Alliance Theatre Reviewers Blog

Review by Jada Genter – Doubt

     Alliance Artistic Director Susan Booth has an almost tangible touch on the productions which she directs, and as a theatre-goer I recognize the flavor of her directing, seen first in Jacques-Briel and now in John Patrick Shanley’s Pulitzer-Prize winning play, Doubt. This is a play that asks difficult questions and gives no easy answers and while I did not experience the near-nirvana I felt when watching Eurydice, I was both engaged and challenged.

     My friend who attended the play with me made a wise observation when she noted that we tended to believe the person we liked more. As a teacher I took an immediate dislike to the principal, Sister Aloysius, played by Pamela Nyberg, based on her determination to squash a young and impressionable teacher’s enthusiasm for her work. Accordingly, when the principal attacked another dedicated teacher, I was not inclined in her favor.

     Something common in life but not often fairly represented on stage are people who see themselves as inherently good coming into serious conflict with other people who also see themselves as inherently good. The question here is whether or not the people are as true and honest as they appear. Sister Aloysius clearly does not believe Father Flynn, as imagined by Thomas Piper, to be such a person, while he believes her to be hardened past feeling and therefore inherently wrong. The lovely Cara Montella as Sister James, the committed Donna Biscoe as Mrs. Muller, and the audience are all left to decide for themselves.

     Todd Rosenthal’s set pointed to the heavens while Deb Sullivan’s lighting cast shadows, and the actors did a beautiful job of capturing characters caught somewhere in-between those two extremes. Where Kent Gash’s productions are identifiable by their unbridled exuberance, Susan Booth’s productions have an almost indefinable subtlety and class in the harmony of the production elements. Both styles are delightful in different ways, and it has been a privilege to become familiar with them throughout this season at the Alliance.

     Another thought-provoking show at the Alliance. Well done.

Doubt- by Shana Basnight

Doubt, the final play of the 39th season at the Alliance, is appropriately titled because I have my doubts on whether or not you will enjoy it. To be honest, I was a little disappointed that Doubt was selected to be the season finale. The plot is a tad bit predictable, with a story revolving around a priest and nuns that are facing moral and ethical dilemmas within the church. The nuns are entertaining as they both bring a little humor to the show. The priest delivered his lines well, although his sermons were a tad bit lengthy. I also expected the priest to be a little bit older. There were times when I could not believe that the young, agile guy I saw on stage was really a priest in the Catholic church.

Overall, I would say that Doubt has potential. The story is a power struggle between the sexes. There is enough drama to keep you in your seat throughout the duration of the show. Convictions and beliefs are challenged as rumors are spread throughout the religious school. As an educator, parent, or community member, you could relate to some of the issues being dealt with in this story. Although I may have my doubts on whether or not you will enjoy the show, I will let you be the final judge.

Doubt by Wendell Barnes

The only thing wrong with Alliance Theatre's "Doubt" is that it is over too soon. The cast of four outstandingly talented actors keep John Patrick Shanley's masterful Tony and Pulitzer prize-winning script moving at such a lively pace that I couldn't believe it was over when it was.  I actually was surprised when the cast came out for their bows, as only 90 minutes had passed in what seemed like 30.  But as we exited, my wife turned to me and said, "Well, what else could he have said?"  And this is the truest statement she could have shared with me:  at the end of the play, doubt is established in the audience's mind.  The truth is for each individual to decide.  We had a lively debate as to whether the protagonist was guilty or not all the way home, and guess what?  After examining all sides of the discussion, both of us still had doubt!  Pamela Nyberg was a perfect Sister Aloysius, the nun you love to hate.  Thomas Piper was an appealing and convincing Father Flynn.  Their subtle performances created just the right amount of doubt.  But I was even more impressed by the supporting players:  Donna Biscoe as Mrs. Muller and Cara Mantella as Sister James.  Ms. Mantella's mobile face and convincing naiveté won me over from the first scene.  Ms. Biscoe earned well-deserved applause at the exit of her far too short scene.  Director Susan Booth kept the pace lively and interesting from the beginning pulpit scene until the curtain falls.  The Alliance has ended their Tony Award winning season with a production that will not soon be forgotten by Atlanta's faithful, although now full of doubt, audiences.  Although I leave the page as a reviewer for this outstanding season, I will remain one of the faithful audience members who has learned this season even more about the magic created nightly within the walls of the Woodruff Arts Center.  That is one thing that there is no doubt about.  Thanks for reading.
--Wendell Barnes

I Doubt It, by Amy Lighthill

     In l990, Buddhist monk Stephen Batchelor published a book called The Faith to Doubt. He pointed out that in the Zen tradition, three factors have to be cultivated on a spiritual path: great faith, great doubt, and great courage. Doubt, in his context, means “to keep alive the perplexity at the heart of our life, to acknowledge that fundamentally we do not know what is going on, to question whatever arises within us…Faith is not equivalent to mere belief. Faith is the condition of ultimate confidence that we have the capacity to follow the path of doubt to its end.”
 
