Unfortunately, grim is the best way to describe Company One’s recent production of Grimm, a retelling of seven classic Brother’s Grimm fairy-tales.  Clocking in at a laborious 2 hours and forty five minutes, these “re-imagined” vignettes were not the dark and thoughtful pieces I had hoped for, but on the whole were a poorly written mishmash strung together by very poor quality voice over recordings from the authors.   Even the undeniably talented actors and actresses giving it their all and the clever set dressings couldn’t compensate for this sloppily written collection.

Giving Gregory Maguire, writer of the popular novel, Wicked, top billing was a good idea for this production, because his name alone got bottoms in the seats.  His play, The Seven Stage A Comeback, was based on a short story he wrote by the same name, in which the seven dwarfs of “Snow White” fame go on a journey seeking answers from White after she “abandons” them to live with the prince.  Though I found it to be a bit arcane, at least it was written with sophisticated language and acted well.  I wish the play wasn’t broken into three parts and performed throughout the night because I found it to be distracting,  both for the play itself and in relation to the other plays.  Not that the plays themselves deserved much scrutiny.

Thanksgiving, by Kristen Greenidge, barely references “Clever Else”, the fairytale it was supposed to be written about.  Heavy handed and sloppy, the only thing saving this soap-opera melodrama is the superb acting work of Nicole Prefontaine,  Becca Lewis and Molly Kimmerling, whose physical and vocal transformation is commendable among the cliche.   Stories about Snakes by Melinda Lopes is barely followable.  The repetitious, sing-song dialog is boring, the acting is stiff and strange,  and the point is completely obscured.  John Kuntz’ Red is a disappointing retelling of “Little Red Riding-hood”- using a supercharged sexual story to try to teach the audience something about trust and power; I just felt uncomfortable during the frankly unsurprising story.  This was my biggest disappointment of the night, considering my obvious affinity for Kuntz’ work.

Marcus Gardley presented the audience with Half-Handsome and Regrettable, one of the most insultingly bad “professional” plays I have ever seen.  I’m not going to apologize for how blunt that sounds because I was completely floored that something so juvenile and poorly written was showcased with the likes of John Kuntz and Gregory Maguire.  Half Handsome and Regrettable was one bad joke and insulting stereotype after another all topped off by a museum guard doing a suggestive dance to “Single Ladies” (so insulting that this pop-culture slapstick is the only way Gardley thought he could get his audience to laugh).   Prefontaine and Mason Sand played the “Hansel” and “Gretel” characters, and even their dedication to the roles didn’t save the train wreck of a script.  I’m shocked that Company One selected this sub-par play to be part of their Grimm collection.

The ultimate problem with this night of re imagined fairy-tales, is the very essence of fairytale in and of itself.  The Brothers Grim crafted masterful stories that were meant to teach the reader subtle lessons about right and wrong in their own  society and culture.  When you extract and twist and reconstitute the stories trying to add layers and dimension, you ultimately strip the stories of their very essence.  Not every tale continues to resonate in our modern culture (Stories about Snakes was a particular failure here).  Of course this can be done to great success (look at all the excellent manifestations of the “Cinderella” story which exist in popular television and film) but when you mess with something that is already perfectly constructed, you run the risk of an even more crushing failure (did you see Sydney White?)  I think this production of Grimm fell a little too far on the side of “crushing failure” more for its desperate attempt to add meaning to stories that already had meaning than for its acting and production value.

Victoria Marsh displays a very notorious apple.

The civil rights movement and the about turn in the political posture that resulted have always been inspiring to me.  I’m amazed when I think about people who have been repressed for centuries and how they work tirelessly to evoke non-violent revolution.  Company One’s production of The Good Negro, by Tracey Scott Wilson, is a microcosm of the moiling moments of Civil Rights Movement.  Director Summer L. Williams illustrated the unimaginably raw vehemence of racial astriction in that time period. William’s effective direction was showcased to perfection by the skills and talent of her design team.  Set, lights, costumes, sound and projection were all engineered to authenticate the words of the play-write and the characterization of the actors.  Every aspect of the production worked to establish the confluence of events that told a specific story while also analogizing the entire civil rights movement.  This show, being produced at this time in history is particularly apt.  There are an abominable amount of Americans just coming to accept racial diversity, and an even more humiliating amount of Americans still clinging to the ideals of ignorance.  There is still racial inequality, and there are, now, additional civil rights/liberties that still need to be fought for.  This production was cathartic and instructional for those still waiting for an end to prejudicial ideology and action.

