Finish the Cape Cod summer with good theater: 5 plays our critics say you should see
What did our reviewers think of shows new to or still on Cape Cod stages this week?
Here's a look at productions of "Circle Mirror Transformation" at Cotuit Center for the Arts; "The Revolutionists" at Wellfleet Harbor Actors Theater; "Something Rotten" at the Academy Playhouse in Orleans; "From the Heart of the Wreck" at Cape Rep Theatre in Brewster; and "Frozen" at Harbor Stage Company in Wellfleet.
"Circle Mirror Transformation”
By Sue Mellen
Written by: Annie Baker, directed by Celia Krefter, presented by Cotuit Center for the Arts.
What it's about: It seems innocent enough. Five Vermonters come together in a drama class at the community center in the small town of Shirley. We’ve all taken these kinds of classes as a stress-free way to get out of the house and get through a long New England winter. But — you guessed it — the class turns out to be anything but stress-free, as the participants confront secrets from their pasts, build new relationships and batter others to the breaking point.
Marty (Davien Gould), the class instructor, leads the would-be Oscar winners in a series of exercises apparently designed to teach them to dig deep inside. One moment the actors (played by Bonnie Fairbanks, Ricky Bourgeois, Robert Boch and Talia Hankin) are posing as inanimate objects like sturdy oaks and soft, cushiony beds; the next, they are sharing secrets they thought they’d laid to rest. “Digging deep” exposes the fledgling actors’ soft underbellies, including a possible romantic relationship and a potentially troubled marriage.
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See it or not: Go for a touching look at how we humans fall apart and come together.
Highlight of the show: This, of course, is a study in human relationships, with the acting class a device for bringing people together in an atmosphere designed to dredge up emotions. That makes it critical that the actors know their characters inside and out and portray relationships that seem authentic to the audience. The players seem inextricably connected as they venture from one relationship landmine to the next. Gould is especially touching as the teacher watching her class affect her own relationship. Perhaps director Krefter and drama consultant Kim Baker turned rehearsals into experiential acting classes of their own to construct these relationships.
Fun fact: The experiential drama class portrayed brings to mind some of the experimental acting programs of the 1950s and ‘60s, including Lee Strasberg’s famous Actors Studio.
Worth noting: The company performs the play in its intimate Morton and Vivian Sigel Black Box Theater, the perfect venue for a show that deals with subjects that are, well, intimate. And the set is sparse and spare, making the relationship-building the clear focus.
One more thing: Baker uses Shirley, Vermont as the setting for two of her other plays, “Body Awareness” and “The Aliens.” She once detailed for Huntington Theatre Company in Boston that the town was Windsor County and had a population of 14,023 in the 2000 census.
If you go: 7:30 p.m. Sept. 2-3, and 8-10; 4 p.m. Sept. 4 and 11 in the Black Box theater at Cotuit Center for the Arts, 4404 Falmouth Road (Route 28); $25; 508-428-0669, https://artsonthecape.org/
‘The Revolutionists’
By Kathi Scrizzi Driscoll
Written by: Lauren Gunderson; directed by Megan Nussle; presented by Wellfleet Harbor Actors Theater
What it’s about: This very pointed comedy puts a new perspective on history as it focuses on the female point of view in 1793 Paris during the French Revolution’s Reign of Terror. In a fictional meeting and paean to sisterhood and women taking a stand — sororité to fight fraternité — four women try to use words and actions to change the world for the better while facing the threat of the guillotine. Three are historical characters: playwright Olympe de Gouges (Christina Leidel); assassin Charlotte Corday (Hannah Hakim), killer of radical and deadly leader Jean-Paul Marat; and deposed queen Marie Antoinette (Paige O’Connor). Plus there’s Haitian rebel Marianne Angelle (Andreá Bellamore), a composite character representing free Black revolutionaries fighting France’s slavery in what was then the resource-rich Saint Domingue.
See it or not: Gunderson’s fast-moving and fast-talking play is a torrent of ideas potently mixed with laughs. The WHAT production is as absorbing as it is supremely entertaining, with a quartet of standout performances under Nussle’s stellar direction. This centuries-old “history” play first produced in 2015 is unfortunately up to the minute as it references fighting for women’s agency over their own bodies, and offers an important reminder to notice who has been telling the history you hear – and how often it has not been women. “Don’t settle for the stories they’re giving you” is one of dozens of key lines that could help some people reconsider what they think they know.
