Theatre AUM: "The Birdz"

Take a 5th Century BC "Old Comedy" by Aristophanes that castigated the Olympian gods and satirized the government hierarchy while promoting a takeover to create a kind of Utopian social order that afforded everyone the right to determine their own ends; now turn it into a raucous 21st Century AD comedy that promotes a "woke" awareness, and celebrates "diversity, equity, and inclusion": the result is Theatre AUM's lively, R-rated The Birdz, director Neil David Seibel's adaptation of the Greek master's The Birds.

Mr. Seibel has reduced a very long play into a mere 75-minutes of sheer rowdy entertainment with song and dance, and several messages that were well received by an attentive audience. 

Peisetairos [Meadow Lokey] and his friend Euelpides [Jay Russell] are dissatisfied with the restrictions of life as they know it, and set out to join the birds of the air to enjoy a perceived unrestricted freedom by becoming birds themselves. And they encounter mistrust and gradual acceptance by the birds they meet: Trochilus [Worth Harris], Epops [Atticus O'Banner] and Procne [Daylyn Knox]. -- Grace Brennan and Terrell Portis join them in several roles each that add challenges to achieving the goals set forth by the two leads.

Scenic design by Ada Withers uses periaktoi that swivel to depict scene changes, and provides various platforms and steps to afford ample performing space; Tyranny Causey's clever colorful costumes are delightful; and projections by Michael James Pritchard and Ada Withers are aptly cartoonish.

It's all very silly and "camp", and the ensemble seem to be enjoying themselves. They've got strong singing voices too. Plus, they're all rather talented in producing characters who, for all their preposterousness, make us think about the world today and wonder at how we might appear to future generations.

Cloverdale Playhouse: "The Book of Will"

Opening night of the Cloverdale Playhouse's intelligently entertaining production of The Book. of Will played to an enthusiastic full-house, responding to director Sam Wootten's ensemble actors tracking the series of challenges leading up to the publication of William Shakespeare's First Folio compilation of his plays. 

The script by prolific playwright Lauren Gunderson is a fictionalized account of actual events as Shakespeare's friends and acting colleagues Henry Condell [J.Scott Grinstead] and John Heminges [Christopher Crockett] recognize that the Bard's works could easily disappear or be conscripted by lesser talents unless the accurate texts are printed to preserve his legacy. "Publish or vanish; that's the choice". And the world is better off that they succeeded.

Facing seemingly unsurmountable odds -- finding complete scripts and piecing some of them together from available "sides" used by actors, securing funding, sacrificing friendships and family concerns, identifying a reliable individual to print an expensive volume -- much of the play follows the ups and downs of their quest. And though we know the result ahead of time, Gunderson and the Playhouse cohort maintain the suspense.

But Gunderson's play is more than a suspenseful story. Listed as "the most produced living playwright in America" for the third time this year, her plays include a variety of styles and genres, contain an array of subjects often based on historical people and events, address feminist agendas, and are written in language accessible to contemporary audiences regardless of historical setting. -- In The Book of Will, her focus on Shakespeare's legacy lives side by side with considerations of the value of lasting friendship and loyalty to friends and family, the importance of women who are too often ignored, and the power of theatre itself to make audiences think about their own humanity.

Mr. Grinstead and Mr. Crockett show their characters' different approaches to the task [emotional investment vs. practical considerations], and are abetted by their spouses [Sarah Kay and Julie Janson] as well as Heminges' daughter Alice [an impressive Olive Henninger], and a coterie of actors portraying multiple roles. Take your pick; each one makes a strong impression.

Played on Mr. Grinstead's flexible unit set, and with luscious Tudor-influenced costumes by Suzanne Booth, The Book of Will transports us to the past while reminding us of the universals of friendship, family, and legacy.

ASF: "Murder on the Orient Express"

All aboard, for the Alabama Shakespeare Festival's stunning production of Murder on the Orient Express that opened their 2025-2026 Season in fine form!

It is one of Agatha Christie's most popular whodunnit murder mysteries featuring masterful Belgian detective Hercule Poirot, whose "little grey cells" have to work overtime to deduce a murderer's identity and enact justice. -- Many actors have portrayed Poirot [Albert Finney, Kenneth Branagh, David Suchet, among others], and while in ASF's Artistic Director Quin Gresham's iteration, Chris Mixon looks a lot like Suchet's persona, he does not mimic him but rather creates an intelligent, determined, and confident sleuth who can astonish us through his adept maneuverings.

