none too fragile has new home—high quality of productions still the same!

None Too Fragile Theatre has a new home!  But fear not! If their production of “Woody’s Order!” is any indication, the high quality of the theatre company’s shows will not suffer.

None Too Fragile, in its short existence, has received many Cleveland Critics Circle and Broadwayworld.com recognitions for excellence in acting, directing and productions.  It has achieved this while appearing in an assortment of settings, including the back room of a restaurant.  Finally, the company has a new, and hopefully, permanent home…the former Coach House Theatre at 732 W. Exchange Street in Akron.

While sprucing up the building, which houses a proscenium stage, comfortable theatre-style seating and a big lobby, None Too Fragile’s co-artistic director, Sean Derry, is on the road with “Boogieban” which, last year, was one of the area’s most awarded shows with David Peacock and Travis Teffner, being chosen as co-winners of the Cleveland Critics Circle award as Best Actors in a Non-Musical. 

After a run in Chicago, which received rave reviews from Windy City critics, the NTF troupe will travel to the New York where they will attempt to prove that it is “The” place to produce new contemporary plays. 

In the meantime, Alanna Romansky, the company’s co-founder and co-artistic director, with the help of a determined group of theatre supporters, opened the new performance space with “Woody’s Order!,” a solo show written and performed by Ann Talman.  

Talman appeared on Broadway in “The Little Foxes” with Elizabeth Taylor, as well as in “The House of Blue Leaves” “Some Americans Abroad” and “The Women.”

An often emotionally tale of the decision that must be made by Ann, a professional actress/comedian who is torn between her Broadway career and being the sole caretaker for her nonverbal, cerebral palsied brother and Alzheimer-afflicted father.

At one point, she’s dividing her time between Los Angeles, New York, her brother’s nursing home in Allentown and her father’s nursing home in Pittsburgh

This is a tale of high drama with strong underlying comedy segments.

The play, which has also been made into a documentary, is finely directed by John Shepard who “makes this a deeply moving journey of pain, compassion and, ultimately, love.”

For the compassionate, this is not an easy play to watch.  But it is a performance well worth the discomfort.  

Talman is nothing short of amazing in telling her own tale and performing all ten or so characters in the script.  This is a master class in acting.

Capsule judgment:   None Too Fragile starts off its tenure in its new Akron theatrical home with a must see production!

For tickets for “Woody’s Order!” which runs through August 31, call 330-962-5547 or go to nonetoofragile.com

Up next: “These Mortal Hosts,” Cleveland Heights playwright Eric Coble’s tale of what happens when three lonely people band together as their lives and bodies herald events far beyond their comprehension.

Superb performances enhance compelling “Two” at none too fragile

Jim Cartwright, the author of “Two,” which is getting an outstanding production at none-too-fragile theater, is an English dramatist who writes about the lives of the working classes. 

His style of writing is often compared to that of Anton Chekov because of the poetic lyricism of his narration.  He has the ability to dig into angst and also inject humor in the most tragic of situations, whether he is describing starvation, domestic violence, the death of a child, or cancer.

Cartwright examines the themes of the “individual within versus the community; the nature and power of memory; and oneself as one's own worst enemy.”

His style often has a narrator setting the scene, introducing characters, and providing social and political comments, while remaining in character. 

His plays, as evidenced in “Two,” commonly are a series of vignettes interspersed with monologues, which take the form of a stream of consciousness.

“Two,” which is funny as well as heartbreaking, takes place on one night in a pub in northern England.  Two actors play 14 characters who reveal a cross-section of the pub’s town. 

As the scenes unfold the pub’s patrons down liquid refreshment and munch on chips as they tell of their dreams, ambitions, desires, disappointments and frustrations.

We meet the pub’s owners, a bickering husband and wife, and a range of characters whose tales take us on a rollercoaster ride of emotional highs and lows. 

The pub guests vary from a small meek man who is controlled by his wife, a male who does not speak but interacts with the proprietors, to an abusive husband and his terrified wife.

And so it goes until a young boy is left alone by his father and is mothered by the Landlady.  When the father returns, and the boy exits, we quickly realize the trauma that the departure has on the woman.  Raw feelings erupt between the barkeeps and an incident that shattered this couple is revealed.

The play finishes with the lines: Landlord: “I love you.” Landlady: “I love you too.” But, is that their real feelings?  And how long will the truce last?

Derdriu Ring and David Peacock are nothing short of marvelous as the pub keepers and the many characters they portray.  The accents, the levels of emotions, and the completely believable characters that are created, are all meticulously done.  These are award winning portrayals!

As has come to be expected, Sean Derry’s direction is spot on.  The pacing and the keying of laughs and angst, are etched with care and purpose.  


Capsule judgment: “Two” proves once again that none-too-fragile is the consistently best off-off Broadway theaters in the Greater Cleveland area.  The quality of play choices, the prime acting and the spot-on directing, makes going to this venue a theatrical wonder.  

For tickets for “Two” which runs through March 31, 2018, call 330-671-4563 or go to nonetoofragile.com

Up next: “Woody’s Order” is a solo show written and performed by Ann Talman.  It tells the tale of the decision that must be made by Ann, an actress/comedian, who is torn between her Broadway career and being her nonverbal, cerebral palsied brother’s caregiver.  Presented from August 16-31.

Special event:  N-T-F’S “Boogieban” last year was one of the area’s most awarded shows. The production received recognition from both the Cleveland Critics Circle and Broadway World.  David Peacock and Travis Teffner were co-winners of the Cleveland Critics Circle award as Best Actors in a Non-Musical.  N-T-F will be presenting the show in both Chicago and New York later this year.  Before it leaves the local area it will be staged again at none-too-fragile on August 2 and 3, 2019.  Tickets will go fast.  Call immediately to reserve your seats. 

BOOGIEBAN, compelling, emotionally gripping at none-too-fragile

According to the National Vietnam Veterans Readjustment Study, “roughly 11 percent of veterans who served in Vietnam, approximately 271,000 veterans of the war, continue to suffer from clinically PTSD symptoms.” 

PTSD is defined as “a condition of persistent mental and emotional stress occurring as a result of injury or severe psychological shock, typically involving disturbance of sleep and constant vivid recall of the experience, with dulled responses to others and to the outside world.”  Common signifiers of PTSD are flashbacks, nightmares and severe anxiety, as well as uncontrollable thoughts about an event or series of events.

D. C. Fidler, the author of “Boogieban,” is a psychiatrist.  He has had years of experience working with those who suffer from PTSD, says of his play, “We have always known how to send our young to war, known to welcome them back with parades, garlands, and trumpets. We have never known how to bring home their hearts and souls.”

He further states, “The story has strong elements about war … but is not a play of war. It is a play of the journey that two men from two different military generations take together, a journey they take to that mystic place where hearts alter. I hope audiences find that mystic change as they too share in this journey.”

The tale centers on two people, Lawrence Caplan, a Vietnam War veteran now working as a military psychiatrist. Before retiring, Caplan must assess one last soldier, Spc. Jason Wynsky, who, during his first session with Caplan insists that he is "good to go" back to his unit in Afghanistan.  Caplan soon discovers, that Jason, in spite of his glib and often insightful comments, is tortured by nightmares, flashbacks, and a “secret.”

The young soldier's stories have an unexpected effect, lifting Caplan's personal “amnesia” for his experiences in Vietnam, rekindling the trauma of the loss of his son, and spotlighting his conflicted marriage.

Together, the two launch on separate, yet parallel journeys that will change them forever.  And, maybe, even change many of the members of the audience.

The script is well written and filled with realistic and poetic speeches including such thought provokers as “The brain cannot handle truth” and “You are the author of your nightmares.” 

None-too-fragile’s production is spell-binding.  Besides the verbalizing of lines, the sounds of war, and appropriate musical segues between scenes, the only sound in the theatre during the close to 2-hour play without intermission, was the audible sobbing of many audience members.

Director Sean Derry finely hones every emotional level of the script.  The production’s meticulous pacing does not allow attention to wane.  The action is highlighted by pauses for effect and emphasis for importance.  The sound effects underline lines and emphasize the cacophony of emotions.  The well-selected between-scenes music clearly bridges the ideas of one segment into the next.  The ideas are reinforced by effective lighting.

The acting is outstanding.

Travis Teffner gives what must be one of the best local performances of the year as Jason.  His ability to play comedy and high drama for perfect effect is breathtaking.  The emotional roller coaster he goes through must be like having a nervous breakdown every performance. This is one very, very talented young actor!

