Spalding Gray was a brilliant monologist. He walked onstage, sat down at an empty desk, except for a glass of water, and proceeded to mesmerize the audience. He did not need props, a backdrop, nor bells and whistles of any kind. His subject was his own life, weaving autobiography with an emotional terrain of depth and complexity.
The Amish Project is a play that faces big questions head on, including how do you forgive the murder of five innocent little girls?
The play is based on the tragic events of Oct. 2, 2006 when a gunman entered a one-room Amish schoolhouse in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania and shot 10 young girls, killing five of them.
Later the Amish people of that community publicly forgave the gunman in a service of reconciliation. Eventually, the West Nickel Mines schoolhouse was torn down and the New Hope School was built at another location.
The late great star of the stage, Katharine Cornell, who lies buried behind the theatre she bequeathed to the town of Tisbury, would approve of the choice of The Turn of the Screw for the Island Theatre Workshop’s Halloween presentation.
Nightmares were never so much fun. During the past two weeks the campers at Imp have been learning the ways of improv — the fast action, quick reflexes of theatrical art Yoda would be proud of. But who’s to say, once the mind is unleashed to improvise at will, how the subconscious will be affected.
On Friday, July 29, you are about to find out as the campers present The Dreams and Nightmares Show at the Edgartown School.
This weekend the Vineyard Arts Project is presenting a performance by Morphoses, a dance company that has been in residence at VAP since Sept. 11. During this time the troupe has been working on a show entitled Bacchae by resident artistic director Lucca Vegetti.
Comedian Scott Blakeman is back on the Island (he always seems to arrive with a hurricane) to treat Island audiences to a large dose of political humor.
Mr. Blakeman’s show is entitled Liberal Jew: The Comedy of Scott Blakeman. This, of course, is an indication of the show’s leanings, but no worries, in the world of politics and humor, all sides are fair game.
Remember that old Dylan song, “Somethin’ is happenin’, but you don’t know what it is, do you Mr. Jones?” In the opening first scene of the two-person play, coming2terms, at the Vineyard Playhouse, we’re all Mr. Joneses as we try to figure out what a particular attractive couple is up to. They’re coming across with everything long-term couples tend to do. Bickering? Check! Avoiding larger issues? Check! Sharing their day? Check!
This coming Monday, Nov. 7, at 8 p.m., the Vineyard Playhouse will present a staged reading of Standing on Ceremony: The Gay Marriage Plays. And they will not be alone. At the same time there will be simultaneous readings of the play worldwide.
Acting is an endurance sport. Don’t believe it? Go to the Grange Hall any Thursday, Friday or Saturday night for the rest of the summer and see one man’s theatrical version of the Ironman Triathlon.
Remember that old 1950s TV show that posed the question, “Can this marriage be saved?” presenting his story, her story and a wrap-up by an expert? Most marriages hit rough spots, and when the subjects share their gripes, the listener find himself or herself silently asking the above question.
