The "Other" Ben

There is a love in my life deeper than my love for bottomless mimosas at brunch, more blossoming than my love for Central Park in the spring, more ravenous than my love for a pint of Ben & Jerry’s that I hoard all to myself. This love is the theatre. I love hearing new and familiar stories, I love seeing actors reshape themselves, I love seeing directors push new boundaries and I love seeing them hold on to tradition as well. I love what the theatre stirs inside of me, how it moves me, and the conversations it can spark. Through this blog, I hope to inspire my readers to think critically about the theatre (which is different than criticizing it), and to spread the love for the art form which brings me such joy. I’ve heard that “No one likes a critic,” but I hope to uproot those common fears of criticism by adhering to the following standards for myself and my writing: 1. I will be generous and fair-minded in my reviews of ALL plays and musicals. After all, no theatre-maker says “I’m going to put on a really bad show; hopefully it will piss off everyone!” 2. I will ask what each play is trying to achieve and evaluate the production on its own terms. 3. I will sacrifice bitchiness and cattiness in my reviews, as I believe it is possible to entertain a reader without resorting to these tactics. 4. While it is impossible to remove 100% of my opinion, since opinion is the origin of criticism, I will strive to distill my subjective feelings into a response that is as objective as possible. Thank you very much for reading! Sincerely, The “Other” Ben follow me on Twitter @benreviews

[otherben]

The Orpheus Variations - Review

Review by: Ben Coleman aka The "Other" Ben

(Photographed Above: Robert Kitchens & Amanda Dieli)

  Don’t call it theatre. Don’t call it film. Call it an experience, and whatever you do, just go! The myth of Orpheus and Eurydice is a story that has perpetuated throughout time and has been seen in many theatrical versions. However, the truncated adaptation by The Deconstructive Theatre Project, The Orpheus Variations,  riffs on this classic tale with the purpose of exploring memory, and how it functions when experiencing a significant loss. In the talkback following last night’s opening performance, the director/artistic director/brainchild/wunderkind Adam J. Thompson explained in laymen’s terms that when the mind remembers something, the same part of the brain “lights up” as when one is imagining something. Therefore, our memories operate in many ways like a film. Mr. Thompson does not profess to be an expert on the subject, he is merely a curious theatre-maker who has done his research. However for any doubters out there, a works cited list can be found in the program; or even better, take a moment to remember something that happened to you last night, or many years ago---pretty cinematic right?

  This idea of memory that is being explored by DTP, takes shape in a performance that blends together two mediums: theatre and film. A smattering of props, instruments, cameras, and fragmented set pieces occupy the stage with a projection screen looming behind. As the audience filters in, the ensembles meanders around the space checking their equipment. Once the house lights go down, a man picks up two clay discs and rubs them together in a circular motion, creating a sound like metal wheels picking up speed on a train track. The image of rocking luggage then fills the screen, and we are transported. The memories or Orpheus and Eurydice (told with a distinctly contemporary spin) fill the screen for the next fifty minutes, while the ensemble works seamlessly on the ground to film this story. As the audience, we witness two experiences occurring simultaneously: the making of the film, and the film itself. In many ways DTP’s piece is reminiscent of a radio play with the cast/crew telling the story while generating the sound effects concurrently. The result being one of the most evocative, stimulating, and astonishing experiences to occupy a theatre in quite a while.

Thompson gives his audience choice by allowing us to focus on the various elements at play. While one may instinctively pay closer attention to the film being projected, there are guaranteed to be moments when the eye wanders to the ensemble setting up for the next scene (a fascinating process), or the principal lovers interacting when they are off-screen (a particularly beautiful through-line). In an age where theatre is constantly trying to reinvent itself and distinguish itself from film, The Deconstructive Theatre Project takes the opposite approach and creates a hybrid experience that never sacrifices the magic of the movies, the rush of live theatre, or the cathartic experience of clear and simple storytelling. In a city as vast as New York, where entertainment choices are in no short supply, the decision making can be the most difficult part. During the short run of The Orpheus Variations there should be no other choice and no other ticket to buy; for any other experience cannot compare, or be as memorable.  

(The Orpheus Variations is a Deconstructive Theatre Project production and plays at HERE Arts Center, 145 6th Avenue, through June 30th. Remaining performances are June 29 @ 4pm & 8:30pm, and June 30 @ 4pm. Tickets are $15 and can be purchased at ovationtix.com or by calling 866-811-4111)  

[otherben]

The “Other” Ben…on Baldwin…on the regular Ben…

The thought of Alec Baldwin offering advice on Theatre Criticism definitely caused a monumental eye roll that Tina Fey would be hard-pressed to reproduce. However, I must admit that after reading Baldwin’s piece in the Huffington Post (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/alec-baldwin/broadway-orphans_b_3229873.html), I was not tearing my hair out over what he had to say. I actually found many of his thoughts to be rather accurate, and felt that Baldwin offered some insight regarding how dramatic criticism has been shaped by the tabloid hungry media.

