Assassin: A Gripping Tale of Morality, Choice and Redemption

By Christine Facciolo

You don’t have to be a football fanatic to appreciate the Delaware Theatre Company’s production of Playing the Assassin.

That’s because Playing the Assassin isn’t really about football — per se.

Playing the Assassin by David Robson.
Photo courtesy of Delaware Theatre Company.

Still there’s plenty of up-close body-slamming action in the form of a spirited — and sometimes disturbing — debate about sports ethics, morality, choice, responsibility, family, race and just about anything else the play’s two characters care to toss into one intermission-less act of conversation/altercation.

The work by Wilmington-based playwright David Robson premiered last year at Rockland County, New York’s Penguin Repertory Theatre under the direction of Joe Brancato, who reprises those duties here in Delaware as do other members of his team, including actors Ezra Knight and Garrett Lee Hendricks.

Knight turns in a gripping performance as Frank, a now-retired football legend whose dirty on-the-field tactics earned him the nickname “The Assassin” and who was responsible for inflicting a devastating in-game injury on an opposing player, rendering him paralyzed from the neck down.

The action takes place in a modern yet not-quite-five-star hotel suite in downtown Chicago. Frank has been flown in by a segment producer from CBS Sports for a much-hyped pre-Super Bowl sit-down with the player he injured years ago.

Robson bases the plot on a real-life incident. During a 1978 pre-season game, Oakland Raider Jack Tatum plowed into New England Patriot Darryl Stingley rendering him a quadriplegic. The two men never spoke again. The incident became a symbol of violence in football, tainting Tatum’s legacy right up to his death in 2010. (The incident was prominently displayed in the headline to his obituary.)

Playing the Assassin is the product of Robson’s musings about what might have taken place if the two players had met and attempted a reconciliation.

Hendricks plays Lewis, the suited-up, buttoned-down, eager-to-please (if somewhat green) producer charged with convincing Frank to sign a contract for the no-holds-barred interview which is to include an apology. Lewis seems a bit too interested in the details of the accident, the reason for which comes through later in the play. What follows is a cat-and-mouse game between the vainglorious Frank and the persistent Lewis, culminating in a demonstration of Frank’s tackling prowess which turns shockingly violent.

Frank grows increasingly suspicious of Lewis, accusing him of lying about the other party’s willingness to participate in the interview. In the midst of it all, we learn that Frank has written his memoirs which make no mention of the tragic incident that captured international media attention.

Both actors manage worthy and durable performances as their characters evolve through a series of striking revelations and twists of fate that at times seem strained and contrived.

Knight is a standout in the meatier of the two roles. He deftly combines the swagger of his past glory with the stark reality of his diminished physicality and a deep-seated guilt and anger over an incident that has shadowed him and tainted his legacy.

Hicks initially presents Lewis an affable production assistant but gradually blends in a hostility that presages a deep-seated resentment and belligerence.

Robson does not directly address some of the weightier issues facing football today, namely, fan complicity in the glorification of gridiron violence and the league’s failure to prepare players — especially injured players — for life after the big leagues.

But then, Robson didn’t set out to write a play about football. Just a story about two men who at the sound of the two-minute warning need to make a play for redemption before the clock runs out.

Playing The Assassin runs at Delaware Theatre Company through November 8.

Maurice Hines Is Tappin’ Thru Life with an Energetic Stop at DTC

By Guest Blogger, Christine Facciolo
Christine holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Music and continues to apply her voice to all genres of music. An arts lover since childhood, she currently works as a freelance writer.

Vegas met vaudeville Saturday night when the Delaware Theatre Company opened its 37th season with Maurice Hines Is Tappin’ Thru Life.

Hines, the older brother of the late great tap meister, Gregory Hines, is a consummate artist in his own right: a Tony Award nominee as well as celebrated singer, dancer, choreographer and director who has graced stages both here and abroad.

Hines is one entertainer who knows how to work a room. His smile and energy are infectious and he clearly has a respect and admiration for his fans that has — sadly — become a rare commodity in today’s world of entertainment.

He kicked the evening off with effusive praise for Wilmington, its people and the DTC, both in word and song with I’ve Never Been in Love Before. You got the impression that there was nowhere in the world he’d rather be than right here and the sold-out crowd loved it.

