Since its inception in 2002, FUSION
Theatre Company's professional artists have had as
their primary mission presenting New Mexico audiences
the finest works in fresh new stagings. Here's a
quick sampling of our visitor reactions.....
"As always with FUSION
productions, expect to be dazzled
by some of the most polished theater in town." -Weekly Alibi
"...FUSION
Theater Company’s production of Doubt
is
one of those peak theater experiences where a
brilliantly
crafted and engaging work is executed
by an essentially
perfect cast of wonderfully skilled actors,
beautifully
directed." -Jim Terr, KUNM-FM 89.9
"Be very proud. This
was far better than the original
production I saw in New York." -Audience Member
"...an evening of powerful
drama and surprising staging,
a first-rate production...." -Crosswinds Weekly
"Classic American entertainment
at a beautiful theatre." -TVI
Times
"It's almost a shame
we live in New Jersey, because
now we really want to see the rest of your season...." -Audience Member
Director: Gil Lazier• ------------------------------ Joy: Jacqueline Reid* Dale: Ross Kelly* Ned:
Bruce Holmes*
* member Actors
Equity Association
• member Society of Stage Directors and Choreographers
Reviews
"Next month, English audiences will
see the European premiere of Parlour
Song, British playwright Jez Butterworth's
darkly comic lovers' triangle. The play opened
last year in New York City, and FUSION Theatre
Company is staging a second production at the
Cell Theatre.
More importantly, Parlour
Song is a tautly exciting and intelligent
study of desperate suburbanites. In a real
estate development of virtually identical homes,
Ned and Dale live next door to each other and
are "mates," friends.
They also have marital mates -
Dale's wife Lynn, whom we never meet, and Ned's
spouse Joy. After 11 years of marriage, Ned is
aware of Joy's disaffection although he is unaware
of its causes. Dale, confident and secure, is
Ned's opposite. Ned turns to Dale for marital
advice and tries such things as sexual self-help
tapes, Rogaine for his baldness and an exercise
regimen.
Meanwhile, a mantle of menace hangs
over the characters as Ned is terrified by a
recurring nightmare and upset that his possessions
are disappearing. Ned's profession is symbolic
- he is a demolition expert, part of a team that
destroys obsolete shopping centers, buildings
and towers to make way for new construction.
Such demolition is done by implosion (collapsing
inwardly) rather than by explosion.
Ned's marriage is also imploding.
Wife Joy is as unhappy as her husband, and she
too turns to Dale, who becomes her lover. I will
not reveal any more of the carefully considered
plot, but it is never dull.
Gil Lazier, newly arrived in Albuquerque
after a long and distinguished career in academic
and professional theater, skillfully directs
his first show with FUSION. Richard K. Hogle's
set design is simple but effective - a paneled
wall at the back of the stage and a trapezoidal
platform thrusting away from that wall. Images
are projected on the wall, and furniture groupings
glide on and off stage as needed. Actors also
use the narrow space between the platform and
the audience.
Three FUSION regulars provide fine
performances. Ross Kelly is an ideal Dale, equally
capable of comforting and cuckolding his friend
without apparent compunction. Bruce Holmes, his
head hairless and his belly soft, is excellent
as sensitive, yet painfully clueless, Ned. The
two men work well together, subtly blending humor
and pathos.
Playwright Butterworth acknowledges
the influence of the late Harold Pinter. It strikes
me that Jacqueline Reid's performance as Joy
builds on her portrayal of Ruth in Pinter's The
Homecoming earlier this season. Here
again she is the only woman, compelling in her
sexuality yet unable to plumb her desires.
Butterworth uses the lemon tree
(sweet and sour as the song says) to suggest
Joy's paradox, and Reid revels in Joy's sensual
description of making lemonade. Parlour
Song exposes the angst and confusion
hidden by the façades of the tract houses
we construct.” Barry Gaines, review,
October 27, 2007 (on-line), Albuquerque
Journal:
Director: Jacqueline
Reid* ------------------------------ Donny: William Sterchi* Padraic:
Ross Kelly* Christy: Bruce Holmes* Brendan: Will Peebles* Mairead:
Jen
Grigg^ Davey:
Justin Lenderking^ Joey:
Aaron Worley^ James: Zane Barker
* member Actors
Equity Association
^ Equity membership candidate
Reviews
"The Lieutenant of Inishmore presented by FUSION Theatre
Company is the comically gruesome story of a man and his cat that only Irish
playwright of the macabre Martin McDonagh could envision. The Cell Theatre production
of this searing satire is the blackest of humor, an early Halloween gift enacted
with gory glee by an excellent cast under the grisly guidance of director Jacqueline
Reid.