Teffner is perfectly balanced by David Peacock as Lt. Col. Lawrence Caplan.  He puts on the character in the first scene and never takes the persona off.  Peacock becomes Caplan.  Caplan is Peacock!

Capsule judgment:  With its must see production of “Boogieban,” none too fragile again proves that it is one of the area’s finest theaters.  This gem of a production house expands to the national scene when this staging moves to Chicago and then to New York with the same cast and production values!    

For tickets for “Boogieban,” which runs through December 8, 2018, call 330-671-4563 or go to nonetoofragile.com

Captivating, topical must see “Freak Storm” at none too fragile

Little did none too fragile’s Artistic Director, Sean Derry know that the day Matt Pelfrey’s play “Freak Storm” opened at his theatre, would be the date of the Senate’s hearings for possible confirmation of a Supreme Court judge. 

The parallel of the stories is almost as eerie as the storm that rages outside the home of soon-to-be-married Adam and Lynn.  The results are as befuddling and filled with future consequences.

The script’s author, Matt Pelfrey is noted for writing horror and thriller scripts for stage and screen.  His plays have been produced around the country and overseas to critical acclaim and include “Cockroach Nation,” “Terminus Americana,” “An Impending Rupture of the Belly,” and the stage adaptation of “In the Heat of the Night.”

At the start of “Freak Storm” we are exposed to Gil (Benjamin Gregorio) and Ian (Brian Kenneth Armour) driving to Los Angeles.  Their harried conversation reveals that something terrifying has happened with the potential to affect the upcoming wedding of Adam (James Rankin) and Lynn (Kelly Strand). Gil and Ian are Adam’s life-long friends.  Why is the duo so angst-filled?

The next scene reveals Adam and Lynn in the troughs of pre-marital love making.  Their phone keeps ringing.  When they answer, they can hear breathing, but no spoken message.  As the lights flicker and go out, Adam looks out the window and sees a figure of a woman, dressed in rags.  Who is this mystery woman?  Why is she outside their home?

As the dramatic morality play plays out, Gil and Adam have a tale to tell about the past.  Someone or something from that past is coming for them all!   Their relationship will never be the same.

Like the present Supreme Court judge candidate testimony, “Freak Storm” examines the scary, scruffy stuff of the macho world of some men and how their actions affect others.

To reveal more would ruin the emotional experience for anyone planning on seeing this play.

Director Sean Derry knows how to build tension.  Marcus Dana adds angst with the lighting. 

Sitting up close, as is the situation in none too fragile’s theatre in which no one is more than 15 feet from the stage, forces the audience to experience all the tension.  It makes the dramatic experience totally encapsulating.

The cast is excellent.  Each character helps build the tale.  James Rankin is at his dramatic best.  His self-revealing long monologue is riveting.

Brian Kenneth Armour is chauvinistic on target, using phases like “bitch hole” and other sexist comments, and swearing as if it is a natural part of speech, with upsetting ease. 

Benjamin Gregorio stammers and displays realistic fear while developing a character with little obvious backbone. 

The concepts of “everyone has something to hide,” “good people do bad things” and “we are a generation sliding toward adulthood” so parallel the present Supreme Court confirmation hearings that it is spooky.

Capsule judgment: “Freak Storm” is a well-written, topical play that gets an outstanding absolute must-see production. Wow!  If all theater productions could be of this level, the world of theater-goers and reviewers would be one of wonder.  

For tickets for “Freak Storm” which runs through October 13, 2018, call 330-671-4563 or go to nonetoofragile.com

None too fragile’s season closes with “Boogieban,” DC Fidler’s tale about Lawrence Caplan, a Vietnam War veteran who became a military psychiatrist. Caplan is asked to assess one last soldier. His patient insists that he is "good to go" back to his unit in Afghanistan. Caplan soon discovers, however, the soldier is tortured by nightmares and flashbacks. Unexpectedly, the soldier's story unveils Lieutenant Colonel Caplan's amnesia for Vietnam. Together, the two men launch on parallel journeys that will change them forever.  (November 16-December 1, 2018) 

Surreal “Bloomsday” gets impressive production at none-too-fragile

What does Steven Dietz, the author of “Bloomsday,” which is now on stage at none-too-fragile, have in common with Tennessee Williams and Edward Albee?  Yes, they are all American playwrights, but, believe it or not, they are all tied for number eight on the list of the Top Ten Most Produced Playwrights in America. 

Dietz, in contrast to the other two, who are each generally considered as one of the greatest modern American writers (the others are Arthur Miller, Willian Inge and Eugene O’Neil), has had the majority of his plays produced in regional theatres and has little general population name recognition.  None of his works has been staged on Broadway, but his scripts appear regularly in community theatre and non-professional venues.

What makes his 34 political and comedic plays so popular?  Dietz has the ability to examine personal betrayal and deception in a perceptive way that grabs and holds an audience’s attention.  He is also noted as a “trickster plotter.”  This writing device is at the very center of “Bloomsday.”

The story, which takes place in Dublin, is a tale of the past and now.  Literally, it takes place in the past and the present, at the same time, basically a kind-of surreal time-travel experience.

We first meet Caithleen, a young twenty-something Irish lass while she is leading a group tour of James Joyce’s Dublin, pointing out the major sites described in “Ulysses,” the classic which Robert, one of the tour’s participants, refers to as “an under-read and overpraised piece of drivel.” 

In the play, Robert warns Caithleen not to pay much heed to Robbie, a young American who will soon be on her tour.  He relates what is going to happen between the duo. At first this is confusing, until we realize that the older Robert is the younger Robbie and the youthful Caithleen is Cait, who Robert also talks about.

The tale, with humor and drama, “embodies how one can, with age, make peace with lost opportunity — yet still feel pangs of regret.”

The title, “Bloomsday,” refers to June 16, on which the life of Irish writer, James Joyce, is universally celebrated.  It was selected as it is the time of the writer’s first outing with Nora Barnacle, his wife-to be, and is named after the novel’s protagonist, Leopold Bloom.”

“Bloomsday,” is the kind of script that none-too-fragile does so well.  The play, which has a challenging format, requires fine acting and directing to avoid being a confusing, abstract evening of theatre.

As is usually the case, n-t-f’s performance is masterful.  Under Katia Schwarz’s well thought-out direction, and the well-textured performances of Derdriu Ring (Cait), Tom Woodward (Robert), Brooke Turner (Caithleen) and Nicholas Chokan (Robbie) are compelling.

Capsule judgment: “Bloomsday” is a provocative script which gets a fine production.  It continues none-too-fragile’s reputation of being one of the best local theaters.  This is a staging well worth seeing!

For tickets for “Bloomsday,” which runs through September 1, 2018, call 330-671-4563 or go to nonetoofragile.com

Up next: Matt Pelfrey’s “Freakstorm” 
(November 16-December 1, 2018)
“On a rainy night in Los Angeles, a young couple get an abrupt visit from two old friends.  They're not stopping by for pleasure, but to warn them that someone, or something, from their past that is coming for them all...”
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Acting soars in “Late Henry Moss” at none too fragile

Sam Shepard, the author of “The Late Henry Moss,” which is now in production at none too fragile, once wrote, “I believe in my mask-- The man I made up is me.  I believe in my dance--And my destiny.”

His “mask,” consisted of a bleak writing style which had many surrealistic elements, including using black humor to portray rootless characters living on the edge of American society. 

Shepard often showed what psychologists would classify as “daddy issues.”  His father, a military man, who moved the family on a regular basis, was an alcoholic noted for abuse and creating a dysfunctional atmosphere in the Shepard home.

His poetic use of language and the creation of characters rather than plot-centered stories, made him an icon with performers who found lots of “meat” on the bones of those who populated his writings.  

The Shepard writing elements are clearly on display in the depressing “The Late Henry Moss,” including creating people who are not likable and for whom we have little reason to feel empathy.  These are generally low-lifes, who seem to ask for all the pain and suffering that is heaped upon them.

Yes, vintage Sam Shepard!

The basic story centers on the Moss brothers, Ray (Sean Derry) and Earl (Bryant Carroll) who, through a series of present and flashback scenes, confront their own interpersonal relationship and that with their father, their sibling rivalries, and distorted remembrances as they delve into their father’s recent death.

They try to construct the tale of their father’s fishing expedition with a local town prostitute, Conchalla (Diana Frankhauser), a taxi driver (Brian Kenneth Armour) who took them on the expedition, the father’s relationship with Esteban, a trailer park neighbor, and his demise.

