ASF: "Macbeth"

"Fair is foul, and foul is fair" is a refrain often repeated or suggested throughout the Alabama Shakespeare Festival production of Macbeth, showing on the Festival Stage for the next two weeks only. This all-too-short run of the Bard's shortest tragedy, called "the Scottish play" by many superstitious theatre folk, and often considered a compliment to England's first Stuart monarch: James I [James VI of Scotland] who reigned when the play was written c.1606, is an action-packed, visually stunning foray into the realm of a power-obsessed couple that resonates in the 21st Century.

Adroitly directed by Rick Dildine, whose "goal of creating a timeless folktale" is reflected in a mixture of music choices that underscore or compliment the action and costume choices that approximate a number of time periods, this Macbeth's focus on the seductive corruption that power inflicts on its hero can't help but connect us to heads-of-state who are willing to sacrifice anyone who gets in the way of their quest to rule.

Though audiences today say that they go to "see" a play, Elizabethan audiences went to "hear" a play in order to submerge themselves in the sounds and poetic rhythms of the dialogue; so it is a pleasure to hear Shakespeare's words spoken with confidence by such ASF veterans as Greta Lambert, Chris Mixon, Ann Arvia, Chauncy Thomas, and Christopher Gerson -- words that advance the plot, develop character relationships, stress the play's themes, and stimulate audience imagination. -- And this, regrettably, is the only time in this ASF Season to "hear" a classical play.

The "fair is foul" theme contrasts appearance and reality in so many ways: Do the Witches [Ann Arvia, Greta Lambert, April Armstrong] control or merely prophesy events that lead battle-triumphant hero Macbeth [Benjamin Bonenfant] and Lady Macbeth [Meghan Andrews] to murder King Duncan [Christopher Gerson] and set them on their disastrous course? The Macbeths' plan to "...look like the innocent flower,/But be the serpent under't" underscores the theme. The Witches' prophecies appear to be impossible, but are ironically accurate; and their proclaiming that Banquo [Cordell Cole] is "Lesser than Macbeth and greater./Not so happy, yet much happier/ [because]Thou shall get kings, though thou be none" infects Macbeth and urges him on. Even Duncan's description of Macbeth's castle at Inverness paints a bright and welcoming place that makes the dark and sinister murder even more impactful. Strategically placed just after Duncan's murder, the drunken Porter [a masterful portrayal by Chris Mixon], equivocates with a series of perhaps the first "knock-knock jokes" that testify to the unnatural behavior of the protagonist, and mark a turning point in the action to follow.

As the power-couple, Mr. Bonenfant and Ms. Andrews have a vibrant chemistry; it is clear from the outset that their passions and mutual understanding of each other's strengths and weaknesses seem to mark them for greatness, but as their choices to eliminate anyone who gets in their way -- Lady Macduff [Laura Darrell] and her family, for example -- drive them to their respective tragic ends, we witness the numbing effect of their actions, and are horrified by the disintegration of their marriage. Ms. Andrews' "sleepwalking scene" and Mr. Bonenfant's "Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow" speech encapsulate the degree of their collapse.

As Scotland is falling apart under Macbeth's sway, opposing forces gather; and in a striking scene that elevates them to potential heroic status, Macduff [Justin Blanchard] urges Duncan's heir Malcolm [Anthony Michael Martinez] to take up arms and set things aright, at the same time he hears of the slaughter of his family. -- And the climactic battle makes Macduff victorious and restores the crown to Malcolm, its rightful owner.

Played on a stunning but simple platform set designed by William Boles that affords maximum fluidity of the action, and with dynamic fight choreography by Paul Dennhardt, Mr. Dildine's exciting production of Macbeth provokes ASF audiences to engage with Shakespeare's words and ideas, and to think about them as they apply today. And that's what good theatre ought to do. 

Theatre AUM: "Good Trouble: A Showcase"

Theatre AUM's Good Trouble: A Showcase had an all-too-short run last weekend. Short in two senses: only five performances, and each performance running between 20-30 minutes. It featured AUMcappella vocal group under Dr. Mark Benson's direction, and a five person acting ensemble who presented an assortment of monologues, songs, and quotes in tribute to Civil Rights icon John Lewis and the importance of his challenging message for people to get into what he called "good trouble" as a moral obligation to say or do something to help correct the racial inequities in America.

