Category: The Shaker

by Michael “Buzz” Buzzelli, ‘Burgh Vivant.

The green-eyed monster rears his ugly head in William Shakespeare’s “Othello.”

One lone malcontent, Iago (Jeremy Kushnier) decides to stir up a big, boiling pot of trouble when he decides he dislikes the new command structure in his regimen. The vicious ensign launches a treacherous campaign to undermine his new general, Othello the Moor (Teagle F. Bougere).

WATCH/LISTEN: ‘Burgh Vivant’s interview with Broadway actor and musician Jeremy Kushnier.

Iago struts and frets about the stage with malicious glee. First he poisons the mind of Roderigo (Christopher Michael McFarland) when he learns that the Moor has married Desdemona (Amanda Leigh Cobb) in a secret ceremony. Iago and Roderigo approach Othello’s newfound father-in-law, a Venetian senator named Barbantio (Edward James Hyland), who was unaware that his daughter married the black general. Barbantio is unhappy with the new marriage, but when Desdemona gives an impassioned speech about her new husband, the senator racism melts away. If only all senators can be dissuaded from racism as easily (Hello, 21^st Century America, I’m looking at you).

The Duke of Venice (David Whalen) orders Othello to Cyprus to quell an uprising of Turks. Othello takes his Venetian army to the isle. Along with his assemblage of soldiers, he takes his new lieutenant Cassio, Iago, and Iago’s wife Emilia (Jessica Wortham), who also happens to be Desdemona’s attendant.

By the time they arrive in Cyprus, the Turkish soldiers have withdrawn when a frightful storm destroys their fleet. The Venetian forces celebrate, all but Iago, who uses the peacetime to wage an internal war. He pollutes Othello’s mind with thoughts of jealousy. Othello demands proof of his wife’s infidelity, and, as luck would have it, Desdemona drops a handkerchief.

Yes. A handkerchief! The fate of so many lives revolve around a tiny square piece of cloth. But this handkerchief is nothing to sneeze at (so to speak).

Iago plants the hanky on Cassio and seals his fate. “Othello” is a famous tragedy, so we know things aren’t going to end well. In the final act, the body count rises. Not as many die here as in “Macbeth” or “Hamlet,” but it’s a bloody final act.

And while the play is titled “Othello” but it is clearly Iago’s show. Kushnier does a superb job as the malevolent adversary. Iago is one of Shakespeare’s most sinister villains, often considered such because of the unique trust that Othello places in him, which he betrays while maintaining his reputation of honesty and dedication. Othello frequently refers to his ensign as “Honest Iago.” The incongruity of the appellation causes raucous laughter.

Actually, for a tragedy, “Othello,” under Ted Pappas’s direction, is played big and broad, and there are plenty of laughs. Most of the humor stems from Iago’s ignoble acts. He slithers about drawing the unsuspecting into his lair. Kushnier is a masterful villain. His scenes with the unwitting Roderigo are a joy to watch. Thanks to the talents of both men.

Any lesser actor would let Kushnier usurp the show from the titular star of the tale, but Bougere is more than a match for him. Othello’s jealousy is visceral, palpable. His rage shakes the stage. He commands the stage, chewing the sparse scenery. Some may find the show over-the-top, but Shakespeare is meant to be played to the highbrows and the cheap seats.

Because it is a show about soldiers, there are very few women around. Two of the roles are stereotypes (Madonna and whore), the fair and chaste Desdemona (a solid performance from Cobb), and the sly and lascivious Bianca (deftly played by Robin Abramson).

However, there is a third woman, Iago’s wife, Emilia. Her role is the juiciest of the female roles, even though could easily be considered “info-dump,” because she parses out a good deal of exposition in the play’s final moments. Wortham finds nuances in the character. It’s another terrific performance in a show filled with terrific performances.

Normally, the Pittsburgh Public Theater wows the audience with scenic design. Scenic Designer James Noone’s set is magnificent and austere. It’s a bit more Spartan than usual, but it works well for this production.