The adaptation by Ken Ludwig [the fourth Ludwig production in just over a year] contains all the suspense of its source, with some added wit and theatricality thrown in. Containing many staples of the murder-mystery genre [a suspicious murder, a curious array of suspects stranded by a storm with little communication from the outside, lots of misleading clues, a brilliant detective, and a final revelation], much of the audience enjoyment stems from trying to figure it all out before the end. And Gresham and his ensemble sustain the suspense through till the final moments. -- But there is more to it...a good deal of attention is focused on the moral obligations of the law and justice.

Some years before the action begins, young child Daisy Armstrong was murdered, but the culprit was never caught. Now we see gathered in the first-class carriages of the Orient Express, a mix of colorful characters en route, with Poirot on board by circumstance. Overnight a murder of one of the passengers occurs when the train is stalled by an avalanche; the perpetrator could not have left the train, so all the other passengers are suspects...but who had the motive and opportunity to do the crime? And what, if any, connection to little Daisy's death could there be?

The ensemble actors [Axel Avin, Jr., Tarah Flanagan, Daniel Harray, Susannah Hoffman, Greta Lambert, Jesse Manocherian, Gustavo Marquez, Jean McCormick, Michael McKensie, Max Monnig, Cassia Thompson] create memorable personae in supporting Mr. Mixon, affecting an assortment of international accents befitting their roles, and deftly dropping clues and shifting possible guilt to others in their company, and for Poirot and us to deduce. 

Production values of the highest caliber enhance the experience: Stephen Gifford's design of the opulent train and its fixtures and moveable parts exquisitely transports us to the 1930s, while Garth Dunbar's period and character-driven costumes add credence to actor portrayals. -- Lighting [Jared Sayer], Sound [Ryan Matthew Hall], and sophisticated Projections [Kylee Loera] complete the visual delight of this production.

The entire two-hour ride keeps us guessing from start to finish. We are carried along by Ludwig's script, stunning visual effects, and the adroitness of Gresham's directing, relying on the gifted actors to engage us and leave us satisfied. And giving thought to how the justice system works, or ought to.

Pike Road: "Little Women; the Broadway musical"

Luisa May Alcott's beloved 19th Century novel Little Women has been read by millions, and has had several stage, film, and television versions over the years. -- In 2005, it appeared on Broadway in a musical version starring Sutton Foster as the central character/narrator, Jo March, a would-be author and passionate ground-breaking young woman challenging the patriarchal world she was born into. -- And this is the production now being staged by the Pike Road Theatre Company at the Faulkner University theatre.

Directed by Jason Morgan the ten ensemble actors are graced with excellent singing voices in this iteration of Alcott's novel, one that retains much of the essential plot elements, but cuts so much of the original material that leaves little room for character development. -- Perhaps it doesn't matter so much to people familiar with the book.

Set mainly in Massachusetts during the American Civil War, the plot revolves around the four March sisters and their mother [they call her Marmee] who eke out a living while their father is away at the war: Meg [Stephanie Coppock] the eldest and most traditionally sensible one; next is the aforementioned  tomboy Jo ]Kristen Vanderwal]; third is shy, sickly, and musically inclined Beth [Ansley Quallio]; and last, the spoiled artistic Amy [Grayson Hataway]. Sarah Carlton plays Marmee with a staunch spirit and love for her family. And wealthy Aunt March [Candi Morton] insists that the "little women" adhere to the rigid dictates of polite society.

Neighbors Mr. Laurence [Lee Bridges] and his grandson Laurie [Nick Johnson] come to their aid at times. Laurie is infatuated by Jo, and Laurie's tutor Mr. Brooke [Tanner Parrish] quickly falls for Meg.

A secondary location is in a New York boarding house run my Mrs. Kirk [Candi Norton again] where Jo meets Professor Baer [Kevin Morton] a German immigrant who takes an interest in Jo's writing and offers candid advice on her efforts while clearly becoming attracted to her.

It's a coming-of-age story that tracks the lives of this group who demonstrate the value of family solidarity when challenged by sibling rivalries, social norms, romantic interests, and budding feminism.

Jo's swashbuckling stories are enacted by her sisters for entertainment, though there is little chance they will be published. She has to find her own voice rather than copying the pulp fiction of the day.

There is a long exposition and some pleasant music that the actors present affably and confidently. However, the production needs to achieve a solid balance between the recorded score and the too often deafening volume of the singers' voices. -- And lighting frequently left actors' faces in deep shadows that made then hard to see. -- Perhaps the opening night glitches will be managed soon.

Musical highlights were: Marmee's "Here Alone", Laurie's "Take a Chance on Me", Beth and Mr. Laurence singing "Off to Massachusetts", Jo's "Astonishing", a very touching "Some Things are Meant to Be" by Beth and Jo, and a lovely rendering of Professor Baer and Jo's duet "Small Umbrella in the Rain".

Little Women; the Broadway musical ought to draw in the crowds in this family-friendly version of an American classic.

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