by Karen Tortora-Lee on February 14, 2011
Liz Douglas, Lori E. Parquet, Becky Byers, & Chris Wight
A few weeks ago when I interviewed playwright Liz Duffy Adams about her new play, Dog Act, now playing at the Flamboyan Theatre, she told me “I love stories about how people recreate social/political systems and civilization in the midst of catastrophe, and protect human culture through the darkest of times. So having the central characters be performers who are the sole source of art in a very dark future seemed exciting to me, and potentially theatrical.” In a nutshell, this is what Ms. Adams set out to do, and it is exactly what she did. Under Kelly O’Donnell’s masterful direction Dog Act manages to artfully combine the darkness and desolation of a lost world with the lightness and hope that is the very spirit of the theatre – be it vaudeville or otherwise.
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by Karen Tortora-Lee on January 20, 2011
Liz Duffy Adams (photo by Joanna Eldredge Morrissey)
It’s no secret that as far as Theatre Ensembles go, Flux is one of my very favorites. Consistently turning out quality work that never fails to leave audiences utterly captivated and amazed, they set the off-off Broadway bar very high – only to sail over it with each successive production. I’m always expectant when I know a new Flux show is coming around because for me it means - as a reviewer as well as an audience member – a guaranteed great night of theatre.
Well, I won’t have to wait much longer to get my Flux Fix – because Liz Duffy Adams’ post-apocalyptic dark comedy, Dog Act, will be coming to the Flamboyan Theater (at the Clemente Solo Velez Cultural & Educational Center) on February 4th. Dog Act “follows Zetta Stone, a traveling performer, and her companion Dog (a young man undergoing a voluntary species demotion) as they walk through the wilderness of the former U.S.A. with their vaudeville troupe. They are heading toward a gig in China, if they can find it…and if they can survive to get there.” Sounds like nothing I’ve ever seen before – and exactly what I’ve come to expect from Flux!
In an interview with Liz Duffy Adams I was able to find out how this extraordinary play found this extraordinary ensemble; how she was able to make vaudeville and post apocalyptic themes mesh, and what undergoing a “voluntary species demotion” actually means . . .
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by 4 Cents Reviews on May 13, 2010
4 Cents Review – When 2 reviewers each give their 2 cents.
Today Antonio Minino and Karen Tortora-Lee give their 4 Cents about Jacob’s House which is playing at The Access Theatre.
Karen Tortora-Lee:
I am convinced of a few things regarding Flux Theatre Ensemble and August Schulenberg after seeing Jacob’s House now playing at the Access Theatre.
1) August Schulenberg is physically incapable of writing a bad play, even under circumstances which – to anyone else – would dictate otherwise. Also, I’m pretty sure he’s using some sort of magic pen. Continue Reading…
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by Karen Tortora-Lee on November 20, 2008
My husband’s home town in Michigan is so small that, to them, the word “theatre” is 1) spelled “theater” and 2) always preceded by the word “movie”. And if you want to get to that “movie theater” you’ll need a car — because the closest one is 13 miles away in the next town over. Growing up, if he wanted a theatre experience of ANY kind he needed to head to Chicago.
Meanwhile, New York is so rife with theatre space that you can’t go to a Starbuck’s without being within a stone’s throw of one. Heck … there’s one in the building where I work. There was even a theatre connected to the restaurant I had dinner in last night. If you climb on any mailbox and squint, you can see independent theatre going on everywhere in New York.
I’m particularly fond of theatre companies who put on well crafted plays written by up and coming writers. Johnna Adam’s Angel Eater’s Trilogy is just such a work, and FLUX Theatre Ensemble is just such a company.
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