Directed by Val Winkelman, and strategically produced just before Black History Month, much of the content of the brief selections might be well-known to the audience [John Lewis's words, references to "Black Lives Matter" and the Pulse nightclub incident, To Kill a Mockingbird], and some not quite so familiar [Paul Robeson, No Place to be Somebody].

Bookended with songs: "Ain't gonna let nobody turn me around" performed by AUMcappella, and "Glory" from the film Selma performed by the acting troupe, there are some powerful moments that resonate over time that amplify the necessity for change in our society.

With COVID protocols in place [both actors and audiences wore masks], the challenges for the actors to speak slowly, distinctly, and energetically were not always met, leaving audiences struggling at times to hear the words and receive the impact behind them. Nonetheless, the young ensemble were committed to their roles, and delivered an important message for all of us to do better.

Wetumpka Depot: "Popcorn Falls"

For its 42nd Season opener, the Wetumpka Depot is showing the 2019 Off-Broadway hit Popcorn Falls, by James Hindman. -- Following in the long tradition of the Greater Tuna franchise and The Mystery of Irma Vep, two actors play numerous characters in madcap antics, and keep audiences entertained and impressed by their skills for a masked COVID-safe evening's entertainment.

In this case, the actors under Cushing Phillips' confident direction are two veteran Depot stalwarts: Jeff Langham and Kim Mason, whose award-winning acting and directing credits in Wetumpka and across the River Region are admirable. Their reputations will continue to be lauded with this production that showcases their ample talents.

The premise [as in many farcical enterprises] is convoluted: the fictitious town of Popcorn Falls is bankrupt, its namesake waterfall is dry, the town's boundaries have been re-drawn to benefit a corrupt businessman who is willing to destroy the town and build a sewage treatment plant, and even though  there is a connection to George Washington there, the only way to save the town is for the mayor and citizens who call themselves Popcorn Falls "kernels" to utilize an almost forgotten financial grant to put on a play in seven days.

With no theatre experience, but with a lot of passion, the mish-mash of eccentric townsfolk go on a roller coaster ride of writing and auditioning roles for the show, lots of trial and error, wide-eyed optimism, weather disasters, personality conflicts, tentative romantic interludes, and the deadline drawing ever closer as rehearsals fall apart. 

So, there is some tension in the script, but our attention is riveted on the actors. Their ability to transform into so many distinct characters by simply switching hats, coats, or eyeglasses, and by deftly changing vocal textures and physical postures in the blink of an eye, and occasionally playing more than one character in a scene, Mr. Langham and Ms. Mason provide an impressive master-class in comic performance. 

Popcorn Falls is a welcome respite from the Winter doldrums; it lifts our spirits with its messages that "everything happens for a reason" and that "theatre brings us together".

Wetumpka Depot: "Christmas at the Canteen"

 For some family friendly holiday Entertainment with a capital "E", Adrian Lee Bush's Christmas at the Canteen fits the bill at the Wetumpka Depot. -- A nostalgic 90-minute non-stop melange of song and dance set in a replicated World War II canteen for service men and women, this show should get everyone into the Christmas spirit.

Ms. Bush has gathered a multi-talented 13-member ensemble who weave their assorted back stories and relationships with an array of standard holiday songs and dynamic tap dances led by choreographer Daniel Grant Harms, whose mastery is evident in every step.

The recorded instrumental soundtrack could benefit from higher volume at times, especially in group numbers, to establish pitch and rhythm for the company; but that's a minor quibble in an otherwise vibrant celebration of Christmas. It is an effervescent evening out.

With its mix of reliably familiar classics, novelty numbers, comic bits, and recorded wartime messages from President Roosevelt and Prime Minister Winston Churchill to remind us of our own need for peace and understanding, Christmas at the Canteen encourages all of us to welcome the holidays by showing humankind's best characteristics that will leave audiences smiling and happy to be in one another's company.

Cloverdale Playhouse: "Every Christmas Story Ever Told (And Then Some!)"

