by 4 Cents Reviews on August 13, 2010
4 Cents Review – When 2 reviewers each give their 2 cents.
Bill Connington as Hamlet (photo by Beau Allulli)
Today Stephen Tortora-Lee and Karen Tortora-Lee give their 4 Cents about The Princes Of Darkness which is playing at Theater for the New City.
Before The Princes of Darkness (written and performed by Bill Connington) even begins there’s an ambiance created by sound designer Sean Gill that does its best to set a tone of creepy nervousness. Resonating within the small theatre, which is completely draped in black cloth, is the kind of music reserved for the scenes in movies that have the most startling effect – a subtle drop of blood oozing down a table, a shadow crossing a deserted hallway. Let yourself get pulled too deeply into the sounds and you’ll find that you’ll jump when the seat behind you thuds down.
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by Karen Tortora-Lee on July 30, 2010
Bill Connington as Oedipus (photo by Beau Allulli)
When looking for a quote to use as a title for this fantastic interview you’re about to read I had so many, many wonderful choices. Ultimately I went with a more benign line from the Megadeath song but I urge you to check out the Alice Cooper ode to the dark one as well as the more contemplative song brought to us by the Indigo Girls. Maybe even play it in the background to set the tone as you settle in to read my interview with Rachel Klein and Bill Connington.
If those names sound familiar it may be because Rachel Klein has done amazing work with shows like All Kinds of Shifty Villains and Go-Go Killers! while Bill Connington garnered raves in Fringe ’08 with Zombie. Ms. Klein now teams up with Mr. Connington to not only direct a show he has written and is performing in, but to create dance and movement pieces for it as well. I got a chance to chat with Klein and Connington about their new collaboration, Princes of Darkness, and hear first hand about good and evil, how go-go dancing can still be dystopian, and how, often, a Jesuit education will lead to raising children who write shows starring Lucifer.
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by Stephen Tortora-Lee on June 20, 2010
What kinds of secret do you know?
Is it classified? Is it torrid? Do you feel it’s necessary to preserve your identity? Do you have a secret identity? Is it ruining your life? Is it a second life? Is it real or just pretend? Do you need to expose it to be free? Do you need to preserve it just to stay sane?
The blurb for this Planet Connections show was very brief:
It’s a secret.
I want to keep the surprise as well so you can find the answers for yourself by coming to the play. So the questions that are sparked within you will hopefully expose new truths to you, or make you laugh in surprise at the craziness of a situation, or cry at the irony, or smirk in bemusement at an unexpected twist, or revel in satisfying conclusions. Or hopefully lead you on to examine yourself deeper and find new secrets about yourself.
But I will tell you one thing . . .
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