Laura: This is the ShowBizRadio.net review of No Exit, performed by the Leesburg Theatre Company, in Purcellville, VA. Mike and I saw the Saturday evening, February 9, 2008, performance.

Mike: This is a deep show. You get into a lot of existential questions and a few answers, but a lot of questions, such as “why am I here?” “what’s my purpose in life?” and it’s an interesting take on it. Not a fun show really, but there are some good bits in it.

Laura: This was a thinking show, had a lot of deep messages. Also, kind of made you stop and ponder the meaning of life, and how you live your life, and the consequences of the choices and actions that you make. It was very well acted, there were actually some funny lines in the show, but overall it was a deep serious one.

Mike: No Exit is a play by John-Paul Sartre, adapted from the French by Paul Bowles. Three people are introduced into a room with only one exit, no mirrors, and no windows that go anywhere. What are they doing there? They’re not quite sure, until one of them realizes that they’re in Hell, and Hell is other people.

Laura: The first person to enter the room was Vincent, played by Hans Dettmar. He was a little bit nervous, he wasn’t quite sure what was going on, realized he was a little bit uncomfortable about being the only one there, until the bellboy told him there will be others coming in. So then he was willing to wait, but once he was by himself he was nervous again and started pacing and trying to look for the exit, and then realized there was no exit.

Mike: I think the Vincent character was the most obnoxious person, and I think being stuck with him would be Hell. That was just, I don’t even know what to say about him, the character was quite annoying. He wasn’t strong enough to stand up to the women, or to say what he really wanted, and just really obnoxious. Not obnoxious I guess, but just disagreeable, whiny a little bit.

Inez though came in, played by Marianne Meyers, and she was annoying too, but in a totally different way. She was very smart, and she figured out where they were, and what the deal was, and was condescending, and was another person I don’t want to be stuck in an elevator with, let alone Hell for eternity.

Laura: She was kind of freaky, she made me feel a little bit uncomfortable, just because I felt like she was going to pounce at any moment, not necessarily physically, but more verbally. She was very angry.

Mike: And the third person to join the room was Estelle, played by Leah Daily. She was very self-obsessed. One of her first lines was “Where are the mirrors? I need a mirror to make sure my makeup is ok.” And didn’t really get past the superficiality of herself. She did have one line late in the show that I liked “Appreciate what you have, maybe that’s what I need to learn.” I thought that was a pretty nice summary of the show, that actually there’s in Hell, but they’re still learning. They also asked questions of themselves “How can we help each other,” “Who can help us?” “What difference does it make what those people out in the real world think?” There were a lot of questions you can ask yourself that were raised by this show.

Laura: Estelle was, I think, the funniest of the three characters. She had some good one liners, it was obvious that she really only cared about herself, and getting the most enjoyment out of life. I didn’t feel uncomfortable around her, I actually thought she was kind of funny.

Mike: Each of those three was brought into the room by the Bellboy, played by Elliot Dondero-Petit. He was kind of basic, he was very neutral, he didn’t really expound too much, he didn’t share too much information other than the very basics. I thought it would have been kind of cute if he had asked for a tip from the people as he led them in, but that didn’t happen. They also didn’t have any bags for him to carry. But he was interesting.

Then there was the Lead Architect, and Architects One and Two, played by Terry Smith, Lauren Babcock, and Heidi Lewis. They introduced the show, and made me think, just the way they were dressed and their strong white makeup, it reminded me of the old Mad magazine comic strip, Spy vs. Spy. Not really anything they did, but just the spookiness, and the way they were walking around the stage.

Laura: The set was designed by the show’s director, Brian Garrison. It was very basic, there were three sofas in the room, each a different color. It was interesting, they all picked one, and when Estelle came in she made Vincent switch with her, because it went better with her dress. Otherwise it was very plain. There were no windows, the one door was locked. Vincent went to the window at one time, and pulled the curtains back and reacted strongly when it was all bricked up. He knew he was in an enclosed space for eternity.