The brothers, who haven’t seen each other in seven years, verbally and physically spar in a fight-cage atmosphere, hitting raw nerves by exposing confusion and contradictions. 

None too fragile’s production, under the adept direction of the theatre’s co-Artistic Director, Sean Derry, though overly long, is fast-paced and enveloping.  The verbal and physical punches generally ring true as the angst-level grows. 

With his high quality consistent directing of script after script, it’s easy to forget the high quality of Sean Derry’s acting.  There is no chance of overlooking it in this production.  His soliloquy about their mother is emotionally wrenching.  Near the end of the play he shows masterfully how even silence can evoke strong meaning.

Derry is matched by a finely textured performance by Bryant Carroll.  The duo mesmerizes as they verbally thrust, parry and finally, physically attack!

Nice performances are also put in by Robert Hawkes (Henry Moss) and Brian Kenneth Armour.

Capsule judgment:  As in almost all Sam Shepard blunt, hard hitting plays, the questions of what’s true, what’s fiction, what is family history and what is mythology pervade this tale of dysfunctional relationships in this character-driven tale.  The acting is generally superb, the pace intense, and the over-all effect is unnerving.  If you like good acting and can endure Shepard’s cage-boxing style of writing, this is a production you won’t want to miss.

For tickets for “The Late Henry Moss” which runs through March 31, 2018, call 330-671-4563 or go to nonetoofragile.com

Up next:  Bruce Graham’s “White Guy on The Bus” (May 11-26th)), a story of race, and the dynamic between low-income blacks and economically comfortable whites.

“Boy” -- truth is stranger than fiction at none too fragile

Truth can often be stranger and more compelling than fiction.  Such is the case of David (Bruce) Reimer and his identical twin brother, Brian, of Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.

In 1966 the boys were analyzed with a minor medical problem involving their urination.  A urologist decided that the best way to fix the issue of the eight-month boys would be circumcision.  He worked on David first.  The doctor botched the operation, accidentally cutting off virtually all of the boy’s penis.

Dr. John Money of Johns’ Hopkins University, a psychologist, sexologist and one of the world’s most recognized authors on sexual identity and biology of gender “believed a person’s gender identity was determined by an interaction between biological factors and upbringing.  That represented a break from past thinking, in which gender identity was largely believed to be caused only by biological factors.”

Money proposed to the Reimer family that they “bring David up a girl as, at that time, constructing a penis was almost impossible, but surgically, and with the aid of hormones and psychological treatment, Bruce as ‘Brenda,’ would live a “normal” life.”  It was planned that “Brenda” would never be told he had been biologically been born a male.

Money would work with the family, cover financial costs, and would be given rights to publish his findings. 

Bruce underwent an operation to surgically remove his testicles, and it was planned that later the “girl” would go through a procedure to create an artificial vagina. 

Money wrote a number of professional papers on how well the process was going.  However, “David’s case came to international attention in 1997 when an academic sexologist started to probe into what appeared to be some questionable conclusions.  Later research by others in the field brought even more questions about the “validity” of Money’s claims.  

In addition, reports of questionable ethical practices including Money’s encouraging “sexual rehearsal play” between Brenda and Brian emerged. 

The “John/Joan case,” as the situation would eventually be known, questioning sex reassignment and surgical reconstruction and Money’s methods and reported results, emerged.  It was determined that “Money was lying. He knew Brenda was never happy as a girl.”  

Academic sexologist, Milton Diamond, later reported that Bruce/Brenda's realization he was not a girl crystallized between the ages of 9 and 11, and he transitioned to living as a male at age 15.

On July 1, 2002, Brian was found dead from an overdose of antidepressants.  On May 4, 2004, David committed suicide by shooting himself.  “The boy’s parents stated that Money’s methodology was responsible for the deaths of both of their sons.”

Sounds like a tale which would make for a compelling play?  A production of “Boy” by Anna Ziegler, a fictionalized version of the tale, with names and some of the details altered, is now in production at none too fragile.

Ziegler’s play stays close to the surface.  The motivations of “Dr. Wendell Barnes” [paralleling Dr. John Money] are not well developed and give an impression that the man may have been a pedophile, which is not reality.  In addition, the parents seem to be so easily led by Barnes that they are almost unreal.  In spite of this the story holds interest.

Director Sean Derry has selected an excellent cast and keeps the action moving quickly along. 

Young David Lenahan (Adam/Samantha) masterfully develops the dual role…switching nicely between the male and female enactments, as well as the age progression.  It’s worth seeing the play just to see the emergence of this fine young actor.

Natalie Green is believable as Jenny, who eventually turns out to be adult- Adam’s girlfriend.  Marc Moritz nicely textures Dr. Barnes within the parameters of the author’s writing.  Pamela Harwood and Andrew Narten, again restricted by the script, do a good job of portraying the parents.

Capsule judgment:  The script is not as gripping as it might be.  In spite of that, the topic and the production are compelling.  For many, unaware of the true “Joan/John case,” the play probably seems like unreal fiction, but, in reality, the story on which Ziegler’s script was based is real…very real!  This is a production well-worth seeing.

Personal disclosure:  While living in Baltimore in the early 1990s I was a counselor at a center whose mission was the evaluation, prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of mental, emotional and behavioral health issues, specifically those dealing with “evaluation and treatment of sexual and gender identity concerns in children, adolescents and adults.” “Research and theory on the nature of human sexuality, love maps, sexual orientations and gender identities,” were a major part of the practice.  Some of the staff had worked with Dr. Money, were his former students, and he served as their mentor.  His influence hung heavy on the center.

For tickets for “Boy,” which runs through February 17, 2018, call 330-671-4563 or go to nonetoofragile.com

Mesmerizing, emotion-laden “Last of the Boys” at none too fragile

It is ironic that the same weekend that Ken Burns and Lynn Novick’s 18-hour PBS documentary series “The Vietnam War” started screening, none too fragile theater brought up the lights on its intimate stage to showcase Steven Dietz’s Vietnam memory play, “Last of the Boys.”

An award-winning playwright, Dietz is one of the nation’s new breed of writers who are noted as being “prolific and versatile” and in search of showcasing modern problems.  With his mastery of language and ability to create complex and dynamic characters and tell stories, he could qualify as the Arthur Miller or William Inge of the twenty-first century.

As for “Last of the Boys,” Dietz says, “though the play reflects on the events of the Vietnam era it is not a historic play.  This is about a world in which the same hard choices keep presenting themselves.” 

Those hard choices include asking:  What are the toxic results of horrific experiences of fighting in a war?  Should we blame others for their urging us to make certain life changes?  Can we forgive the mistaken beliefs of others that have an effect on our lives?  How long do fearsome memories haunt a person?  And, can we hide from our past?

The story centers on Ben, a Vietnam war vet who lives in a California trailer park situated on a toxic wasteland, and his war buddy, Jeeter, a hippy, modern age college professor, who is obsessed with the Rolling Stones and follows them around the world on their concert tours. 

Though the war is forty years in the past, much of the duo’s relationship and identity center on the haunting effects of their battle experiences, especially on Ben, who has nightmares and sees illusions of military men and Robert McNamara, the Secretary of Defense, at the time of the conflict.

Jeeter comes for his annual visit, accompanied by Salyer, his new girlfriend.  The couple goes to Ben’s father’s funeral, which Ben does not attend.  (The reason rolls out as the play develops).  Shortly after the funeral, Lorraine, Salyer’s alcoholic mother, shows up.

What ensues is an examination of identities, angst and revelations, including the 1967 incident outside of Dak To which changed Ben and Jeeter’s lives forever, and why Salyer encases her entire body in a layer of black clothing.

As has become the pattern at none too fragile, the production is compelling.  Director Sean Derry hits all the right vocal and blocking notes in developing the story and highlighting Dietz’s razor sharp language.

Skinny, balding, pinched faced, with hollow vacant eyes, Rob Branch is the requisite image of the PSTD remains of the human once known as Ben.  His tortured-being shines through.

Paul Floriano makes Jeeter a physical and emotional being stuck in the 1960s.  He seeks peace, literally and figuratively, through reliving the flower-child era in his life style and attitudes, unable to move forward.

Rachel Lee Kolis is appropriately angst filled, having been forced to live a life of lies created by her alcoholic, pathetic mother (Anne McEvoy) who, like the others, refuses to face reality.

Nate Homolka effectively develops the role of the phantom soldier, appearing as needed to help fulfill fantasy.

