HISTORY LESSONS WITH LAUGHS

F. J. Hartland

Three actresses from Thoreau MN—A production company braved swarms of gnats and oppressive humidity to perform an outdoor production of The Complete History of America (Abridged).

You have to admire their courage for performing without a net…or lights…or a microphone…or a real stage.  In many ways it harkens back to the days of ancient Greece, when actors performed on a hillside with no fuss or frills.

The script by Adam Long, Reed Martin and Austin Tichenor (the same team that have reduced The Bible and the works of Shakespeare) covers the history of America from even before the arrival of Columbus in 1492.  When the script is good, it is witty and clever.  When it’s not good, it’s sophomoric and resembles a fraternity skit from some college’s Greek Week.  Much of the material was probably ad-libbed by the creators who originally performed the show.  And sometimes when ad-libs are written as real “lines,” they tend to go “clunk.”

The actresses (Chelsea Forbes, Barb Sawatis and Marjie Stewart) work very hard (and in this heat wave, no less).  Like the script, they have some good moments; others moments, not so good.  At times, they mesh and perform like a well-oiled machine.  But there are times when they don’t always “click.”

Director lance-eric skapura keeps the show moving at a lively pace—and is to be commended for choosing this difficult script.

There really is no set or lights to talk about, but I will say that the printed signs used during the show need to be bigger—or bolder (and the actors need to hold them up long enough so that they can be read).

There are some good belly laughs, but overall it’s an uneven production.  On the plus side, it is performed at the Vineyard by Mellon—so the delicious wine is available before the show and during intermission.

The Complete History of America (Abridged) will be performed again on August 6.  For tickets, call 412-901-0639.

This entry was posted on 24. July 2011 at 17:13 and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response or trackback from your own site.

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