'Burgh Vivant

By Michael Buzzelli

A police Dispatcher (Treasure Treasure), known only as the Operator,  summons police officers to a remote, modest home in an unknown neighborhood in Liza Birkenmeier’s “radio island.” Then, the play moves backward from the conclusion to the inciting incident.

Ellen, a hostage negotiator (Siovhan Christensen), returns home to take care of her mother, Paula (Helena Ruoti), after her mom suffers an accident and is temporarily confined to a wheelchair.

The Sheriff (Wali Jamal) is convinced that Paula’s accident is more than it seems, as the neighbors have reported a mysterious car lurking on Paula’s property. The neighbors even reported the sounds of a gunshot to the police. Ellen delves into the mystery. She suspects her estranged father is the culprit.

Meanwhile, Ellen takes a job. An Oil Man (Brett Kennedy, in voice-over) has a tanker that Somali pirates have taken over, and the alleged pirates are demanding a ransom. Ellen reaches out to the Contact Man (Jamal, again, in voice-over) on the boat and tries to cut a deal.

Knowing Ellen will be in her hometown for a while, Rory (Melinda Nanovsky) shows up to help, but she’s more of a hindrance than help as Ellen takes on a handful of stressful situations; hostage negotiation seems less difficult than dealing with her mother and her lover.

A few humorous moments punctuate the dire events of “radio island,” mostly from Jamal and the Reverend (Kennedy in a dual role). The play, however, is a savage and violent treatise on our inability to connect in meaningful ways.

Christensen is sublime. She funnels rage, anger, and grief through a tightly filtered character who seems stoic and reserved. She appears unemotional, but the character’s depths are all there. In reality, Ellen is deeply caring. Her concern for the Contact Man’s fate deepens her multi-leveled characterization.

Ruoti, who was brought in after another actor had to walk away from the project, steps up in a big way. On opening night, Ruoti carried her script around, but it was hardly noticeable. Ruoti dives deep into Paula’s complex character, a woman fighting to keep grief and despair from ruling her final days.

Jamal is distinct in each of his varied roles. As Sheriff, he is affable and pleasant, but nervous around Ellen, who is a much better detective than he is. It’s odd that his Contact Man, a terrorist holding an oil tanker hostage, is the most human character in the play.

Kennedy does a fine job as the Reverend. Still, his Oil Man is a delightfully wicked character, an ornery Southern gentleman corrupted by avarice, and spewing swear words in every sentence.

Nanovsky does a fine job, but she doesn’t get a lot to do. She’s a Vicki Vale. A Gwen Stacy.  She is treated like every cop’s girlfriend in every movie you’ve ever seen.  She’s around to remind the audience that the situation is dangerous, the voice of reason in a cacophonous sea, surrounded by Bad Idea Bears.

Side note: This shouldn’t matter, but it does. Nanovsky towers over Christensen. The height difference adds a lopsidedness to the relationship. Ellen, meant to be intimidating, self-assured, and commanding, looks tiny next to her statuesque partner. The size oddly affects the dynamic. She is a terrific actor, and I hope Nanovsky returns to Pittsburgh in a role more suited for her.

Treasure, however, takes a monotone character and makes it their own. The narration goes from police jargon to poetry. It’s a captivating performance, despite having a chance to interact with the other characters in the play.

Director Katie Brook keeps the action tense, filled with a visceral, palpable uneasiness. It never lets up (forgoing an intermission keeps things in that heightened state).

“radio island” is intentional about the way the seats are all obstructed. Everyone gets a partial view of the proceedings. It is disorienting on purpose. Brook uses the German term, Das Unheimliche (or “unhomey”). She wants you to be uncomfortable. The play is a jagged jigsaw puzzle, and the audience is only given key pieces. However, it’s frustrating when theater-goers pay full ticket prices and get obscured views of the actors.

Scenic Designer Chelsea M. Warren does a fantastic job creating this show’s jigsaw puzzle pieces: a partial kitchen, a hint of a bedroom, and an eerie row of trees representing the forest. Stuart Blackwood’s sound design and C. Todd Brown’s lighting design complement the creepy vibe Warren has dressed.

If you’re geared up for some spooky-season weirdness, “radio island” will take you down a dark, winding path.

-MB

“radio island” runs Tuesday-Sunday, October 23- November 15, 2026, and is indoors at Rockwell Park, 7514 Thomas Blvd., North Point Breeze. For tickets and information, click here. 