Capsule judgement:  War is hell and, as highlighted in “Last of the Boys,” its aftermath is often worse.  Kudos to Sean Derry and his cast for creating a compelling evening of theater.  This is must see theater for anyone interested in fine acting and a more real than life picture of the outcomes of combative and emotional wars on human beings.

 “Last of the Boys” runs through September 30, 2017 at none too fragile theater, 1835 Merriman Road, Akron.  For tickets call 330-671-4563 or go to nonetoofragile.com

The next none too fragile show is Keith Huff’s “A Steady Rain” from October 27-November 11.

Black comedy, “An Impending Rupture of The Belly,” insights at none-too-fragile

Matt Pelfrey is noted for inventing oddball concepts and writing sardonic dialogue. His “An Impending Rupture of the Belly,” now on stage at none-too-fragile, is Pelfrey at his “creative” black comedy best.

Clay Stilts is paranoid.  He constantly worries.  He obsesses about nuclear terrorism, earthquakes, riots, small pox, and impending fatherhood.  If something might happen, he marks it for fear incitement.

Clay is also blessed with a slacker brother, Ray, an unsuccessful musician, who believes that Clay has copped-out by living in the burbs and has a 9 to 5 job.  This, of course, doesn’t stop Ray from mooching off his brother.

Clay’s insecurities are fanned by his co-worker, Eugene, a Trumpite who proudly proclaims his chauvinistic, alpha-male attitudes including beliefs regarding the necessity of a white macho male dominated society, free of gays, blacks and other minorities. 

After numerous verbal confrontations with his neighbor whose dog likes to poop on Clay’s immaculately manicured front lawn, Clay follows Eugene’s advice, takes matters beyond the verbal and attacks the animal.  Of course he does!  That’s what any “macho” male should do to protect his territory.  What follows is an “actual threat” to Clay and his wife.

The script is a perfect metaphor for today’s explosive political climate.  And, though the audience laughs at Clay’s ridiculousness, it is the not taking the Eugenes of this country seriously, that may well have led to Trump’s election.

Sean Derry has pulled it off once again.  none-too-fragile’s production, as has become the trend at this venue, is of high quality.  The pace is enveloping, the laughs nicely keyed, and the ridiculousness kept under control causing a thinking rather than escapist reaction.

Filled with nervous ticks, stammering, darting eyes and rigid posture, Andrew Narten is paranoid-believable as Clay.  

Benjamin Gregorio steals the show as Clay’s doped-out brother, Ray, who appears in dirty tighty-whities, urinates on stage, and rants, while his crazed wide-eyes signal as out-of-control beacons, “danger here.”

Why the costumer didn’t perch a red Trump cap on Eugene is a surprise.  He is a Trump clone presenting message and attitude, complete alternate facts.

Kelly Strand nicely develops Terri, Clay’s wife, as an angel of strength for putting up with her husband’s rantings.

Much to the audience’s delight, Brian Jackson “feys” his way as Doug, the dog owner who has found Clay’s Achilles heel.

Capsule judgement: “An Impending Rupture of the Belly,” which gets a fine production, should be seen by anyone interested in experiencing outstanding acting coupled with a challenging and thought-provoking script.

ATTENTION:  July 7 and 8 @ 4, none too fragile will stage “Sea’s Night,” a special production of “An Impending Rupture of the Belly.”  The theatre is encouraging patrons, family and caregivers of special needs people, including Rett Syndrome, to attend the special performances.  All profits will benefit the Rett Syndrome Research Trust.  (Call the theatre for details.)

For tickets to “An Impending Rapture of the Belly,” which runs through July 8, 2017 at none too fragile theatre, located at 2835 Merriman Road in Akron, call 330-962-5547 or go to nonetoofragile.com

Next up:  none too fragile takes a summer break in its 2017 season for the months or July and August, returning on September 15 with “Last of the Boys,” Steven Dietz’s examination of identities and memories of the past, especially of the Vietnam War.

Well-written and performed “Salvage” fascinates at none-too-fragile

As the lights come up on George Brant’s “Salvage,” being performed on none-too-fragile’s tiny thrust stage, two women frantically search through a huge pile of boxes.  Boxes which contain the remnants of the life of Danny Aspern, their son and brother, who recently died in a car-bike accident and was buried earlier in the day. 

A storm is coming, with promises of mass flooding.  Assuming that their basement will be inundated by water, the question is what of hoarder Danny’s “treasures” should they save?  There are 40 years of stuff as the man/boy never moved out of his mother’s house and used the basement as his play and storage room. 

As the duo decides that they will save only a small number of Danny’s favorite music albums, Amanda Graham (Derdriu Ring) enters.  Amanda, Danny’s high school sweetheart, left him supposedly to go to college.  Her leaving left a void in the seemingly emotionally weak Danny, that was never filled.  He went through the rest of his hapless life rudderless, frustrated and unfulfilled. 

Mother, Roberta (DeDe Klein) and Amanda spar.  It quickly becomes apparent that both Danny and his younger sister, Kelly (Kelly Strand), were victims of their mother passing on her insecurities to them.  A mother, much in the vein of Amanda in Tennessee William’s “Glass Menagerie,” cannot see that her enabling is the major cause of her children’s issues.

Amanda has written a best-selling book with a plot centering on her relationship with Danny.  Roberta hates her for “using” Danny.  Kelly is awe-struck by Amanda’s success. 

Filled with deception and verbal game playing, the compelling play storms to a surprise conclusion, as Amanda’s “secret,” the real reason for her coming to Danny’s funeral, Kelly’s future, and a major decision by Roberta, consume the trio.  Questions abound:  What effect do we have on others?  What is the difference between love and need?  Can anything be salvaged from these lives?

Brant is a fine playwright.  Among others, he was awarded a Lucille Lortel Award, an Edgerton Foundation New Play Award, the David Mark Cohen National Playwriting Award from the Kennedy Center, the Keene Prize for Literature, and a Scotsman Fringe First Award. 

His scripts have been produced locally at Cleveland Play House and Dobama Theatre. 

“Salvage” was commissioned by Theatre 4 in New Haven, Connecticut and received its premiere there.

The none-too-fragile production, as has become the expected habit at this theatre, continues their reputation for excellence.  None-too-fragile was recognized by Broadwayworld.com/Cleveland as the Outstanding non-musical production of 2016, Director Sean Derry was named the best Director of a non-musical, and Dedriu Ring was named as co-recipient of the outstanding female performer.  The Cleveland Critics Circle recognized “The Beauty Queen of Leenane” and Ring for Superior Achievement.  “Salvage” should also receive such accolades.

The cast is universally outstanding.  Each actress develops a clear and textured real living character.  So much so that after a while, the play becomes a life experience, with the audience peeking in on the real lives of three tortured women in turmoil.   The performers make Brant’s realistic language live with vivid imagery.

Capsule judgement: “Salvage,” continues none-too-fragile’s history of outstanding theatrical presentations as it takes George Brant’s well-crafted script from page to stage, with clarity and vividness.  This is a must see experience!  Believe me, Clevelanders, it’s worth the drive!

For tickets to “Salvage” which runs through May 20, 2017 at none too fragile theatre, located at 2835 Merriman Road in Akron, call 330-962-5547 or go to nonetoofragile.com

The next none too fragile show is “An Impending Rupture of the Belly,” Matt Pelfrey’s odd-ball, black comedy of a couple expecting their first child and an impending disaster, a global struggle against threats to our security, both real and imagined.

A tale of disinterring bodies makes for wild night of Irish black comedy at none too fragile

Last year none too fragile theatre produced Martin McDonagh’s “The Beauty Queen of Leenane,” one episode of the Leenane trilogy.  The production was greeted with great critical and box office success. 

It was recognized by Broadwayworld.com-Cleveland as the Outstanding non-musical production of 2016, Director Sean Derry was named the best Director of a non-musical, and Dedriu Ring was named as co-recipient, along with Dorothy Silver for “The Revisionist” at Dobama, as the outstanding female performer.  The Cleveland Critics Circle recognized “The Beauty Queen of Leenane” and Ring for Superior Achievement.

It only makes sense that this season they do another of the contemporary Irish writer’s plays, “A Skull in Connemara,” another tale in the trilogy.

The Irish are a unique brand of people.  Living in a land of rocks, ragged hills, harsh weather, poverty and isolation, they have developed attitudes toward life that lend themselves to dark thoughts, bleak tales and sentimentality supported by a lot of alcohol consumption!

McDonagh is one of the most successful young playwrights this century.   He is the first dramatist, since Shakespeare, to have four scripts produced on the professional London stage in a single season.   His black comedies examine cruelty and violence but rebuke the tendency of Irish writers to be overly mawkish.

