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REVIEW: Trust and second chances in Psych Drama Company’s uninhibited ‘Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune’

Posted on July 9 by The Sleepless Critic

Frankie is more than guarded. She’s suspicious and she may have good reason for it.

Sensitively directed by Julia Murney, The Psych Drama Company presented Frankie and Johnny In the Clair de Lune live and in person at the Boston Center for the Arts in Boston, Massachusetts through Sunday, June 28. This uninhibited adult drama contained adult language and nudity and ran approximately two hours and 20 minutes with an intermission. Click here for more information.

Wendy Lippe and Cliffe Blake in ‘Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune’ Photo by Joe Heroun Photography

One of my favorite classical songs of all time is Debussy’s Clair de Lune. The way it builds until it strikes that heavenly crescendo and it has deservedly been featured in so many wonderful movies. Playwright Terrance McNally wrote Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune in 1987 before it was expanded and adapted into a feature romantic comedy film in 1991 starring Michelle Pfeiffer and Al Pacino. Directed by Garry Marshall, it expanded on the basis of the play to include additional characters and diner scenes. Though I have never seen the film, having seen Psych Drama Company’s Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune, I can see why Marshall might see the need to expand the movie into additional scenes and characters.

Wendy Lippe and Cliff Blake in Psych Drama Company’s ‘Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune’ Photo by Joe Heroun Photography

Set in the 1980’s, the play takes place entirely in Frankie’s Hell’s Kitchen apartment. The production’s immersive set design brings the audience intimately close to the action inside Frankie’s lived in one room apartment with a kitchenette, what looks like a fold out couch, a functioning ice box and an antenna television. A broad range of pop culture references are dropped in the dialogue and spread around the room including a glimpse of Cabaret, Studio 54, a Beatles jacket and an open box of Scrabble. Enlivening the space is Adam Elliot Rush’s rich vocals as a radio announcer as a range of piano-infused classical music plays softly in the background back when DJs took live requests. Matthew Breton’s crucial lighting lends to the progression of the evening with romantic moonlight and a peering dawn.

Wendy Lippe and Cliff Blake in ‘Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune’ Photo by Joe Heroun Photography

This is the setting of a first date which becomes an all nighter between Wendy Lippe as waitress Frankie and Cliff Blake as line cook Johnny after dinner and a movie. It also addresses the question whether this night will be a one night stand or something more than just two people loving the same song.

However, this is no When Harry Met Sally. Much more of a drama than comedy, it is a vulnerable and raw piece of theatre and though Blake’s Johnny is open with his feelings and admits to having a crush on Frankie, they hardly know each other. Blake’s Johnny is poetically romantic and humorous yet impulsive while Frankie is tough, defensive, skeptical and still deciding if she ever wants to see Johnny again. Frankie observes thoughtfully while Johnny is a chatterbox. It’s a type of tug of war conversation in which both parties are adamant about how they envision the conclusion of this unorthodox first date to be as they fib, flirt, fight and discover some surprising and difficult revelations about one another that may bring them together or draw them apart.

Frankie and Johnny delight in Debussy’s Clair de Lune and it stands as one of the brighter moments of the production. Blake as Johnny is appreciative, charming and an interesting storyteller while Lippe demonstrates Frankie’s growing vulnerability with candor. Frankie and Johnny are confined to one space which seemed to force the characters to confront their fears, but did not seem to enhance the production’s occasionally stagnant pacing.

Cliff Blake and Wendy Lippe in Psych Drama Company’s ‘Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune’ Photo by Joe Heroun Photography

Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune is an unconventional love story about two wounded and world weary individuals longing for trust and understanding. Even in its cynicism, the production’s revelatory and quieter moments stand out in their shared hope for a brighter future.

The Psych Drama Company presented Frankie and Johnny In the Clair de Lune live and in person at the Boston Center for the Arts in Boston, Massachusetts through Sunday, June 28. Click here for more information.

REVIEW: Royalty, loyalty and lies in Dream Role Players’ free production of Shakespeare’s ‘Richard III’

Posted on August 27, 2024 by The Sleepless Critic

‘Now is the winter of our discontent / Made glorious summer by this sun of York’ is a famously optimistic line appropriately stated by Richard, Duke of Gloucester in hopes for a brighter future with a timely reference…but a lot can happen on a Segway.