By Timothy Ruppert 

Among Shakespeare’s major tragedies of the late-Elizabethan and early-Jacobean periods, Othello is distinctive in several respects, particularly in the fact that it focuses not on a royal family but on the military elite and the aristocrats within their orbit. The New Hazlett Theater and DEMASKUS Theater Collective’s co-production of Othello of the End Zone remakes Shakespeare’s ever-powerful tale of romantic mistrust and psychological manipulation by substituting NFL luminaries for Venetian soldiers and by transferring the story from Venice and Cyprus to contemporary Pittsburgh (the play’s secondary title is The Steel City Tragedy). Franky D. Gonzalez’s script further reconfigures the source material insofar as Othello and Desdemona become Imani (Cynthia Dallas), a woman of color who has ascended to a lead-coaching position, and Desmond (Michael Patrick Trimm), a beloved but aging wide receiver to whom Imani is secretly married. Coach Othello’s principal staff includes the warmhearted Micahela Cassio (Emily King Brown) and the cold-blooded Jacob Iago (Charles Beikert), whose name and repugnantly skewed ethics recall the arch-dissembler of the Bard’s canon (and, incidentally, the character voted “Evillest Villain” by my Slippery Rock University students in our Spring 2026 Introduction to Shakespeare end-of-semester awards ceremony).

Cynthia Dallas

The notion of replacing old Mediterranean warriors with contemporary American athletes proves of interest as a commentary on the brutalities inherent in today’s sports culture. Moreover, the script’s many references to Pittsburgh and its prevailing traditions (including a pronounced disdain for rival teams in Ohio) succeed consistently, if predictably, with a hometown audience. That said, the real appeal of this show lies in its spectacle, manifested in different ways by both the performers and the technical staff. Shaunda Miles McDill directs a perfectly cast group. From her first entrance, Dallas effortlessly convinces the audience that she is indeed the first woman head coach in NFL history. Trimm charms as Desmond, exhibiting star-player charisma tempered with end-of-career sagacity. Brown delivers a superb interpretation of Micahela, negotiating between ambition and altruism with remarkable facility. Beikert’s understated Jacob captures the ineluctable malice of his late-Elizabethan predecessor without even once resorting to a sneer. Kevin McGuire elicits hisses as Mr. Mitchell, Desmond’s unsavory father, while Richard McBride contributes spiritedly in multiple roles. On the technical side, Adalgisa (Ada) Bosonetto and Lisa Harshbarger co-create a scenic design ideally fitted to the New Hazlett stage. Broughton Ganaway’s lighting design reflects significant talent. Shannon Knapp’s projection work shepherds the story along nicely, always underscoring the show’s themes and ideas to authentically good effect. Wayne Gaines’s sound design achieves an exceptional level of quality, particularly in a space that often poses problems with audibility. To borrow some phrasing from act three, scene three of Othello, this show certainly gives attendees the ocular proof of a meticulously planned, intelligently designed production. Look especially for all the threads to draw together in the outstanding memorial-service scene, in which Dallas and Beikert truly surpass expectations.

Shakespeare and football make for a curious cocktail well worth a try, and so I recommend Othello of the End Zone as a destination show for this late-autumn weekend.

I wish to dedicate this review to Scribble Ruppert, one of our wonderful tuxedo cats and seniormost member of the Ruppert family animals, who passed away on Friday 23 October 2026 at the age of twenty. May you rest serenely, my beautiful friend.

—TR

“Othello of the End Zone, or The Steel City Tragedy” runs through October 25 at the New Hazlett Theater. For tickets, please visit here.  

 

 

 

 

By Timothy Ruppert

Pittsburgh Playwrights Theatre Company specializes in bringing exceptional new work to life, and its current production of Monteze Freeland’s Halloween-themed comedy Fishy Woo Woo Part 2 embodies that commitment, delivering an evening of winning silliness, festive disguises, and a multi-tiered lesson in the value of honesty.

While the play amplifies stories introduced in a piece that premiered two years ago, you don’t need to have seen the 2024 show to appreciate this continuation. Freeland deftly provides the platform information both familiar and new viewers need to enjoy this laugh-out-loud sequel. Credit also goes to the cast, led by Ethan Davis Butler as Shawn and Mils “MJ” James as Cordero, for revivifying the Fishy Woo Woos with delightful facility. Indeed, the smoothness with which this new chapter in the lives of the Fishy Woo Woos unfolds reminds me of BBC shows that televise their individual series over years without missing a step.

Recapping the plot would risk spoiling the fun of seeing how a Halloween party in Wilmington, Delaware, sparks revelations, discoveries, and confrontations, all unveiling the interwovenness of the characters’ lives and fates. Suffice it to say that Freeland writes with a keen sense of design, not simply by observing traditional Aristotelian unities of time, place, and action, but by placing the right detail at the right moment, rendering the outrageous so believable that we have cause to think as well as to chuckle.