But Hines doesn’t just talk the talk, he walks the walk, sometimes literally. He talked about how he ate at Harry’s Seafood Grill on the Riverfront with Bud Martin, DTC’s executive director. Reports of “Hines sightings” abound as he hoofs about town.

Hines talks and sings about his childhood, his relationship with his brother, the influence his parents had on his career and life, all the while getting superb backing from the nine-member Diva Jazz Orchestra, a distaff powerhouse ensemble.

Tappin’ Thru Life is much more than a chronological recounting of a life’s events. It is, as Hines points out, a love letter to his mother who, unlike his skeptical father, never doubted that her talented toddlers were destined for the world stage. “My father was just along for the ride,” he quipped.

We see photos of the lovely Alma Hines in her wedding gown and decked out in a stylish fur on the porch with his father. “Isn’t she beautiful?” Hines asked the audience as he gazed lovingly at the faded black-and-white images.

Hines also gets misty-eyed when talking about his brother. He regrets the argument they once had that caused them to be estranged for 10 years. But once they reconciled, they were inseparable until Gregory’s passing in 2003 at age 57. “I miss my brother,” he said before singing My Buddy.

Hines’ personal history is interspersed with social comments regarding integration and segregation. He tells of the time he and his brother received an invitation from Tallulah Bankhead to visit her whites-only hotel in Las Vegas. (She threatened to boycott her own show if management objected.) The brothers swam in the pool then had to watch as the proprietors drained the water after they exited. Hines punctuated the story with a heartfelt rendition of Nat “King” Cole’s signature song Smile.

There were magical moments as well. Like the time he met Frank Sinatra, the reigning king of Las Vegas, in Sammy Davis Jr.’s dressing room. And if that wasn’t enough excitement, Dean Martin, the indisputable “king of cool” himself, appeared at the door. “Jay-Z and P. Diddy think they’re cool baby, but Dean Martin was the coolest man I’d ever seen,” he said.

Much of the dialogue and comments between the band and the audience is ad-libbed, making for a comfortable interaction in the intimate venue.

Hines shares the stage with the Manzari Brothers, photogenic siblings who appeared with him in “Sophisticated Ladies.” Their relentlessly high-voltage performance provided the perfect complement to Hines’ cool and relaxed elegance.

The audience erupted when nine-year-old Jake Sweeny, who studies tap at the Delaware Arts Conservatory, joined the Manzaris in a fast and furious battle of the taps.

The band is big, bold and brassy. Horns blare and pianist Jackie Warren shows her instrument no mercy as she pounds away at the keys. Music Director Sherrie Maricle delivered a jaw-dropping drum solo during a performance of Duke Ellington’s Caravan.

Played and sung numbers included big-band favorites like It Don’t Mean a Thing, to Broadway’s I’ve Grown Accustomed to Her Face, and Luck Be a Lady, to the rock era’s Love the One You’re With.

Hines closed the show with a love song to the audience, Too Marvelous for Words, and after five standing ovations, the audience obviously felt the same about him.

See www.DelawareTheatre.org. 

Nora, the Early Feminist, Shines at DTC

By Guest Blogger, Christine Facciolo
Christine holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Music and continues to apply her voice to all genres of music. An arts lover since childhood, she currently works as a freelance writer.

A Doll’s House, Henrik Ibsen’s play about a child bride coming to sudden maturity and walking out on her family, caused quite a stir when it opened in 1879.

A century later, Ingmar Bergman — feeling Ibsen didn’t go far enough — reworked the long-winded script into a taut drama with only five major characters and re-titled it simply Nora.

The Delaware Theatre Company’s production of Bergman’s searing reduction grabs viewers from the outset and never lets go.

The play tells the story of the (seemingly) happy marriage of Thorvald and Nora Helmer. Through exposition we learn the backstory: Thorvald was ill and needed a year in Italy to recover. Nora, ever the good wife, took it upon herself to borrow money from the unscrupulous Krogstad whom Thorvald decides to sack when he gets promoted to bank manager. Krogstad decides to blackmail Nora to keep his position because not only is it amoral for a woman to borrow money (plus her husband abhors debt — an odd position for a banker) but he figures out she forged her father’s signature on the note (dated several days after his death).