William Shakespeare’s birthday is April 23. I can’t think of a better way to celebrate.

(“Othello” runs till May 17 at the O’Reilly Theater, 621 Penn Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15222. For more information, go to www.ppt.org)

-MB.

by Mike “Buzz” Buzzelli, ‘Burgh Vivant.

A stoned out lawyer, Dixon (Quentin Mare), and his frazzled, uptight wife, Pam (Lisa Velten Smith), struggle with their daughter’s unusual decision in Carly Mensch’s “Oblivion.”

It’s become a postmodern trope; the only way to rebel against iconoclastic parents is to go in the opposite direction and become more traditional. The plot has been around since “Family Ties.” In this case, Dixon and Pam’s daughter, Julie (Julia Warner), wants to be baptized Christian.

The aforementioned daughter has been sneaking off to a Korean Baptist Church with her bestie, Bernard (Christopher Larkin). The play opens when Pam suspects that Julie didn’t go off to a trip to Wesleyan University as planned. Secretly, she and Bernard went off to a church retreat where ate a pancake breakfast, prayed, and learned wood-carving. Her parents suspect that she was up to much more devious activities. It turns out that said parents would have preferred that she went off on a drug-filled orgy instead. When the secret is finally revealed, it shatters the family’s domestic bliss, sending Pam into a total tizzy. To be fair, most of the domestic bliss between Dixon and Pam comes after a few puffs off a joint.

Once the cat is out of the bag, Pam finds other cats in the bag; unlocking a secret about her spouse that sends her into Tizzy Number Two.

P.S. There’s also a strange subplot about Bernard’s infatuation with late film critic Pauline Kael. It’s odd because Bernard knows intimate details of her life, except that she passed away in 2001 (it’s the first thing that comes up when you Google her).

“Oblivion” is a comedy, and, in the traditional form, it is. It’s just not laugh out loud funny. The play does pose a few very interesting questions. Is spirituality an archaic notion in the 21^st Century? Can God give someone a sense of fulfillment, if He can’t be seen or heard? If you have an idol and a laptop, shouldn’t you know if your idol is living or dead? Sorry, the Pauline Kael thing is hard to get past (probably because I’ve also worshipped at her altar).

There’s one other niggling thing that could be fixed in a rewrite. Julie doesn’t seem to be learning anything about forgiveness at the Korean Baptist Church. She rails against her mom in the entire first act. It makes it easy to sidle up to Pam’s POV. She talks a lot about Jesus, but walks around with deep-seated anger at her mom. What is that church teaching her?

It seems “Oblivion” was written for film or television. While brisk to-the-point scenes are appreciated over lengthy, wordy ones, the scene changes are overwhelming. Director Stuart Carden could have simplified the movement a bit, especially since the actors are pulling double-duty as stage hands. It’s like aerobic exercises with a sofa and coffee table instead of barbells.

Luckily, these furniture movers happen to be extraordinary actors. Carden cast it well. Mare hands in a stellar performance as the clueless but caring father, Dixon. He also has the best lines in the play. Larkin is delightful as the budding auteur, Bernard. Warner was perfectly cast (there’s a “Julie & Julia” joke in there somewhere, but I just can’t get at it).

Though it was tough to sympathize with Pam, Velten Smith won me over with a simple gesture in the final scene.

Side note: Pam also had the best wardrobe. Cheers to Costume designer Angela M. Vesco for making look comfortable yet elegant.

Though it had a lot of moving parts, the set is a masterpiece from Gianni Downs. On Tuesday’s show, a few audience members were so enamored of the bevy of trinkets on stage that they wandered up onto the set during intermission and gawked at the gewgaws up close. Luckily, they returned to their seats before the ushers escorted them off.

There’s a lot of moving parts in “Oblivion,” metaphorically as well, and they do come together in a satisfying way. However, like Julie after her baptism, I stood up and said, “Is that it?” The City Theatre has set unusually high standards, and, because of that, I was expecting something greater.