Personally speaking, my chief purpose in being the “Other” Ben is to bring generosity and fairness to criticism, and – as our friend Mr. Baldwin so aptly puts it – to assess “what [the play is] attempting to do and how close [the play] come[s] to pulling it off.” This is an art that was practiced by critics like Brooks Atkinson, George Jean Nathan, Walter Kerr, and Frank Rich (to name a small handful). While Brantley does not totally disregard the tenants of his forefathers, they frequently fall to the wayside when he focuses on one major element of a production – which in not an uncommon practice for Brantley. It is precisely for this reason that I think of Ben Brantley as “the people’s critic.” Why? Because he responds to what audiences are told to based on a production’s marketing. If there is a celebrity’s name above the title, odds are that 70% of his review will be about said star. While this does not result in a balanced critique of the show, it usually satisfies the curiosity of the masses.

Baldwin’s statement that Brantley, “is not a good writer” is neither insightful, nor is it good writing ironically. To make such a bold comment without any supporting evidence is just as unfair as saying “Alec Baldwin is not a good actor, the end!” (which to my knowledge Brantley has never done…at least not so directly). One of Baldwin’s key arguments is that Brantley does not practice legitimate theatrical criticism, and honestly, I doubt I could find another critic who would disagree. Ben Brantley is chiefly an entertainer who critiques theatre; he is the Rock of Ages of theatre criticism – fun and catchy when reading, but lacking in overall substance. It would seem that Brantley is more concerned with selling newspapers than selling theatre tickets. But maybe we all would feel that way if the New York Times were cutting our paychecks.

Many of Baldwin’s assessments of “How Broadway Has Changed” are accurate. However, what has changed more than anything in the twenty-some years since Baldwin’s first foray with commercial theatre, is the increasing presence of stars like him on Broadway. While celebrities have always occupied the great white way, nowadays Broadway (plays in particular) is the place where people can see celebrities without the buffer of a TV or movie screen. When Brantley signals that someone is unwelcome on Broadway, it is because celebrity so often trumps the quality of the work. That is what has changed about Broadway Alec.

[otherben]

Saint Joan review

Review by: Ben Coleman aka The "Other" Ben

The Bedlam theatre company is committed to producing small-scale works that challenge the relationships between actors and their audience. Their production of Saint Joan, currently being remounted at the Access Theater after an acclaimed run last year, certainly pushes these boundaries in a provocative way; although it is a bit aimless and lacks consideration for the text at points. Among the actors clad in contemporary dress, roams a young woman with a tape recorder in hand. Nature sounds omit from her retro device as she presses play at various moments. This choice is abandoned after the first act but more curiosities follow, and by the play’s conclusion, the use of such conceits wears on the story and the vision being created. However, while some directorial choices appear nonsensical, most are intelligent and the result in an affecting production stripped completely of artifice.

Please continue reading my review on Theatre Is Easy: http://www.theasy.com/Reviews/2013/S/saintjoan.php

[otherben]

Talley's Folly review

Review by: Ben Coleman aka The "Other" Ben

(Photographed above: Danny Burstein and Sarah Paulson)

Lanford Wilson is making the off-Broadway rounds this month with two presently running revivals. The Signature Theatre’s production of The Mound Builders opens later this month, and Wilson’s Pulitzer Prize winning Talley’s Folley is well underway at Roundabout’s Laura Pels Theatre, in a production that is as affecting as it is well acted.

Continue reading my review on Theatre Is Easy: http://www.theasy.com/Reviews/2013/T/talleysfolly.php

[otherben]

So sorry to have been a negligent critic of late! But rest assured, my next review, of Roundabout's Talley's Folly will be out in the next day! I'm back baby!

[otherben]