When the truth comes out, Thorvald flies into a rage and disowns Nora, bemoaning his fate that now he has to acquiesce to Krogstad’s wishes because of her mistake. But Nora’s friend (Mrs. Linde) talks to Krogstad, who turns out to be her long lost love, and he agrees to tear up the promissory note. Thorvald is relieved and contented to go back to the way things were. But Nora has had an epiphany: She realizes she has been little more than a doll to her husband — a pretty doll that performs tricks — and that they are not partners, because a true husband would have taken the blame and defended his wife’s honor. She decides she has to stop being a doll and learn who she really is and what life has to offer. The play ends with a stunning climax which, for its time, was controversial to say the least.

Bergman’s script focuses on Nora, driving home the divisive (for its time) theme — women’s rights — even though Ibsen claimed he did not seek to promote the women’s rights movement. The play is concise and succinct and the action never abates. Thus the audience feels engrossed in the main story without getting distracted by a welter of subplots.

All five actors worked well as an ensemble. The standout was Kim Carson whose journey from naïf to mature explorer was clear, nuanced and genuine. David Arrow plays a domineering Thorvald who can at the same time be playful and sexy with his wife as he fulfills his role. His anger — laced at times with bewildered incomprehension — is scary but his loss at the end of the play is palpable. Kevin Bergen supplies a death-darkened and doting Dr. Rank; Susan Riley Stevens a world-weary almost embittered Mrs. Linde. Chris Thorn offered an effective Krogstad, ineffably moving at his pivotal points.

Alexis Distler’s set and Esther Arroyo’s costumes were aptly period. Christopher J Bailey’s judicious lighting design supported intensity levels agreeably.

Director Michael Mastro kept the show moving at a brisk pace with a consistent driving energy.

See www.delawaretheatre.org. 

Seven Student Playwrights Selected: DTC's 2014-2015 Delaware Young Playwrights Festival

Post content courtesy of Delaware Theatre Company

Delaware Theatre Company is pleased to announce the six finalist plays in the 2014-2015 Delaware Young Playwrights Festival (DYPF):

• Cutting Strings by Sam Stewart, William Penn High School 
• Darkness: a Happy Sappy Extravaganza! by Dylan Lang, Cab Calloway School of the Arts 
• Ed and Coop by Hannah Biener and Charles Teague, Charter School of Wilmington 
• Letting Go by Mitali Patel, St. Elizabeth High School 
• Transcendence by Anastasia Hutnick, Padua Academy 
• The Wheel of Fortune by Anna Smith, Padua Academy 

The finalists will participate in a series of playwriting workshops with professional theatre artists from Delaware Theatre Company to further refine their writing and ready their works for a public showcase performance on February 24, 2015 at 7:30pm on the DTC stage.

This year's DYPF began with a kickoff workshop for Delaware high school teachers and students in September. From there, 41 plays written by 49 students representing eight different Delaware high schools were submitted for the first round. Each playwright received personal feedback about his or her play from a teaching artist of the Delaware Theatre Company staff. Student playwrights had the opportunity to revise their plays. Participating schools were then invited to resubmit their top five plays for the second round, also known as the "competition round." From these entries, the six finalist plays were selected for additional development under the guidance of Delaware Theatre Company's team of theatre artists and educators.

Now in its fourth year of the relaunch of this acclaimed program, DYPF invites high school students to write a play based on a theme inspired by one of Delaware Theatre Company's productions. This year's theme was inspired by a quotation from NORA, written by Ingmar Bergman, produced and presented by DTC in February 2015. The quotation used was, "If I ever hope to learn anything about myself and the things around me, I've got to stand completely on my own." Through the use of a standards-based writing rubric, students created and shaped their original plays with regard to characters, conflict, dialogue, theme, and other dramatic criteria.

Ebbie's Top Theater Performances of 2014!

2014 was another wonderful year for the theater in Delaware! I was excited that a Delaware-based theater company, in this case the Wilmington Drama League (WDL), was producing the coming of age show, 13, The Musical. I had taken my nephew to see the musical on Broadway about five years ago and I thought, "what a fantastic show to introduce young teens to the theater!" The WDL's production was highlighted by the rousing performances of its young cast members. The production was such a success that it was transferred to a professional theater company in Pennsylvania!

