Review Southwest Shakespeare :The Merchant of Venice

Last Saturday at the The Mesa Arts Center in the Nesbitt/Elliott Playhouse, I saw a timeless Shakespeare play: The Merchant of Venice. From the Green Show beforehand, "The Merchant Named Dennis" and the Directors Orientation, I had very high expectations.

The theatre itself was very professional, but I would expect nothing else from The Mesa Arts Center.

The music in the theatre while we were seated was modern pop songs done in 1920's flapper style, it was perfect for setting the stage for the out-of-time story we were about to experience.

I was unfamiliar with this play and no one could give me a straight answer as to whether it was a comedy, drama, or anti-semitic or really place it in any clean genre. Now I know why.

It's a dramatic story baked inside of a rather hilarious comedy.

The director, Kent Burnham, set story in the 1929, in New York and the Hamptons. The stage curtains were left open and characters were left on stage. Any time they changed their outer clothes they took them from the set, eventually leaving the mannequins, that adorned the stage naked and bare. The practice was effective in making it feel less and more intimate at the same time. .
The language of money, as the director pointed out in his orientation, was very apparent throughout the show. Worth, sum, business, gross, full debt, merchant - all words over used in this piece. Everything seems to come back to money in this play.

The story is pretty straight forward and you think it will resolve itself in a Much Ado about Nothing type of way. However, the seemingly unimportant B plot takes the center stage in the pivotal courtroom scene, and the tragic aspect of the play comes out full force.

The whole cast was amazing, very entertaining and engaging. I have nothing bad to say about them.

David Dickerson played multiple roles. He was funny and entertaining as each individual character.
Alison Campell, who played Portia, was great. She was likable with a movie star quality in her flapper wig and costume.
Keath David Hall who played Gratiano and Megan Lindsay who played Nerissa were the quirky sidekicks that really stood out.
But, honestly, the entire cast had such a grasp of the bard's language that I was left nearly forgetting that poetic Shakespearean vernacular wasn't how people talked all time.

I repeat, the acting was incredibly good.

The costumes were spot on, with everyone looking very 1920's fabulous.

I don't think the use of aisles and balconies was necessary, but it did give some dimension to the play. (Working at a theatre in the round, I understand the use of the entire theatre is enticing.)

Over all, Southwest Shakespeare did an incredible job with this show. Part of me loves it because it's so funny and ridiculous and the other part of me hates it for the tragic lack of mercy or understanding the characters show. All characters are flawed. You feel a cruel empathy rather than sympathy for a mans death.

Shylocks is awful but so is everyone else he deals with. They mock him and he hates them. It makes me sad because as much as we brag about how far we've come from Shakespeare's time of prejudice - and we brag about it...a lot, we still miss the point!
If we could just take a lesson from this unorthodox story: Shylock refused to show mercy and was therefore shown no mercy when the table was turned on him.

If he had simply taken the money and been satisfied, there would be no tragic ending to this story. But the blame doesn't end there. Antonio didn't take his opportunity to show mercy either, neither did his friends, the judge, the lawyers, (really Portia and Nerissa in disguise) none of them. If even one person had shown mercy to another, then this would be a happy romantic comedy and not the ambiguous genre-less story it is. But, bottom line, when people refuse to show love and/or mercy, the result is always tragic.

The character Jessica closes the show with a morose song while behind her, her now estranged and penniless father makes a tragedy out of the play you've just been laughing at for 2 hours. Not gonna lie it leaves you with an odd feeling.

Anyway, my philosophical rant aside, Southwest Shakespeare has some unbelievable talent! I can see now why everyone raves about them.
If you're looking for incredibly well done Shakespeare, I highly recommend you catch one of their shows this season.
And be sure to come early and see the Green Show. Trust me, you'll love it! Although I may never get the song It's Hard to be the Bard out of my head... Oh well.

Tell me what you think of my review.
What's your favorite Shakespeare play?

Review of Actor's Youth Theatre: Dracula

 I saw a play at AYT, partially to support a friend and partially to see a play not where I work, but also to check out this Actor's Youth Theatre I've heard so much about.

I don't know about you but when I hear the words "Youth Theatre" I picture kids dressed as trees and dancing vegetables, or teenagers awkwardly reciting Romeo  and Juliet with sweaty palms. But this afternoon I saw Actor's Youth Theatre Company perform Dracula, and it was far from a typical school production. The company of actors is an odd mixture of youthful inexperience and "Wow, why is that kid not famous already?"

The production was staged at the Tuscany Theatre in Gilbert; a quaint little spot that AYT calls home. Together they've made it their mission to encourage youth to fall in love with the arts. They make that very clear. From the second you walk in the theatre, the casual feel and ridiculously friendly staff make you feel a little like being an 8 year old on a field trip. Everyone's super nice to you, beaming about how they hope you'll have a good time and possibly learn something (or more accurately, fall in love with learning.) The theatre has a nice, sweet homey feel.

The nicety ended there as the dark and creepy tale of Dracula began. Orderlies in an insane asylum start the show off by describing how a patient went crazy and started killing people. It sets the dark creepy tone of the rest of the play. 

The story itself is pretty intense but has been adapted to pretty much every medium (you've seen this episode in pretty much every fantasy series.) Good versus evil and an internal battle of: Do I love the good guy? or have I fallen for the evil guy? 