Luck of the Irish review

Review by: Ben Coleman aka The "Other" Ben

Photographed above (L-R): Eisa Davis and Amanda Quaid

The play begins in the early 2000s when two daughters (played by Marsha Stephanie Blake and Carra Patterson) inherit the house of their recently deceased grandparents. Blake, who delivers an astonishing performance as Hannah, lives in said residence with her husband and children, and despite years of growth and urbanization, they remain the only African-American’s in a wholly white community. Their anxiety is aggravated when an elderly Irish couple, the Donovans, reveal they are the ones who actually hold the title to the house. Greenidge weaves together the 2000s with scenes from the 1950s that show the young grandparents, the Taylors, to be an affluent and educated African-American couple on the rise. The Donovans, on the other hand are a family struggling to support themselves and their six children through menial labor and taking in laundry. What occurs is a once common transaction known as “Ghost Buying,” wherein African-Americans put up the money to purchase a house, and a white family, like the Donovans, carries out the deed. Eventually the property is turned over to its rightful owners who become settled in their home and in a neighborhood that may not initially have welcomed them with open arms, let alone with a Jell-O mold or a warm bundt cake. These antiquated racial tensions have been salted over since the 50s, but it is impossible for the play’s contemporary counterparts to uproot all the weeds that still spring from this hatred. If the juxtaposition of these specific periods coupled with the story of African-Americans buying homes in Caucasian-dominated neighborhoods sends the reader reeling into Clybourne Park déjà vu, well so be it. Truth be told, the production could probably benefit from a few more years of distance to spare the play this obvious comparison, but Greenidge’s work, supported by the first-rate cast, under the guidance of their director Rebecca Taichman is good enough to stand on its own two feet. The second act is more rewarding than the first half, which is oddly absent of tension despite the high stakes prospect of losing a home and being unwanted by one’s community. Make no mistake; the first act is still engaging (no mind-wandering on this end) but it is as though the burner has just been turned on--the pot will not start to simmer until after the intermission. However, the play comes to a full-on boil in a second act scene when a bitter Mrs. Donovan (Amanda Quaid) tries to threaten and extort the quaffed Mrs. Taylor (Eisa Davis) because she disrupts the “natural order of things”. Watching these actresses go toe-to-toe over issues of entitlement and “borrowed luck” hits the very core of Luck of the Irish and surely will light the fire of many theatre goers who disavow outmoded beliefs of privilege based on ethnicity, income, sexuality, religion, etc. Greenidge's play is not naive, she lets us know that there is still work to be done, but you know we've come a long way when Lincoln Center Theater subscribers are excited to watch this white lady get taken down. At this point I feel obligated to inform the reader that the night this critic attended was an early preview performance, and it is very possible—and I wish them all the luck of my Irish ancestors—that the few kinks will be ironed out so the final product is as crisp as one of the shirts Mrs. Donovan disdainfully launders.

(Luck of the Irishplays at LCT3 through March 10th, $20 tickets can be purchased at http://www.lct.org/index_lct3.htm or on telecharge.com)

[otherben]

Check back tomorrow for my review of Luck of the Irish playing at LCT3! $20 Tickets! THEA-TAH! 

[otherben]

Women of Will review

Review by: Ben Coleman aka The "Other" Ben

Photographed above (L-R): Tina Packer and Nigel Gore. Photo by Matthew Murphy

An oriental carpet surrounded by taupe cushions, scaffolding strewn with paint cans, and draped construction lights are the meager trappings that create the set for Tina Packer’s Women of Will, now playing in The Gym at Judson’s intimate theatre space. While Valerie Therese Bart’s décor is not prepossessing, it is the perfect metaphor for a play that is all about the structure and construction of Shakespeare’s female characters. The evening is not overdressed, just two actors performing scenes and monologues and casually giving explanations in between, but do not let these simplistic measures deceive—Women of Will is one of the most hypnotic, mesmerizing, and stimulating shows playing in fair NYC, where we lay our scene.

To read my full review please visit Theatre is Easy (theasy.com) or click this link: http://www.theasy.com/Reviews/2013/W/womenofwill.php 

[otherben]

Women of Will! The review will be out tomorrow, and tomorrow...creeps in this petty pace...woah! I got ahead of myself! Just check back tomorrow for the review!

[otherben]

It looks like both Bens were reviewing Women of Will at the Gym at Judson last night!

[janetmargaretweiss-deactivated2]

[otherben]

Man Up

Cale Krise and KJ Hippensteel

Book of Mormon

11/18/12 evening

Just my best friend, nbd

[otherben]

The Jammer review

Review by: Ben Coleman aka The "Other" Ben

(Photographed above (L-R): Dan Domingues, Patch Darragh, Christopher Jackson and Todd Weeks in THE JAMMER.)

Finish reading my review at Theatre is Easy, theasy.com - http://www.theasy.com/Reviews/2013/J/jammer.php

[otherben]

This is a great site for theatre reviews, especially for off and Off-off Broadway shows that don't usually get as much attention. Fight the good fight Theasyites!

[otherben]

Thanks for responding! I'm so happy you like http://www.theasy.com/! I write for them too and they have a terrific group of budding critics. Everyone should read it!

[otherben]

The Jammer review is rolling on down the track. Will it be a clean victory for The Atlantic Theater? Check back tomorrow for the full review!

[fuckyeahstephensondheim]

I pick Sweeney, Sunday, and Assassins (in that order) but I can't argue with your response! Thanks for hitting me back :)

pricew replied to your post: Top 3 Sondheim musicals? And rank?

So the correct answer is ‘all of them.’

No, the correct answer is “All of them except for Road Show, and not really Saturday Night either.”

[otherben]

The next review is rolling right along! Check back in a couple days to read my thoughts on The Jammer @AtlanticTheater