Mike: The lighting designer was Ashlyn Lambert. A few times the door did open, there was a strong red light shining in as if it were a very hot place. And whenever the three residents would be able to look out and see what was happening in the real world, there would be a bright light that shone down on them and it would gradually fade to black as the memories of the person would fade away. And that was pretty effective.

Laura: One interesting comment Mike and I were discussing was that the show reminded us of Survivor: Hell. You don’t know what’s going to happen, you don’t know who’s going to get thrown off, so it was a really interesting premise. I think it was carried off very well.

Mike: We talked with the show’s director Brian Garrison, after the performance. He did mention that they are having a hard time finding performance space in Leesburg, since this is the Leesburg Theatre Company, so they actually performed this show at the Carver Center, in Purcellville. I wanted to let everybody out there listening know that you’re not the only ones having a hard time finding theater space. A lot of the smaller groups that we’ve been seeing shows with, have also had a hard time. It’s a common problem around this area.

Laura: No Exit is playing for one more weekend, Friday and Saturday at 8:00, and a Sunday matinee at 2:00, at the Carver Center in Purcellville, VA. The show ran about an hour and a half, with no intermission.

Mike: I’d like to commend the Leesburg Theatre Company for taking on a production that is not frequently performed in the DC region.

Laura: And now, on with the show.

Cast

• Lead Architect: Terry Smith
• Architect 1: Lauren Babcock
• Architect 2: Heidi Lewis
• Bellboy: Elliot Dondero-Pettit
• Vincent Cradeau: Hans Dettmar
• Inez Serrano: Marianne Meyers
• Estelle Delauney: Leah Daily

Crew:

• Producer: Theresa Bender:
• Director: Brian Garrison
• Assistant Director/Production Stage Manager: Laura Moody
• Assistant Stage Manager: Elliott Dondero-Pettit
• Set Designer: Brian Garrison
• Master Carpenter: Paul Gernhardt
• Set Crew: Terry Smith
• Divan Design/Construction: Jay Daily
• Set Construction: Paul Gernhardt, Terry Smith, Laura Babcock, Jeff Bender, Elliott Dondero-Pettit, Leah Daily, Hans Dettmar, Ashlyn Lambert, Luke Lambert, Heidi Lewis, Paige Mixon, Theresa Bender, Brian Garrison
• Set Painting: Paul Towry, Kellie Touhig, Gina Holl, Paul Gernhardt, Brian Garrison, Hans Dettmar, Marianne Meyers, Jeff Benders
• Lighting Designer/Master Electrician: Ashlyn Lambert
• Light Board Operator: Ashlyn Lambert
• Sound Design: Brian Garrison
• Sound Board Operators: Paige Mixon, Jeff Bender
• Costume/Makeup/Prop Mistress: Jackie Gudgel
• Publicity: Theresa Bender, Katie Freund, Bianca Swift, Christina Protic
• House/Box Office Manager: Sue Dial
• House: Laura Schier, Barb Carpenter
• Audition Team: Jessica Aliff, Michael Broussard, Tiffany Walker
• Program Design: Theresa Bender, Kevin Summers
• Show Photography: Laura Moody

Laura: This is the ShowBizRadio.net review of The Good Doctor performed by The Leesburg Theatre Company in Purcelville, Virginia. This is Laura.

Mike: This is Mike. This is a Neil Simon show so I was expecting like an Odd Couple or a regular play that has a real plot and lots of funny characters getting into weird situations. That’s what I got, but it wasn’t what I was expecting.

Laura: Overall I liked it. I had not seen it before and therefore did not know what to expect. I have seen other Neil Simon productions before. They’ve all been pretty funny. This had some really funny bits in it. They were kind of more sketches. The central character was The Writer.

Mike: The Writer was talking to the audience and sharing his thoughts about being a writer. He was telling some of the stories that he wanted to tell to his readers. We saw nine different sketches take place throughout the evening. The entire show is almost two and a half hours long with one intermission. In these nine different stories we saw a lot of different people come along, so the characters weren’t the same even though the actors were in two or three sketches each.