Elizabeth Ross as Richard Duke of Gloucester in Dream Role Players Production of ‘Richard III’ Photo by Dream Role Players

Co-directed by Mary Parker and Robin Abrahams, Dream Role Players takes a look at how pride goes before the fall in the Shakespeare tragedy Richard III which has been alternating locations between Longfellow Park and Raymond Park in Cambridge, Massachusetts live and in person through September 1. Women and gender minorities reign in this free, part steam punk, part rock n roll condensed production which runs 1 hour and 40 minutes with no intermission. In Longfellow Park, Richard III takes place in an ideal spot in front of the famous Longfellow statue. Click here for more information and where to find this free production.

Laura Liberge and Elizabeth Ross in Dream Role Players production of ‘Richard III’ Photo by Dream Role Players

Though the Dream Role Players are presenting an abbreviated version, Richard III is Shakespeare’s second longest play. Ian McKellen, Al Pacino, and Laurence Oliver have all starred as Richard of Gloucester in various film adaptations over the years.

The battle over a throne can be fraught with violence, cunning, and manipulation much like chess pieces moving on a board. Shakespeare unveils Machiavellian atrocities within some of his most famous works such as Hamlet, King Lear and Macbeth. However, Richard III features arguably one of the darkest and most arrogant Shakespearean villains depicted by Elizabeth Ross as Richard of Gloucester who aims for new heights.

Elizabeth Ross, Sue Downing, and Dayenne CB Walters in Dream Role Players production of ‘Richard III’ Photo by Dream Role Players

While not as familiar with Richard III as with other Shakespearean works, it is easy to spot a great deal of common themes. Richard III was crowned King from 1483 to 1485, but Shakespeare’s Richard III is considered historical fiction containing some factual elements with some liberties taken.

Hannah Baker, Elizabeth Ross and Isabelle Bushkov in Dream Role Players production of ‘Richard III’

Richard III possesses the earmarks common in Shakespeare’s tragedies including a great battle, arrogant musings, conspiring, violence, ghosts, and foreboding dreams while keeping the Shakespearean dialogue intact. This production also infuses contemporary flair including gothic and steam punk costume trends primarily soaked in black and red. Fingerless gloves, spiked crowns, jeans, pinstripes, fishnets, Victorian boots, and ripped stockings are a fraction of Teresa Griffin’s edgy costuming while also featuring symbolic and supernatural detail. Hard rock girl bands dominate the production’s soundtrack to emphasize that edgy vibe.

Dayenne CB Walters, Amelia Smith and Sue Downing in Dream Role Players production of ‘Richard III’ Photo by Dream Role Players

While the production is a bit vague in parts, this version of Richard III seems more lighthearted with some surprising laughs and dark humor for the level of tyranny it depicts, but not bereft of hope delivered in an inspiring monologue by Amelia Smith depicting a few roles including the Earl of Richmond.

Richard III features a few miscreants to keep track of on the path to the throne, but Elizabeth Ross as Richard of Gloucester who had physical disabilities, is the most dastardly and at the same time, the most fun to watch. Ross’s grand gestures, pettiness, sardonic whispers, and conspiratorial musings tucked behind a taunting grin while stylistically riding a Segway is a head turner. Ross also utters one of Shakespeare’s most popular lines, ‘My kingdom for a horse’ and shares some strong scenes with Dani Dorrego as Queen Elizabeth and with Addie Pates as calculating informant Duke of Buckingham.

Hayley Haggerty, Amelia Smith, Elizabeth Ross Dayenne CB Walters and Dani Dorrego in Dream Role Players production of ‘Richard III’ Photo by Dream Role Players

Dayenne CB Walters, who portrayed the big bad Iago in Dream Role Players’ Othello, returns in a dual role including a memorably manipulative Queen Margaret.

The foundation of Dream Role Players is making roles accessible to anyone who dreams of portraying them. Not sure if the dream was an all women and gender minorities cast or the majority of these roles were earnestly sought after by women or a little of both, but a gender bending cast of this nature was featured last year on a park in New York as well as in London.