Fishy Woo Woo Part 2 benefits from a wonderful cast, each of whom embraces the nonsense with authentic spirit. Butler’s astonishment as Shawn comes as little surprise, given that his talents merit entertainer-of-the-year acclaim (for example, his recent performance at the Pittsburgh New Works Festival was a tour de force of Broadway-level quality). No fainter praise belongs to James, whose portrayal of Cordero resonates with humanity from the first joke to the closing song. David Minniefield brings warmth and authority to the elder figure, Darnell, and demonstrates first-rate comedic timing. His claim that “I’m so straight, I once dissatisfied two women at the same time” is my vote for the second-most hilarious line in the play, outshone only by Cordero’s final recommendation of a name for the daughter the irrepressible Char (Cheryl Bates-White) carries. Emmanuel Elliot Key gives the put-upon Kaden, Darnell’s son, the self-assurance naïveté often engenders. Manny Walker adds to the absurdity as a menacing presence whose plan to expose secrets and deceptions leaves him a fish out of water amid this group of nutters.

Lovell McFadden ably directs this joyful show, with highlights including Willa Catherine Cotton’s brilliant costuming (particularly Bates-White’s jade-green Statue of Liberty gown) and DeVoughn “DeVo” Spratt and Teri(ana) Turner’s inspired sound work. Also look for what Tony Ferrieri (scenic design), Cheryl El-Walker (special effects, hair, and make-up), Marcus Southers (technical director), and Madeleine Steineck (lighting design) achieve. Reneé Sorrell stage manages with help from Faith Stephens. And, if you’re lucky, you may meet Producing Artistic Director Mark Clayton Southers’s dog when Southers introduces the performance.

With even more luck, Freeland will soon address his keyboard to Fishy Woo Woo Part 3. For now, though, make sure to see Fishy Woo Woo Part 2 before November arrives.

—TR

Pittsburgh Playwrights Theatre Company presents “Fishy Woo Woo Part 2” through November 1, 2026, at the Carter Woodson Redwood Theater, in the Madison Arts and Entertainment Center, 3401 Milwaukee Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15219. For more information, please visit here.

 

 

 

 

 

By: Lonnie the Theater Lady

Examples of literary “bed tricks” date back to the Bible. In the book of Genesis, Jacob is deceived by his uncle Laban into consummating a marriage with Leah instead of his intended bride Rachel. Over the centuries, “bed tricks” have appeared in Shakespeare plays such as “All’s Well That Ends Well” and in recent movies like “Revenge of the Nerds.”

In a prologue to “The Bed Trick,” college freshman, theater nerd Harriet (Amalea Krill) ironically explains that she doesn’t like prologues to a play, including Shakespeare’s prologues, because she believes they’re a way for a playwright to cheat by planting ideas in the minds of the audience before the play begins. She makes it known that the upcoming play is about sex and cautions, “So, I don’t want to get any emails after the show.” She then explains how the literary plot device, the “bed trick,” works. One character believes they’re climbing into bed with person A, but through deception or mistaken identity, they’re actually bedding person B.

Harriet rehearses “All’s Well That Ends Well.” A play in which Shakespeare employs a “bed trick.” Scenes of her rehearsing frequently interrupt the play’s main action—the story of three college freshmen roommates. Harriet’s rehearsal scenes closely parallel events in the roommates’ lives as Lulu (Chloe Sohne), Marianne (Quinn Starrett), and Harriet get to know each other and develop fluid, tentative friendships.

When Lulu learns that her longtime boyfriend, Willis (Caleb Clemons), has a profile on a dating app, her insecurity kicks into high gear. She sets up a fake dating profile using a photo of Harriet without her consent. She’s hoping to catfish Willis to find out his intentions. Lulu convinces Marianne to pose as the fake Harriet by texting Willis and talking to him on the phone. Marianne is fast approaching her 18th birthday– the perfect time to lose her virginity.

After many long intimate phone calls, Willis and Marianne develop romantic feelings for each other and decide to meet face to face in the girls’ dorm room. That is when things go seriously awry! One surprise and plot twist after another proliferate. (No spoilers)

Adding to and complicating the unexpected happenings, Marianne’s recently divorced mother travels from Florida to surprise Marianne on her birthday. She hopes to celebrate the birthday with her daughter and Benny, her ex-husband. (Griffin Sommers)

Casting college students as college students makes their characters relatable, sympathetic, and genuine.

Krill is likable as the gentle, kind, idealistic Helen. Her enthusiasm for Shakespeare and theater in general is endearing.

Sohngen plays Lulu with the right mix of ambivalence, fluctuating between confidence and arrogance. She can be charming, cunning, and manipulative enough to convince Marianne to do her bidding.

Starrett perfectly embodies Marianne’s confusion over circumstances surrounding her parents’ first meeting and the concept of consent. One cannot help but be moved by her need to feel loved and her guilt at hiding her relationship with Willis. Her discomfort with the deception is touching.