Laura: The central character of the show was The Writer, played by Paul Gernhardt. He did a good job. All of the sketches kind of stood alone. He was more of the person who would come in and set the stage. I kind of liked his presence on stage and the way he interacted with the audience. Breaking that fourth wall I thought was interesting.

Mike: The rest of the ensemble, there were nine other performers. Each performed in two or three sketches. Each sketch was five to fifteen minutes long. Some of them were funnier than others. Some I just didn’t get, but some were really funny. The second act, I liked four of the five. The first act I really only liked one of the sketches. This was a dress rehearsal. We talked to the cast afterwards and they agreed that every audience is different and they will laugh at different spots.

Laura: Friday night’s rehearsal had only ten people in the audience. Afterwards when we were talking to the cast they mentioned that the audience was laughing at different spots than the cast was expecting. I think this was a good show to come out and see. It’s definitely one in which the audience will feed off and the actors will pick up off that energy. Some of the sketches I felt they held back a little bit and I think a large audience will heighten that energy and bring that out. One of the sketches I liked was the surgery sketch. That was a doctor who was almost a real doctor. Just didn’t have the piece of paper and the degree. And the Sexton who came in with a tooth that was giving him a lot of problems. I thought that sketch was funny.

Mike: That was one of the sketches that I didn’t like too much. It was funny, but it partially felt like I had seen it before. People have plagiarized from Neil Simon since 1974. I felt like the two performers, Karl Meier and Courtney Armstrong, didn’t quite have the timing down for some of the humor that was in that scene. It was very much a slapstick scene.

Laura: The set for The Good Doctor was a simple set. There were bright colors. I thought the lighting was very good because it sort of heightened the energy. I didn’t notice any really bad shadows or anything.

Mike: The Good Doctor is being performed by the Leesburg Theatre Company at the Carver Center in Purcelville, Virginia. Performances are Saturday the 1st at 8. Sunday the 2nd at 2. Friday the 7th and Saturday the 8th at 8. Closing on Sunday the 9th at 2.

Laura: And now, on with the show.

Cast

• The Writer: Paul Gernhardt
• The Sneeze
  • Cherdyakov: Brian Garrison
  • General: Patrick Schrader
  • Wife: Laura Moody
  • Madame Brassilhov: Caroline McEntee
• The Governess
  • Mistress: Meredith Walker
  • Julia: Laura Moody
• Surgery
  • Sexton: Karl Meier
  • Kuryatin: Courtney Armstrong
• The Seduction
  • Peter: Brian Garrison
  • Husband: Karl Meier
  • Wife: Caroline McEntee
• The Drowned Man
  • Sailor: Kate Meier
  • Policeman: Meredith Walker
• The Audition
  • Voice: Courtney Armstrong
  • Girl: Caroline McEntee
• A Quiet War
  • Army: Karl Meier
  • Navy: Patrick Schrader
• A Defenseless Creature
  • Pochatkin: Courtney Armstrong
  • Kistunov: Brian Garrison
  • Woman: Laura Schier
• The Arrangement
  • Boy: Kate Meier
  • Father: Patrick Schrader
  • Girl: Laura Schier

Crew

• Director: Mary Speed
• Assistant Director: Brian Garrison
• Producer: Karl Meier and Laura Schier
• Lights and Sound: Mary Speed, Laura Schier, Laura Moody
• Production Assistant: Lindsay Stewart
• Scenery Crew: Mary Speed, Brian Garrison, Courtney Armstrong, Laura Schier, Lindsay Stewart
• Stage Managers: Laura Schier – Act I, Laura Moody – Act II
• Running Crew: Ensemble! Hooray for multi-tasking!

Mike: Tonight we saw the Leesburg Theatre Company perform Five Women Wearing the Same Dress.

