Ye Elizabeths

Benefiting: Girls, Inc.
Produced by Easter Punny Productions
Written & Performed by Alicia Barnatchez and Erin Leigh Schmoyer
Directed by Leah Bonvissuto

“Elizabeth and Elizabeth are historical re-enactors, on a low-rent version of Plimoth Plantation. When it goes the way of the buffalo, they must learn how to marry their Pilgrim lives to modern times. Their answer? Reality TV. So, update your smallpox vaccine, hop aboard this multi-media Mayflower, and prepare to get colonized…again!”

Show Times:

• Sat 6/2/12 – 5:00pm
• Thur 6/7/12 – 7:00pm
• Fri 6/15/12 – 8:30pm
• Sat 6/16/12 – 3:00pm
• Tue 6/19/12 – 8pm

Answers by Alicia Barnatchez & Erin Leigh Schmoyer (writers/performers/producers)

Karen Tortora-Lee’s Question
How did you come up with the title for your show?
Alicia & Erin Leigh:  The title came from our protagonists both being names Elizabeths, (as was true of many a Pilgrim lady settler).

Diánna Martin’s Question
If you were going to invite 5 people (from the past or present) to see your show – who would you invite … and why?
Alicia & Erin Leigh:  William Bradford to see if he enjoyed the way we repped his pilgrim people.  Beatrice Arthur, Estelle Getty, Rue McClanahan & Betty White, because they’re the golden girls.

Antonio Minino’s Question
What is the biggest sacrifice you’ve made for your art and was it worth it?
Alicia & Erin Leigh: We feel like any sacrifices we may have made along the way pale in comparison to those of our Pilgrim settlers, who risked everything, including their lives to find new hope for freedom in the new world.

Geoffrey Paddy Johnson’s Question
Was there any unexpected discovery made during the development of this production and can you share it with us?
Alicia & Erin Leigh:  We were surprised and psyched that we were able to write songs without the ability to play musical instruments.

Michelle Augello-Page’s Question
What do you hope the audience receives from the experience of seeing this show?
Alicia & Erin Leigh: A reminder that even in your bleakest moments, the ability to laugh can give you hope, and that you should let your best friend know just how much she or he means to you.  You’d be a quivering mass of jello without her!

___

Planet Connections runs from May 30 – June 24 at The Bleecker Street Theater located at 45 Bleecker Street, New York, NY. To purchase tickets to this or any of the shows click here.

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• The Closet – 5 Things To Know About The Show Before You Go (2012 Planet Connections Festivity)
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What I’m about to tell you will sound very controversial . . . you may not even believe me at first. Frankly, I probably shouldn’t even be writing about it at all, but I’m compelled to. You see, last Wednesday night at 8:00pm I was an eye-witness to an alien invasion.

Not just any alien invasion – no . . . this was a Kentucky goblin siege.  There were goblins. There was crazy banjo music. There were slo-mo shoot-outs. There were romantic entanglements. There were personal issues to be ironed out. There was a proposal of marriage. There were spooky noises of several different varieties.  There was a rebellious teen who wanted to be a beatnik.  There were people who weren’t what they said they were.  There was a surprisingly serene baby.  And when it was all over, there was a solid resolution for all involved. If I didn’t know better, I’d say what I’d witnessed was actually a theatrical play.  Hey . . . wait a minute . . .

Of course it was a play. The Kentucky Goblin Siege is the latest offering by No Tea Productions (a group I’ve grown quite fond of over the months) who boast a talented ensemble of comedic performers including Playwright Jeff Sproul who also acts in the piece  – and serves as the company’s Artistic Director.

Directed by Lindsey Moore, this zany tale weaves the storyline of almost a dozen characters (more, if you count the baby and the goblins) who are brought together this one night in 1955 to have a reunion of sorts that quickly turns into a madcap romp.  For little did they know that on this night – August 21, 1955 -  there was to be one of the largest reported alien encounters in U.S. history.

A lot of the humor of The Kentucky Goblin Siege relies on the element of surprise – a character acting out of character – or an unexpected twist. Sproul is a generous writer – every character gets their star turn – however some fare better with the script than others. There are definitely moments when a joke could have used a little more fine tuning, or a different emphasis for a bigger reward, or even just a little more playing to the back row. Still, as I happened to be catching the show on opening night, I’m sure those minor speed bumps will get smoothed out as this team finds the rhythm of those moments.

The Goblins themselves were the work of Puppeteer Anna Paniccia and the Puppet Heap Workshop – who all did a great job of creating dynamic puppets that moved with agility across the stage (each aided by 2 puppeteers discreetly garbed in black). Head Puppeteers Elizabeth Dapo and Ryan-Michele Healey and team puppeteers Alicia Barnatchez, Jesse Bernath, Lisa Nussbaum and Mike Quirk did an altogether effective job of bringing these creatures to life while actually making you forget that they themselves were behind the mischief.  The fact that almost all of them pull double duty as full-fledged characters makes me tip my hat to their versatility and agility alone.

Compliments also to Jeremy Mather who not only creates a lovable dichotomic teen in Lonnie Lankford – who simultaneously looks like he can’t tie his shoes, yet enjoys books on architecture, for he was responsible for the engaging sound design that blankets this Siege.

With fun twangy accents that each actor really gets behind there’s never a dull moment, and the final show down of Man vs. Alien which boasts two well-choreographed slow motion moments (by Fight Choreographer Kenneth Nicholas) caps the story off nicely. While there were a few instances that didn’t quite ring the bell for me, those were far outbalance by many more instances which did.

So, if you’re in the mood for a show jam-packed with puppets, pistols, panic and puns The Kentucky Goblin Siege will transport you from your boring, non-golin-sieged-life to a place where anything can happen, and probably will.

~~~

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• Missed Connections: An Exploration Into The Online Postings Of Desperate Romantics (2012 FRIGID NEW YORK FESTIVAL)
• The Stranger To Kindness: City Of Strangers (2012 FRIGID NEW YORK FESTIVAL)