I was floored by Kathleen Pirkl Tague's performance in The University of Delaware's Resident Ensemble Players' production of Margaret Edson's play Wit. Tague perfectly captured the emotions and struggles a person goes through while not just fighting, but coming to terms with advanced stage cancer. This play doesn't just land on my top for 2014, but my top for the decade!

 

I always love spending a summer evening outside watching a performance and the Delaware Shakespeare Festival's exhilarating production of Hamlet did not disappoint. Sipping wine while watching one of the Bard's best tragedies with a great friend made for delightful summer evening. From the stellar cast to the amazing set, the production was absolutely mesmerizing! 

 It was a great treat to see two veteran TV actors (Michael Learned and Daniel Davis) star in A.R. Gurney's sentimental two-character play Love Letters at The Delaware Theatre Company (DTC). I hadn't seen the play since I was in high school when Colleen Dewhurst and E.G. Marshall portrayed the parts at The DuPont Theatre, then The Playhouse. The DTC production immediately reminded me why I fell in love with this charming play so many years ago about a relationship between two people over the course of their lives.

I look forward to seeing more great theater in 2015!

A 'Piece' Not to Be Missed at DTC

By Guest Blogger, Christine Facciolo
Christine holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Music and continues to apply her voice to all genres of music. An arts lover since childhood, she currently works as a freelance writer.

Steve Bluestein’s play Rest in Pieces — now in its World Premiere at the Delaware Theatre Company (DTC) — combines laughter and tears in a three-act, three-character dramedy that drives home an immutable law of nature: Life begins and ends with family.

Meet the Becker family of Brooklyn, New York: Leona, the unbearably overbearing matriarch; Ben, her long-suffering husband; and Steve, their mild-mannered comedy-writer son. The play is impressively acted by Donna Pescow (Leona), Lenny Wolpe (Ben) and Frank Vlastnik (Steve). These three seasoned thespians work Bluestein’s script with the precision of a Swiss timepiece.

This is a play for anyone who has ever wondered how their loved ones would react in the aftermath of their demise. Each act focuses on the remaining two members when one is removed. First, we see mother and son sparring as they cope with the loss of Ben, who seems to view his death as sweet relief from the insanely domineering Leona. Next, we watch as the two men resume their lives after Leona loses her battle with cancer. Finally, husband and wife come to terms with the sudden death of Stevie, their only child.

We get to know the family casually and — more important — intimately. Death has a knack for stripping away defenses. It’s a bit like those human-body exhibits that allow us to take a look — in astonishing detail — at the biological processes that go on without our control.

We see that death leaves a void that nothing can ever truly fill, that the living must go on no matter what, and that the life we’ve lived may not have been the life we intended or even wanted to live. But that’s OK too.

Rest in Pieces is a brilliantly written and riveting piece of theatre. Bluestein skillfully pairs razor-sharp repartees with moments of intense emotion, evoking both laughter and tears — often at the same time — from the audience. DTC executive director Bud Martin’s superb direction showcases the cast at the top of its form. 

Rest in Pieces offers a sage piece of advice for anyone who has ever been at odds with a family member: Love your family as you love yourself. It’s a very short stay. 

Don’t miss this one.

See www.delawaretheatre.org.

Love is in the Air at The Delaware Theatre Company!

Michael Learned and Daniel Davis in Love Letters. Photo by Joe del Tufo, Mobius New Media. 

You can take a trip to New York City to see the latest starry Broadway revival of Love Letters, but there is no need to travel to the Big Apple when we have our very own starry production right here in the First State! Last night the Delaware Theatre Company opened its 36th season - with A.R. Gurney's sentimental two-character play starring Michael Learned and Daniel Davis - to a standing ovation.

Love Letters is a unique play because the two actors never physically interact; instead, they sit at separate desks reading letters their characters have written to each other over the course of about 50 years. Since there is no blocking, sets or props, the play depends solely on the strength of the actors. Thankfully, we have two veterans in the roles who can certainly handle the challenge.

The two characters come from waspy New York families. They both spent their formative years in boarding schools and summer camps, but the families couldn't be more different. Melissa Gardner (Ms. Learned) grew up with divorced parents who used their wealth to keep their daughter happy rather than give her the attention she longed for, while Andrew Makepeace Ladd III (Mr. Davis) grew up in a conservative household with loving, supportive parents. The play begins in the 1930s when they meet in second grade, and thus starts their lifelong love affair. We learn about each character's personal and professional successes and failures through the letters they write to each other as they attend out-of-state schools and continue their very different lives.

