Tag: Theatre

by Mike “Buzz” Buzzelli, ‘Burgh Vivant

At the US Open semifinals two tennis players, American superstar Tim Porter (Danny Binstock) and up-and-coming Russian player Sergei Sergeyev (JD Taylor), face off for the top spot in Anna Ziegler’s “The Last Match.” Both men struggle to win the championship while dealing with personal internal conflicts. Sergei is the young hotshot ready to take the title away from his idol. Tim is the long time champion who fears younger players getting the drop shot on him.

Porter and his wife, Mallory (Daina Michelle Griffith), have been desperately trying to have a baby, while Sergei proposes to his long-time girlfriend, Galina (Robin Abramson).

The story unfolds, volleying back and forth from Tim’s point-of-view to Sergei’s perspective. We watch the first meeting between Tim and Mallory. Then, we pivot back to Sergei’s first date with Galina. Their lives don’t necessarily intertwine, but each man has similar desires. Each man strives ever forward to be the best, while constantly asking themselves, “At what cost?”

After recently seeing Ibsen’s “The Master Builder,” it’s easy to see a parallel between Halvard Solness, the titular Master Builder, and Tim Porter. They both have the same fear. Younger men will assume their titles, just as they have both usurped their elders.

Meanwhile, Sergei’s motivations are a bit more straightforward. He wants to win. He believes, deep in his heart, that it is his time.

Porter and Sergeyev are filled with so much desire, deep wells of want. They are in a constant state of wanting, and it may prove to be their undoing.

Director Tracy Brigden wins the first point. She picked four phenomenal actors to play on her court.

Taylor charms as Sergei. He is charismatic, and filled with youthful exuberance. The character exudes positive energy, and Taylor serves it up perfectly. He needs to radiate good vibes to counteract his girlfriend Galina’s negative ones.

When we first meet Galina, she is a stone, cold shrew, but we fall in love anyway, for a few good reasons. Mostly we love her because Sergei loves her. We start seeing her through his eyes. Sergei sees underneath her brittle outer layer and uncovers a vulnerable girl hiding inside. Galina is a matryoshka doll, a beautiful, loving girl nesting inside the bigger, brasher exterior.  She is brilliantly portrayed by Abramson.

Mallory spins us in the opposite direction. She starts out as flat-out adorable in a meet-cute scene straight from any top ten rom-com, but she is wracked with guilt, shame and anger. Griffith deftly portrays every heartache with aplomb.

Binstock channels the essence of Agassi, Nastase and McEnroe; vain and petulant bad boys of tennis, who are undeniably gifted athletes.

Scenic designer Narelle Sissons opts for a simple set, elegantly enhanced by Ann G. Wrightson’s lighting design. Special shout out to costume designer Susan Tsu who wrapped Abramson in a curvaceous floral print that also softened her character, and cranked up her sex appeal to eleven.

The play is more about desire than tennis, though the game factors in to the story, and a healthy knowledge of the terms helps, but a casual observer with no knowledge of the game will catch on quickly. “The Last Match” is a winner.

“The Last Match” runs till May 15 at the City Theatre, 1300 Bingham Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15203. For more information, click here.

– MB

by Mike “Buzz” Buzzelli, ‘Burgh Vivant

Quantum Theater caps off their 2015-2016 season with Henrik Ibsen’s poignant allegory about success and creativity with “The Master Builder.”

An acrophobic architect, Halvard Solness (John Shepard) terrorizes his staff, the father and son duo, Knut (John Reilly) and Ragnar (Thomas Constantine Moore) Brovik, flirts with Ragnar’s fiancé, Kaja Fosli (Kelly Trumbull) and taunts his cold but dutiful wife, Aline Solness (Catherine Moore).  Everything is upturned when the young, vivacious Hilda Wangel (Hayley Nielsen) wanders into town.

When Hilda enters the scene, suddenly everything changes. She is the inciting incident, a catalyst of crazy. The girl remembers a moment that may or may not have happened a decade ago, and clings to it with ferocity. Ten years ago, the Master Builder came to her tiny hamlet and constructed a church with a towering steeple. Once the church was complete he scaled the ladder and placed a wreath at the top of the church. Then, at a celebratory dinner he may or may not have kissed the then fourteen-year-old Hilda and promised to build her a castle in the sky. Hilda took his fanciful speech in the heat of the passionate embrace for a fact and sought the attention of the married man. She comes to his home seeking fulfilment on his pledge.

Ibsen’s play posits “do we pay a price for success?” Answer: Yes. And the cost is high (that’s also a pun). Ibsen’s play is steeped in symbolism. There is a philosophical/spiritual belief made popular in Rhonda Byrne’s book, “The Secret” about the Law of Attraction, or, more commonly known as the power of prayer. Ibsen loops around it. You’re never sure if he is espousing it or scoffing it. There’s also a whole ‘circle of life’ thing going on, wherein the architect built his empire on the back of his predecessor and now fears his apprentice, the aforementioned Brovik clan. He is afraid of being usurped by the younger man, even though he usurped the man’s father years ago.

The acting in the play is exquisite. Shepard chews through the minimalistic, modern scenery. He seethes with rage like a warrior-despot over a kingdom of blueprints. Nielsen matches him in intensity. Her character is quick-tempered, tempestuous and singularly determined. Hilda is a strange child-woman believing in the kindness of an almost stranger. It’s a triumphant performance for Nielsen, especially considering she is playing opposite to Shepard’s powerful, enigmatic architect.

