The Amish Project: A reflection on school shootings

by Jenni Morin

The Amish Project by Jessica Dickey exposes the residue tragedies leave in individuals’ lives with a frankness that is uniquely human. The AtticRep production, showing at The Tobin Center’s Carlos Alvarez Studio Theater through February 21, depicts the raw and stark reality a community must face as they are forced to find themselves in the aftermath.

In 2006 in Nickel Mines, Pennsylvania, a local milk truck driver opened fire in a one-room Amish schoolhouse, killing five girls and injuring five more all between the ages of 6 and 13 before killing himself. A national media story, the Nickel Mines shooting most notably showed the grace, compassion and ability to forgive on the part of the Amish people. Dickey’s script features fictional representations of people affected by the shooting, including the gunman’s widow, townspeople and shooting victims, all played by a single actress.

Sarah Gise excellently portrayed the individual characters in body and tone, exhibiting an enormous talent. The delineations between each individual were evident and the transitions fluid, while the gender of the male characters remained less obvious. Although some accents faded and mannerisms crossed as the final scene approached, the seemingly unvaried facial expressions were what kept the characters from coming alive. Director David Connelly highlighted the staccato moments of quick transitions and created time for the audience to digest some of the more poignant and thought-provoking lines. Altogether, the production felt seamless with a pace that made the subject matter approachable as well as affecting.

The technical aspects of the production helped define the characters as much as Gise’s voice and stance did. The lighting design by Tim Francis featured colors that evoked an almost visceral response to the characters they represented. Whether a pastel colored cyc, a distinctive pattern for texture, a shadow-casting television, or a sharply focused square spotlight, the lighting distinguished emotion from scene to scene. Furthering the tone of each scene were the sometimes light, often natural, mostly ominous musical selections and effects of Cole Wilson’s sound design. Of particular note was the evolution from light and carefree to dark and stormy during the pre-show, followed by chillingly deep strings and whispering winds throughout.

Dressed in a simple blue dress with white apron and bonnet, Martha Penarand’s costume design anchors the production, providing an opportunity for audiences to reset and truly consider how the lifestyle of these people has persevered their faith, innocence and, possibly, sanity. Along the lines of simplicity, Jeremiah Teutsh’s bare set, save for a sturdy wooden chair, confined Gise to an angular platform backed by a horizontally slatted fence—a nice metaphor for the seemingly random horrors the Amish see as part of a larger plan.

Whether it’s anger, grief, helplessness, fear or confusion motivating the response to tragedies like Nickel Mines, The Amish Project offers a means of processing the event and encourages a dialogue about society’s need to answer the why. Perhaps the relative pacifist nature of the script, lack of intense re-enactment, and media coverage saturated with shootings since has dampened how jarringly powerful The Amish Project was when it premiered in 2008. While today’s audiences may be jaded or numb, the messages still resonate.

All the elements of the AtticRep production of The Amish Project melded into an interesting study of human nature in the face of tragedy to create a graceful and engaging experience. In addition to a well-executed show, AtticRep encourages audiences to reflect on how these events shape personal and societal reactions and how changing those reactions can strengthen a community rather than divide it.


The Amish Project runs at the Carlos Alvarez Studio Theater at the Tobin Center through February 21 with performances at 8 p.m. Thursday through Saturday and at 2:30 p.m. Sunday. For more information and to reserve tickets, visit atticrep.org.

The Diviners: Simple yet Lingering

by Jenni Morin

The Diviners by Jim Leonard, Jr. may be about simple people, but the themes it explores delve into the depths of human nature, forces of nature and the natural cycle of life. The Sheldon Vexler Theatre delivers a lingering production that hints at these profound matters and bearing more weight in retrospect.

Travis Simpson as C.C. Showers, Isaac Oullette as Buddy
Layman, and Alexandra Eckelbarger as Jennie-Mae Layman
in The Vex production of The Diviners.

The Diviners, as the playwright notes, is about simple people with good intentions. Specifically, it zeroes in on a young boy, Buddy Layman, who has been psychologically and mentally debilitated by the death of his mother and his near drowning at an early age. While his father receives unsolicited advice on raising him and his sister cares for him without a life of her own, each character is very much a product of life in their small town in Depression era southern Indiana. When C.C. Showers, a former preacher, wanders into town, some believe their prayers have been answered, others notice his good looks, and the Laymans are happy to have someone to befriend and help look after Buddy who can predict the rain and is too afraid of water to wash. When Buddy develops ringworm, C.C. takes it upon himself to find a way to get Buddy in the water despite his protests.