They both journey into adulthood in separate directions. Andrew becomes a Washington, DC lawyer and later a republican New York senator, while Melissa becomes a free-spirited artist who uses her family's money to travel the world. Although both have multiple relationships and marry others, with whom they have families, they never stop corresponding.

The beauty of the play is that it comes to life through Mr. Gurney's words. The audience gets an opportunity to mentally visualize the action rather than have it played out for them. It's a play about these two people, but it's also about the art of letter writing, which today has been mostly replaced by technology - emails, texts, social networks, etc. As Melissa becomes dissatisfied with writing, Andrew reminds her of the beauty of it and how it's an extension of him. He feels that his letters are gifts. The two do correspond at times by phone, which we learn of their conversations through their letters, but they always return to the art of letter writing.

Ms. Learned and Mr. Davis both give exceptional performances. Their delivery is captivating and engaging. They have the difficult task of bringing these characters alive through only their vocal and facial expressions.

Stay in our great state to see this wonderful production. Love Letters runs through October 5. For information and/or to purchase tickets, visit www.delawaretheatre.org or call 302.594.1100.  

Ain't Misbehavin'...DTC Is!

By Guest Blogger, Christine Facciolo
Christine holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Music and continues to apply her voice to all genres of music. An arts lover since childhood, she currently works as a freelance writer. 

The joint’s indeed jumpin’ at the Delaware Theatre Company with the raucous and infectiously joyful Ain’t Misbehavin’. This 31-song revue of Fats Waller tunes captures the ebullient spirit of the Harlem Renaissance thanks to the direction of creator Richard Malby Jr. and a five-member cast that truly understands the many moods of the prolific composer, from the irreverent Fat and Greasy to the mournful Black and Blue.

Ain’t Misbehavin’ is a joyous celebration of Black America’s contribution to our culture. You’ll hear swing, the rhythms of ragtime, the passions of blues, jazz, be-bop, waltz and jitterbug all served up with a dash of double-entendre that hints at the nasty. Y ou’ll see movement from tap to the Charleston and back again, with everything in-between.  And all that accomplished with sass, brass and bountiful belting.

This revue contains the best of Waller’s songbook plus many tunes he performed and turned into hits. The cast — Doug Eskew, Eugene Fleming, Kecia Lewis, Cynthia Thomas and Debra Walton — seem to have as much fun as the audience singing and dancing to the numbers.

The cast coalesces beautifully into an ensemble in selections including The Joint is Jumpin’ and the irresistible title tune.  But everyone gets their turn in the spotlight as well.  Walton brings a lustrous elegance to Keepin’ Out of Mischief Now, while Lewis delivers an emotional and heartfelt Mean to Me. Thomas bring a ladylike come-hither to Squeeze Me, while Fleming slinks and slithers through the (literally) smokin’ The Viper. As for Eskew, he bears an uncanny resemblance to Waller with an outsized persona and vocals to match.  His take on Your Feet’s Too Big is uproarious.

The finale includes a medley of tunes Waller performed, including many he didn’t write. I’m Gonna Sit Right Down and Write Myself a Letter, I Can’t Give You Anything But Love and It’s a Sin to Tell a Lie are all recognizable standards nicely sung.  And when the cast unleashes an ebullient reprise of Honeysuckle Rose, it becomes impossible to keep your toes from tapping.

The cast gets support from an ace five-piece jazz band. The conductor and pianist is William Foster McDaniel, whose flying fingers ably accommodate Waller’s stride technique.   The show plays out on Kacie Hultgren’s set, which evokes a cabaret/nightclub of yesteryear but does not crowd out Waller’s music.

Ain’t Misbehavin’ is Broadway’s first jukebox musical, making it one of 13 musicals that had a profound impact on the art form, according to a recent article in Playbill magazine. This production closes DTC’s 35th season as it commemorates the musical’s 35th anniversary.

This is an amazingly fun, toe-tapping experience. Fats Waller’s music deserves to be performed by talented and respectful performers. This cast will entertain you far beyond your expectations — Don’t miss this production!