     None of the four characters in John Patrick Shanley’s play, Doubt, has this kind of deep understanding of faith or doubt. The year is l964, and in a small parochial school, the nuns and priest are tussling with black-or-white concepts of faith and obedience. Though the younger ones are ready to crack open the rusty door of church dogma, the tradition-bound school principal, Sister Aloysius, remains starchily ensconced in her crack-the-whip-for-your-own-good nundom. For reasons never explained, she quickly determines to bring down the handsome and breezy young priest, the one perhaps too beloved by schoolboys, but who, nonetheless, feels the hierarchy’s support behind him.

     Viewers are apparently adoring the opportunity to proffer an opinion about the slightly mysterious resolution of this battle of wills. But the iron-fisted, tight-jawed head sister here stayed one-dimensional, to my eyes. Like the play itself, her performance lacked nuance. Though set in the bosom of Catholic education, the play has surprisingly little to offer about theology or the real inner spiritual lives of its inhabitants. The central “dilemma” sat in the principal’s office in more ways than one. Characters search for “the answer” and don’t feel comfortable when they lose their moorings. Even in the relative innocence of l964, there must have been more shading in a life devoted to faith than this. 

     Mr. Shanley gave us a wryer, more affectionate, look at this same neighborhood in his delightful film comedy, Moonstruck. There, the characters spoke straight from their hearts with poetic simplicity and depth about their very Catholic world.  The one character in “Doubt” who suggested a richer awareness of life’s shades of gray was, perhaps ironically, the one black character, Mrs. Muller (the arch and deliciously powerful Donna Biscoe). Her one scene, in which she casually deconstructed Sister’s naïve and self-righteous assumptions about her son, stole the show and won her a well-deserved ovation at the play’s abrupt conclusion.

     Beautifully staged by Pat Flora, the show provides an opportunity to consider, again, the shortcomings of the institution that so many love to hate (or, love and hate). If you love being right, you'll have a lot of fun trying to argue other theater-goers out of their doubts about "Doubt".      

 

 

 

 

Doubt, A Parable - Maria Surprise

They saved the best for last.  Doubt, the Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning play by the esteemed John Patrick Shanley, closes the stellar 2007-08 Alliance Theatre season on the main stage.  Expertly directed by none other than Susan V. Booth, this tightly woven drama deftly navigates the waters that run between certainty and doubt.  Every word, every gesture and pause has meaning in this concise and wonderful work of art; nothing is left to waste.  From the stark but effective set design and staging to the glorious cast, Doubt works on every level.  Each scene is beautifully crafted, and each character has an important role to play as the drama unfolds.  Watch out for Donna Biscoe as Mrs. Muller – she practically steals the show from Pamela Nyberg’s Sister Aloysius.  John Patrick Shanley has written a masterpiece for the stage, and this production deserves to be seen by all of Atlanta and beyond.

After the performance, my husband, friends and I had an animated discussion about the play on our walk home.  It is highly likely you will, too, for this carefully plotted drama confounds as well as excites.  Are you absolutely certain of a character’s innocence – or guilt?  Keep talking…you may find a sliver of doubt slowly eroding your convictions. 

Doubt is not only the last play of the current Alliance Theatre season, it is also the end of my brief stint as a reviewer.  Thank you, Alliance Theatre, for giving me a voice this season, and for allowing me the opportunity to be a small part of your community.  I look forward to the 2008-09 season, as I will be back in my regular seats, on my regular night, waiting to see what new dramas unfold on stage.

Eurydice- One of the Best Shows of the Season. - By Shana Basnight

Please go see Eurydice at the Alliance. It is showing until April 13. Eurydice is a wonderfully written, extremely well-performed unique production. I loved every moment of the show and I was distraught when the play ended. After you finish reading the rest of this review, please call your closest friends and family members and purchase tickets to the show. I guarantee you won't be disappointed.

