Gloucester Stage Company Serves Up Full-Bodied Blues in ‘Paradise Blue’

October 9, 2020 Henry HarveyLeave a comment

‘Paradise Blue’ — Written by Dominique Morisseau; Directed by Jackie Davis; Produced by Gloucester Stage Company at Oneline/Virtual Space, as part of its 2020 Never Dark Series. Streaming online October 1-4 at https://gloucesterstage.com/battle-not-begun/

By Shelley A. Sackett

There’s a raw poetic cadence to the dazzling dialogue of playwright Dominique Morisseau’s final play in her trilogy set in Detroit across decades. It’s 1949, and the downtown Blackbottom entertainment district is home to many black-owned jazz clubs, including the Paradise Club. Director Jackie Davis sets the tone immediately. Against an opening montage of black and white period photos and a pained, bone-melting trumpet solo, we hear a single gunshot. This film noir trope is a perfect entrance into ‘Paradise Blue’ and an introduction to the complicated passions that drive its five characters.

1938 Munich Agreement Unmasked in Gloucester Stage’s Inventive ‘The Battle Not Begun’

September 10, 2020October 1, 2020 michaelhobanLeave a comment

‘The Battle Not Begun-Munich 1938:The Brink of War’ – Written by Jack Beatty; Directed by Miriam Myriam Cyr; Produced by Gloucester Stage Company at Oneline/Virtual Space in collaboration with Punctuate4, an all-female led production company based on the North Shore, as part of its 2020 Never Dark Series. Streaming online September 3-6 at https://gloucesterstage.com/battle-not-begun/ .

By Shelley A. Sackett

Those of us who eschew the national news in favor of mental equilibrium and spiritual health should be forewarned: it is nearly impossible to watch this historically grounded play and not draw some scary parallels to global current events. The points between 1938 and 2020 beg to be connected.

That said, ‘The Battle Not Begun,’ written by playwright and NPR news analyst Jack Beatty, is as artistically absorbing as it is factually repellant. Under Myriam Cyr’s tight editing and sharp-eyed direction, the audience becomes a fly on the wall at the fateful meeting between Adolph Hitler and British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain that gave Hitler a green light to launch what became World War II.

Exploring Native Gardens at Gloucester Stage

October 13, 2019 michaelhobanLeave a comment

(Leigh Strimbeck, Alaina Fragoso, Eduardo Ruiz, Patrick Shea in ‘Native Gardens’ at Gloucester Stage. Photos by Jason Grow)

Review by James Wilkinson

Native Gardens – Written by Karen Zacarias. Directed by Kelly Galvin. Scenic Design: Lindsay Genevieve Fuori. Lighting Design: Marcella Barbeau. Costume Design: Chelsea Kerl. Sound Design: Alexis Rappaport. Props Design: Emme Shaw. Produced by Gloucester Stage Company, 267 E. Main St., Gloucester through October 20.

It was idle curiosity, more than any other factor, that brought me to Gloucester Stage Company’s production of Native Gardens. The play by Karen Zacarias made Theatre Communication Group’s list of the most produced plays for the 2018/2019 season (tying for placement with Paula Vogel’s Indecent), and I think that the achievement means something about where we (and that’s the collective “we”) are right now. In an age where more plays than ever are being written and with the canon of producible plays being so vast, something about this play managed to capture the attention of audiences across the country (or maybe it’s more appropriate to say that it managed to captured the attention of the regional theater Artistic Directors). All art is reflective of the artist, but popular art is reflective of the culture. I missed the Merrimack Repertory Theatre production last year, but now the play has come to Gloucester Stage and I wasn’t going to miss the chance to partake and see just who it is we all are.

Fact, Fiction or Something in Between? ‘The Lifespan of a Fact’ Asks But Doesn’t Provide Easy Answers

September 5, 2019September 5, 2019 michaelhobanLeave a comment

(Lindsay Crouse in Gloucester Stage Company’s ‘The Lifespan of a Fact – Photos by Jason Grow)

By Shelley A. Sackett

‘The Lifespan of a Fact –Written by Jeremy Karaken, David Murrell and Gordon Farrell based on the book by John D’Agata and Jim Fingal; Directed by Sam Weisman; Lighting Design by Marcella Barbeau; Costume Design by Gail Astrid Buckley; Props Design by Lauren Corcuera; Composer/Sound Design by Dewey Dellay, Scenic Design by J. Michael Griggs. Presented by Gloucester Stage Company, 267 E Main St., Gloucester, through September 22.