Laura: Five Women Wearing the Same Dress is the story of five bridesmaids who escape the wedding reception and do girl stuff.

Mike: They are wearing a horrible dress.

Laura: Yes. It was blue with layers and

Mike: Purple frills and a horrible hat covering thing.

Laura: Yes, not flattering to their figures.

Mike: Not flattering to anything. Somewhere there has to be a rule: bridesmaids dresses have to be horrible.

Laura: So what did you think of the show?

Mike: I wasn’t sure what to expect. The Leesburg Theatre Company, this is only their third show. They did a show last summer for their debut, Picasso at the Lapin Agile. And then they did Theatremania back in January which is a collection of one act plays. So I didn’t know what to expect.

Mike: Hadn’t heard anything about them except that they were new. The show is performed at the Oatlands in Leesburg, Virginia. We got the playbill. The playbill looks like a wedding program, kind of flowery and pink and script lettering that’s really hard to read in the dark room of the Oatlands performance room. The back has fake biographies of the people involved with the show. So I didn’t know what to expect. My hopes were not too high. The show was actually surprisingly good.

Laura: It was a surprisingly good show. I thought all of the girls performed well. They stayed in character. The accents were good. During the performance I kept thinking of scenes from Steel Magnolias.

Mike: I did the same thing. The characters from Steel Magnolias all got stuck in the same wedding dress. That was kind of funny we both said that on the way home, “It reminded me of Steel Magnolias.”

Laura: But there were differences.

Mike: It wasn’t the same story or anything, but still it was five women getting together and talking about life and men. It was mostly women in the audience. It was probably at least three quarters women. I thought it was a little funny and Laura had a theory for why that was.

Laura: It was a chick flick.

Mike: But it was good. I’ve only seen one episode of Sex in the City and that was what I kind of pictured it to be like. The writing was pretty snappy. It flowed really well. They had a good rhythm.

Laura: The last scene i thought was also good with the actress who played Trisha.

Mike: Jessica Serensits.

Laura: She was kind of the rock figure. I thought of her as either Dolly Parton or Olympia Dukakis. She was the most grounded of all the women. She had a good scene with the token male, Tripp Davenport, played by Dan Ellsworth. i thought they had a good rhythm going. The banter back and forth was good.

Mike: This show contained a lot of mature subject matter. They actually don’t recommend 16 or under seeing it. It is for adults only.

Laura: There was a lot of adult language and drug usage.

Mike: The play took place entirely in the bedroom of one of the bridesmaids. The wedding reception was at the home of the bride and sister and other family. It was a good place to set the play. That’s where you go when you want to be alone is your room. So that’s where she went to be alone and that’s where all the other bridesmaids ended up, too. They were all having issues with the day. I’m not going to go into specifics because you need to see the show. You’ll be surprised, It’s very funny. It’s almost the kind of funny where you shouldn’t laugh, but it was funny. It was not sold out, I don’t think, but there were not many open seats.

Laura: It was a pretty packed house.

Mike: Partially because it’s a small theater. So if you do want to go see this definitely make your reservations in advance. They’re playing through next weekend. Five more performances I think they said. So if you want to go see Five Women Wearing the Same Dress, I think you’ll be pleased.

Laura: And now, on with the show.

Cast

• Francis Marlowe: Jennifer Regan
• Francis Marlowe: Caroline McEntee
• Meredith Marlowe: Mary Speed
• Trisha Carter: Jessica L. Serensits
• Georgeanne Darby: Anne Walker
• Mindy McLure: Eileen Cotton
• Griffin Lyle Davenport III: Dan Ellsworth

Crew

• Director: Meg Miller
• Assistant Director: Jeanette M. Sizer
• Stage Manager: Linda
• Technical Director: Jan
• Sound: Kevin Summers
• Producer: J.D. Warford
• Dialect Coach: Leah Daily
• Costume Designer: Jennifer Miller
• Set Construction: Jan Tilley, Mark Walker, Matt Schraeder, Patrick Schraeder