I adored Eurydice, written by the incredibly talented Ms. Sarah Ruhl, because its a great love story. It shows the passionate love between newlyweds and the unbreakable bond between a father and a daughter. The play masterfully converts a Greek mythology into a modern-day comical story that maintains the humor while providing the serious thought provoking themes. If you need one more compelling reason to go see the play, please go for The Stones and The Lord of the Underworld. The Lord or the Underworld was definitely my favorite character, as he reminded me of another one of my favorite movies, The Waterboy.

Hopefully you are making plans to go see this show. Just in case you need a quick reminder of the reasons why you absolutely cannot miss the performance of Eurydice, here are my top three reasons. 3) It is sincerely entertaining. You can easily relate to the characters and they are funny. Did I mention the Lord of the Underworld? 2) It is fresh, modern, and hip. You will forget that you are watching a Greek mythology story. 1) The Alliance knows great theater and brings the best shows to Atlanta (period).

The Lord of Death Wears Knee Socks by Amy Lighthill

Since sooner or later, and likely it’ll seem sooner, you’ll be permanently vacationing in the Underworld, you ought to wander down into the bowels of the Alliance and enjoy Sarah Ruhl’s vision of what it’s going to be like down there. According to her, it’s a grey, lonely place where you can neither sleep nor remember, a kind of eternal Alzheimer’s.

But some lovers can continue to communicate between the worlds of the living and the dead, via worm or invisible mailbox, and, if the love is strong enough and the River Styx goes undrunk, even two dead folks can enjoy each other’s company forever. This funny and poignant version of the Greek myth is true to the original in one respect, however. Tragedy is its middle name, and a honeymoon in the Magic Kingdom it’s not.

 

What most of us recall about the original story is the literally supernatural power of lyre-player Orpheus’s love for his bride-for-a-day, Eurydice. When she dies on their wedding day, he follows her, grief-stricken, below the earth to beg for her return. His musicianship (which, strangely, goes largely unrevealed here) enchants the Underworlders, and he is granted his wish, as long as he does not turn to look at his bride on their trek aboveboard. Naturally, he fails, since we’re in the land of Chronos, who ate all his own kids rather than be felled by one as predicted by the soothsayers. When Orpheus steals a glance at his beloved, she vanishes forever, and everybody cries.

 

In Ruhl’s version, Eurydice is a Junior Miss, adored by all men. As the play began, her fey mannerisms and self-conscious baby-girl demands seemed cloying. As the play went on, though, she grew on me-- she became more genuine after death. Her ambivalence toward her spouse, and her relationship with her dead father, seemed more Oedipal than Orpheal. “Weddings are for daughters and fathers. That’s when they stop being married to each other,” she tells the audience, almost cheerfully. This added element layered a significant level of creepiness over the more obvious mourning for her husband. Not for nothing do three swords impale the tattoo heart on the program cover. 

The engulfing love this father felt for his child was heartbreakingly rendered by our own venerable stage veteran, Chris Keyser. He had me in tears ten minutes in, when he described how he wanted to be at Eurydice’s wedding, did a solemn, tearful, joyous little wedding march down the aisle alone, then dropped the missive into the ‘letter box’ with palpably rueful love. When Eurydice arrives in the drippy basement of an underworld (magnificently rendered by stage designer Kat Conley),  forgetting most of everything, he agrees he’s the valet, and ever so tenderly, he builds her a room to rest in, out of a ball of string. Would that every child rested in such devotion.

Ruhl’s play is both childlike and profoundly adult. She has concocted a sweet/sour tale of love, loss and memory’s fragile power to bind us together. Pack your (empty) bag for the next world and check in—for 90 minutes, at least.

 

 

 

"Eurydice"

"EURYDICE"

By

Wendell Barnes

Water, water everywhere, and some is there to drink!  Sarah Ruhl’s magnificent take on the Orpheus and Eurydice legend, named for the title female character this time, was handled beautifully and movingly in a joint production with the

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and the Georgia Shakespeare Festival.  The audience quickly realized that they were in the hands of a master director, witnessing Richard Garner’s flawless blocking in this journey through the underworld and various other locations.  Kat Conley’s set design of pipes, valve controls, flowing water and even an elevator that rained inside (!) beautifully evoked the coldness of the underworld, the freedom of the beach, even the heights of a penthouse apartment and the joys of a wedding reception--water as a recurring theme.  Never have I seen lighting design more effective than that of Justin Townsend:  from Eurydice’s death fall to the open sky of the seashore, the mood was perfectly felt in each case by the audience.  I was transported by this play—moved, entertained and weeping before it was over, as I mourned the plight of Eurydice and her groom.  Miranda Huffman’s costumes, especially those of the Stones, also evoked the spirit of the play.  Ivan Pulinkala was listed as the movement consultant—I list him as the choreographer since much of the movement displayed dance motions to great effect in setting the tempo of the piece.  The cast was also perfect:  Justin Adams and Melinda Helfrich were beautiful and appealing as the young couple, and since Ms. Helfrich had the burden of the show of the show as the title character, she had the audience in tears over her traumatic struggle—an overall amazing performance.  Two of my favorite

