Friday January 26, 2007 SGN.org |
 |
Volume 35 Issue 04 |
 |
|
Friday, Jan 09, 2009
|
 |
|||||||||||
|
|||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||
|
Seattle Rep starts '07 season on a provocative note |
||
 |
||
| Seattle Rep starts '07 season on a provocative note | ||
|
by Rajkhet Dirzhud-Rashid -
SGN A&E Writer I've always liked Edward Albee, but I've also known that not everyone is up to the task of his rigorously vicious dialogue, or up to bringing life to his stinging satire. Still, sitting in the audience at The Seattle Repertory Theater's opening night performance of Albee's mysterious 'The Lady from Dubuque', I wasn't entirely disappointed. The play, about a group of friends who gather at a cocktail party in the home of one of them, and proceed to hash out every inkling of what's wrong in their relationships, is in some places a bit dull. That could have been the fault of the actors, who seemed to have trouble enlivening Albee's typical acidic lines with the bite they needed, or just that it was opening night. But, by the time the title character shows up, things have at least gotten interesting enough to keep even the most jaded theatergoer interested. I found the undertone of racism when Black character 'Oscar' (a witty and urbane Frank X), shows up to be probably the most exciting part of the play to watch. The interplay between him and the play's other white characters was the meat I'd been waiting for and lived up to Albee's wit, giving the play a sharpness that'd been missing in the first half. Also intriguing was the question as to who the two 'new people' (Oscar and The Lady From Dubuque--zippy Myra Carter) actually are. Are they death, come from suffering wife 'Jo' (Carla Harting, who gives a stunning and poignant performance that crackles all the while she's onstage), or are they just interlopers? I decided they were death, but I still wasn't sure, even as the lights went down on her grieving husband, Sam (Charlie Matthes, who's too young and untested for the part he's given to play). But, I don't think Albee wants the audience to know who the pair are, but to question much bigger issues, like the nature of love, death, and how we make friends. For that, the play is superb, and I'm sure it will only improve as the weeks go on and the actors fit better into their parts. For more information or tickets, call 206-443-2222, or visit www.seattlerep.org. |
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
International Readers read the SGN in Arabic, Chinese, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Spanish |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
|
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 post your own information on Seattle Gay Blog |
|
 |
copyright Seattle Gay News - DigitalTeamWorks 2006