“Skull” is set in Connemara, located on Ireland’s west coast, the area which has been described as “a pitiless universe.”   Even the dead have it rough in that part of the world.  The local cemetery has limited space.  Since this is a solid Catholic area, cremation isn’t an option.  So, in order to accommodate the newly dead, bodies which have been buried for seven years are dug up and replaced by new arrivals.  What happens to the exhumed skeletons?  That’s a major part of the mystery of “A Skull in Connemara.”

One thing is a given.  The task of digging is left to Mick Dowd.  This year’s task has special significance.  It was seven years ago that Mick’s wife was killed when he drove his car into a ditch while intoxicated. 

As the time approaches for him to dig, rumors arise.  Gossip seeps into the collective brain of the citizens of the small village who have way too much time on their hands for “tellin’ tales” and imbibing to excess.

Maryjohnny Rafferty, an elderly woman who is noted for both cheating while playing bingo and “tippin’ a wee bit” stops regularly at Mick’s house to mooch whiskey.  One of her grandsons, Thomas, is the town’s inept lawman, and the other, Mairtin, is a young bumbling airhead with a penchant for saying and doing the wrong thing at the wrong time. 

As the tale proceeds we find that Maritin is going to help Mick dig the graves, while Thomas is going to continue to prove that Mick killed his wife.  Their ineptitudes only increase the nature of the black comedy.  Maritin keeps falling into graves, Thomas finds leads that lead nowhere.  

We watch as the duo of diggers banters, with Mairtin being the butt of many of Mick’s tall tales.  They remove the remains of one corpse, but, when they come to Mick’s wife’s grave…they find the body has been stolen.  Of course, chaos, accusations, another car crash, much consuming of whiskey, and lots of blood, add to the bizarre story.  (What else can you expect from a tale of the land of blarney and an adept storyteller?)

The ntf production, under the direction of Sean Derry, as we have come to expect of him and his talented bunch of thespians, is excellent.

The set, especially considering the compact black box theatre, is astounding.  The kitchen morphs into hills and tombstones and affords the view of two graves actually being dug while dialogue flows.  (Consider this--all that dirt had to be dragged into the space and will have to be removed.)

Prop masters usually get little attention, but, in this case, the “guy in Pittsburgh” (quoting Derry) “handmade all the skulls and body parts which are used in the show.”  (A word of advice:  If you are sitting in the first row, you may well be hit by flying bone fragments as the bodies are decimated with mallets.)

David Peacock is outstanding as Mick Dowd.  He doesn’t portray Mick, he is Mick.  His Irish brogue, as is the case with all the cast, is spot on.  Of course being a Brit, who is a member of British Actors Equity, doesn’t hurt.

Linda Ryan transforms herself into the arthritic Maryjohnny with conviction.  Her sitting and standing is a black comedy, in itself.

With his flat affect Nate Homolka (Mairtin) has some nice moments, as does Doug Kusak as his brother Thomas.

Be warned that some of the language may offend, but it’s all Irish realistic extremism and that’s the beauty of McDonagh’s writing.

Capsule judgement:  Partake in the free shot of Jamison, which is the hallmark of the pre-show ritual at none-too-fragile, sit back, and allow yourself to be immersed in an Irish black comedy, complete with skull battering, blunt language and a wee bit of fun.

For tickets to “A Skull in Connemara” which runs through April 1. 2017 at none too fragile theater in Akron, call 330-671-4563 or go to nonetoofragile.com

The next none too fragile show is “Salvage” (May 5-20) which finds a recently deceased young man’s sister and mother finding themselves racing against time to rescue his prized possessions from the family basement before a flood hits.

Well performed ANNAPURNA ends fall season at none too fragile

Ulysses, a former college professor and well-published poet, has been living off the grid for over twenty years.  His wife and son assumed he was dead. 

A search of her mother’s home, after the old woman dies, allows Emma, Ulysses’ former wife, to find several boxes of letters and poems that Ulysses had sent to Sam, his son, but were never delivered to the partially deaf boy.

With information from the letters, and the help of a private investigator, Emma searches out Ulysses and finds him in a desolate town in Colorado, living in a run-down trailer park, nearly penniless.  When she arrives she finds him dressed only in an apron, a backpack containing his oxygen tank, and in the final stages of emphysema.

Emma enters the trailer carrying suitcases, bags of food, and years of pent-up hatred.   She, fled one night with then five-year-old Sam, has lots of stuff to unload…both physically and emotionally.

The couple bicker, spar about Emma invading his life, his rejection of medical help, an on-going feud with a neighbor, and that their Sam may soon be arriving.

Truths unravel and the defining moment that caused the disintegration of their lives together, is revealed in an emotionally charged scene.

The title, ANNAPURNA, refers to the mountain in the Himalayas, the tenth tallest in the world, which is one of the most dangerous to climb.  Ironically, in Sanskrit Annapurna means “full of food.”

The play is Sharr White’s modern day parallel to Homer’s 8th century poem, “The Odyssey.”  That epic tells the tale of Ulysses, who was sent on a long journey because he displeased the god Poseidon.  Like the Ulysses of old, the modern day Ulysses was also on a journey, an expedition of escape and regret, filled with a failed career, drunkenness, illness and self-hate.

none too fragile’s production, under the adept direction of Sean Derry, is both funny and emotionally charged.  The performance quality exceeds the script itself, which is generally formulaic in structure. 

As is always the case, Derdriu Ring (Emma) develops a beautifully textured, clear characterization.  She rides the emotional waves and milks a great deal from the lines.

Jeffrey Grover creates a bitter and deflecting Ulysses’ in escape from pain and reality.  His final emotionally wrought scene is a masterstroke of performance.  

Capsule judgement:  ANNAPURNA is the tale of two highly damaged people, caught in an impossible climb to the top of an impregnable mountain, confronting their lives.

For tickets to “ANNAPURNA which runs through November 19, 2016, at none too fragile theater in Akron, call 330-671-4563 or go to nonetoofragile.com

The theatre has announced its ambitious 2017 season which includes:  THE WHALE, A SKULL IN CONNEMARA, SALVAGE, IMPENDING RUPTURE OF THE BELLY, LAST OF THE BOYS and A STEADY RAIN.  Check its website for information about the plays and how to obtain season tickets and receive an artist Don Drumm creation.

THE WHIPPING MAN mesmerizes at none too fragile


THE WHIPPING MAN, which is now on stage at none too fragile theatre, is a tale set at the close of the Civil War in which Caleb DeLeon, a Confederate soldier returns to his Richmond, Virginia, palatial home, now a charred wreckage, to find his family missing and two former slaves, Simon and John, still there in spite of the their now being free men.  Caleb is badly wounded.  The former slaves take care of him. 

As the story unfolds, an examination of friendship, faith and the meaning of freedom are revealed as there is a probing of the question asked each year during the Passover Seder, “Why is this night different from all other nights?”

Caleb, bitter, disillusioned and haunted by secrets, has turned from his religious teachings.  Simon is an elderly negro man.  He is waiting for the DeLeons, who left with Simon’s wife and daughter, to return from hiding and collect the money he was promised by Mr. DeLeon.  Money that will allow him to buy some property and build a small house and live as a free man.  John, a rebellious young man about Caleb’s age, frustrated and bursting with dreams, wants to flee to New York. 

Little known to many was that there were about 50,000 Jews in the South on the eve of the Civil War.  Though only a tiny number owned plantations, those who could afford it owned house slaves, much in the manner of their non-Jewish neighbors.   In THE WHIPPING MAN, the DeLeon family was one of those house-slave owners.  They, as revealed in the plot exposition, brought up their slave family in the ways of Judaism, complete with holiday celebrations and Jewish dietary laws.

In an interview, Matthew Lopez, the author the play which won the Obie and Lucille Lortel Awards, a self-described “foxhole Episcopalian” from the Florida panhandle, the son of a Puerto Rican father and a Polish-Russian mother, was asked how he came to write a play about a Jewish Confederate solider and two former slaves celebrating Passover together.   His responses centered on his parents interest in the Civil War, his being bullied as a gay teenager who felt discrimination, and his constant self-probing for who he was and what he’d do next.  

He also was drawn to the subject after viewing the movie, GLORY, about a regiment of black troops during the Civil War, which raised the question of how someone who was a slave all his life, would act when he became suddenly free.  “How do you make that psychological change?”  As one of the play’s characters asks, “What do I do now?”  He saw a parallel to the Jews leaving Egypt and later being freed from the concentration camps following the Holocaust.

