THEATER REVIEW
BY
BINA SHARIF
THE SUBJECT WAS ROSES
BY
FRANK D.GILROY
DIRECTED BY
AMY WRIGHT
THE SUBJECT WAS ROSES is produced by Pearl Theater Company (J.R. Sullivan,Artistic Director)
THE SUBJECT WAS ROSES, a Pulitzer and Tony award winner, produced in 1964 a revival by the excellent Pearl Theater Company still holds because the conflicts and confusions of family relationships and the sense of possession by the parents of their children, an only son in this case has never gone out of fashion, neither the love nor the struggle in a universal family drama.
This is a conflict not only in an American family but all families. The children dying to get noticed by both parents and parents individually exercising more authority in the name of love over the kids and thus the bickering and complaining and fighting begins and unfortunately never ever ends especially in this play.
The reasons of bickering between two parents in The subject was roses is not however very clear. Is this a routine bickering between a husband and wife or is there a deep dark secret
of animosity which is oozing out in profusion from the wife especially towards the husband which I hoped will be clarified by the end but actually there was nothing concrete to be mentioned except that the family fought for the sake of fighting perhaps depicting the life of an Irish family where none of the members want to reconcile their inherent differences of personality depicting perhaps of a wrong match between two people thus empahsising the delicate title of the play, The subject of roses which is by far a beautifully romantic title of a very un-romantic relationship.
The subject was roses is about a family, Cleary family, mother, father and a son named Timmy who just returned from the war. Its set in the Bronx in 1946. The whole decore is very 1946.
It can be called a kitchen sink drama, nicely put together and must have been very timely when it was written but seems a bit dated though the production achieves perfection in acting and directing.
I found the father,John (Dan Daily) more interesting a charcter than the mother,Nettie (Carol Schultz) because the cause her conflict and hatred for her husband wasn't clear. I guess she did not like her husband's lack of sensitivity and tenderness which she experienced by her own father who always send her roses on her birthdays. The son tries very hard to patch things up between the two of them even asking for the father to bring roses for her which she does appreciate but only for a short while and is jealous of the son's affection for the father.
The actors did a stunning job and I liked the direction by Amy Wright also but I had a little confusion about the script.
However its extremely admirable of Pearl theater company to always revive the classics.
This company is brave and bold and almost the only one in NY to do that. For this very reason they need to be congratulated because they always do a good job.
REVIEWED BY BINA SHARIF OF ARTSINTERNATIONAL.COM
binasharif@earthlink.net
ARTS INTERNATIONALEditor/Publisher, Bina Sharif
ARTS INTERNATIONAL covers THEATER, FILM, VISUAL ARTS, CUISINE, AND LITERATURE
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
THEATER REVIEW
BY
BINA SHARIF
THE SHAPE OF THINGS
BY
Neil LaBute
THE SHAPE OF THINGS by Neil LaBute is produced by VARIATIONS theatre group at long
Island City. Artistic directors,Rich Ferraioli and KirkGostkowski.
Getting to the theater in Long Island City was an adventure especially for me who hardly ever venture out of Manhattan theater scene and it was well worth it.
The theater space in itself is a little Intimate gem and the production of THE SHAPE OF THINGS was wonderful. The play is very well directed by Rich Ferraioli.
Neil LaBute has a patience of a saint as the dramatist. He keeps his surprises hidden till the very end unlike most of the contemprary writers of drama.
In most of the plays one can predict the ending of the play in the first fifteen or twenty minutes
but not here. He takes us on a journey of un expected steamy love between a shy nerdy kind of a guy named Adam played by, (Kirk Gostkowski) and a very confident, hip, Cosmopolitan kind of a gal named Evelyn played brilliantly by, (Alice Bahlke)
I missed the original Production of the play when it was done at Almeida Theatre, London
and I am happy that I didn't know the ending till it came.
But I do have to confess that I had an un-comfortable feeling about the love affair between Evelyn and Adam throughout the play because some body like Evelyn, so out going, so charismatic a woman won't fall for Adam who is not much of a love target for her but luckily even I didn't suspect that she was just using him for an art project and was willing to go all the way in the name of art to manipulate and hurt a real un-suspecting, trusting and kind human being. But that's the point of the play that in the name of art one can cross all bounderies and justify the cruelty to advance themselves.