Jonathan L. Dent played the tragic hero of the show, James Lawrence, with sincerity.  Dent brought ingenuousness to the character’s conflict of conviction.  Battling between his faith and desire for freedom and his fallibility as a man and husband, Dent brought a victimless vulnerability to the stage and story.  Dent was flanked by actors Cedrick Lilly as Bill Rutherford and Cliff Odle as Henry Evans, the proverbial angel and devil of Lawrence’s psyche.  Lilly portrayed Bill Rutherford with a naiveté of knowing but not experiencing, which was visibly ground out by the action of the play.  Lilly gave definition to the term supporting role.  With subtlety, he enriched the texture of the story without over-reaching for audience reaction.  Odle was also a charming presence, playing Henry Evans with a comedic touch that allowed for the interjection of humor into a story so mired in misery. The antagonist Gary Thomas Rowe, Jr., as played by Greg Maraio, stood as the symbol of the white southerner of the time.  Maraio avoided caricaturizing, and made prevalent the literal ignorance of an entire people.

The stand-out performers of the night were Kris Sidberry and Marvelyn McFarlane.  These two were the only women in this male heavy cast, but their limited time on stage left me longing for more.  Sidberry captured the self-possessed composure of a political wife, in her portrayal of Corinne Lawrence, while evoking in the audience the character’s true feelings.  McFarlane also displayed composure as Claudette Sullivan.  She, however, kept her aplomb out of fear.  McFarlane played this crucial role with humility.  She was required to touch on the extremes of emotion and the points between, but regardless of her place on the emotional spectrum, her sensitive performance held an engendering meekness.

The quality, talent, and substance of this production were such that writing this review was difficult.  I wrote, deleted and re-wrote it several times before coming to the conclusion that no matter how eloquent I may try to be in describing it, my words could not convey the esteem with which I regard this production, and as a result, the esteem with which I have come to regard Company One.  I greatly look forward to the next production in their season.

Kris Sidberry (Corrine) and Jonathan L. Dent (James)

I wanted to like Company One and Phoenix Theatre Artist’s production of Christmas Belles so much.  It seemed to me like a little gift from heaven, a Holiday show by the creators of one of my favorite and arguably one of the funniest television sitcoms of all time, The Golden Girls, and I was prepared to be dazzled by the jollity of comedic genius.  I’m afraid that I was left feeling immensely underwhelmed by this production.

The cast wasn’t bad, in fact, I enjoyed the performance of almost all of the jovial crew, but it was hard for them to make up for what was lacking in the script- that is, something that linked together the moments of obscene exposition and cheap one-liners that actually managed to warm the audience’s heart.  I am a firm believer that any holiday story, no matter how cheesy, needs to have the “heart warm” factor firmly in place in order to be successful in the genre.  This script just didn’t cut it for me, and though the second act did pick up a little with brief moments of good writing, the first act was so dismal I almost stopped paying attention.

I could go on about specific reasons why I didn’t like the script of Christmas Belles, but Company One and the Phoenix Theatre Artists did assemble some great talents, and I want to give them the credit they are due.  They were the only thing that saved this cardboard cutout of a Holiday show.  First and foremost let me say that I absolutely loved Terrence P. Haddad as Sheriff John Curtis Barker.  He perfectly balanced the need to be a ridiculous caricature with moments of real character development, and his lines were perfectly accented.  It was fantastic to get to see him with lines and vitality after his amusing but fairly silent stint in the Superheroine Monologues.   I also enjoyed Barbara Douglass as Frankie- surely she must be a mother herself because she was a natural at waddling around with that pregnant belly strapped under her clothes.  Light and clever, she actually plays with the sub-par lines she’s given and manages to imbue them with a little heart.  She’s got good chemistry with her on-stage husband, Dub, played by Dave Sanfacon.  Some of the funniest moments of the whole production are their repartee and clever mirroring medical conditions. Rory Kulz as Raynerd is my other favorite of the night.  Somehow he breathed life into the “village idiot” stereotype and gave the audience a very sensitive performance- and the red flyer wagon was the perfect finishing touch to his ensemble.

Direction by Greg Maraio shines in act two’s holiday pageant, when finally the comedy starts to click into place.  I have to admit that the baby Jesus doll with full beard and blinkie eyes made me laugh out loud, especially with the polar bear holding him upside down.  I almost wish I could have that scene captured in my memory as the entirety of the production, because Maraio clearly helps to lead the cast to the finer points of the script at that moment!