One’s heart goes out to Clemon’s confused Willis. He clearly shows his uneasiness about his disloyalty to Lulu while still wanting the fake Harriet. He plays his role with sweetness, innocence, and naivete.

Sommer’s Benny is a loving, patient father to Marianne. He’s clearly doing his best to support Marianne and find happiness after his divorce. His warmth and kindness ring true.

Collins does an excellent job as Flamboyant Anna. Her showy affectations clearly mask her unhappiness. She’s comical yet tragic. Her pain over the divorce is palpable.

Director Anya Hilpert directs the actors to make the best of every laugh line while giving the serious themes of consent, deception, friendship, and identity the gravitas they deserve.

The cluttered dorm room, with sloppily made beds covered in mismatched blankets, mimics a typical dorm room. (Barret Lage, designer)

Costume designer Jaime Ericson’s cleverly designed Elizabethan costumes are stunningly ornate, colorful, and beautiful.

This very funny, entertaining, well-acted show examines some weighty issues in a thought-provoking way. It offers a window into the confusing time period young adults navigate as they move through life.

LtTL

 

“The Bed Trick” runs through October 25 at the Rauh Theater, Pittsburgh Playhouse, 350 Forbes Avenue, Pittsburgh 15222. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

By Raymond Wayne

Attack Theatre | Oct. 16, one night only at the Attack Theatre Studio

Attack Theatre’s Sessions: Happy Birthday Bobby featuring theCAUSE merged dance and live music into the same creative conversation. Presented as a birthday tribute to Bobby Weir, guitarist, vocalist, storyteller, and founding member of the jam-band pioneer Grateful Dead. The performance was less a conventional concert or dance performance than a shared celebration—one in which movement, rhythm, and improvisation, especially the latter, continually reshaped but complemented one another.

The evening’s strongest attribute was the exchange between the musicians and dancers. Rather than treating the band as accompaniment, the production placed Pittsburgh-based theCAUSE in an active dialogue with the dancers. Musical phrases prompted physical responses, while shifts in movement shaped the sound’s energy and direction. That reciprocity gave the program an immediate, in-the-moment character.

Attack Theatre’s performers brought athleticism and theatrical presence, moving between tightly coordinated passages and looser, more spontaneous interactions. The choreography was most compelling when individual personalities remained within the ensemble. Moments of humor, playfulness, and intimacy reinforced the celebratory spirit without diminishing the performers’ technical command.

TheCAUSE put forth grooves that supported the dancing while retaining the personality of a Dead concert, sans the chemical enhancements the band made legendary. Their musicianship benefited from that flexibility: changes in tempo, dynamics, and emphasis created fresh possibilities that kept the collaboration from feeling predetermined. They are a jam band after all, and the dancers fulfilled the improv visions of Michele de la Reza and Peter Kope, Attack Theatre’s founders and creative forces.

The collaborators celebrated Weir’s birthday with two sets of five songs each honoring his musical legacy. Interspersed were talks by Hawk, a producer with the Owsley Stanley Foundation. Stanley was the Dead’s audio engineer, a sixties polymath who crafted the band’s wall-of-sound speaker array while dabbling in psychedelic chemistry.

Notably, Hawk prefaced the band’s rendition of John Cash’s “Big River” and “Days Between,” a Jerry Garcia song Weir sang after Garcia’s passing in 1995. Stanley recorded more than 1,300 reel-to-reel audio tapes of live performances by the Dead and other American musicians. Of note, Hawk is a corporate attorney with a prominent Downtown law firm that represents the foundation in its mission to preserve this audio legacy by transferring the tapes to digital format.

The band’s chops stood out throughout the evening, especially in their renditions of “The Other One” and “Days Between.” Eric “Pappy” Weingrad’s virtuosity on guitar was sublime, accompanied by the dancers’ equally sublime artistry.

An active, engaged audience filled the Attack Theatre’s Studio seating to capacity. Several songs drew dozens from the crowd, many in tie-dyes, to the dance floor to express their individuality.

The dance company and band first discussed collaborating earlier this year, the same day Weir passed away. Both were skeptical that a modern dance troupe could work with a psychedelic hippie rock jam band. They took the creative risk, and it paid off impressively with just a single combined rehearsal the day before.

“I think we all thought we could do it, but I’m not sure any of us imagined it coming off as amazing as it did,” Pappy Weingrad, the CAUSE guitarist, said of the evening. “The full collaboration was churning, and once that wheel starts turning, you can’t slow it down.”

And special mention to the technical crew. The audio and lighting were designed and delivered flawlessly throughout the evening.

