Charles Lafond

Head Trick Theatre continues to perform thought-provoking, timely productions with their latest piece, Lillian Hellman's 1941 play, WATCH ON THE RHINE.

"It's an indulgence to sit in a room and discuss your beliefs as if they were a juicy piece of gossip." From the Farrellys' living room in Washington, the Nazis and the war in Europe seem very far away - until the war comes to them, when Fanny's daughter Sara brings her anti-fascist husband home after twenty years abroad. Kurt, Sara, and their children aren't Fanny's only guests, and conflict soon arises between them and an opportunistic count with Nazi sympathies, forcing the Farrellys to choose between standing by and standing up.

BELL, BOOK AND CANDLE must be missing the eye of a newt.

SEASCAPE, Edward Albee's 1975 Pulitzer Prize-winning comic-drama is getting a very entertaining production at Warren's 2nd Story Theatre. SEASCAPE is a quirky, compelling examination of the meaning of life, how we got, and where we go, from here. On a deserted beach, an older couple (Ed Shea and Susan Bowen Powers) encounters two humanesque sea creatures (Valerie Westgate and Charles Lafond) contemplating the evolutionary leap to dry land. Ironically, it's the human couple, for whom existence has grown flat and routine, who holds the answers to the inquisitive amphibians' naive yet probing questions, which in turn helps the humans answer their own. If I have neglected to say so thus far, this thing is hilarious.

Seascape by Edward Albee is running January 13 - February 5, 2017 at 2nd Story Theatre. BroadwayWorld has a first look at the cast in action below!

THE LADIES MAN by Charles Morey, translated and adapted from Talleur Pour Dames by Georges Feydeau, will run September 23 - October 16 at UpStage at 2nd Story Theatre. BroadwayWorld has a first look at the cast in action below!

I HATE HAMLET by Paul Rudnick is a very funny play being given an excellent production at 2nd Story Theater in Warren. 2nd Story is on a roll of comedies this summer, mostly of the dark variety, but this one has no dark shadows (Well, one shade--the ghost of John Barrymore, but he is a friendly ghost) and is just plain hilarious. Got twenty-fie bucks? Get over to see it.

If there was an award for Rhode Island's current busiest man in show business, one of the nominees would absolutely have to be 2nd Story Theatre's Ed Shea. The company's Artistic Director is currently performing in the Downstage production of Freud's Last Session. Last night, in the Upstage space, he made an appearance and gave the curtain speech for Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None, which he directed. During his visit upstairs, Shea spoke about summer stock theaters and how they once dotted the landscape in these parts. No longer as much of a presence as they once were, they featured a certain kind of theater experience, something lighter, more whimsical and fun than the weighty, thought-provoking works seen throughout the winter months. That sense of offering something entertaining and fun permeates his entire production of Christie's play, a perfect summertime treat of mystery and murder, tempered with the right amount of wit and whimsy.

A recent converstion with a friend included the topic of just how much theater there is right now in Rhode Island. There's no denying that theater lovers have many excellent choices, with many plays and musicals of almost every kind. One of the many great aspects of this phenomenon is the fact that even with so much theater happening, there are so many talented performers in this area that the product is not watered down or less enjoyable just because there is so much of it.Take 2nd Story Theatre, for example. They have not one, not two, but three shows opening and running during November. The first one to open, the second show of the DownStage season, is a perfect example of how even with so many shows running, audiences can still see a fantastic ensemble of actors working together perfectly.

Once upon a time, a director told a group of young students of the theater to, "keep it simple, stupid." I know it happened cause I was there. This idiea of simplicity is not new or confined to theatrical productions, of course. In many facets of our life, simplicity is the way to go. Sticking to theater, though, Counter-Productions Theatre Company's current production of Speed-The-Plow is another good example of why simple is better.