by Karen Tortora-Lee on August 11, 2011
Redd Tale Theatre Company has a knack for taking well-worn stories and delivering them with a fresh perspective. Currently during their “summer of creation” they are exploring the themes of what it means to be human and how our need to connect on a deeper level drives all living creatures. By currently pairing a well-known and time-honored old fashioned horror story – Frankenstein – with a newly written modern sci-fi piece – Gabriel – this talented ensemble is virtually flipping a coin for us and showing two sides of a very complex issue during one ambitious night of theatre.
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by Karen Tortora-Lee on August 16, 2010
Cast of Macbeth (photo by Ben Strothmann)
This may not be a popular theory, but I always felt that if Shakespeare were alive today and writing this Scottish play the plot might very well be the same . . . but the title would be Lady Macbeth and the emphasis would be completely different. For without the devious, devilish, deliciously deceitful Lady at his side Macbeth would be just another Hamlet, wandering about the castle wondering when his future was ever going to relieve him of his everlasting present.
Director Will Le Vasseur has done two things with Redd Tale Theatre Company’s Macbeth that I applaud him for. One, he’s “tightly edited” the original Shakespeare in ways that leave the story in tact while still getting the audience back on their feet before numbness sets in. However, the bigger triumph lies with point two. What Le Vasseur has done here – which I have yet to see done in other productions – is give this traditionally male-dominated Shakespearean Tale to the women. He’s managed to make a Feminist Macbeth. Now if I could only lobby to get him to change the title . . .
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by Karen Tortora-Lee on May 21, 2010
We’re going to start this review off with a quiz to illustrate a point. What’s the title of the poem that begins “By The Shores Of Gitche Gumee?” Go ahead, I’ll wait while you find out for me.
Back so soon? And your answer? That’s right. “The Song of Hiawatha” by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. And just about how long did it take you to find out the answer? Well, if you were like me you typed the title into Google, hit “search” and in .29 seconds (that’s literally the blink of an eye) not one, not two but 27,800 results were at your finger tips. You could have the text of the poem itself, the Wikipedia entry that gives the history of the poem, the 1996 novel by Tama Janowitz, a link to amazon.com where you can buy the Janowitz book if you wanted to, or some videos from YouTube.
What in the world did we we do before Google? Easy. Before Google there were Gals . . . or more precisely there was The Desk Set: Bunny Watson, head librarian of the reference department at the International Broadcasting Company, and her team of librarians. These gals were equipped with an encyclopedic knowledge of everything from batting averages to the names of Santa’s reindeer. And they’d give it to you in . . . well . . . the blink of an eye.
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by Karen Tortora-Lee on August 12, 2009
Society doesn’t look kindly upon mothers who kill their children, intentionally or otherwise; right now the court of public opinion is busily vilifying Diane Schuler who was reportedly drunk and stoned when she piled a group of children (her own daughter included) into her car and then drove the wrong way on the Taconic State Parkway killing everyone as well as (some would say rightfully) herself. Before that, there was the infamous Andrea Yates, who, in a stupor of post-partum depression and psychosis, systematically drowned one child after another until all 5 of her young boys were dead. But really, the “how” is never the question. In fact, the “how” is pretty much shushed away quickly, no one wants to hear how a mother kills her own children. What we are left asking is … why? Why would a mother kill these little ones?
The Greeks have always been amazing storytellers; their myths and tragedies are rife with the themes that pulse through every level of society. Show me an Icarus and I’ll show you a victim of Bernie Madoff. But the story of Medea has always been a little harder to figure out; a woman who is so angered by her husband’s betrayal that she kills her sons in order to exact revenge on him. Again, this “why” never quite resonated enough with me to be clearly understood. A woman can more easily identify with killing herself over a tragic affair than she can with killing her own child. So updating Medea has to be done very carefully. Luckily, playwright Will Le Vasseur has found a way to give his Medea the perfect out, thus preserving the original story while making his main character actually sympathetic. Continue Reading…
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