Sessions: Happy Birthday Bobby featuring theCAUSE was a heartfelt, energetic collaboration that highlighted Attack Theatre’s ability to make dance communal and immediate. The evening’s blend of live music, physical invention and celebratory spirit offered an engaging reminder that performance can be both carefully crafted and joyfully unpredictable.

The 30-year-old Attack Theatre’s mission is to collaborate artistically through interdisciplinary partnerships. With this performance, they demonstrated successfully that they indeed dance the talk.

-RW

For more information on Attack Theatre, click here. 

 

by Timothy Ruppert 

The creative team at R-ACT Theatre Productions has certainly given themselves a challenge with their latest show. Martin McDonagh’s 2003 play The Pillowman takes place in the chambers of a police facility located in an unspecified totalitarian state where a fiction writer named Katurian (Josh Plowman) faces a brutal interrogation at the hands of a self-satisfied detective named Tupolski (Gavin Colgaro) and his partner, Ariel (Jack Lefebvre), a fellow with all the charm of a famished saber-toothed tiger. The officers have isolated Katurian’s brother, Michal (Kamran Mian), a room away; the occasional offstage scream intensifies the consequences of what Katurian says and does during an interview in which Tupolski and Ariel accuse the artist of horrific crimes. McDonagh further steepens The Pillowman’s complexity through a calculated use of his protagonist’s stories, very few of which (save, perhaps, “The Little Green Pig”) feature benign plotlines. As the investigation carries forward, Katurian’s dark folkloric tales interweave with real-world nightmares. Narratives enfold into narratives as Kafkaesque ambiguities emerge in a milieu of Stasi-like sadism. Oh, and did I mention the laugh-out-loud comedic moments? Or the shadow puppetry?

Despite the daunting intricacies of McDonagh’s contemporary classic, R-ACT succeeds admirably. Much of the credit for this powerful and provocative evening of drama belongs to director Barbara Burgess-Lefebvre, whose vision of McDonagh’s masterpiece strikes me as nothing less than brilliant. Burgess-Lefebvre guides a gifted cast and a committed crew with a style that reflects significant directorial experience and a humaneness that indicates profound artistic insight. I have seen much of her work over the years, and this staging of The Pillowman stands among her very best shows (note, too, that I watched the final dress rehearsal, rendering the achievement all the more remarkable).

Burgess-Lefebvre’s superb direction profits from a treasure trove of on- and offstage talent. Plowman brings Katurian to life with decisive nuance, introducing consistent psychological subtlety to his portrayal of the terrified fiction maker. On stage for almost every moment of the show, Plowman has a considerable list of duties and excels in all that the role asks of him. Calgaro and Lefebvre create a perfect symmetry together: if the latter hurtles forward like a tsunami, the former seethes like a volcano on the way to mega-colossal status. Make no mistake, though: these two actors find true dimensionality in their characters, representing faceless political power without losing sight of the complicated personal motivations driving Tupolski and Ariel on. Mian plays Michal ideally, rejecting cliched choices in fashioning his depiction of Katurian’s long-suffering brother. Jenn Rian and Zachary Holderbaum dexterously operate the puppets whose shadows provide visual referents for the often-gruesome stories we hear.

The accomplished artistic staff includes Phillip Collin (stage manager), Maxfield Boffo (lights), and David Holderbaum (sound curator), among many fine contributors. Bennett Drake and Lefebvre achieve a properly unnerving effect through their scenic work. Tim Piper works wonders as producer.

A word of forewarning: The Pillowman is an adult show, a wickedly intelligent drama designed to challenge rather than to comfort. That said, I urge you to visit 134 Brighton Avenue in Rochester to experience the unsettling magic of R-ACT’s latest triumph.

—TR

 

“The Pillowman” runs through Sunday, October 18. For more information, please see here.

Reviewed by Dr. Tiffany Knight Raymond, PhD

History has weight. Director Marcus Muzopappa acknowledged that history on opening night of The Old Schoolhouse Players’ production of Agatha Christie’s murder mystery, The Mousetrap. The Mousetrap is the longest-running show in the world. Since 1952, it has played continuously in London’s West End (aside from a forced COVID intermission). An estimated 10 million people have seen it there. That count includes me and Theron, my frequent co-reviewer and teenage son, who saw performance 30,487 of The Mousetrap at St. Martin’s Theatre when we were in London this April. However, I still remember seeing it the first time I went to London in the 1990s. The Mousetrap’s familiar continuity withstands the tempests of time.

Muzopappa also noted his determination to do justice to the world’s longest-running play. Having recently seen the legendary London production, I came in with a high bar. However, Muzopappa’s attention to detail from staging to costuming to accents and blocking was flawless.