Local theatre offerings abound for the Holiday Season, and The Cloverdale Playhouse is showing a partly scripted/partly improvised laugh-fest with Every Christmas Story Ever Told (And Then Some!). This popular comic mash-up of reliable Christmas fare by Michael Carleton, James FitzGerald, and John K. Alvarez has been making the rounds at theatre across the country since 2003.

Played by a trio of actors who each take on multiple roles -- Sarah Housley, John Selden, and Hunter Stewart -- and at the Playhouse abetted by an Australian warm-up comedian [Nick Morgan-Moore], the success of the show depends on the audience's input and participation as well as the acting and improvisational skills of its nimble cast.

Directed by J. Scott Grinstead on a forced perspective Dickensian set he also designed, with inventive costumes by Katie Pearson, zany props by Rita Tidwell, evocative lighting by Chris Roquemore, creative sound design by Jason Grinstead, and atmospheric projections by Mr. Roquemore and Clyde Hancock, the flexible nature of the script also allows for local Montgomery references and acknowledgements of current events to liven up the proceedings.

After an extended warm-up that sets a relaxed tone to the evening, the matter at hand is that one of the rag-tag theatre company members' determination to perform A Christmas Carol is continually thwarted by the others who want to explore alternate plays for their group...and we're off as they deliver on the title's promise, assisted by suggestions from the audience and a couple of audience members being conscripted to join them on stage.

With outlandish versions of and references to The Grinch Who Stole Christmas, Rudolph, Frosty the Snowman, the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, 2001 A Space Odyssey, Misfit Toys, A Christmas Story, The Gift of the Magi, The Nutcracker, Star Wars, and pretty much every Christmas song and every celebrity who appeared on a television special at Christmastime, the impish delight of the actors is evident throughout...and their collective skills are impressive. Several of the scripted sections are quite demanding; yet is in the improvised moments that their abilities and ensemble performances shine.

At a time when we need to laugh and forget about the world's problems, this production is a welcome antidote.

ASF: "A Christmas Carol"

During last year's lockdown, the Alabama Shakespeare Festival community could only download Greta Lambert's delightful one-person adaptation of the 1843 Charles Dickens novella, A Christmas Carol; this year, with all COVID protocols in place and enforced [thank you again ASF for doing your part to keep theatergoers safe], Ms. Lambert's live and in-person performance on the intimate Octagon stage will make you laugh and cry, but most of all exercise your imagination as you listen attentively to its pertinent messages of hope for humankind. 

No stranger to editing other classics [witness the numerous brilliant adaptations of Shakespeare she has developed over the years], this 75-minute version of A Christmas Carol weaves its magic and engages audiences as Ms. Lambert brings to life its narrator and a myriad of familiar characters.

While most staged and filmed productions of A Christmas Carol emphasize spectacle [nothing wrong with that], the key to Ms. Lambert's remarkable performance is storytelling and staying true to her primary source. -- Yes, Ebeneezer Scrooge starts out as a "squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scraping, clutching, covetous old sinner" prone to exclaiming "Bah, humbug!" at the mere mention of Christmas, and through the intervention of the ghost of his "dead as a doornail" business partner Jacob Marley and visitations from the Ghosts of Christmases Past, Present, and Yet-to come, is reclaimed and ends up as a benevolent and generous man who possesses the true spirit of Christmas all the year long.

Ms. Lambert is so respectful of Dickens's composition that her judicious editing maintains the flow of the narrative and targets its important and essential moments. But there is more.

Dickens composed his masterpiece by dividing it into "Staves" [i.e. musical staffs] with such colorfully delicious words that Ms. Lambert speaks so eloquently, attending to the rhythms of speech and the vivid descriptions of places and characters, so that the music of the words is enhanced, and all our senses are engaged. 

She invites us to visualize the details of Victorian London and such characters as the diminutive cripple Tiny Tim, the effervescent Mr. Fezziwig, and Scrooge's ever optimistic nephew Fred; we can almost taste the meager banquet at Bob Cratchitt's table and the opulent array of foods surrounding the Ghost of Christmas Present; we can smell the roasting chestnuts as well as Old Joe's dank backstreet shop; we shiver in the winter's cold and warm ourselves by a toasty fireside, and tremble along with Scrooge as he awaits his fate; we hear the crunch of footsteps in the snow and the joyous peal of church bells on Christmas morning. -- Truly, music to the ears of the opening night audience who were wrapt with attention to Ms. Lambert as she recounted Ebeneezer Scrooge's journey.

