Finding humor in aging, tackling racism and 4 more Cape Cod theater shows
Four theater productions that opened last month are ending, or nearly ending, their runs this weekend so you might want to take a chance to catch these shows while you can: "Circle Mirror Transformation" at Cotuit Center for the Arts; "The Revolutionists" at Wellfleet Harbor Actors Theater; "Something Rotten" at the Academy Playhouse in Orleans; and "From the Heart of the Wreck" at Cape Rep Theatre in Brewster.
Just opened this week is "The Fantasticks," finishing out the season at Cape Playhouse in Dennis.
To find out which to choose, check out what our reviewers had to say about each one on our website at www.capecodtimes.com/entertainment.
Reviews: 'The Fantasticks' lives up to its name + 4 more Cape Cod theater shows critics say you should see
Hint: Cotuit's show is "a touching look at how we humans fall apart and come together." “The Revolutionists” is a female-led topical history lesson that is “as absorbing as it is supremely entertaining”; “Something Rotten” is a musical that includes Shakespeare and an odd prophecy that is “totally silly but thoroughly entertaining,” and the world premiere “From the Heart of the Wreck” is based on local pirate lore with “a ton of humor, some great history and superior acting.” And "The Fantasticks" lives up to its name.
For other new shows this weekend, take a look:
The FACB is back, and thinking about health
Writer/actress Christine Ernst has created her 11th annual one-woman show, filled with her thoughtful, funny and often passionate looks at life. Rather than short runs of the show in any one place, as she’s often done, Ernst is taking her “Fat Ass Cancer Bitch” or “FACB” persona (an epithet from a surly neighbor when Ernst had breast cancer) on the road this year for one-might performances, with three set up around the area in September.
Ernst describes her new spoken-word “Take Your Vitamins” as a collection of new work, updated recent work, and old favorites — loosely on the theme of taking care of yourself.
“I recently left my job at a place that I was deeply connected to for almost 20 years, so there is an undercurrent of necessary endings/leaping off cliffs/bold new beginnings, too,” she adds by email. “I explore being 56 (or the halfway point, as I like to think of it) — how family, work, home, and self evolve and shift and bloom in a sometimes overwhelming world.”
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While the 90-minute show includes new and recent work, she says some pieces were written more than a decade ago, “but have new relevance.”
Her usual humor is part of the package and Ernst says there are also “fun facts about the vitamins and supplements and herbs I take so that I can live for a wicked long time.”
More details potential audience members should know: “I swear a little bit, I am an unabashed liberal, and everyone gets a free FACB magnet.”
Performances are at 7 p.m. Friday, Sept. 9 at Wellfleet Preservation Hall, 335 Main St., https://www.wellfleetpreservationhall.org/; 7:30 p.m. Friday, Sept. 16 at at the Cultural Center of Cape Cod, 307 Old Main St., South Yarmouth, https://www.cultural-center.org/; and 7 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 24 at the Cape Cod Theatre Company/Harwich Junior Theatre, 105 Division St., West Harwich, https://capecodtheatrecompany.org/.
Play in development looks at racism
Playwright Judith Partelow will bring together a cast of 18 for a free, first public reading of a new play, “Neighbors,” at 2 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 11 at Cotuit Center for the Arts, 4404 Falmouth Road (Route 28); https://artsonthecape.org/.
The reading is the next step in a project for which Partelow received a grant from the Arts Foundation of Cape Cod, and involves a collaboration with people of diverse races and religions.
“My proposal was to bring people together who might not otherwise have the opportunity to work together, and to present something to audiences that would be informative and entertaining,” she explains via email.
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The overall subject is racism, and Partelow describes the play as “a series of situations — many of which have actually taken place here on Cape Cod, or to people who live here.” The script explores how people can try to understand racism, address it and overcome it.
“There are some hard truths and lighter moments,” she says, describing the cast as including “African Americans, Cape Verdeans, Asians, Caucasians and Native Americans.” Collaborators include Robin Joyce Miller, Mwalim Peters and Lee Roscoe.
The reading will include a chance for audience feedback, moderated by Cape Cod Times columnist Larry Brown, according to Partelow.
Contact Kathi Scrizzi Driscoll at kdriscoll@capecodonline.com. Follow on Twitter: @KathiSDCCT.
This article originally appeared on Cape Cod Times: Cape Cod theater: Finding humor in aging, vitamins, tackling racism