Just like Buddy, The Vex’s presentation of The Diviners is a reflection of how something seemingly strange can be intriguing and beautiful. The staging by co-directors Dylan Brainard and Tami Kai feels disjointed and amiss at first, but gradually grows into a stylistic presentation, culminating in a much more affecting finale than if it had been presented without those peculiarities. The entire cast is a genuine ensemble steady in their representation of this unassuming community, although occasionally out of sync. Standout performances include Isaac Oullette as Buddy Layman, Alexandra Eckelbarger as JennieMae Layman, Laurie Fitzpatrick as Norma Henshaw, Chris Byrnes as Dewey Maples and Robert Moritz as Ferris Layman. It’s Travis Simpson’s portrayal of C.C. Showers that epitomized much of the quiet restlessness seeping from the script’s subtext.

Ken Frazier’s simple set of raked platforms, seemingly covered in dirt and framed by crates and barrels serving as seating and props, truly encapsulates the period. The most notable feature is the backdrop of water created by fabric strips in varying shades of blue, which serves as a reminder of the cleansing yet deadly element. The costumes were fitting and Yvette Oakes-Crabtree deserves a special nod for great attention to detail in distressing and dirtying the clothes and hat brims. Frazier’s lighting and Chad A. Miller’s sound design provided atmosphere and defined the scenes by washing the stage in blues and filling the space with nature’s cadence.

The Diviners supplies a medley of takeaways ripe for discussion. Its cyclical plot speaks to fate, nature’s rule, and religion’s role in shaping the inevitable. Almost as a character itself, water’s omnipotence grows as everyone tries to convince Buddy of its benevolence, only revealing Buddy’s omniscience about the element’s true nature. Minor themes of effective child rearing, resistance to technology and industrialization, appropriate relationships, and one’s true calling in life as it applies to work ethic help to round out the play’s commentary on humanity’s response to age-old questions of evolution, divinity and destiny.

The Vex production of The Diviners is an engaging and introspective theatre experience for audience members looking for a script to analyze as well as those just hoping for an escape into another time and place. Wrought with thematic gems, The Diviners delivers a deluge of analytical opportunities, while simultaneously yielding a simple and enduring story.


The Diviners will run at The Sheldon Vexler Theatre through February 28, 2016 with performances at 7:30 p.m. on Thursdays, 8 p.m. on Saturdays and 2:30 p.m. on Sundays. For more information and to purchase tickets, visit www.vexler.org.

Stage Kiss: A farcical love letter

by Jenni Morin

Sarah Ruhl concocts a perfect cocktail of romance, comedy, and insightfulness as she draws back the curtain on onstage love interests in Stage Kiss. The Playhouse San Antonio's Cellar Theater production of Stage Kiss, now showing through Feb. 14, reminds actors why they love their families and why audiences love to be swept away by the characters, situations, and connectedness of live theatre.

A rather meta-theatrical trip through a torrid romance, Ruhl has no qualms about exposing the ridiculousness of theatre and all its players through the quintessential stage kiss. When an actress is cast in a play after a decade off the boards, she attempts to make the best of having to work with her former love. Both battle succumbing to the plot of the play, no longer able to tell the person from the character when onstage kissing becomes more. Stage Kiss takes many twists, simultaneously overly theatrical and unexpected, which propel it toward the inevitable. From a random musical number to groan-worthy exposition to the plays within the play, Stage Kiss is, with all the intended irony and in the best way possible, that kind of play. Along the way, Ruhl presents several beautiful, and often critical, metaphors and observations about relationships, theatre, an actor’s craft, and reality, making it an irresistible script ripe for theatre lovers.

The Cellar Theater production of Stage Kiss is gloriously reminiscent and contemplative. Director J. Robert Moore found the delicate balance of comedy in each scene and throughout the play, but the melodic pacing and attention to the playwright’s juicy ruminations garner the highest commendation. Ryan DeRoos impressively fit two mainstage sets in the Cellar blackbox and created an apropos faux proscenium. Angela DeJano’s costumes were fitting and fun within the plays, while Denisse Chavez and Matthew Shavers’ lighting could have had a little more dramatic flare. The breakout musical numbers and tinny jazz, and somewhat vaudevillian, underscoring of Music Director Greg Bolin and Pat Smith’s sound design set the tone for a three-ring circus of a play. There were a few fumbles, inconsistencies between the tech and the script, and dismissed opportunities for immature innuendos—all forgivable flaws due to the nature of the piece.