See www.delawaretheatre.org.

Governor and First Lady Markell Perform "Love Letters" for DTC Fundraiser

It's not every day that you get to see your governor and first lady perform on stage, and even rarer for such an event to be a dramatic piece, and not a political skit. And that's exactly why Carla Markell's idea to stage a reading of the two-person play Love Letters with her husband, Delaware's Governor Jack Markell, was such a great fundraising idea. Who wouldn't want to see that? The 80-minute reading of 50 years of letters between the fictional Melissa and Andrew was mesmerizing -- the novelty wore off quickly, and the characters came to life. The fundraiser included performance samplings from the Totally Awesome Players, Barbara Willhide of the Ingelside Retirement Community Playwriting Residency, and Dan Jones of the Delaware Young Playwrights Festival.

This was a special one-night event, but Love Letters will be returning to the Delaware Theatre Company next fall, starring Michael Learned and Ralph Waite (best known as Olivia and John Walton of TV's "The Waltons"). For more information on upcoming shows, programs, and events, see delawaretheatre.org.

Fun and Farce with DTC's Lend Me a Tenor

Jonathan Silver and Sarah Litzsinger

 Delaware Theatre Company follows its darkly comic season opener Any Given Monday with the decidedly lighter comedy of Ken Ludwig's Lend Me a Tenor, a show business farce packed with slapstick comedy and more actors than the stage has seen since last season's South Pacific. The larger cast isn't the only thing Tenor has in common with DTC's fabulous South Pacific production -- the two productions share three major-league talented actors, with John Plumpis, Jonathan Silver and Sarah Litzsinger returning to Wilmington stage.

Under the direction of Bud Martin (who, as Executive Director of DTC and stage director of the biggest shows of the last couple of seasons, deserves more than a little credit for bringing the Theatre to its impressive new level), Lend Me a Tenor is an old-fashioned comedy of errors (and triumphs), filled with sexy humor and absurd misunderstandings. Some of the comedy is dark, including the use of a "dead" body as a prop, and some may come off as a bit dated, but the laughter is pretty much non-stop.

Howie Brown, Marcia Hepps, Eileen Cella

Tenor is the story of a young opera company assistant named Max (Silver) who has taken on the duty of handling world-renowned Italian Tenor Tito Merelli (Plumpis) as he arrives for a special performance in 1930s Cleveland. Max is in love with the General Manager's daughter, Maggie (Eileen Cella), who has a crush on Tito and craves a wild romance before she settles down. Max tries to keep the General Manager, Saunders (Tony Braithwaite) calm as they await Tito's late arrival. When he finally shows up, he's accompanied by his fiery-tempered wife, Maria (Tracie Higgins), who finds Maggie in a closet of the luxury suite and, sick of his philandering, leaves him. This sets of a wild chain reaction, as Tito becomes despondent and falls into a deep sleep from an accidental double dose of tranquilizers to calm his nerves; when he won't wake up just before showtime, Max assumes he's committed suicide. But this is the kind of comedy where no one stays dead (or without love) for long, and the second act is full of plots, coverups, and mistaken identities, as well as some over-the-top Othello costumes.

While Tenor is not a musical, it has a couple of brief operatic interludes that could easily be lip-synced by the actors. But not here. Both Plumpis and Silver have beautiful voices, making the operatic moments soar even in their brevity. And both are skilled comic actors, matched by the excitable Braithwaite as Saunders and Howie Brown, who also does some singing, as an enthusiastic bellhop.

The women offer plenty of laughs, too, with Litzinger as vampy soprano Diana, Marcia Hepps as the seductive Chairman of the Cleveland Opera Board, and Cella's Maggie alternating between sweetly flirtatious and adorably goofy. As Maria, Higgins commands attention -- from Tito and the audience.

By the end of the escapade, everyone is where they should be, and everyone is happy. But while it's a light and silly play, its themes of perception and hope leave a lasting impression.

Lend Me a Tenor runs through November 3. Visit delawaretheatre.org to purchase tickets.