While reading an autobiography of Frederick Douglass, Lopez fumbled on a reference to the fact that in 1865, the Passover observance began the day after Robert E. Lee’s surrender at Appomattox.  Thus, the time setting of the play, which parallels the time of the Exodus from Egypt and the freedom of the slaves in the United States.  So, the basis for a well-crafted play was set.

The none too fragile production, under the adept direction of Sean Derry, is gripping.  It never ceases to be a wonderment that this small theatre, tucked into what must have been a storeroom at the back of Pub Bricco in Akron, can continuously produce such quality work.  In its short existence, ntf has won numerous local theatre critic’s awards, often being recognized over Playhouse Square theatres with massive budgets.  ntf does for pennies what the others do for many thousands. 

Derry has conceived a staging that is in your face compelling.  Sitting no more than fifteen feet away from the action, the audience is swept into the tale.  At intermission many remained in their seats, still feeling the effect of the words and actions.

The cast is universally excellent.  David LeMoyne (Simon), Benjamin Gregorio (Caleb DeLeon) and Brian Kenneth  Armour (John) each crafts a clear, muli-texture character.  Their performances are exquisitely textured, creating real people, with real problems.  They lead the audience clearly toward the surprising  conclusion, by revealing heartbreaking secret after secret with precision.

The ending of the show was met with dead silence…a tribute the emotional tenseness of the conclusion.  What a tribute to the cast and director!  The silence was followed, during the curtain call, by appropriate excessive applause.

Kevin Ozan’s lighting design and Brian Kenneth Armour’s sound design help intensify the action.

Capsule judgement:  When THE WHIPPING MAN ran at the Cleveland Play House several seasons ago, I said it was “required viewing by anyone who wants to experience theater at its finest.”  If you missed that production, or you want revisit the script in similar spellbinding splendor, rush to none too fragile.  This production is as mesmerizing as was the other local staging.  Applause, applause!

For tickets to “The Whipping Man” which runs through October  8, 2016  at none too fragile theater in Akron, call 330-671-4563 or go to nonetoofragile.com

none too fragile closes out its 1916 season with Sharr White’s ANNAPURNA from November 4-19.  The theatre has announced its ambitious 2017 season.  Check its website for information about the plays and how to obtain season tickets.

Unsettling, haunting Sans Merci @ none too fragile

When the lights went off to signal the ending of none too fragile’s production of Johnna Adams’ unsettling, haunting, thought-provoking Sans Merci, my immediate reaction was, “Oh, please fellow audience members, don’t clap!”

“Please don’t!  This experience needs a respectful silence.” Applauding at the end of this play was like cheering at the end of a eulogy.  It was a feeling that I’ve only had a handful of times in the theatre...Broadway’s Disgraced, The Bad Seed and The Father, come to mind.  This is a  play that deserves quiet thought, not raucous applause.

But, sure enough, either our of duty or shocked reaction, the cheers rung out and the assemblage leaped to their feet. 

Me?  I sat there in deep thought.  The fifty-minute ride home was done in total silence.  My mind was gone…stuck on the theatre’s stage, reliving what I had just seen and heard.  Now, twelve hours later, I am still in a state of suspended shock.

What brought about my reaction?

At the start of Sans Merci (which can be interpreted as “without mercy”), Kelly (Cassandra West) is tossing and turning on the aged couch of an unkempt apartment.  There is a knock on the door.  After several more raps, Kelly, walking with a crutch, hobbles to the door, opens it and reveals a mature woman who she does not know.   When the woman asks if she is Kelly, with some obvious concern, Kelly lets her in.

Within a short period we find out that the guest is Elizabeth (Harriet DeVeto), the mother of Tracy, Kelly’s college friend. 

Through a series of flashbacks it is revealed that Tracy (Miranda Scholl) was a college lit major with little confidence, and communication anxiety, which resulted in panic attacks when she was required to speak in class.  When Tracy has an attack in class, and runs out, she is followed by Kelly, who gives her sympathy and positive feedback.  Tracy goes back to class, finishes the presentation, gets an “A.”  Tracy and Kelly become acquaintances, and eventually lovers.

Kelly is an idealist who dedicates herself to good deeds to “save the world.”  She overlooks possible dangers, and is unrealistic about whether or not she is really actually solving problems.

She is going to South America to make a documentary about a native tribe whose historic lands include a mountain range which it considers to be sacred.  That land is desired by an oil company,  remove the “blood” from the land.  She wants to make a documentary illustrating the “rape” of the land by the petroleum firm.  The area is also a political hotbed where a civil war is being raged. 

That not withstanding she talks Tracy into going with her, with disastrous results.  Both young women are raped, Kelly shot, Tracy killed (“sans merci”).

Three years after the incident, Elizabeth has come to Kelly to get any possessions of Tracy’s that her former lover has, and to find out about how Tracy died.   Elizabeth and Kelly have never met.  It readily becomes apparent that the extremely conservative Republican Elizabeth and the overly liberal, often unrealistic Kelly, have only one thing in common--they both loved Tracy.

When Kelly reveals that she and Tracy were lovers, Elizabeth insists over and over that her daughter was “only going through a phase” and that if she had never become involved with Kelly, Tracy would not have gone on the mission and would still be alive.

Even though it is overlong and too talky, the script is dramatic, gripping and often riveting.  It nicely balances love and heartbreak.  The writer, whose tale includes many references to poetry, and the script which contains poetic material, is often poetic in form.

The none too fragile production, adeptly directed by Sean Derry and Brain Kenneth Armour, is well focused, if a little bit languid in pace. 

The performances are strong, but on opening night it was obvious that all of the performers, especially Harriet DeVeto, fell into the trap of assuming that since the NTF performance area is small, projection was not necessary. DeVeto, who displayed a stoic attitude,  as the angry mother of the dead girl, often fell into whispering, underplaying the role so much that fully half of her speeches could not be heard.  Too bad.  The words of the play are vital and deserve to be revealed.  Hopefully, as she becomes used to the space, her projection will increase.

Cassandra West nicely develops the idealistic Kelly, caught between causes and guilt for leading Tracy toward her death.  Miranda Scholl does a nice turn with anxiety and is generally sweet.  Her death scene is vivid and scary!

Be aware that there is female nudity, simulated lesbian sex, vivid language, and a gunshot during the play.  

Capsule judgement:  none too fragile continues to astound with the high quality of their productions.  They tend to pick meaningful scripts and give them very proficient staging.  Sans Merci insures a rollercoaster of emotion and is an absolutely must see!
 

For tickets for Sans Merci, which runs through August 20 (performances are Thursday, Friday, Saturday @ 8 and selected Sundays at 2), call 330-671-4563 or go to nonetoofragile.com

The next none too fragile production is Matthew Lopez’s THE WHIPPING MAN.  If you missed the Cleveland Play House’s spellbinding production of this script several years ago, this is your chance to experience this vital script.

Superb THE BEAUTY QUEENOF LEENANE at none too fragile

The Irish are a unique brand of people.  Living in a land of rocks, hills, harsh weather, poverty and isolation, they have developed attitudes toward life that lend themselves to dark thoughts and bleak tales. 

Modern and contemporary Irish playwrights like Brian Friel, Tom Murphy, Marina Carr and Martin McDonagh, write of the people’s passion for land, fixation on weather, drinking, morbidity, family ties, mythmaking, tangled relationships, dreamers, misanthropes and lonely souls.

McDonagh’s THE BEAUTY QUEEN OF LEENANE, which is now on stage at none too fragile theater, could serve as a master plate for well-written modern Irish plays.  The black comedy, with tragic undertones, contains almost all of the traditional things-Irish.

The story centers on Maureen, a 40-year old spinster who lives in the Irish village of Leenane, where she acts as a caretaker for her hypochondriac mother.  Maureen wants to get married, get out of Leenane, and especially away from her bitter mother.

The chance comes for Maureen to seemingly get her wishes when she becomes reacquainted with Parto, a construction worker, who thinks of her as “the beauty queen of Leenane.” But, in true Irish spirit, the tangled relationship with her mother gets in the way as the old lady hides important information. 

McDonagh’s play reminds us that Ireland is a place with few options, with little hope of happiness or escape.  Compassion, true love, human warmth and self respect, are not part of the formula practiced by the people of “the wearing of the green.” 

The Irish don’t suffer because they are bad people, they just inhabit a corner of the world in which their universe is limited.  Some escape, but many either go mad, become alcoholics, or learn to live with monotonous cycle of life repeating and then repeating itself.  This is the stuff that soap operas and black comedies, are made of.