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actors, Neal A. Ghant and Courtney Patterson, along with a new face to me, Paul Hester, stopped the show as the Greek chorus known as the “Stones.”  They were funny, and necessary as they cleaned up the set on more than one occasion.  The stellar Chris Kayser as Father once again proved to the

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audience that he can play anything, and reminders of Ebenezer were absent here as he movingly presented the father’s heartbroken distress. Andrew Benator’s performance as A Nasty Interesting Man and the Lord of the Underworld was a tour de force and had the audience feeling eerie and laughing out loud at the same time.  I hope to have the opportunity to see “Eurydice” again before the end of the run—it’s the kind of show that you will see different aspects of each time you view it, and it is a brief, intermissionless production that I can assure you that you will not soon forget.  Another triumph of theatre in that magical, ever-changing space called the Hertz!  Do not miss this show!

Review by Jada Genter – Eurydice

     I had a very visceral, very personal reaction to the joint Alliance Theatre/Georgia Shakespeare Company production of Eurydice. My own much-beloved father passed away twenty years ago when I was fifteen. The brilliant script by Sarah Ruhl depicted a healthy, loving father-daughter relationship rarely seen in entertainment today, and the scenes between Eurydice and her father in the Underworld were a mirror of my childhood when I used to beg my father to tell me Famous Daddy Stories. In addition to the inner connection forged between myself and the characters, I had a strong reaction to the production elements themselves.

     The textured, versatile set takes the audience to the sea and to the underworld, through the fires of death (in one of the coolest F/X sequences seen in many a year), and into the hearts of its characters. The Alliance has a recurring water theme running through its season between The Women of Brewster Place, In the Red and Brown Water, and now Eurydice. This most current production uses water both pointedly and poignantly. The water running around the set contains many levels of symbolism, and the reoccurrence of actual water in the production (a rarity in stage plays) made the allegorical meaning that much deeper.

     The actors seemed extremely comfortable with their set, moving in, on and through it with an ease that further emphasized the almost character-like presence of the set. While the titular character was the center of the story, the other six characters all had their moments to shine, and the actors brought them magically to life. The 1950s innocent sensibility was a wise choice for a modern update of the traditional Greek production. Eurydice was fresh and joyful, and her beloved Orpheus seemed real, despite some of the more esoteric aspects of his character. What can I say about Father? He made me miss my own, so long gone. And the Lord of the Underworld nearly stole the show when he came out as a skeazily precocious child. Let us, however, not forget the Stones. The detailed physical affectations and spot-on vocal performances by Neal A Ghant, Paul Hester and Courtney Patterson were reason enough to see the play, as though it needed any more. Let me also add that their costumes were brilliantly conceived and constructed.

     I loved this production. The individual elements were brilliantly realized and came together to form a cohesive, inspiring whole. I was uplifted and I was inspired. What greater compliment can I give?

Eurydice - Maria Surprise

Spring has finally come to Atlanta, and so it is fitting to have a story of young love playing on the Hertz stage at the Alliance Theatre.  Playwright Sarah Ruhl’s modern take on the Greek myth of Orpheus and Eurydice is one of my favorites of the 2007-08 season.  Everything about this play works for me – the acting, directing, music, lighting, set design – all come together to create pure, elegant poetry.  Movement and rhythm are integral to this performance, and the amazing lighting effects by Justin Townsend are thrilling to behold.  I was mesmerized watching Eurydice’s descent into the underworld; Melinda Helfrich as Eurydice imbues her fall with beauty and grace. 

Don’t be concerned that this play is all about lost lovers and sad laments.  There is plenty of humor, brought forth through the three stones – all expertly played by Neal Ghant, Paul Hester, and Courtney Patterson – as well as the Lord of the Underworld, Andrew Benator, hamming it up nicely for the audience.  Without giving anything away, let me just say that the Lord of the Underworld sure knows how to make an entrance!

Unlike Eurydice and Orpheus, I hope the partnership between the Alliance Theatre and Georgia Shakespeare endures in this world, and continues to bring Atlanta more theatrical works of this caliber.