River Cities' Reader Theatre Reviews: July 2000 to the Present
Reviews by Jeff Ashcraft, Patricia Baugh-Riechers, Audra Beals, Pamela Briggs, Dee Canfield, Kim Eastland, Emily Heninger, Heather Herkelman, Paula Jolly, Victoria Navarro, Mark Ruebling, Mike Schulz, Joy Thompson, Oz Torres, Brent Tubbs, Jill (Pearson) Walsh, and Thom White.
The Waiting Is the Hardest Part: "Waiting for Godot," at the Black Box Theatre through October 31
By Madeline Dudziak
The plot for Waiting for Godot, currently running at Moline's Black Box Theatre, is rather simple: Two men wait near a tree for the infamous Godot. It's unclear how many days they've already been waiting, or how much longer the wait will take. How the men pass time makes up the meat of this story, and Samuel Beckett's absurdist classic ultimately grapples with the age-old question: What does it all mean?
Funeral Procession: "Three Viewings," at the Black Box Theatre through October 3
By Pamela Briggs
Family. Love. Money. Major occupiers of our time; continual goals and sources of both stress and joy. We want them and work for them, or in spite of them. They facilitate our dreams, or get in their way. We race toward our desires until Death, who always wins, tells us we're done.
We Eat, They Drink, Everyone's Merry: "The Savannah Sipping Society," at the Circa '21 Dinner Playhouse through November 7
By Rochelle Arnold
It's been a painfully long wait, but I finally got to crack open my new notebook and fresh pen for Wednesday night's performance of The Savannah Sipping Society at the Circa '21 Dinner Playhouse.
Stalking, On-Air: "The 39 Steps: A Live Radio Play" at the Black Box Theatre through August 30
If you're hoping to see some live theatre to forget COVID-19 and the pandemic we're in, then the Black Box Theatre's latest, The 39 Steps: A Live Radio Play, is not for you – because director Lora Adams and her fantastic cast have embraced the challenges of producing theatre in 2020 in a way that manages to pay respect to this invisible virus while still keeping the show lighthearted and charming.
Governess Ball: "The Turn of the Screw," at the Black Box Theatre through July 19
English people have a deserved reputation for rigid politeness, avoiding embarrassment, and keeping improprieties secret. These personality traits help drive much of the comedy of English farces. They drive this English story in an entirely different direction. Inside the proper tea kettle of this crowd, there's a bubbling mass of depravity and perversion threatening to boil, shriek, and spew forth secrets. Here, the unspeakable is spoken – for the most part … eventually … – with plenty of mystery yet to wonder over.
We, Ourselves, and Us: "Their Town," at the Playcrafters Barn Theatre through March 15
The Playcrafters Barn Theatre's Their Town is this season's first production in the venue's Barn Owl series of newer (or debuting) plays, and this year, all four "Barn Owls" are by local authors. Playwright Alexander Richardson has not only kicked off the 2020 series with a strong script, but has also, along with his and director Elizabeth Melville's cast and crew, given the upcoming presentations much to live up to.
Crazy Little Thing Called Love: "The Wedding Singer," at the Spotlight Theatre through February 23
If you missed the perfectly timed Valentine's Day opening of the Spotlight Theatre's The Wedding Singer, don't have a cow. There's a second weekend of this righteous romantic-comedy musical if you're in need of an extra opportunity to show your sweethearts how much you love them. The energetic cast, familiar storyline, and totally awesome music make for the perfect escape from reality back to the '80s for a few hours.
On and Off the Rails: "The Boxcar Children," at the Playcrafters Barn Theatre through February 16
The Playcrafters Barn Theatre's presentation of The Boxcar Children opened on Friday with a simple, wholesome journey of four Depression-era youngsters and their adventures as recent orphans. Knowing that they will likely go to different foster homes, the Alden children escape into the woods and find a boxcar in which they begin to live, and while the set design was sparse, the actors, for the most part, were excellent – I found myself carefully listening to each character as they expressed their innermost thoughts and feelings. Like the old saying goes, "Less is more," and in this show, I found that to be particularly true.
Hope Is a Thing with Wings: "I Never Saw Another Butterfly," at the Black Box Theatre through February 1
There was a moment during Friday's conclusion to the Black Box Theatre's latest production, I Never Saw Another Butterfly, in which one of the child actors realized the artwork he was holding was upside down, so he turned it around. A seemingly small action, but an absolutely honest one. Children often set out to right the wrongs they see in the world, and while I'm certain director Lora Adams didn't plan this incident, that tiny gesture drove home the reality of the night's story for me. Even in a place full of horror, children continue to learn, grow, and create beauty, because that's what children do.
The Reader has long prided itself on our coverage of the area theatre scene. As a matter of fact, before theaters everywhere experienced closures in mid-March, we were the only Quad Cities newspaper publishing any local stage reviews at all. Please help the Reader keep going (and the theatre reviews coming) with your one-time, monthly, or annual support.
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