The multi-award winning THE BEAUTY QUEEN OF LEENANE gets a superb production at none too fragile.  Sean Derry shows a keen understanding of the script and its production requirements.  Though the material is talky and lacks physical action, the staging keeps the audience alert.

The cast is flawless.  Derdriu Ring gives an award winning performance as Maureen.   She textures the role with frustration, irritation and even some unbridled happiness when it appears that Maureen may finally get to escape.  She doesn’t portray Maureen, she is Maureen.  Bravo!

Anne McEvoy conveys in her Mag a true bitterness toward a life that has given her no happiness.  She has little control over her personal existence, and exerts what small dignity she might muster by demanding she be taken care of.  McEvoy masterfully portrays the miserable woman.

Tom Woodward effectively creates Pato, the play’s only character who seems to have a way out of the Irish morass.  He nicely develops a man, who within his emotional stiltedness, expresses caring for Maureen and his desire to take her to America for a better life.

Nate Miller as Ray Dooley, Pato’s brother, creates a nicely textured snapshot of the typical Irishman who is willing to settle for what he can get…watching Australian soap operas, accepting that he is, what he is, and asking for little more.    

Capsule judgement:  THE BEAUTY QUEEN OF LEENANE is a first-class Irish play, by a very talented modern “Mick” writer.  The none too fragile production is finely-directed and performed.  This is one of the top area productions of the season and is a definite must see!

For tickets to THE BEAUTY QUEEN OF LEENANE which runs through May 7 at none too fragile theater in Akron, call 330-671-4563 or go to nonetoofragile.com

The next none too fragile show is SANS MERCI a powerful piece of theater by Johanna Adams, from April 22-May 7, which centers on Kelly, a survivor of rape and attempted murder by South American Revolutionaries, who, three years after the incident, is confronted by the mother of a woman who was killed during the incident. 

A KID LIKE JAKE probes the effects of heredity & environment at none too fragile

In their catalog, Dramatists Play Service, which owns the production rights to Daniel Pearle’s A KID LIKE JAKE, states, “On the eve of the admissions cycle for Manhattan’s most exclusive private schools, Alex and Greg have high hopes for their son Jake, a precocious four-year old who happens to prefer Cinderella to G. I. Joe.  But as the process continues, Jake’s behavior becomes erratic and perplexing, and other adults in his life start to wonder whether his fondness for dress-up might be cause for concern.”

Yes, that’s a surface level description of Pearle’s explosive and thought-provoking play.   What the catalog description misses is the need to look beyond the story line and get into the psychological and sociological issues raised.

A major topic in theories in the social sciences centers on roles of nature and nurture.  Is a person destined to be and do what their genes dictate?  Can predispositions be influenced by a person’s environment?  Is a person’s sexual orientation, gender identity, possible addictions (e.g., alcoholism, eating dysphoria, drug dependency) set by heredity or influenced by cultural inputs?

There is a ritual of competition that seems to arise from living in a place where it is difficult to gain recognition.  There is a mass of people competing for the same thing, whether it is for school placement or finding a parking spot.

Manhattan residents tend to be anxiety driven, failing to take a deep breath and relax.  They walk fast, talk fast, set extremely high goals, go to extremes. 

From the time an upper middle to upper class New York child is born, they are on a tread mill to get into the “best” pre-school, elementary school, high school and college, to rise to the top, be a winner, no matter the cost.

In A KID LIKE JAKE, Alex, Jake’s mother, is the product of not only wealth but an exacting mother.  She is obsessive compulsive.  Everything has to be right. Things must be preplanned and structured.  She obsesses over the selection of every single word in Jake’s school entrance essays.  Jake is prepped for ERB entrance tests, his every action is scrutinized. Alex constantly checks in at his pre-school regarding the boy’s actions.  His Halloween costumes and birthday parties must be “right.” 

Each night she reads him fairy tales, with an emphasis on Cinderella, just as Alex was.  He is surrounded by stereotypical “girl” stuff.  He has no “boy” toys and listens to no “boy’ stories. 

Is there any question of why Jake identifies with girls and girl things?

Wonder if his identity patterns would have been different if she had read him “boy” stories and exposed him to “boy” toys? 

Greg, his father, a non-athlete, doesn’t toss around a ball with his son in the park, they don’t share any rough-housing.   Environmentalists might conjure if this is also part of the reason for Jake’s actions and identity. 

Greg  is a psychologist who deals with adults and their issues.  He is in emotional control and approaches the world logically, but not in a non-flexible way.  A product of the public schools and a modest financial background, he seems less driven than his wife to find the “perfect” school.  He sneaks Jake out to McDonald’s, much against his wife’s wishes.

Is Jake reflecting his environmental influences when he states he wants to be a girl or does he have a pre-disposition toward awareness that he was born into the wrong gender body?

In an interview the author indicates that he went through a ‘Cinderella phase.”  He states, “My mom read me a lot of fairy tales when I was little.”  “Snow White was the first movie he saw.”

Pearle’s script encourages much discussion and thought regarding Jake.  The author might consider doing a follow-up, centering around Jake in early adulthood with not only a spotlight on his gender “decisions,” but the relationship of his parents, who we leave with Alex hinting at divorce and Greg saying, “Good luck on finding someone who will put up with you.”

Rachel Lee Kolis must be close to collapse at the end of each production.  With repeated physical gestures, facial expressions and vocal hysterics she creates an Alex who is on the very edge of psychological collapse because of her obsessive tendencies.  She is like a rubber band, about to snap.

 Geoff Knox develops a Greg who has learned well the mental health professional’s ability to control his emotions in the face of stress and chaos.  His speech where he confronts Alex’s potential divorce scenario was powerful.

Katie Wells is effective in her roles as a nurse and a grown-up Jake in a dream sequence.

The play’s pacing was hampered by time consuming and emotional stopping excessive movements of set pieces and costume changes.

Capsule judgement:  A KID LIKE JAKE is a well-developed, thought-provoking script, centering on the contemporary topics of gender identity, parental relationships, and the controversy of nature versus nurture.  The acting is excellent.  It is the type of production that incites discussion and will be appealing to a thinking audience.

For tickets to A KID LIKE JAKE which runs through March 26, 2016 at none too fragile theater in Akron, call 330-671-4563 or go to nonetoofragile.com

The next none too fragile production is Martin McDonagh’s THE BEAUTY QUEEN OF LEENANE from April 22-May 7, 2016.

PURE SHOCK VALUE, absurd farce confounds at none too fragile

Sean Derry and Alanna Romansky, Co-Artistic Directors of none too fragile have, since its founding in 2010, established the venue as a major theater in the Akron-Cleveland area.   Dedicated to being an “adventurously-bold theatrical voice,” they choose “modern and relevant” scripts, that are “thought-provoking, heart-touching, and, at time, principle-challenging, character-drive stories.”   In other words, as they state on their blog-site, their goal is to do “Award winning Kick-a** Theatre!”

Having been awarded numerous recognitions by the Cleveland Critics Circle and Times Theatre Tributes, none too fragile has lived up to its goals.

Their latest production, PURE SHOCK VALUE, an absurdist farce, will challenge its audiences.  Filled with blunt language, ranting and raving verbal attacks, and numerous references to present and past Hollywood directors, performers and films, Matt Pelfrey’s script begs for clarity of meaning. 

What does the black comedic rant say?  In the true sense of theatre of the absurd, the author probes for what is the purpose of existence, what is living life all about, and what does it mean to exist.   Whether he succeeds in inciting the observer to either ask themselves the questions, or come to conclusions, is questionable.

The story concerns three “film makers,”  in actuality, Tex, a 29-year old man-child, Ethan, a 35-year old deliveryman, and Gabby, a Portuguese-American Kinko’s manager.  All of them live in the delusional world of their talents and abilities of being/becoming filmmakers.  Self-absorbed, they scheme, plan and plot to gain recognition for their fart-infested film, “Barking Spider.”

Their “epic” has been produced, thanks to $10,000 given to Gabby upon the death of her grandmother.  The trio has been unsuccessful in getting any major Hollywood film company to distribute the film.  They’ve tried, oh yes, they’ve tried about every contrived means possible to get the film “out there” so their “talents” can be appreciated.

Gabby has given oral sex to a young man who is affiliated with a film company, thinking he was going to be their entry ticket to the big time.  Unfortunately, they failed to vet their “perp,” who actually was a high school student doing an internship, with the end result of Gabby having expended her efforts with no result other than having committed statutory rape on a minor.