(“Oblivion” runs until April 26 at the City Theatre, 1300 Bingham Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15203. For more information, call (412) 431-4400, or go to www.citytheatrecompany.org)

-MB.

by Mike “Buzz” Buzzelli, ‘Burgh Vivant.

Endless Lawns: The Green, Green Grass of Home

In Anthony McKay’s “Endless Lawns” we learn quickly that the mighty have fallen. Twin sisters living in a squalid, dilapidated home on the outskirts of town are far from their former glory as debutante daughters of a famous movie star. Their old home, a mansion in the hoity-toity High Chimney’s neighborhood, has been destroyed, plowed over, and turned into new development. There’s a little more green than gray in this garden, but a sharp observer will note the reference.

Torch (Laurie Klatscher) and her fraternal twin, Flo (Cary Anne Spear), are living paycheck-to-paycheck with menial jobs; Torch at the K-Mart, Flo at a local flower shop. It seems their not-so-dearly departed dad willed the family fortune to his mistress and left his girls out in the cold.

Flo is having a difficult time letting go of her former life. She was once an actor on stage and screen, yet she couldn’t escape her father’s shadow. In these lean years, she’s taken up her dad’s favorite sport; drinking. Torch is having an easier time accepting their new lives, and things are looking less dismal for her. She believes her drinking days are behind her and regularly attends AA meetings, much to her sister’s chagrin.

On a lovely summer evening, Ray (Jason McCune), Torch’s boyfriend and boss, pulls a ring out of his pocket and pops the question. Torch answers him with a resounding yes and shower of kisses.

You can almost feel the sword of Damocles dangling above her head at that brief moment of sheer joy. First, Flo isn’t keen on the idea and pries them apart with acidic bon mots. Then, Graham (Mark D. Staley), Torch’s old flame, alights onto the scene.

Graham “accidentally” (big, giant air quotes) spills a thirty-year old secret in front of Torch’s fiancé, Ray, and all hell breaks loose. While the men are jostling for her affection, Torch slips into the abyss.

“Endless Lawns” has a small but powerful cast. It’s a quartet of charismatic, talented performers.

Spear is mesmerizing as the forlorn Flo. Somehow she maintains her likability after spewing out verbal assaults on all of the other characters. There’s a lovely moment when years of seething resentment falls, quite literally, out of her. She recounts a story about a film festival in her father’s honor. It’s a hilarious. The tale not only knocks her down a peg or two, but offers an illuminating glimpse into the power of forgiveness.

Klatscher’s character is even more likable, but when Torch fails, the failure is epic. You want to jump up on stage and stop her from every bad decision she makes. Her performance is flawless. Though, Torch might have Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. She utters the line “I’m tired” three or four times through the course of the play.

McCune’s Ray is a lovable schlub. A hapless K-Mart manager with a penchant for a beautiful girl from his youth. His romantic rival, Graham, is a capital D Douchebag, but he’s played with equal parts pomposity and vulnerability by Staley.

The play only stumbles, figuratively and literally, when the characters get drunk. It’s difficult to act inebriated. While director Gregory Lehane gets terrific performances from his actors, the drunken scenes could use a bit more work (short of actually plying them with copious amounts of alcohol, I’m not sure what he could do).

Playwright Anthony McKay’s “Endless Lawns” balances light and darkness like Caravaggio. Just like the Italian painter the light looks brightest against the prevailing darkness; chiaroscuro played out metaphorically.

McKay’s script sparkles with humor. However, he really put the endless in “Endless Lawns.” The play, like the unmown lawn in the story, could use a trim. However, the sisters are the saving grace. McKay creates two intriguing twins. Therein lies a dichotomous problem; the story of the twins is captivating, even though the play seemed a bit long, I still wanted more of them (probably because Klatscher and Spear play them so skillfully).

Even when things seem bleak, McKay shines plenty of sunlight on “Endless Lawns.”

(“Endless Lawns” runs from March 26 through April 12 in The Rep’s Studio Theatre, Pittsburgh Playhouse)

-MB.