Each of the actors wrangled the craziness into a magical and surprisingly sincere work. Renee Garvens and Tyler Keyes are magnetic scene partners and equally hilarious as their New Haven characters. Garvens and Keyes lead the cast through the zany and sentimental waves with a unique grace in both comedy and drama. Nick Lawson as the overzealous and peculiar Director Adrian Schwalbach paired with Travis Trevino as his stereotypical acting student, Kevin, create a delightful duo. Expertly and comically defining each of their multiple roles were Rainya Mosher, Brittney Thorne, and Matthew Byron Cassi, who deserves extra praise for the priceless execution of his prolonged death scene.

In the end—the real one, not the many false ones—Stage Kiss is a clever and introspective comedy with everything to love and loathe, but mostly love, in one play. While the script itself is worth the ticket, the Cellar’s production of Stage Kiss brings Ruhl’s commentary to life as a raucous and sentimental inside joke everyone wants in on.


Stage Kiss runs at The Playhouse Cellar Theater through February 14 with performances on Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. and on Sundays at 3 p.m. For more information and to reserve tickets, visit theplayhousesa.org.

The Elfin Metamorphosis

After nearly two decades, Crumpet the Elf has made his way into the holiday theatre repertoire. The Classic Theatre offers The Santaland Diaries as an “adult, ” and somewhat cynical, escape from the wintry sparkling wonderlands of holiday cheer.

David Sedaris takes audiences on a reflective, and simultaneously terrifying, journey through Macy’s SantaLand, where he once worked as an elf named Crumpet. Joe Mantello’s 55-minute adaptation hugs tightly to the twists and turns of the line to see Santa until arriving to find the jolly old elf, and perhaps the true meaning of Christmas.

For those who loathe Christmas tunes blaring in department stores before Thanksgiving, be prepared for the aural assault of the most annoying carols while waiting for the show to begin. Rick Malone masterfully sprinkles his sound design with the most fitting, eye-roll worthy sounds of the season. The lighting by Kaitlin Muse perfectly complimented Allan S. Ross’ set with twinkling lights for the trees and plenty of play space on a peppermint. Thanks to directors Kelly and Bart Roush, A special kudos to the crew for impeccable timing and allowing the technical aspects to be the supporting characters in a one-man show. Of course, it was Diane Malone’s spot-on costume design that really brought the elf home.

Deftly directed by Kelly and Bart Roush, John Stillwaggon braves the stage, in tights, for his one-man performance as Crumpet. While the opening tone at the thought of taking a job as an elf wasn’t as detestable as expected, his portrayal was much more realistic than previous, more affected, interpretations. The intimate space and thrust staging allowed for less dramatics and a more empathetic response from the audience as a whole. Despite a few awkward transitions, Stillwaggon gracefully ushered the script along a subtle arc. By the end, it feels as though he has shed his Grinch demeanor and undergone an elfin metamorphosis. As Crumpet the Elf, Stillwaggon restores the belief in Santa and the spirit of the season.

The Santaland Diaries is a welcome disenchanted wonderland, but, done right, can be just as heart-warming as Tiny Tim. The Classic Theatre and John Stillwaggon deceptively turn holiday snarls into smirks and reiterate why this production is a holiday tradition.


The Santaland Diaries will run at The Classic Theatre through December 20, 2015 with performances at 8 p.m. on Friday and Saturday and 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. on Sunday. For more information and to purchase tickets, visit classictheatre.org.

Medea may be you

by Jenni Morin

Medea often comes to mind as the quintessential Greek tragedy, but the genre is not always welcome or easy to digest. The Classic Theatre roaringly resurrects Euripides’ classic with an abridged version perfect for modern consumption.

Georgette Lockwood as Medea at The Classic
Theatre of San Antonio. Photo by Siggi Ragnar.

Mark Stringham’s original adaptation re-evaluates the notion that women are the weaker sex, giving new resilience, life and resolve to the ancient tale of a woman scorned. After carrying out the assassinations of both her brother and father king for the love of Jason, Medea and her husband flee. No sooner than she bears him children, he abandons them, only to return to take another bride. Wrought with grief and desperation, Medea resorts to homicide to protect her children and ruin her unfaithful husband. As director and writer Stringham points out, the end is always the same—however, it is the journey and twists that lead there open for interpretation.

In painstaking detail, the Classic’s production of Medea simultaneously transports audiences to ancient Greece while alluding to the present. Allan S. Ross’ thrust set is chock with symbolism as the crumbling columns give way to modern steel beams, plastic sheeting is used for curtains, and bolt heads on the angular steps provide industrial accents to the faux mosaic tile floor with Greek frets, compliments of Scenic Artist Kendall Davila. Composer & Musical Director John Coker immerses the audience in an undulating chorus of what sounds like rattlesnakes and katydids prior to curtain, then continues with ominous orchestrations providing a deep vibration of revenge, followed by an eerie electric organ. The period appropriate and detailed costumes by Vanessa J. Lopez move seamlessly with Susan Trevino’s beautifully stylised choreography. The undertone of the piece is furthered by Kaitlin Muse’s dramatic lighting, always featuring a tinge of blood.