Every so often, a play so resonates with its time that the audience can’t stop thinking and talking about it for days afterwards. “The Lifespan of a Fact,” at the Gloucester Stage Theatre through September 22, is such a show, and theatergoers should flock to see it for its thought-provoking, razor-sharp script and spot-on production.

Gloucester Stage Company Tries to Measure the ‘Lifespan of a Fact’

September 4, 2019September 4, 2019 michaelhobanLeave a comment

(Lindsay Crouse as Emily, the editor and Derek Speedy as Jim, the fact checker in Gloucester Stage Company’s ‘Lifespan of a Fact’. Photos by Jason Grow)

Review by James Wilkinson

‘The Lifespan of a Fact’ – Written by Jeremy Kareken, David Murrell and Gordon Farrell. Directed by Sam Weisman. Scenic Design: J Michael Griggs. Lighting Design: Marcy Barbeau. Costume Design: Gail Astrid Buckley. Sound Design: Dewey Dellay. Props Design: Lauren Corcuera. Presented by Gloucester Stage Company, 267 E. Main St. Gloucester through September 22^nd.

Truth (and that’s with a capital ‘T’) is one of those words artists throw around when they’re in an especially pretentious mood. The idea that the glory of art is its pursuit of a higher truth is an idea drilled into arts students at school, mostly as a defense when their parents express concerns that they’re not pursuing a more “practical” career path. I’ve never really been able to buy into those lofty notions about truth. It’s not that I doubt art’s ability to investigate concepts, it’s that I’ve had to listen to too many hack artists use the party line as an excuse for whatever bit of nonsense they’re up to at the moment. When you counter their claim with inquiry, “Yes, but what does that mean?” you’ll usually send them stumbling into some vague definition for that grand word: Truth.

THE LIFESPAN OF A FACT – Gloucester Stage

September 1, 2019September 19, 2019 michaelhobanLeave a comment

Mickey Solis, Lindsay Crouse and Derek Speedy in THE LIFESPAN OF A FACT at Gloucester Stage

By Sheila Barth

BOX INFO: One-act, 90-minute play by Jeremy Kareken and David Murrell, and Gordon Farrell, based on the book/essay by John D’Agata and Jim Fingal, starring superstar Lindsay Crouse, through September 22, at Gloucester Stage Company, 267 East Main St., Gloucester. Showtimes: Wednesday-Saturday, 7:30 p.m; matinees, Saturday, Sunday, 2 p.m.. $15-$48; discounts for military families, senior citizens, college students, 18-year-olds-under, and Cape Ann residents. 978-281-4433, gloucesterstage.com.

When is a fact a fact?

When is it necessary to tell the truth factually, not creatively?

When do details overshadow a creative effort to gather and write a compelling essay?

What is the difference between a journalist and a writer?

What about fake news?

Gloucester Stage’s ‘Ben Butler’ Is Much More Than A Historical Comedy

August 16, 2019 michaelhobanLeave a comment

(Lieutenant Kelly (Doug Bowen-Flynn), Shepard Mallory (Shane Taylor), and Major General Benjamin Butler (Ames Adamson) in Gloucester Stage’s production of ‘Ben Butler’. Photos by Jason Grow)

By Shelley A. Sackett

‘Ben Butler’ –Written by Richard Strand; Directed by Joseph Discher; Scenic Design by Greg Trochlil; Lighting Design by Russ Swift; Costume Design by Chelsea Kerl; Props Design by Lauren Corcuera; Sound Design by Joseph Discher. Presented by Gloucester Stage Company, 267 E Main St., Gloucester, through August 25.

On May 23, 1861, smack in the middle of the Civil War, the citizens of Virginia voted overwhelmingly to secede from the United States. The next day, General Benjamin Butler, commander of Union-held Fort Monroe, VA, finds himself in an unusual moral and legal pickle. Three escaped slaves have showed up at the fort’s doorstep seeking sanctuary. Under the Fugitive Slave Act, settled federal law since its 1850 enactment, General Butler is required to return them to their owner.