Highlights of the show: The cast and Nussle have succeeded in making every single performance a tour de force, and the actresses make you care very much about this convincing, often passionate and powerful quartet. And as much as you’ll laugh, there is also raw emotion here. While the script becomes somewhat overlong and repetitive in Act 2 – focusing too much on how theater and artistic activism can change thinking when the point has been made – the characters and the believable connection created between them and with the audience keep you riveted.
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Leidel’s appealing Olympe struggles between her desire for audience approval of her rare artistic success as a woman, her desire to use her words to save her beloved France, and her paralyzing fear for her own safety. Hakim’s Charlotte is full of fiery good intentions, courageous yet reckless in her need to sacrifice herself because Marat must be stopped. Bellamore creates Marianne as the quartet’s steady and determined heart, focusing the women on doing what’s right even as she suffers personally and pushes that people remember the freedom and equality being fought for in France should also extend to their Black slaves. O’Connor’s Marie Antoinette is hilarious in her early self-absorption, but also endearing when she adds important warmth and compassion to the humor as she realizes the potential of these women.
Fun facts: Gunderson, who lists herself on her website as playwright/screenwriter/feminist, was named the most produced playwright in America by American Theatre Magazine in both 2017 and 2019/2020. Nussle, making her WHAT debut, is founding artistic director of Campfire Quorum, a new nonprofit theater company currently “camped out” (and usually creating outdoor productions) on the Outer Cape.
One more thing: David Orlando’s lighting design, and the sound design by Grace Oberhofer (who says in her program bio that she “likes to tell stories about women — either real or imagined — who are not perfect but rather, amazing”) add crucial and often clever atmosphere and drama that take the overall production to a higher level.
If you go: 8 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays and 4 p.m. Sundays through Sept. 17 on the Julie Harris Stage at Wellfleet Harbor Actors Theater, 2357 Route 6; $25-$40 with discounts for seniors and $15 for students; 508-349-9428, http://www.what.org/.
'Something Rotten'
By Shannon Goheen
Written by: Book by Karey Kirkpatrick and John O’Farrell; music and lyrics written by and show conceived by Karey Kirkpatrick and Wayne Kirkpatrick; presented by The Academy of Performing Arts
What it’s about: It’s the Renaissance and two brothers, one a poet and one a playwright/director, get dropped by their patron, who is unimpressed with their latest play. They suffer in the shadow of their nemesis, Renaissance rock star William Shakespeare. In desperation, older brother Nick Bottom (Rob O’Grady) hires soothsayer Nostradamus (Fred Carpenter) to predict the next big thing in theater. Nostradamus predicts “Hamlet” plus the unheard-of concept of “the musical” (but gets some facts wrong). The brothers struggle with “Omelet, the Musical” instead, much to the chagrin of younger brother and poet Nigel Bottom (Oliver Kuehn). Shakespeare meddles in the brothers’ business, as does busybody Brother Jeremiah (Andrew Haber) and they find themselves in an unfortunate predicament. The elder Bottom’s clever wife, Bea (Denise Page), enlists Shakespeare’s help and all is resolved.
See it or not: This farce is totally silly but thoroughly entertaining.
Highlight of the show: Of all the ensemble songs, “We See the Light” stands out. It’s a well-done spectacle of singing, costuming and stage design. Another great musical moment is “Right Hand Man, Reprise” sung by Page to Kuehn. Her voice is strong and true and the sentiment she creates is the turning point that creates order out of chaos. The biggest crowd pleaser is “Make an Omelet” that features the whole company, while also featuring a play within the play.
Fun fact: The brains behind the musical have interesting backgrounds. Karey Kirkpatrick has worked for Disney, Paramount and Warner Bros, and brother Wayne is a Grammy Award-winning songwriter. They conceived and co-wrote the play and music with O’Farrell, who’s a British comic author and novelist. First produced on Broadway in 2015, the play was nominated for nine Tony Awards.
Worth noting: References to modern works get laughs and guffaws as old English prose is intermingled with one-liners from “Fiddler on the Roof,” “Cinderella,” “Cats,” “The Sound of Music,” “Phantom of the Opera” and others. Sexual references and bawdy language are not ideal for children but older teens will appreciate the jokes.
One more thing: Lots of high-energy dancing, tap-dancing and choreography from the age-diverse cast keep the spectacle roaring ahead. Those with solo roles have good voices and although the musical numbers aren’t exactly Rodgers and Hammerstein or Sondheim, they still entertain. There’s no brainwork or introspection here – only fun!
If you go: 7 p.m. Thursdays through Saturdays and 2 p.m. Sundays through Sept. 11 at the Academy Playhouse, 120 Main St., Orleans; $35; $11 for under age 16; 508-255-1963 or info@academyplayhouse.org; https://www.academyplayhouse.org/.
