Written and reviewed by Tracey Paleo, Gia On The Move
KILL SHELTER at Theatre of Note
Prepare yourself for heartbreak. That is the one bit of advice I can offer to audiences attending playwright Ashley Rose Wellman’s world premiere engagement of KILL SHELTER at Theatre of Note.
KILL SHELTER is a play that takes the difficult path. Its characters are not either heroes or villains. And nothing in this circumstance is black and white. Especially the solutions. In this situation the open road for each character is compassion and empathy, even when it seems impossible to give.
Colleen manages an open-admissions, government-funded animal shelter. This means her shelter accepts all animals. When animals prove unadoptable because of advanced age, illness, injury, or aggressiveness, they may be subject to euthanasia. Overcrowding at the shelter may also put animals in line for euthanasia. Colleen is a compassionate animal lover whose duties put her at odds with her instincts.
Colleen is also the single mom to a teenager who disapproves of her mom’s job. When young Ellie finds herself pregnant by a boyfriend who withdraws his affection, her understanding of her mother’s work is suddenly brought into sharp focus.
Complicating things further is Colleen’s burgeoning romance with a much-younger subordinate.
Possibly one of the best productions to grace the Theatre of Note stage in recent years, KILL SHELTER is eloquently written and even more passionately played. (Red Cast) Ashley Romans, Troy Leigh-Anne Johnson, Brandon Warfield and Jack Clevenger are superb as individual actors and as an ensemble, with Romans as one of the strongest leads in a drama this season.
KILL SHELTER is highly emotionally charged, hard core, and prescient – set in a delicate yet sorrowful construction that weaves character, story and metaphor poignantly together.
Very Highly Recommended
Written by Ashley Rose Wellman
Directed by Shaina Rosenthal
Assistant Director Amberlle Clark
Scenic Design Colin Lawrence
Lighting Design Hayden Kirschbaum
Sound Design and Composer Matt Richter
Costume Design Mariah Harrison
Puppet Design and Coaching EMory Royston
MEASURE STILL FOR MEASURE at Boston Court Pasadena
There’s a lot of periphery in this immersively styled presentation. Actors roam the interior, appear on screens located in the lobby, and sequester in the parking lot, to create an experientially voyeuristic vantage point of typical backstage rehearsal room mayhem for attendees to view. Although no audience interaction actually occurs during this lengthy opening section. Fun as it is, we don’t learn much of anything that furthers the story. And there’s a sense that all of it could be forgone for the juicer meat of the actual production.
MEASURE STILL FOR MEASURE, Boston Court‘s play ‘about’ a company of actors putting on Shakespeare’s, “Measure for Measure” is full of very specific character types that have the ability to be more. But as the play progresses from the first hour of rehearsal onto the mainstage, the seeming adjunct players and their characters almost completely disappear into the background of the real drama. Instead, front and center, are the sexually charged advances of famous Director Bruce Elliot Norton (Rob Beitzel) who also plays Duke Vincentio, towards his actress Dionna (Bukola Ogunmola), who plays Isabella. As Dionna struggles between the thrill of stepping into her role-of-a-lifetime and Norton’s complicated vision for the play, she also finds herself conflicted about Isabella’s journey and her own ability to fend off her director’s increasing yet subtle improprieties. Life and play are mimicking one another. “To whom should I complain…” becomes more than just a matter of power imbalance for both women, it’s a question of survival.
If you don’t know the debates about Shakespeare’s play, it will be difficult to follow the cast discussions about the storyline (although there is an explanation in the program). On the surface, the presentation portrays the mostly comical actor/diredtor rehearsal “process.” The performances by the ensemble are delightful, but the actors simply aren’t given a script that allows them depth. Leo Marks as Angelo, however, manages (in typical Leo Marks fashion) to turn every faint phrase and attenuated action or reaction into a tour de force pursuance. Rob Beitzel as Norton aptly embodies the soul-crushing director/mentor turned villain allowing Bukola Ogunmola to pull out her most beautifully agonizing dénouement and a chilling finale.
Recommended
Written and Directed by Jessica Kubzansky
Featuring: Rob Beitzel, Bukola Ogunmola, Leo Marks, Randolph Thompson, Dinah Lenney, Alexander Matos, Mara Klein, Desiree Mee Jung, and Jenapher Zheng
Scenic Designer Francois-Pierre Couture
Costume Designer Denitsa Bliznakova
Lighting Designer Cindy Campos
Dramaturg Emilie Pascale Beck
Intimacy Director Carly DW Bones
Shakespeare Consultant Miranda Johnson-Haddad
OUR DEAR DEAD DRUG LORD at the Kirk Douglas
All Uses © 2023 Craig Schwartz Photography
OUR DEAR DRUG LORD has met its Los Angeles finale at the Kirk Douglas but the significance of its violent teen haze lives on. Listen here.