Set designer Cindy Berg executes on a vision that utilizes every inch of the stage to transform it into the Great Hall of Monkswell Manor, a newly opened bed and breakfast by newlyweds, Mollie and Giles Ralston (Amanda Weber and Daniel Lee). Berg’s set is complemented by Janet Okarma’s props, which push toward Victorian maximalism. The design choices fit the stately, old manor house. They also contribute to an air of claustrophobia as a winter squall traps the bevy of houseguests. Walls the color of dried blood soar upward, signaling high Victorian ceilings and foreshadowing murder, an intrinsic plot element in any whodunit. A fireplace with a brass peacock screen and an ornate mantel; brocaded, fringed furniture; and an abundance of landscape and still-life paintings complete a scene steeped in Victorian stuffiness.

The Ralstons own and staff Monkswell thanks to Mollie’s inheritance of her aunt’s manor. Weber shines as Mollie Ralston. As mistress of the house, she strides about with distinctive purpose. You hear her low, sensible heels before you see her. These auditory cues matter, as solving a whodunit requires heightened senses. Weber’s British accent never wavers, and her interactions with guests can be rapid-fire, yet she carves out a distinctive way of engaging with each one.

Weber’s Mollie finds her equal in Lee’s portrayal of Giles. They’re an energetic pair as he bustles about clearing snow and running luggage.

Like Agatha Christie herself, Muzopappa doesn’t miss a detail. Thomas Inghram’s soundscape of howling wind precisely accompanies the entrance of each actor from the outdoors, never letting us forget the blizzard that gusts outside. Everyone who enters Monkswell Manor has snow-covered shoulders on their overcoats, adding next-level detail and blurring the line between inside and out.

The first houseguest to arrive is Christopher Wren (Casey Cunningham). He’s a jaunty young fellow in a pink waistcoat, with a smattering of childlike tendencies that veer into the macabre, like his love of gory nursery rhymes. Cunningham rides the line between creepy and helpful, keeping us guessing about Wren’s role in the events that unfold.

Donna Morosco brings out the Karen in her portrayal of Mrs. Boyle, a self-righteous, always-complaining biddy. At one point, Wren gloats, “Let’s think of ways to annoy her,” and the audience can’t help but smile at the suggestion.

Kauleen Cloutier’s natural height paired with Cindy Berg’s masculine costuming amplifies Miss Casewell’s androgyny. Cloutier taps into an imposing demeanor that creates a no-questions-asked forcefield around Casewell.

Sergeant Trotter’s (Noah Koons) arrival sets the strangers on edge. Due to the storm, he arrives on skis to investigate a murder that took place in London but has local ties. The gathered go from sheltering to suspicious after the murder visits Monkswell, and Christie uses her signature plot twists to keep you guessing.

Despite the winter setting, the creepy vibes make this play a perfectly timed run-up to Halloween. Save the airfare and enjoy this London-rivaling production of The Mousetrap right here in southwestern PA.

-TKR, Ph.D.

Purchase tickets online for the Old Schoolhouse Players’ production of The Mousetrap through October 18, 2026. The show plays at the Mt. Pleasant Township Community Center, 20 Wabash Avenue, Hickory, PA 15340.

By Timothy Ruppert

Since the time of the Norman Conquests and the reign of William I, the Tower of London has played a crucial part in the history of England’s capital, serving at various points as home to the royal menagerie, the national mint, and the Crown Jewels, as well as to the ravens who, legend says, protect the throne and country by virtue of their residence on the ancient grounds. The Tower also once served as a prison and place of execution, most famously for unlucky Tudors such as Anne Boleyn, Catherine Howard, and Lady Jane Grey. Oh, and don’t forget Colonel Fairfax (Mike Goffus), the protagonist of W. S. Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan’s 1888 The Yeomen of the Guard; or, The Merryman and His Maid, who languishes in Beauchamp Tower while awaiting death for allegedly practicing alchemy. The Pittsburgh Savoyards take on the challenge of staging this rather solemn entry in the Gilbert and Sullivan canon with the vision and heart one expects from this company, and the result, unsurprisingly, is an impressive evening of music, spectacle, and drama.

Music director and conductor Guy Russo leads the terrific orchestra with help from a splendid team including Jordan Speranzo (assistant conductor), Larissa Marple (concertmaster), and Lynette Garlan (orchestra manager). The instrumentalists understand the aural paradox Yeomen presents: the contemporary musician must carry us back to the early sixteenth century via the late nineteenth. Their success cannot be overstated.

Like Russo and friends, stage director Robert Hockenberry and the ever-wonderful Savoyards miss no opportunity to transport the Andrew Carnegie Free Library and Music Hall through time to the age of Henry VIII. Jane Huff, Gretchen Beck, Lynn Spatafore, and Lisa Grogan merit high praise for their costuming, and Hockenberry deserves praise for his clever scenic design. All respect also to production stage manager Andrea Lisiak and assistant stage manager Inara Manzetti for ensuring the temporal legerdemain works throughout the evening. Garth Shafer (lights), Leslie Clark (properties), and Lara Rogers (house manager) contribute notably, and Matt Lisiak deserves special acknowledgment for his stalwart efforts as assistant technical director and supertitles operator (watch for a hilarious joke high above the stage early in act two).