Medea may be one of the more vile Greek tragedies as it is nearly impossible for audiences to conceive of a mother killing her children. However, given what the media has reported over recent years, it is perhaps more conceivable, but equally as horrifying, which Stringham is careful to include in his adaptation. His approachable adaptation condenses all the action into such an emotionally saturated hour, it doesn’t lack a drop of the original’s tragedy while it attempts to makeover Medea’s infamous image. Medea becomes a symbol of strength and resolve, confident in her power of destruction, rather than the popular and easier label of weak, scorned, and mentally unstable woman. While she may not be a role model in action, perhaps her legacy can evolve into that of a woman forced to carry out an unfathomably difficult decision for the ultimate well-being of her children. Because in today’s increasingly uncivilised world, having to make such decisions may just be a matter of time.

Georgette Lockwood’s Medea is unceasing and mesmerising, a most welcome talent to The Classic and San Antonio. Lockwood is complimented by her chorus—Sophia Bolles, Cristina Vasquez, Magda Porter, and Meredith Bell Alvarez—led by Mindy Fuller as Nurse, whose reverberating decries shook the audience to the core in true Greek fashion. Lockwood gloriously dominated her male counterparts in Michael Duggan as King Creon, Kerry Valderrama as Jason, and Guy Schaafs as Aegeus as each attempted to hold their own power over her, yet exited in grace and fear. Beck Broyles’ Attendant matched her meek king while Jack Dulling and Logan Trevino as Mermeros and Pheres offered tangible sacrifices.

The Classic’s production of Medea drips with intensity and echoes with contemporary nuance. Georgette Lockwood reinvents Medea in this pertinent, absorbing adaptation that redefines and reintroduces Greek tragedy.


Medea will run at The Classic Theatre through November 29, 2015 with performances at 8 p.m. on Friday and Saturday and 3 p.m. on Sunday. For more information and to purchase tickets, visit classictheatre.org.

Diva worthy Master Class

True greatness, the uncontested and monumental kind, is hard to come by. The Classic Theatre takes on Terrence McNally’s Master Class, now playing through October 4, and the unparalleled life of opera diva Maria Callas.

Anna Gangai as Maria Callas in The Classic Theatre's Master Class.
Photo by Siggi Ragnar.

McNally’s Callas is not only a raw version of the woman, but also a vessel by which to remind audiences the depth of emotion and sacrifice that envelops such iconic artists. It is their dedication and courage making a lasting impression of their careers, not just the performances and accomplishments. As Callas repeats over and over throughout the script, they give everything — yet, especially in today’s over-saturated limelight, truly great performers are too often taken for granted and left to compete with flash rather than substance.

The Classic Theatre production of Master Class exhibits exceptional talent rarely seen on San Antonio stages. Anna Gangai, once again, proves her own diva stature in her portrayal of the incomparable Maria Callas. Opening with a softer demeanor than expected, Gangai manages to endear audiences to an otherwise polarizing and intimidating legend. Every one of the vocalists in the cast were phenomenal singers with soaring voices much larger than the Classic’s space. Of course, the nature of the script brings the acting ability of singers under scrutiny and audience members can judge for themselves if they felt the expectation Callas lays out in the play is met. Amanda Golden as Sophie DePalma took Callas’ direction to heart, giving a much improved performance to culminate her time on stage. Jerry Cordova’s Tony Candolino seemed ingenuine, but made up for it with his moving vocality. Jacquelyn Matava provided a powerhouse voice to Sharon Graham, yet did not seem to reap as noticeable benefits of Callas’ criticism as the others. Regardless of the characters’ individual arcs, the singers each have amazing vocal talent and range, only accentuated by Josh Pepper’s accompaniment musical direction. Not to be forgotten, Pam Slocum was an appropriately dry stagehand, giving a short glimpse into the stark difference between the diva and the crew.

Diane Malone directed an unrivaled production with Master Class. Tim Francis’ lighting and Rick Malone's video designs were simple yet poignant, matching the bare stage set and allowing the performers and the music to take center stage. Rick Malone’s sound design blended perfectly with the live music, giving Gangai the ability to transport herself across time and space seamlessly.