Delaware Theatre Company Scores a Touchdown with "Any Given Monday"

The Delaware Theatre Company (DTC) opened its 2013/14 Season with the black comedy Any Given Monday by Bruce Graham. Mr. Graham's four character play about an easy going, loving man (Lenny played by Kenny Morris) who's life is turned upside down when his wife (Risa played by Leslie Hendrix) of 24 years decides to leave him for a smooth-talking Casanova. However, the plot thickens when Lenny’s blue-collar best friend (Mickey played by Michael Mastro) tells Lenny how he has taken revenge on the Casanova on Lenny's behalf while watching the Monday night football game. During the game and the friends’ conversation, Lenny’s daughter (Sarah played by Lucy DeVito) decides to come home from school to not console her father, but to toughen him up and not become a "softy" when his wife decides to come back. 

The play, set on the outskirts of Philadelphia, could have easily been a run-of-the-mill story about a cheating partner, but Mr. Graham has written a complex, witty piece with twists and turns that kept me on the edge of my seat or bending over in laughter. I must admit I don't think I have ever laughed as hard at DTC as I did while watching this production.

Bud Martin expertly directed the production and the ensemble cast. Mr. Morris masterfully transforms from the sweet, easygoing high school teacher who’s obsessed with To Kill a Mockingbird in the first act to the take-charge alpha male in the second act. Ms. Hendrix is exquisite as the manipulative, spoiled wife. Her facial expressions and body language are priceless. Mr. Mastro has the task of delivering many of the shows funniest lines and he does it with great ease. He does an incredible job of bringing his dim-witted, but loveable character to life. Ms. DeVito rounds out the cast as the charming, but wise daughter who is obsessed with discussing life/death, religion and God. She does a fine job with her many humorous, philosophical monologues.

I have been seeing plays at DTC ever since I was a teenager in the late 80s and I’ve always been impressed with the sets for each production, and the set for this play doesn’t disappoint. Scenic Designer Dirk Durossette has created a multi-purpose stage that includes the inside of the family’s home and a portion of one side of the stage to serve for the scenes that take place outside of the home. His details are impeccable. Shortly after sitting down, my friend immediately pointed out the game of Sorry that was placed on a shelf in the family’s living room. It’s those details that I find add credibility to a play and makes it fun to explore the rest of the set!

Any Given Monday runs through September 22, at The Delaware Theatre Company. Visit www.delawaretheatre.org or call 302.594.1100. For additional information and

The Real Delaware Theatre Company

Bud Martin

The Delaware Theatre Company has just hired Bud Martin, the very successful director of Act II Playhouse in Ambler, Pennsylvania to the position of Executive Director. He started his duties on May 1. Mr. Martin inherits a wonderful site with a great deal of goodwill earned by previous prizes and plays and a wonderful education program at the DTC, but he will need our support.

Of course we should be ready to support him by buying tickets for the season he has planned for 2012-2013. The first play starting on October 10 is The Outgoing Tide, a story about a family who plan to deal with illness and their future while vacationing on the Chesapeake Bay. The author, Bruce Graham, is from the Philadelphia area and has won Barrymore awards for best new play twice. A compelling theme, a local playwright and a new director should have us all pull together and fill the house.

Delaware Theatre Company

The next shows will be of a lighter nature, making it even easier to boost ticket sales: Patrick Barlow’s production of A Christmas Carol is a rousing version sure to put the Christmas spirit in us all. Boeing Boeing by Marc Camoletti will also provide comedy for the dreary winter starting January 23. Then the season finishes with My Fair Lady starting on April 17.

Audiences have certainly dwindled for all of the arts in the past few years, and so have the educational programs which introduce our schoolchildren to the arts. DTC’s Charles Conway has been a fearless advocate of taking the theatre to the public – and not just to the fur-coated potential donors. Mr. Conway has won awards for his work with young people with disabilities. The program, Totally Awesome Players, has taken wings since he first designed it. He has also won the 2009 Stevie Wolf Award for New Approaches to Collaboration for his work with the Ferris School for Boys.

Is there a way to help promote these and similar programs in our schools – having kids experience theatre to get a taste of why their teacher makes them read Shakespeare and who they can emulate when they feel the urge to write? Will we provide that solid support that pushed the little firehouse play theatre into the anchor site on the Wilmington Riverfront that has taken root and helped the entire area to flourish?

If we do, then we shall have done what Cleveland Morris had so hoped for when he said of the current site, “Here lies every wonderful opportunity to relish our own city’s colorful past and participate in its even finer future.”