Because the Savoyards typically double-cast, and I saw the show on its first Saturday-evening performance, my comments and appreciation refer to the members of the Sullivan cast (so please forgive me, Gilbert cast, for being unavailable on opening night). To the surprise of absolutely no one, Goffus brilliantly embodies Fairfax; fortunately, theatergoers can see him at any of the forthcoming performances. Consider, though, the immense talent of the other principals in the Sullivan cast. As I have known for some time now, Leah Grimm (Elsie Maynard) has one of the best soprano voices in town and is also a charming, gifted actress. Good theatre, though, involves discovery, and this production introduced me to three remarkable actors I hadn’t had the pleasure of seeing before. As Wilfred Shadbolt, Alexander Policiccio exhibits effortless gravitas wedded to spot-on comedic sensibilities. Logan Newman stuns as Jack Point, the ultimately tragic fool (or ‘merryman’) whose fate sadly interweaves with Fairfax’s destiny. And, as Phoebe Meryll, Kate Manuel delivers a stellar performance. Manuel has profound storytelling gifts that could land her a spot at a venue like the Public Theater on Lafayette Street in New York City. Luckily, she’s in Pittsburgh rather than in Manhattan. See her, please!

The Pittsburgh Savoyards ensemble never disappoints. My word count militates against naming everyone whose work moved me, but I especially enjoyed Deborah Geary, Brienne Sharo, Kathryn Morosky, and Katherine Ohliger. Geary’s reactions to Jack Point in his last scene were inspired. Beautiful work all around.

If you are interested in time travel, or in theatre made with devotion, thoughtfulness, and love, then visit the Pittsburgh Savoyards’ production of Gilbert and Sullivan’s The Yeomen of the Guard. London’s calling—as are the early 1500s. Hurry, before this window onto the past closes!

—TR

The Pittsburgh Savoyard’s production of “The Yeomen of the Guard” runs through October 18, 2026, at the Andrew Carnegie Free Library and Music Hall, 300 Beechwood Ave, Carnegie, PA 15106. For more information, please visit https://pittsburghsavoyards.org/the-yeomen-of-the-guard-fall-2026/.

 

By Claire DeMarco

Sakinah (Milia Ayache) is in jail and under evaluation by Jenny (Dominique Briggs Jackson), a therapist assigned to evaluate and unravel why Sakinah committed a violent, unspeakable crime. It is not an easy task.

As Jenny draws Sakinah back into the past to determine what happened, flashbacks of the events unfold on stage.  Sakinah’s close friend and lover, Fouad (Hari Bhaskar), appears in general conversation as they work together in a thrift shop.

A typical day at the thrift shop becomes a turning point for both of them.  A new collection of glamorous, donated items arrives at the shop.  Since the donor’s name is noted on the clothing, Sakinah and Fouad decide to each don a fabulous outfit and crash the donor’s gala. Fouad ups the excitement by also choosing a gown and going as a drag queen.

This impromptu gatecrashing brings Sakinah, Fouad, and Emily (Erika Krenn) into direct contact.  It eventually leads to a growing relationship between Emily and Fouad.  Tragedy strikes when the attraction becomes more permanent, and Sakinah’s evil act affects everyone.

Race, class distinctions, and immigration also insert themselves (sometimes subtly) into Sakinah and Fouad’s brief encounter, into a world they’ve never known.

Playwright Yussel El Guindi’s “Refugee Rhapsody” is on a premiere rolling tour with Pittsburgh as its secondary stop.  Theater lovers should try novel plays, sometimes non-traditional, and perhaps ones you’ve never heard of. You may surprise yourself by looking at life from a different perspective.  This new work by Carnegie Mellon graduate El Guindi embodies that outlook.

A powerhouse performance by Ayache.  She is provocative, sarcastic, belligerent, combative, sensitive, but always on the defensive. With that plethora of adjectives, Ayache also delivers some of the play’s most speechless comedic moments, as her posture, facial expressions, and general attitude convey her annoyance as she watches Bhaskar and Krenn’s growing attraction.

Bhaskar’s character develops from Sakinah’s rather childlike cohort as he gleefully dresses as a drag queen to attend a gala they weren’t invited to. His feelings for Emily grow. His anger as his life is turned upside down is palpable, realistic, and strong.