Tex, a fount of severe attitudes and self-worth, rants and raves about the success of “lesser” talents such as Angelina Jolie, Kevin Costner and Steven Spielberg.  He does not want to become part of the “99% who crash against the rocks.”

Ethan is a fairly laid-back, sexually driven African American who is in love with Gabby and easily manipulated by Tex.

Due to a bizarre incident, into their lives comes Julian Quintana director of the “well known” cult film, “Where the Rats Go To Die.”  He is found in their backyard doghouse, incoherent and non-communicative.  Eventually they get him alert enough to watch their film.  The results?  A scathing evaluation which sets off a series of events that bring the play to a shattering conclusion.

The none too fragile production, under the directorship of Sean Derry, is at times compelling, but also repelling and disturbing.  As is the case with much farce, the performances are over-the-top. 

Benjamin Gregorio is like the Eveready Bunny on speed. His Tex is a lesson in psychotic, self-absorbed behavior.  He rants, raves, runs around attacking things and people, both verbally and physically.  If he makes it through the run without losing his voice, it will be miraculous.

Alanna Romansky develops in Gabby a needy woman who seems to be carried along by Tex and Ethan’s enthusiasm for producing a film, but not really part of the process.  She does a nice job of retaining her accent throughout.  She has two soliloquies that get us into her soul, that are extremely well done.

Brian Kenneth Armour nicely develops Ethan, a fairly laid back guy who realizes that his life is on a track to no-where, and has little real understanding of how to find the right path.

Robert Branch is outstanding as Julian.  As required, he spends much of his time on stage realistically twitching and moaning.
 
Capsule judgement:  Though the production values are fairly high PURE SHOCK VALUE is an absurdist script that will confound many, offend some due to the language and sexual actions, and please others due to its gutsy ”in your face telling it like it is.” 

For tickets to PURE SHOCK VALUE, which runs Thursdays through Sundays until February 13, 2016, call 330-671-4563 or go to nonetoofragile.com

none too fragile’s next show is Daniel Pearle’s A KID LIKE JAKE from March 11-26, a study of the harrowing process by which well-heeled New Yorkers scheme and scramble to win their children admission into prestigious schools.

Well acted, overly long IN A FOREST, DARK AND DEEP at none too fragile

Neil LaBute, the author of IN A FOREST, DARK AND DEEP, now on stage at none too fragile theatre, is noted for writing plays and movies filled with hatred, distrust and disdain for humans and human nature.  

His writing style, where characters hold supreme over the plot, are filled with terse, rhythmic and language-oriented speeches.  Much like his mentor, David Mamet, he also stresses relationships, political correctness and macho attitudes. 

LaBute is often accused of being an unforgiving judge of the ugliest side of human nature.  In each of his scripts, one or more of his characters often has a dark underbelly, and is self-absorbed. 

The author is usually brutally clear in delineating the bad guys in his plots and takes on topics that others avoid.  For example, in FAT PIG, he confronts the role of subtle and overt mistreatment of overweight women.  

He often has a surprise or shocking ending to his plays.  LaBute has been called “a moralist who seems to delight in depicting human cruelty and in hoodwinking an audience.”  IN A FOREST, DARK AND DEEP, both of these traits hold fast.  He pulls the rug from under the emotional feet of the viewer, by throwing in an ending that many couldn’t predict would be coming.

The play opens with Bobby, a carpenter, entering a cabin in disarray just outside of an unspecified college town.   He has been asked to come to help Betty, his older sister, the Dean of Liberal Arts, to empty out the place, as she wishes to rent it out now that the tenant has suddenly moved out. 

The duo is a classic example of sibling rivalry.  They had an overbearing father, a conflicted childhood, and long time differences concerning the purpose of life.  Betty, is married, with two children, educated and worldly.  Bobby, twice divorced, crude, quick tempered, outspoken, and seemingly not concerned over civil correctness. 

A storm rages both outside and inside.  As the duo bickers, their troubled history is revealed.  Truth and deceptiveness flow forth, with an unexpected ending.  The writer highlights, “the lies you tell yourself to get by.”

‘Nuff said.  Giving away too much of the plot would ruin the experience for those who will go see the play, so no spoiler alert is needed here.

In 2013, LaBute was named one of the winners of the American Academy of Arts and Letters’ Awards in Literature. 

As much as I tend to like LeBute plays, IN A FOREST, DARK AND DEEP is not one of his best works.  Though I found the ending, much a like Jeffrey Archer or O. Henry surprise ending, enticing, the play is much too long.  LeBute needed to apply a red pencil to about fifteen minutes of the hundred minute no-intermission work.  After a while, enough of the bickering was enough. 

If LeBute didn’t cut the length of the script, then director Andrew Narten should have.

Both Sean Derry as Bobby and Leighann Niles Delorenzo as Betty were outstanding.  They sparred like fighters in a ring, feigning, attacking, hitting each other with verbal sledge hammers.   When the ranting and raving was over, not only the actors, but the audience was exhausted.

Capsule judgement:  Sean Derry and Leighann Niles Delorenzo light up the none too fragile stage in this battle of deception, lies, and false values.  Though overly long, Neil LaBute’s IN A FOREST, DARK AND DEEP still makes for an interesting evening of theater.

For tickets for IN A FOREST, DARK AND DEEP, which runs through September  19, 2015, call 330-671-4563 or go to nonetoofragile.com

TOPDOG/UNDERDOG affords a conflicted look at the African American male@ none too fragile

Suzan-Lori Parks won a Pulitzer Prize for her script “Topdog/Underdog,” now in production at none-too-fragile theatre.  She also won the MacArthur “Genius Grant” Award for the play.   The script is an existential trip asking, “What is it like to be a black male in modern America?”

Being a student of James Baldwin, African American powerhouse writer, when she was a student at Mount Holyoke College, afforded Parks a model for delving into the Black experience, especially the male experience.

“Topdog/Underdog” showcases how two brothers, Lincoln and Booth, deal with women, poverty, racism, and their troubled upbringing.  They came from a home where the mother abandoned the family, the father named them Lincoln and Booth as a joke, and also split from the boys when they were teens, and the duo has struggled to find a constructive place in society.

The setting is a depressing, small apartment in an unnamed urban area.  The  brothers have a relationship based on a thin line of being brothers, but brothers of a very different ilk.  Lincoln graduated from high school and has been employed with odd jobs.  His latest is being a stand-in for Abraham Lincoln at an arcade, where the patrons pay to assassinate honest Abe, much like John Wilkes Booth did near the end of the Civil War as he watched a production of “Our American Cousin” in Washington D.C.’s Ford’s Theatre.  In the role he is painted with white makeup and given a lower wage than his white predecessor.  With little compassion, he is fired and replaced by a wax figure.

Lincoln walks through life in a coma.  He was married, but his wife left because his life centered on making money by conning tourists while performing a three-card Monte game.  When his partner was killed, he left the “business.”  He sleeps on a recliner in his brother’s apartment, which, he pays for with his arcade job.  He spends most of his time drinking, lying in the chair, and hanging out.  After his firing, he turns back to a life of shilling, with eventually bitter results.

Booth, a high school dropout with no prospects for any type of income, spends his time trying to emulate his brother’s success as a card dealer, telling fantasy success tall tales about his carnal life with Grace his “fiancé,” stealing , and fantasizing about sex.

As the prospects for their futures become more and more tenuous, a psychological battle between Lincoln (topdog) and Booth (underdog) escalates.   Eventually, Booth shoots Grace and, as their names indicate, a confrontation between the brothers brings to a climax the tale of Lincoln and Booth.

The none-too-fragile production, under the direction of Sean Derry, though overly long, grabs and holds the audience’s attention.  The quality of the acting is excellent.  Both Brian Kenneth Armour as Booth and Robert Grant III as Lincoln are totally natural and don’t act the parts, but become the characters.   Short, chunky Armour reeks of a frustrated boy-child with no realistic future, so he must invent a reason for respect and purposefulness.  Tall, handsome, Grant wants desperately to escape from his frustrating trap of a life, but doesn’t have the skills or tools to see daylight.

Capsule judgement:  “Topdog/Underdog” is one of those well directed, acted and written plays that should be seen by anyone interested in the plight of the Black man in America.  On the other hand, with nearly one in three 20-29 year-old African American males under some form of criminal justice supervision, whether imprisoned, in  jail, or on parole or probation, it is frustrating to realize that the situation may be hopeless and there appears to be no way to solve the problems.  Sad, so sad.

For tickets call 330-671-4563 or go to http://www.nonetoofragile.com