: Rachel Gehring
• Technical Director: Frank Pasqualino
• Asst. Lighting Designer: Jon Poole
• Lighting Crew: Rachel Lau
• Sound Designer: Frank Pasqualino
• Sound Crew: Samantha Poole
• Asst. Set Designer: Jon Poole
• Tech Crew: John Brettell, Mike deBlois, Rupert Kraus, Rachel Lau, John Poole, Sam Poole, Susie Poole, Joe Quinn, Dick Schwab, Cal Whitehurst
• Properties Designer: Marcia Carpentier
• Props Crew: Mary Beth O’Donnell
• Costume Designer: Linda Swann
• Accent Coach: Carol Strachan
• Graphics: Mike O’Sullivan
• Publicity: Cal Whitehurst
• Box Office: Joan Silver

Disclaimer: Port City Playhouse provided two complimentary media tickets to ShowBizRadio for this review.

A View From the Bridge presents the story of Eddie Carbone, a man concerned with loyalty, reputation and family, but unhealthily obsessed with preventing his niece, Catherine, from ever growing up, and narrated by Eddie’s counsel, Alfieri.

The play begins in Eddie’s home where the audience meets his wife Beatrice, and Catherine in a discussion of whether his young niece will receive his blessing to work. Soon after, Beatrice’s cousins, Marco and Rodolpho, come to New York illegally to stay with them to find employment. As the story progresses, the young Catherine falls in love with the flamboyant, caring Rodolpho, which contributes to Eddie’s slow decline from loving, overprotective uncle to an obsessed, plotting maniac.

Arthur Miller is not known for writing comedies, but director Kevin O’Connell found ways to highlight the lighter, comedic moments to prevent a tragic story from being tragic from the start. The major shift in moods between scenes and moments were well identified and provided the correct overall journey for each character. O’Connell also did a great job of creating the atmosphere of living in Brooklyn with ensemble members playing people passing by the Carbone home in the street.

The narrator Alfieri, played warmly by Bob Ashby (Editor’s note: Bob is a reviewer for ShowBizRadio.), acknowledged that he told the story “like a dream” as he recalled events from memory. That line was memorable because it described exactly how the show read from the audience. Although the connections between characters were real, small aspects like their accents, overseen by dialect coach Gary Sullivan, at times proved too distracting and often made the characters, specifically Marco, Rodolpho and Catherine, seem like caricatures rather than real people.

But accents aside, Beatrice, played by Alyssa Sanders, and Catherine, played by Lizzi Albert, both found a wonderful dynamic in the relationship between an aunt and niece full of teen angst who live in the shadow of their overbearing patriarch. Marco, played by Heath Dillard, and Rodolpho, played by Jeff McDermott, gave good performances as light-hearted, fresh-faced immigrants looking for new opportunities in America.

The most moving performance of the evening, however, came from Eddie, played by Michael J. Galizia, who provided an excellent character transformation from start to finish. He was able to draw up feelings of conflict for those in the audience who understand the difficult process of a parent letting a child go, and wowed viewers when he took that process to the obsessive extreme. Amid a few line slip-ups that could be chalked up to opening night jitters, Galizia gave a commanding and impressive performance overall.

On the show’s technical side, some scene transitions were too slow and left the audience in an extended amount of time in the dark, detracting from the overall experience, but the lighting design by Peter Caress was quite impressive. The set, designed by Bill Brown and Eric Henry, combined with scenic designer Melanie Papasian’s cartoon-like, bright colors contributed to the theme of Alfieri’s memory recall. Fight choreography provided by Carl Long was well executed by Galizia. Costumes by Sarah Kendrick and set dressings by Nancy Eynon Lark were all period appropriate and gave a good sense of authenticity to the scenes presented.

A View from the Bridge is a great lesson in letting go, growing up and the pain that can come with unwanted change, so be sure to catch an opportunity to see one of Arthur Miller’s best dramas.

Director’s Note

Arthur Miller wrote that his literary forerunner Henrik Ibsen’s greatest gift to playwrights was the example he created with his “insistence, his utter conviction, that he is going to say what he has to say, and that the audience, by God, is going to listen. It is the very same quality,” Miller continued, “that makes a star actor, a great public speaker, and a lunatic. Every Ibsen play begins with the unwritten words: “Now, listen here!”

Miller found in this quality of Ibsen’s “a profound source of strength.” Like Ibsen, Miller is clear about what he wants to say and compels his audience to pay attention and understand it. A View from the Bridge is a prime example of this straightforward style, a cause-and-effect tragedy of the common man that proceeds relentlessly to its inevitable end.

It is now the job of the star actors, great public speakers, and lunatics who make up the extraordinary cast and crew of our production to tell this story. What more can a director add? Maybe just this: Now listen here!

Cast

• Louis: Phil Kibak
• Mike: George Tamerlani
• Alfieri: Bob Ashby
• Eddie: Michael J. Galizia
• Catherine: Lizzi Albert
• Beatrice: Alyssa Sanders
• Marco: Heath Dillard
• Tony: Patrick Opitz
• Rodolpho: Jeff McDermott
• Charly: Gary Sullivan
• Dominick: Art Salwin
• Mr. Lipari: Pat Miller
• Mrs. Lipari: Dominique Marro
• Submarine: Patrick Opitz
• Mrs. Dondero: Jaqueline Sternberg
• Neighbors: Jessamine Hickson and Lavin Kelly

Production Staff:

• Producers: Malca Giblin and Elaine Hoover
• Director: Kevin O’Connell
• Stage Manager: Diane Pick
• Assistant Director: Caroline Duffy
• Set Design: Bill Brown and Eric Henry
• Master Carpenter: Eric Henry
• Scenic Design: Melanie Papasian
• Construction and Painting Crew: Frank Adler, Drew Casterano, Mary Dalto, Brian Dettling, Caroline Duffy, Tony Dwyer, Malca Giblin, Ivonne Gonzalez, Dave Kaysen, David Levin, Jeff McDermott, Pat Miller, Sander Mulder, Kevin O’Connell, Patrick Opitz
• Properties: Mary Dalto
• Set Dressing: Nancy Eynon Lark
• Lighting Design: Peter Caress
• Lighting Execution: Asma Husna
• Sound Design: Kevin O’Connell
• Sound Execution: Caroline Duffy
• Costumes: Sarah Kendrick, Charlotte Hankin
• Hair and Makeup: Malca Giblin
• Dialect Coach: Gary Sullivan
• Fight Choreographer: Carl Brandt Long
• Dance Choreographer: Charlotte Hankin
• Program Design: Annette Kalicki and David Levin
• Graphic for Program Cover: Mary Dalto
• Publicity: Ken Kemp
• Stage Crew: Meem Haque, Ananto Islam, Ramah Eynon Lark, Amina Mainuddin, Asmira Nainuddin
• House Manager: Jean Case
• Reception and Concessions: Fran Levin

Disclaimer: Rockville Little Theatre provided two complimentary media tickets to ShowBizRadio for this review.