Let’s do it!

See http://delawaretheatre.org/

Time Stands Still at DTC

While photos of the horrors of war draw viewers into places and events with startling intimacy, it's not often that we think about the photographer beyond that decisive moment. Does she have a family? A circle of friends? Does she live in a house in the country or an apartment in the big city? What would it be like if the situations laid bare for the world to see were hers?

"Time Stands Still," in its first regional production since it closed on Broadway in January 2011, turns photojournalism on its head by showing the other side of the camera, it all of its imperfect glory.

Susan McKey, Kevin Kelly, Bruce Graham, and Megan McDermott. Photo by Matt Urban.

This Delaware Theatre Company production is a partnership with the Act II Playhouse in Ambler, PA, the theatrical home of director Bud Martin. Donald Margulies' vision of an intimate and strikingly realistic slice of one photojournalist's life after an injury overseas works incredibly well on the DTC stage -- it's as if you're a fly on the wall.

The play features four characters: Photojournalist Sarah (Susan McKey), her longtime partner James (Kevin Kelly), her friend and editor Richard (Bruce Graham), and Richard's young, bubbly girlfriend Mandy (Megan McDermott). The acting is spot on. As you get to know these people, you start to relate to them on different levels (which characters you relate to most depends a lot on your own experiences and personality). Despite the fact that the subject matter is war, with Sarah having been injured in Iraq, there is no heavy-handed political message. It's a story about people and relationships, of love and loss and passion.

It all takes place in Sarah and James' Brooklyn loft, beautifully designed by Dirk Durossette. It's not a place you'll soon forget.

"Time Stands Still" runs through February 5.  For tickets, visit DelawareTheatre.org.


For more, see my review for STAGE Magazine.

Meet Lucy at the DTC

Vivian is a woman who has journeyed to far off lands as an acclaimed anthropologist, but her journey with her 13 year-old daughter, Lucy, takes her -- and the audience -- to places more intense than the most exotic locale.

Damien Atkins' "Lucy," in only its second U.S. performance run, is visually, sonically and emotionally stunning. The first thing you notice, even before the play begins, is scenic designer Alexis Distler's striking set, an almost life-sized outline of a house. The design is sleek and stylized, almost evoking a child's drawing. When the actors are on stage, the set melts away, and its as if you're peeking in on a real family rather than watching a play. The script, directing and the acting, of course, makes this happen. All of the actors, under the direction of David Stradley -- Kate Eastwood Norris as Vivian, Andrea Green as Lucy, Charlie DelMarcelle as Lucy's father Gavin, Karen Peakes as Vivian's assistant Julia and  Ross Beschler as Lucy's therapist -- fit into their roles extremely well.

The script takes on the challenge of looking into the mind of an autistic girl by having Lucy speak to the audience as the play's narrator. Out of narration mode, she's written with the traits common to autism -- rocking, repeating phrases, recoiling from being touched -- a character that Atkins had researched with autism experts for more than two years.

This is about Vivian's journey more than anything else, though. When her ex-husband Gavin approaches her about helping to raise Lucy, Vivian is on an archaeological dig and hasn't seen her daughter in years. She initially refuses to take charge of Lucy's care and therapy for a year while Gavin establishes a new marriage, but eventually gives in. Back home, she seems out of place, and she is thoroughly overwhelmed by Lucy. With the help of Julia and Lucy's therapist, she attempts to deal with her new life. Desperate to find answers, her once sparse home becomes filled with books as she searches for the reason Lucy is the way she is. Then something clicks (or snaps, depending on how you look at it). It's no longer Vivian's journey alone, but a journey she takes with Lucy. The result is alarming at times and exploding with emotion and visual surreality.

"Lucy" brings forth different theories about autism, some you've likely heard before, and one in particular that is far from mainstream thinking, but it doesn't really "sell" any theory so much as it gives the viewer a lot to think about.

"Lucy" runs through February 6. In addition, the gallery at DTC features the work MakeStudio.org artists Jermaine "Jerry" Williams, Bess Lumsden, Louis Middleton and Tony Labate. The Baltimore-based studio arts program supports emerging artists with disabilities. A nice companion to the play, the art show stands on its own and is worth spending some time with while you're there.

delawaretheatre.org

makestudios.org