With nuanced direction by Rick Dildine, and with a set and lighting by Jeff Behm and sound design by Melanie Chen Cole that become the play's supporting characters without intruding on the narrative or performance, Ms. Lambert triumphs in her masterful version of A Christmas Carol, one which leaves us with hope for the future and a challenge to all of us to witness Tiny Tim's prayer: "God bless us, every one".

ASF: "Cinderella"

Thank you, Alabama Shakespeare Festival -- keeping safety first with mask mandates, proof of a negative COVID test or COVID vaccination documentation, and digital programs only -- about the only infectious thing about the opening night production of Cinderella was the collective actor and audience enthusiasm and sheer joy of a live in-person performance after an 18-month hiatus. If only more public places would do the same.

Though there were a few technical glitches during the two-and-a-half-hour playing time [Artistic Director Rick Dildine announced that it was the first time the company had been able to run the entire show], the on-stage magic, melodic score sung by the gifted actors, dynamic choreography by Dell Howlett, stunning costumes by Lex Liang, evocative lighting by Alan Edwards, and clever storybook sets by William Boles were all brought to delightful fruition by Director Shelley Butler and Music Director Angela Steiner and her 15-piece pit orchestra. 

The Rodgers and Hammerstein musical was given a 2013 updated script by Douglas Carter Beane, retaining the essence of the traditional story [the heroine is still put upon by her miserable step-family, her Fairy Godmother weaves her magic to enable Ella to go to the Prince's ball and find her true love, and yes, that glass slipper], but this is a Cinderella with a difference: she is, in the person of ASF newcomer Alexis Sims, a modern woman with a purpose -- to bring about needed social and political changes through kindness and concern for all citizens. 

Ms. Sims' brightness and nuanced soprano commands every moment in the central role, and her Ella's modern approach to romance includes several challenges to Prince Topher [Andrew Brewer's naïveté gradually diminishes in a subtle performance] that ultimately teach him to find the courage is so desperately needs to stand up for himself [and for all the citizens of his kingdom] against the wiles of major domo Sebastian [Robert Mammana gives us a two-faced villain] who has been manipulating the Prince for much of his life, along with his duplicitous henchman Lord Pinkleton [Brian Klimowski].

Back at her home, of course, Ella has been reduced to servant-status and is harassed by her stepmother Madame [Anne L. Nathan depicts a person we love to hate, and she delivers her caustic lines with impeccable comic timing], and stepsisters Charlotte [Alexis Tidwell's aggressive attempts to win the Prince threaten to bring down the house], and Gabrielle [Lauren Elder turns out to be a confidante and co-conspirator to Ella]; Gabrielle falls for local revolutionary Jean-Michel [Pedro Ka'awaloa], whose frustrations in politics and love make a nice counterpoint to the Ella/Prince duo.

And then, there's Ann Arvia as the eccentric Marie who changes before our eyes into Ella's Fairy Godmother. Ms. Arvia's return to ASF is most welcome, as she shrewdly controls the destinies of most of the principal characters. -- As she weaves her magic transformations of animals, a pumpkin, and Ella into footmen, a golden coach, and an elegant lady, there's little doubt that all will be set aright by the end.

While the production values are top notch, the 14-strong ensemble of dancers/singers play a multitude of roles and impress us all with their dexterity, precision and energy in interpreting the show's many dance numbers.

Rodgers and Hammerstein's reminiscent score features such familiar songs as "Me: Who am I?", "The Prince is Giving a Ball", "In My Own Little Corner", "Impossible", "Ten Minutes Ago", and "There's Music in You", all of which contribute to the plot and character relationships. With committed energy from the principles and chorus, this is a win-win combination.

ASF's Season is off to a fine start with Cinderella, a show that promises to engage audiences of all ages with its infectious spirit of kindness, a magic that is so needed today.