‘From the Heart of the Wreck'
By Jay Pateakos
Written by: Kirsten Peacock and Nick Nudler; presented by Cape Rep Theatre
What it’s about: This world-premiere play follows three storytellers enacting — through humor and swashbuckling escapades — the journey of the famous pirate Samuel Bellamy and his mysterious love, known as the Witch of Wellfleet, and the events leading to the wreck of his ship Whydah off the coast of Cape Cod.
See it or not? See it. This is a 65-minute show filled with a ton of humor, some great history and superior acting.
Highlight of the show: Nudler as Bellamy and Peacock as Goody Hallett, considered in local folklore as the “Witch of Wellfleet,” are phenomenal in their truly haunting roles.
Fun fact: Peacock and Nudler, who had previously acted and written short pieces for Cape Rep, created and wrote the show with the rest of the cast’s help after Cape Rep leaders suggested the Bellamy-Hallett romance as a possibility for storytelling. It’s rare to see a show’s creators and writers in such pivotal roles, but we are all the better for it.
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Worth noting: The supporting performances by Cape Rep favorite Ari Lew and Cape Rep newcomers BT Hayes and Coleman Churchill were beyond a treat. I was not expecting to laugh this hard at a pirate story.
One more thing: Pay attention to the acting, especially that of Peacock, whose stellar performance made you believe she was the “Witch of Wellfleet,” whose actions didn't fit in with the Puritan rules of the time.
If you go: 7 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday and 2 p.m. Sundays through Sept. 10 at Cape Rep Theatre, 3299 Route 6A, Brewster; https://caperep.org/
“Frozen”
By Paul Babin
Written by: Bryony Lavery; directed by Jonathan Fielding; presented by Harbor Stage Company
What it’s about: Rhona Shirley, age 10, was walking to her grandma’s house when the killer approached her. She was unconscious when he sexually assaulted her and then suffocated her with polythene sheeting. Her mother, Nancy, holds out hope that Rhona is alive; that is, until her remains are discovered in a nearby shed alongside those of other murdered children.
Lavery’s play is less about Rhona’s murder, though, than the struggles of the people left to survive in the wake of tragedy. Can Nancy learn to forgive her daughter’s killer, a psychopath named Ralph Wantage, who has since been convicted and sentenced to life in prison? Will Ralph ever feel remorse for committing such evil acts, and can he summon the courage to apologize to Nancy? Will Dr. Agnetha Gottmundsdottir, a psychiatrist from the New York School of Medicine, arrive at new insights about Ralph’s crimes by studying his brain?
See it or not: You cannot afford to miss these performances.
Highlights of the show: Robert Kropf is eerily convincing as Ralph, particularly in the mesmerizing scene where he attempts to draft an apology letter to Nancy. Rather than overplay the killer’s emotions, Kropf portrays Ralph as an insecure, psychologically damaged man-child. Plagued by memories of his abusive father, Ralph’s monstrous behavior is oddly understandable given his horrific upbringing. And Stacy Fischer is equally impressive as Agnetha, the play’s most complex character. Fischer plays Agnetha as a fundamentally decent young professional who’s willing to accept the notion that Ralph’s psychopathy may be the result of brain damage he suffered as a child.
D’Arcy Dersham delivers a beautifully restrained performance as Nancy, the play’s most profound sufferer. Dersham’s vacant stares speak volumes about Nancy’s precarious emotional state.
Fun fact: Lavery’s writing credits extend beyond the stage. In addition to writing for television and radio, she has penned several non-fiction books including a biography of actress Tallulah Bankhead.
Worth noting: In 2004, New Yorker writer Malcolm Gladwell accused Lavery of plagiarizing portions of the play from a 1997 profile he wrote about psychiatrist Dorothy Lewis. After interviewing Lavery and reading the script, Gladwell changed his tune. As he would later write: “Instead of feeling that my words had been taken from me, I felt that they had become part of some grander cause.”
One more thing: The show begins as a series of monologues. Each character bares their soul to the audience, but it’s not immediately clear that they will ever speak to one another. As the traumatic events unfold, their lives slowly begin to intersect until, finally, they address each other on stage.
If you go: 7:30 p.m. Thursdays through Saturdays and 5 p.m. Sundays through Sept. 4 at Harbor Stage Company, 15 Kendrick Ave., Wellfleet; $25; 508-514-1763, http://www.harborstage.org/
This article originally appeared on Cape Cod Times: Cape Cod theater plays reviewed: Cotuit, Wellfleet, Brewster, Orleans