All in all, not my favorite of this season’s Holiday fare, but not a total bust for our friends at Company One and Phoenix Theatre Artists.  I am going to keep coming back.  I am really looking forward to the Company One production that wows me as much as my colleague enjoyed The Overwhelming but I don’t think anything can top last season’s The Memory of Water produced by Phoenix Theatre Artists while still under the “Way” label.

An unusual Christmas Pageant.

One of the best things about new works is their infinite possibility to change and adapt.  It was great to see the growth that was made in the encore of Company One and Phoenix Theatre Artist’s production of The Superheroine Monologues.  I enjoyed the premiere of the piece earlier this year at The Boston Playwrights Theatre, but I could also see the need for revisions and condensing.  I was looking forward to seeing the show again in the MUCH more convenient Boston Center for the Arts. Greg Maraio and Jared Fennelly did a great job adapting the scenic design into the more compact space of the BCA’s black box theater.

One of the major strengths of this piece is the cleverly crafted frame of superheroines throughout the decades- the audience took delight in watching the characters develop through each time period, touching not just the obvious stereotypes from the generation but also the more intimate female experience (tying it in nicely with the theme of the Vagina Monologues from which the show parodied its title).  The actresses do a terrific job of embodying the essence of their given generation, especially Cheryl D. Singleton’s powerful portrayal of Storm as an independent and strong black woman of the 90’s.

Singleton was not the only strong actress in the cast.  In fact, I would say that the cast was one of the best things that the show had going for it, overall.  For a show that lasted well over two hours (closer to three, after all was said and done) it’s a good thing the actresses were as strong as they were, because at times the writing was not good enough to keep the audience interested for solid fifteen minute stretches of one person speaking.  Molly Kimmerling went on as the understudy for Supergirl in the Friday evening performance, and she was perky and fun. She did justice to Jackie McCoy, who originated the role with style.  Christine Power as Phoenix and Shawna O’Brien as Wonder Woman were absolutely wonderful.  Each had essence of a well-cherished character with the subtle nuance of reinvention.  The Wonder Woman monologue, which dominates the first act of the show, is an excellent revision from the original, giving more continuity to the rest of the monologues and giving O’Brien a chance to shine dramatically.  Though all the actresses stood out at one time or another, the hands-down phenomenal performance award would go to Amanda Good Hennessey as Lois Lane.  She had extraordinary comic timing, delicate but articulate mannerisms, and a dizzying vocal speed that made her very long monologue fly by (literally!).  Hennessey only got better since the original run.  It was worth seeing the show for her performance alone. Props to director Greg Maraio for helping this cast find their voices,  even the ensemble was a great treat.

While the piece did benefit from some additions; notably Wonder Woman’s monologue and the new musical vignettes that helped to thread that element into the plot, I still feel that the play is too long.  While I appreciate that there was enough added content to break up the show into two acts, there was still a lot of “fat” that could have been trimmed to make it easier to swallow.  Authors Rick Park and John Kuntz are extremely funny, giving the monologues humor and sophistication, so it is completely confusing to me how they could allow the first 20 minutes of the show, a dramatic recreation of the origin of Wonder Woman, to be the audience’s introduction into their delightful world.  It is long, sloppily written, and is replete with dated jokes (sorry guys, Sarah Palin is –so- 2008).  The “talking pedestals” are contrived and overdone- it just wasn’t funny after the first time. There is no natural flow to the scene, it was so awkward that the girls sounded like they were reading off of cue cards, waiting for the laughs that only reluctantly came.  It is such a bummer to start a show that way.  I think that whole scene could be reworked into a two or three minute introduction that ornaments, not impedes, the subsequent monologues.  I urge them to put some more thought into revisions- cutting it down to two hours would be a vast improvement.

Park and Kuntz have really strong potential for an amazing piece with The Superheroine Monologues. With any new work, there is always room for improvement, and despite its growing pains, I still found it to be entertaining.  There are still two more weekends of performances at the BCA, and I think it is worth seeing- hopefully this show will continue to grow and adapt, like a superheroine would, to reach the biggest possible audience! One additional note- thanks Park and Kuntz, for creating a female-centric show, no matter what the flaws, I celebrate a show that highlights women in all their glory.  The theatre world is woefully preferential to men, and it is really refreshing to get to see a group of talented women shine.

Storm’s powerful reverie