Catherine Moore’s Aline moves with a clipped precision. Her anguish is buried deep in her sense of duty to her husband. Though she seems cold and unfeeling on the surface, the pain and anger reside closer than you think. It’s conveyed brilliantly by Moore.

Philip Winters plays the congenial Dr. Herdal. The character is brought on mostly for exposition (he is Solness’s sounding board), but Winters plays the jovial doctor with panache.

While Ragnar, Kaja and Knut are peripheral characters, Thomas Constantine Moore, Kelly Trumbull and John Reilly hand in terrific performances, but the evening belongs to Shepard, Nielsen and Catherine Moore. And it’s excellently directed by Martin Giles. Giles is the master builder here carefully composing the pacing of each intricate scene. One word of caution. The play has three acts with two intermissions.

Like all Quantum shows, location is also a character. The play is performed on the ninth floor of Nova Place, the former Allegheny Center. The story plays out in front of a panoramic view of downtown Pittsburgh with a post-modern furnishings provided by Pittsburgh’s own Master Builder, scenic designer Tony Ferrieri accented by turn-of-the-century clothes from costume designer Richard Parsakian.

Quantum’s theme of the year was about relationship and cooperation. They opened on a high note (literally and figuratively) with the lush, spectacle of “A Winter’s Tale.” It was a delightfully whimsical collaboration with Chatham Baroque and Attack Theatre. They are finishing the season strong with a collaboration with the Heinz Architectural Center of the Carnegie Museum of Art. “The Master Builder” is a masterfully constructed play.

The Master Builder runs April 8 to May 1 at Nova Place (formerly Allegheny Center) 100 S. Commons, Pittsburgh, PA 15212. For more information, click here.

– MB

by Mike “Buzz” Buzzelli, ‘Burgh Vivant.

The Pittsburgh Public Theater uses the stage to wrangle with important issues facing America in Ayad Akhtar’s “Disgraced.”

A Muslim lawyer, Amir (Fajer Kaisi), and his Caucasian wife, Emily (Lisa Velten Smith), struggle with their identities when issues of race, religion and politics start popping up like dandelions in an untended garden.

As an artist, Emily has embraced the rich cultural heritage of Islamic art. Amir, however, has obfuscated his religion and his ethnicity to further his ambitions in a largely, Jewish law firm. Technically, he doesn’t lie; the region of Pakistan his father hails from was part of India when his dad was born.

Amir’s nephew, Abe (Justin Ahdoot), has embraced the faith. Emily convinces Amir to counsel Abe’s imam who is in a legal entanglement. The religious leader has been imprisoned for allegedly funding a terrorist group. He agrees to meet with the legal team representing the imam, even though he is a corporate lawyer with a specialty in mergers and acquisitions. Amir’s name is mentioned in a story about the case in the New York Times causing the firm to divest itself of a volatile asset, our downtrodden protagonist.

Things get even more complicated when Amir and Emily invite Isaac (Ryan McCarthy) and Jory (Nafeesa Monroe) into their home. Coincidentally, Isaac is an art dealer who can help Emily, and Jory is an up-and-coming lawyer under the same shingle as Amir. It also so happens that Isaac is Jewish and Jory is African American.

The article in the Times is a stick of dynamite at the dinner party. A few terse words and the fuse ignites.

Akhtar’s play takes on some prickly issues, such as Islamophobia, American greed, faith, and politics, but discusses them ad nauseam. Ironically, the characters fall into stereotypes. The black woman is always late for work, Abe begins wearing a kufi, and Amir has sublimated rage that bursts forth from his Sudanese Barakat cotton shirt.

Anne Mundell has designed the sets for similarly themed rooms at the Public such as “Art” and “God of Carnage,” and her “Disgraced” set is equally dazzling. It is an opulent New York apartment on the Upper West Side filled with artful flourishes. There is art on the wall that is discussed in the play, and the piece Mundell chose perfectly encapsulates every word in the dialogue.

The play won 2013 Pulitizer Prize for Drama and it dives deep into some forbidden topics, though, Akhtar’s script is equally compelling and frustrating. There’s a handy reference guide to Islamic people and places that are mentioned in the script, but the play has dozens of references to art, culture, religion and politics. Just when you think it’s too hard to keep up with the glossary, a “South Park” reference gets tossed in for the groundlings.

The actors are technically efficient, but “Disgraced” lacks a little grace. It seemed a little flat with the exception of some fine performances by McCarthy and Monroe.

Monroe gets some of the best lines, and executes them flawlessly. Though, she accomplished a lot of nuance with body language and small gestures when she wasn’t doling out bon mots. It’s a joy to watch her strutting across the stage.

The ending of the play is like the unseen pork dish at the aforementioned dinner party, undercooked. After an intense act of marital violence is perpetrated, the denouement seemed unsettled. But like any piece of fine art, “Disgraced” will spark some terrific conversations. Not all of those conversations will be comfortable, but they will all be important.

In this particular election cycle, “Disgraced” seems to be more relevant than ever.

(“Disgraced” runs from March 10 to April 10 at the O’Reilly Theater, 621 Penn Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15222. For more information, click here)

– MB