My only hesitation about the plot of this play is that how many times one can see this play knowing the ending and still enjoy it? But still the writing is very sharp and hold your interest.
The whole cast does a very good job but I liked Deven Anderson as Phillip. He had that wit and humor and sarcasm which involves you fully in the actor playing the character.
Scenic artists: Stephanie Ferraioli and India Quimby was very clean and impressive. I loved the
Make believe paintings in those frames.
I just wondered about the platform used in the museum scene if it was necessary because it did work nicely in the first scene but was in the way of many later scenes which seemed cramped.
But all these are minor problems to be thought about in the future productions of the play and also I caught the play on the opening night with some rough spots...I still was very impressed by the whole cast, the crew and especially by Rich Frraioli's excellent direction and the fast
pacing he maintained throughout the play. Every one involved in this production was totally professional and exteremly hospitable. My companions and I enjoyed the evening very much. My Guest from London, Paul Shaw who had also missed this play in London loved it and so did Kevin Martin who is also a theater Critic and publisher of CINEMASTAGE.COM
I hope other theater goers will make an effort and see future productions by VARIATIONS theatre Group. My congratulations to the team for a great effort.
Reviewed by Bina Sharif
of ARTSINTERNATIONAL.BLOGSPOT .COM
binasharif@earthlink.net
BY
BINA SHARIF
THE SHAPE OF THINGS
BY
Neil LaBute
THE SHAPE OF THINGS by Neil LaBute is produced by VARIATIONS theatre group at long
Island City. Artistic directors,Rich Ferraioli and KirkGostkowski.
Getting to the theater in Long Island City was an adventure especially for me who hardly ever venture out of Manhattan theater scene and it was well worth it.
The theater space in itself is a little Intimate gem and the production of THE SHAPE OF THINGS was wonderful. The play is very well directed by Rich Ferraioli.
Neil LaBute has a patience of a saint as the dramatist. He keeps his surprises hidden till the very end unlike most of the contemprary writers of drama.
In most of the plays one can predict the ending of the play in the first fifteen or twenty minutes
but not here. He takes us on a journey of un expected steamy love between a shy nerdy kind of a guy named Adam played by, (Kirk Gostkowski) and a very confident, hip, Cosmopolitan kind of a gal named Evelyn played brilliantly by, (Alice Bahlke)
I missed the original Production of the play when it was done at Almeida Theatre, London
and I am happy that I didn't know the ending till it came.
But I do have to confess that I had an un-comfortable feeling about the love affair between Evelyn and Adam throughout the play because some body like Evelyn, so out going, so charismatic a woman won't fall for Adam who is not much of a love target for her but luckily even I didn't suspect that she was just using him for an art project and was willing to go all the way in the name of art to manipulate and hurt a real un-suspecting, trusting and kind human being. But that's the point of the play that in the name of art one can cross all bounderies and justify the cruelty to advance themselves.
My only hesitation about the plot of this play is that how many times one can see this play knowing the ending and still enjoy it? But still the writing is very sharp and hold your interest.
The whole cast does a very good job but I liked Deven Anderson as Phillip. He had that wit and humor and sarcasm which involves you fully in the actor playing the character.
Scenic artists: Stephanie Ferraioli and India Quimby was very clean and impressive. I loved the
Make believe paintings in those frames.
I just wondered about the platform used in the museum scene if it was necessary because it did work nicely in the first scene but was in the way of many later scenes which seemed cramped.
But all these are minor problems to be thought about in the future productions of the play and also I caught the play on the opening night with some rough spots...I still was very impressed by the whole cast, the crew and especially by Rich Frraioli's excellent direction and the fast
pacing he maintained throughout the play. Every one involved in this production was totally professional and exteremly hospitable. My companions and I enjoyed the evening very much. My Guest from London, Paul Shaw who had also missed this play in London loved it and so did Kevin Martin who is also a theater Critic and publisher of CINEMASTAGE.COM
I hope other theater goers will make an effort and see future productions by VARIATIONS theatre Group. My congratulations to the team for a great effort.
Reviewed by Bina Sharif
of ARTSINTERNATIONAL.BLOGSPOT .COM
binasharif@earthlink.net
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