Krenn delivers an approximately 8-minute speechless welcome to her unseen guests at the gala.  Her gestures, hand movements, and smiles are fixating and believable. This delivery occurs while Sakinah and Bhaskar are in constant dialogue. Krenn is the epitome of a rich, white daughter whose benevolent nature appears to be genuine but could be unwillingly condescending.

Briggs Jackson is methodical, caring, and objective as she tries to unravel Ayache’s complexities.  As their journey together continues, her outlook changes as her personal troubles also complicate her relationship with Ayache and her husband, Richard (Dionysus Akeem).

Akeem plays two distinct parts brilliantly.  As Briggs Jackson’s husband, his whiny nature initially causes chaos in their marriage, but as Briggs Jackson becomes more involved with Sakinah after the evil event, Akeem becomes more sympathetic.  His role as Waleed, a figment of Sakinah’s imagination, differs completely and effectively from his role as Richard.

The design team, Johnmichael Bohach, Bob Steineck, Steve Shapiro, Alex Keplar, and Scott Andrew, contributes to the excellent set, lighting, sound, and multimedia environment of “Refugee Rhapsody.” The many media photos and videos that silently appear on the stage are especially effective, often portraying what the actors are referencing or talking about.  These images become an integral part of the story.

Director Elizabeth Elias Huffman’s vision and excitement for “Refugee Rhapsody” shine through in this production.

-CED

“Refugee Rhapsody” is a PICT (Pittsburgh International Classic Theatre) production.  Performances run from October 9 to October 25th at Carnegie Stage, 25 W Main St, Carnegie, PA 15106. For more information, click here.

 

 

 

by Michael Buzzelli

“Terraced thousands died, shaking scythes at cannon, the hillside blushed, Orange, green and yellow.” – Seamus Heaney

When a famous American actor, Jay Conway (David Whalen), agrees to perform in a play by up-and-coming Irish playwright Ruth Davenport (Christine Weber), he misunderstands which side of a war his character is on in David Ireland’s scathingly savage satire, “Ulster American.”

Director Leigh Carver (Simon Bradbury) invites the actor and the playwright into his London apartment to discuss the play. Before she arrives, Conway poses a brutal hypothetical. A bold, daring, and vicious question that lights the fuse on a stick of dynamite. The rest of the play sizzles toward a fiery explosion of savage words and brutal deeds.

The play begins like a David Mamet, with two men discussing the truth as they see it. The actor and the director see themselves as progressive and agree on core values. Hint: They might preach it, but they don’t practice it.

Ruth arrives a few minutes late (her reason for tardiness could be considered a spoiler and will not be shared here), ready to dive into the play with her leading man.

Conway, an Irish Catholic, is unaware that the Fenians, Irish Republican revolutionaries who sought freedom from British rule, were viewed as terrorists by the Northern Protestants, and that his playwright, Ruth Davenport, is not only a Northern Protestant but also an apologist for British rule. Davenport is so loyal to the crown that she views herself as English, even though Carver, an Englishman, views her as Irish.

The American Irish Catholic and the Northern Irish Protestant face off, and the Troubles begin again inside Carver’s cozy apartment. The play is wickedly funny, disturbingly dark, but, most of all, diabolically compelling.

Bradbury is brilliant as Carver. He has an unhinged rant at the end of the play, sputtering about the set like a whirling dervish. On opening night, Bradbury ad-libbed a few words to cover a dropped line, which was equally, or perhaps more, effective than whatever the real dialogue was.

Whalen, an iconic Pittsburgh actor (despite moving out of the area), was a wise choice for Conway. He plays the overly pompous, Oscar-winning actor (the actual statue shows up like a Chekhovian gun) perfectly.

Weber (with help from dialect coach Don Wadsworth) plays a complex character to the hilt. Her Ruth is ruthless. She is fierce and fearless in the role.

Once again, masterful set designer Tony Ferrieri creates a space the audience wants to pack up and move into (for a production company named Barebones, they have the most elaborate sets).

IRL Director Patrick Jordan delivers a kinetic, visceral tour de force for his trio of actors. The play ends with a brutal fight scene brilliantly choreographed by Randy Kovitz.

Playwright David Ireland uses the play to take several jabs at critics: “The only thing I want to see a critic write is a suicide note.”

Personal Note: Picture hearing that line and watching an entire row of patrons slowly turn their heads toward you. It was hilarious and slightly uncomfortable.

Speaking of uncomfortable: Seeing a play about politics and betrayal in John Fetterman’s neighborhood is an ironic twist.

“Ulster American” is a hodgepodge of topsy-turvy social, cultural, and political narratives, viciously funny and thoroughly engaging.

-MB

“Ulster American” runs until October 25th at the Bingo O’Malley Studio at barebones productions, 1211 Braddock Avenue, Braddock, PA 15104.  https://www.barebonesproductions.com/