Gloucester Stage’s ‘Ben Butler’ Combines Witty Repartee, Zaniness in Historical Comedy

August 7, 2019August 7, 2019 michaelhobanLeave a comment

Shepard Mallory (Shane Taylor), Lieutenant Kelly (Doug Bowen-Flynn), and Major General Benjamin Butler (Ames Adamson) in Gloucester Stage’s production of ‘Ben Butler’. Photos by Jason Grow

By Mike Hoban

Ben Butler – Written by Richard Strand. Directed by Joseph Discher. Scenic Design by Gregory Trochil; Costume Design by Chelsea Kerl; Lighting Design by Russ Swift. Presented by Gloucester Stage Company, 267 East Main Street, Gloucester through August 25

In the opening scene of Ben Butler, the first thing we learn is that Virginia has just seceded from the Union. While this news hardly seems remarkable – given that play is set during the Civil War in the Fort Monroe office of Butler, a Union Army General – what we don’t realize is how important that detail will be to the string of events that will change the course of American history. If you’re thinking that Ben Butler sounds like an educational historical drama, nothing could be further from the truth. Instead, this Gloucester Stage production is an often laugh out loud funny re-imagining of a historic meeting between two very different but remarkably similar individuals – one a General, the other a slave.

Hitchcock Comes to Life with Gloucester Stage’s ‘39 Steps’

July 12, 2019 michaelhobanLeave a comment

Amanda Collins, Lewis D. Wheeler in Gloucester Stage’s ’39 Steps’

Review by James Wilkinson

The 39 Steps – Written by Patrick Barlow. Directed by Robert Walsh. Assist. Director: Madison Cook-Hines. Scenic Design: Jenna McFarlen Lord. Lighting Design: Russ Swift. Costume Design: Miranda Kau Giurleo. Sound Design: David Wilson. Props Design: Emme Shaw. Presented by Gloucester Stage Company, 267 E. Main St. Gloucester through July 28

I have an unabashed love for the films of Alfred Hitchcock. It runs so deep that sitting five feet from where I’m typing this review is a pile of DVDs of just about every film he ever made. I won’t go into all of the reasons why (we’ll be here all day if I do), but I’d like to think that my passionate fandom makes me the ideal audience member for Gloucester Stage Company’s production of The 39 Steps. The play by Patrick Barlow is a stage adaptation of the classic 1935 film and also holds the distinction of being one of only two or three Hitchcock pictures that I’ve never seen. That strikes me as remarkable considering the high regard that film buffs hold the movie in. How exactly has this one slipped past me for all these years? I considered watching the film as research before going to Gloucester Stage’s production, then held off. The movie’s the movie (and I’ll get to it one of these days), right now I’m more concerned with what’s happening on stage.

Gloucester Stage Has Us Running ‘Barefoot in the Park’

June 25, 2019June 25, 2019 michaelhobanLeave a comment

*(Richard Snee, Paula Plum, and Joe Short in Gloucester Stage’s ‘Barefoot in the Park’)*

Review by James Wilkinson

‘Barefoot in the Park’ – Written by Neil Simon. Directed by Shana Gozansky; Set Design: Jeffrey Petersen. Lighting Design: Marcella Barbeau; Costume Design: Rachel Padula-Shufelt; Sound Design: David Remedios; Props Design: Lauren Corcuera. Presented by Gloucester Stage Company, 267 E Main St, Gloucester through June 30

Neil Simon is the theatrical equivalent of a cozy sweater. The kind you don’t wash for fear that the spin cycle will somehow upset the delicate balance of softness and warmth. At least, that’s the case for me. To admit my biases upfront, I’ll say that the man has earned (or perhaps the better word is ‘claimed’) a special spot in my theatrical-going heart because the first play I ever worked on back in high school was his 1981 play, Fools (not one of his better works, but for nostalgic reasons, it’s got its own room in that theater heart of mine). So, when I went to Gloucester Stage Company’s production of Barefoot in the Park (which I think is one of his better works), I went expecting a charming and enjoyable evening at the theater. And that’s exactly what I got. Gloucester Stage’s production is an incredibly charming and enjoyable one that goes down like a glass of warm milk.