What Master Class accomplishes above all, even more than depicting the life of Maria Callas, is reiterating the standard that must be met in order to rise to the level of greatness. Being memorable is not the same as being revered and fame doesn’t equal legend. Perhaps McNally is asking actors and audiences alike to demand a higher level of artistry and not settle for a nice voice, but reserve ovations for the most deserving. Master Class resurrects the ghosts of talents lost too soon and begs for a rededication to experiencing the magnified truth in art instead of investing in manufactured reality. After all, in order to elevate art, it is  necessary to be uncompromising, strive for perfection and often succumb to the exhausting addiction it feeds, just as Callas did and taught.

The Classic Theatre’s Master Class delivers the same high caliber performances it commands with an obscene amount of local talent. Master Class should not only leave audiences with an appreciation for opera and the career of Callas, but also a desire to experience excellence in art, especially local theatre. Let this production set the tone for this theatre season.


Master Class will run at the Classic Theatre through October 4, 2015 with performances at 8 p.m. on Friday and Saturday and 3 p.m. on Sunday. For more information and to purchase tickets, visit classictheatre.org.

The Rose wants to talk about RACE

by Jenni Morin

David Mamet’s RACE is more pertinent, and perhaps polarizing, today than when it premiered six year ago, before Trayvon Martin and Michael Brown. The Rose Theatre Company’s production, now running through August 29, dares to tackle this difficult topic plaguing the American media and public conscience.

The play opens with two lawyers, one black and one white, Henry Brown and Jack Lawson, cataloging the many trials that brought about conspiracy within the justice system, racial and otherwise, to convince their prospective client, Charles Strickland, that he cannot win his case. Accused of raping his young black mistress, Strickland, a wealthy and successful white man, insists it was consensual and they were in love. As the afternoon unfolds, further evidence comes to light debunking the laywers’ defense strategy as Strickland insists on going to the press to tell his side of the story. Brown, along with their assistant Susan Davis, a young black woman, believe Strickland to be guilty from the start as Lawson jumps at the challenge to make the case not about race, or even sex, but the alleged victim’s red sequin dress.

Mamet’s dialogue is meant to be spewed at such a pace that the arguments can only culminate in reflective and seething silence. The build up during these exchanges felt lacking with an unsteady pace in The Rose’s production. Providing the most developed performance, Joseph Urick as Jack Lawson led the cast with snarky and arrogant rhetorical comments laden with politically incorrect descriptions. The rest of the cast often felt flat in their deliveries and disconnected from the action of the play. It wasn’t until the end, after much exposition by Torence White as Henry Brown, that Megan Van Dyke’s Susan Davis felt three-dimensional. David Blazer lacked a certain privileged pomposity indicative of the stereotypical Charles Strickland. While Chris Manley’s lighting worked for the space, it didn’t quite illustrate the short passage of time between scenes, making hours seem more like days. The sound effects were often mistimed, providing awkward moments, especially noticeable in a Mamet script where timing is crucial. The set, although appropriately painted in contrasting black and white, was sloppily constructed with bunched tape at the seams of the back wall and extraneous paint on the window, no at all reminiscent of a high-priced lawyer’s office. Director Morgan Clyde found the key lines to punch, along with some comedic moments to highlight, but the blocking often felt cluttered and stagnant for the stage configuration. Some of the extraneous exchanges in Mamet’s script can be blamed for the mid-play tangential trudgery, however it is up to the production to find the motivation and pacing to support the dialogue so it can have the intended impact.

RACE is as much about the systematic proliferation of racial tensions and injustices of the justice system as it is about race relations and perceptions. Mamet unearths simple, yet often disregarded, certitudes about the impracticality of color-blindness: as long as any one person is afforded certain advantages or exceptions based on race, it will influence the way businesses and people must behave and therefore make it impossible to treat everyone the same regardless of skin color. Little undeniable truths are sprinkled throughout RACE, as Lawson explains there is nothing a white man can say about race to a black person. Brown also acknowledges those of his own race who exploit it to get ahead, while Davis does just that.

With prejudices and perceptions so ingrained, the contradictory nature of affirmative action, and the struggle to reject racial identity yet celebrate cultural roots weighing down the debate, Mamet almost seems to sum up the denial of racism as succinctly as he does his play: guilty.

Regardless of the production quality, RACE at The Rose is worth the ticket to challenge conventional stances on race. If The Rose production’s whole purpose is to spur, or even halt, the timeworn discussion with new insights on the race debate, it’s a success.


RACE runs at The Rose Theatre through August 29 with performances at 8 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays. For more information and to reserve tickets, visit therosetheatreco.com.