Devised theater is (or should be) an exciting and fun process. It is the process of collaboratively creating new work through improvisation and exploration. The final product can be inspiring, whimsical and impactful when executed perfectly, or messy, unfinished and forced as productions balance creating a cohesive ensemble and an innovative piece simultaneously. Further, predicting the impact on the audience can be challenging as some elements that the collaboration loves in rehearsal could be lost in its transference to the stage. Luckily, North Coast Repertory Theatre’s newest offering of the devised A […]
Shawn Wagner
Posted inArts + Scene
Urinetown is Absurdly Fun
Urinetown is a silly, overacted, melodramatic, musical political satire that is pure excessive hilarity. The talented cast of North Coast Repertory Theatre’s incarnation of the show understands the assignment and creates an entirely entertaining evening of must-see theater. The surface of this production is stupid, stereotypical theater complete with puns, gags, terrible writing and an onslaught of […]
Posted inArts + Scene
Patrons in the Arts
As Leo Tolstoy once said, “All happy families resemble one another; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.” Every member of the MacTwatt Clan’s 10-year family reunion reveals unique unhappiness as they meet again after years apart in the Logger Legends, Liars and Lookers, the third in the Logger Bar-located series of plays written and directed […]
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First Rate Twelfth Night
The sight of someone smoking a cigarette in costume is shocking to those of us who have been conditioned by every stage manager — some even threatening our lives should we disobey. My shock faded when I found out the man I saw outside the theater was not an actor, but 5th and D Street Theater’s […]
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Lysistrata‘s Raucous, Raunchy Rebellion at NCRT
It’s opening night of North Coast Repertory Theatre’s sex comedy Lysistrata. The excitement is palpable with bouquets in the hands of proud parents eager to support their kids, actors’ friends bursting with energy and support, not to mention the judging and roaming eyes of critics stashing observances for later. This raucous show dripping with penis […]
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In Transition
Thesis Festival Dell’Arte’s annual Thesis Festival represents the graduating MFA students’ transition to the world beyond school — a world to which they will bring the totality of their three-year immersion in theater of place. The four pieces presented are all very different, reflecting the broad range of techniques studied, but all also very much […]