The character of Mina Murray, a shy book lover played by Sarah Scroggins has the unfortunate honor of being the object of the vampire master Dracula's latest obsession. After her betrothed, Jonathan, (Troy Jensen) is brought to Transylvania on business and enslaved. Jonathan inadvertently gets his host, Count Dracula, (Noah Delgado) entranced with his fiancee, after seeing Mina's picture and hearing the loving way Jonathan talks about her, Dracula 'feeds' Jonathan to his legion of brides and goes after the heart of sweet Mina. Transforming himself into the dashing Vlad Dracul, played by Kale Burr, he uses his charm and the information Jonathan supplied him, as well as his vampire powers, to win her over.

 *Side note not gonna lie the line "Your face brightens, my once dark dreams." Crazy poetic! and delivered flawlessly by Kale Burr, almost made you forget he was a murdering demon bent on enslaving her soul. Almost.

Anyway, Mina's best friend Lucy (AJ Marshall) is murdered by the Beast version of Dracula (Carter Palumbo) and turned into a vampire who must be killed by a group of people, including Dr. Van Helsing (Ben Wright), and the two men who loved her when she was alive, Quincy (Cole McAffee) and Arthur (Josh Robinaugh). It was a great scene - all dramatic and hauntingly depressing. Good stuff.

 Johnathan, kept alive by will power and his love for Mina, escapes the brides and returns home to confirm that Dracula was, in fact, behind everything, just as Dr. Van Helsing had warned. His group of hunters,Quincy, Arthur, and a female Dr. Stewart and her orderly, decide to kill Dracula once and for all.

In a climatic scene Vlad declares his possessive obsessions of the girl he and Jonathan both love. He bites Mina in order to enslave her as his bride. 

The war is on and Dracula is eventually killed. The war is won, with one tragic casualty. But as he dies, Dracula insists "You can't kill evil." Leaving Mina forever scarred.

 The play ended after Mina and Jonathan's wedding with Vlad Dracul bathed in red light, and Mina's voice repeating the Counts final phrase.

Creepy right? But I was actually very entertained. the Director and writer Zack Diepstratenr did an inspired job. The scene changes were a bit long but smooth. Everyone knew their marks. The ensemble cast were all clever for such young actors. A lot of them relied on the mics a little too much, but hey, some adult actors do that. The narrations at the end were a little odd because the story didn't start that way. It did start with a letter being written and read but they weren't voiced over. BTW having them onstage as the letter was read aloud with a nice lighting effect using warm and cold lighting to show who was the focus, was kinda brilliant, but not a voice over like at the end.

The lighting design by Josh Lindblom was very good, using strobes at inspired time to dull movement, hide vampire entrances, and make their disappearances, seem magical, plus the red glow every time Dracula used his mind control powers. Very effective for such a small theatre. Fog was used to signify the characters had left their home in London and were in creepy Transylvania. I do wish it was a little clearer where they were, at times, it wasn't clear at the top of the scene who's house they were in. Though to be fair it's in the play bill. But, all in all set designer Mike Smyth did a nice job with a very drab color-scheme (necessary for the classic horror feel.)

What I Didn't Love.

My critiques are pretty minimal.

Some of the smaller roles were a bit stale and robotic but well Youth Theatre. What do you expect?

Miners cussing...okay this is a pet peeve of mine. But, really, I don't like cussing at all and if it were up to me it'd be taken out of adult and youth theatre alike. So it might not bother others and there is that whole - stay true to the writers intentions thing but, I personally can ALWAYS do without it, especially in a youth production.

The volume shifts. Going from kids saying their lines so low it's hard to hear to kids screaming, rather committedly, was a little off putting.

The music before curtain. It wasn't very...Dracula. Didn't set the mood for a scary vampire show set in the 1890's. Unlike the cool lighting and castle set...the mixture was kinda counterproductive.

Count Dracula's fingers. I know what they were going for with the fake Halloween witch fingers, I get it, they made the Count's costume in a way that signify that he was half, between Vald and the Beast but, the fingers just ended up being distracting. The rest of the costume, including the make up, was super good and very effective. 

What I Did Love.

The principle actors were great! 

Count Dracula was perfect at his role as the older more creature-like vampire. Totally creeped me out.

Mina was great at her part. Not over the top on anything, just subtle acting to portray the change the character goes through.

Vald Dracul was spot on showing a stiff, guarded, portrait of a clever demon without ever being...well stiff, it was totally believable. 

Dr. Van Helsing while at times was hard to understand, his facial expressions and comedic timing lightened the intense story with humor whilst moving the play forward.  

Lucy - outgoing, flirtatious, not afraid to commit, very likable. The chemistry with the two girls was believable, and fun. I would have liked to have seen more of her character. 

Jonathan - great voice and even though he had some staging issues, he portrayed the character well. 

The hunters. Dr Stewart, Quincy, and Arthur and the Orderly played off each other well, they were a cute little band of heroes.

The story moved. The dialogue moved everything forward and the lighting effects and acting made things continuous. The pace was impressive for such a seemingly slow feel, like an old horror movie. 

Costumes.  I liked a lot. A mixture of make shift out fits and classic looking attire. Only a few malfunctions but nothing grave. 

Overall I'd give it a super high score for a youth production and even as a full adult production it would still be relatively up there.

 Based on my experience I would recommend going to an AYT production. They seem to know what they're doing, and they clearly know how to treat and work with youth actors. 

If you are a parent looking to place your child in an acting or theatre group I'd say based off  of this production you're safe with Actor's Youth Theatre.