Ireland has a history of violent rebellion, and The Lieutenant of
Inishmore takes that violence to impossible extremes as the stage
and walls run red with blood, dead men are hacked and mutilated (compare “The
Sopranos”), and murder stimulates sexual passion. And the audience
can’t stop laughing! The title character is 21-year-old “Mad
Padraic,” a terrorist so vicious that the IRA wouldn’t let him
join “because he was too mad.” We meet Padraic nonchalantly torturing
James, who is hanging upside down. As Padraic is about to slice off a nipple
and feed it to his victim, his father calls to inform him his cat, Wee Thomas,
is “poorly.” Padraic is reduced to tears at the threat to his “best
friend in the world” In fact, Wee Thomas’s brains have been bashed
out as Padraic learns when he returns to his Inishmore home. The play revolves
around the expanding violence surrounding revenge for dead cats. The bizarre
plot is ingeniously constructed, and the ending includes the reversals and
twists that mark McDonagh’s other work.
Special Effects Master Steve Tolin
provides a realistic array of exploding wounds,
dismembered
heads and limbs, and decapitated cats. The three
villains killed by Padraic and his BB gun moll
Mairead are humorously portrayed by Bruce Holmes,
Aaron Worley, and Will Peebles. Each character
is an individual thanks to Jacqueline Reid’s
direction. Zane Baker earns special commendation
for his convincing rendition of James, the inverted
torture victim. Jen Grigg is filled with butch
attitude as Mairead, although she plays older than
her character’s 16 years. William Sterchi
is masterful as Padraic’s father Donny. His
face is comic silly putty. Justin Lenderking as
Davey, Mairead’s brother, interacts well
with Sterchi in their scenes of frightened, overlapping
dialogue. They are hilarious as they await death
at Padraic’s hands. (When interrupted, Padraic
apologizes to his visitors, “I’m just
in the middle of shooting me dad.”) As Padraic,
FUSION regular Ross Kelly gives another exceptional
portrayal. He makes his character’s essential
madness seem normal, even humdrum. His stage presence
is commanding yet appears effortless. The characters
keep speaking of the “principle” behind
what they are saying and doing; indeed, it is “principle” that
keeps much of the world in the turmoil of political
violence, as McDonagh’s farce demonstrates.” Barry Gaines, review, October 27, 2007 (on-line), Albuquerque
Journal:
"On a public television biography that aired last week, Charles Schultz
admitted to milking a lot of humor from straight-up violence. From a 21st century
perspective, it might be odd to think of “Peanuts” as violent, but
it was, of course. Schultz hurt his characters. We laughed. A simple, infallible
equation that worked almost every time.
The FUISON Theatre Company is staging the New Mexico premiere of Martin McDonagh’s The
Lieutenant of Inishmore at the Cell Theatre. It doesn’t take
a genius to figure out why this play is so successful. Drenched from top
to bottom in comedic, stylized violence, it fits in perfectly with the tone
of the times. This play might be smarter (it’s certainly funnier) than “South
Park,” but it’s powered by a sense of humor that’s similarly
crude, demeaning and sadistic. Since all the characters speak with an Irish
accent, and the story revolves around terrorism, we can call it art. Plus,
you have to have some admiration for a playwright who can make brutality
toward animals, of all things, so hilarious. Yet, you still may wonder how
we can laugh out loud at all this cruelty and gore.
As Schultz said, it’s easy
to laugh at violence when it obviously isn’t
real, and when it happens to somebody else. What
if all those guns
the actors waved around were real? What if they
aimed them at the audience and sprayed real bullets
into the crowd? Who’s laughing now, punk?
Thankfully, the play doesn’t require that
kind of reflection. Donny (William Sterchi) and
Davey (Justin Lenderking) have a dead cat on their
hands, Davey having found the poor animal with
its brains knocked out in the middle of the road.
Unfortunately, the cat, named Wee Thomas, belongs
to a psychopath named Padraic (Ross Kelly), who’s
a second lieutenant in the INLA, a splinter group
of the Irish Republican Army. Donny was supposed
to look after Wee Thomas while Padraic was away.
When Padraic finds out his cat was murdered, it
sets off a chain of violence that’s shocking
to behold.
Well, it would’ve been shocking about 30
years ago, before this kind of cartoon bloodbath
became commonplace in mass culture. But even if
it isn’t shocking, it is extremely funny—and
what an amazing cast. You won’t find a better
ensemble on stage in Albuquerque. It’s such
a pleasure to see how they feed off each other.
The violence—both verbal and literal—is
performed like music, players exchanging riffs
so sharp and dangerous they leave the walls, floors,
ceiling and furniture splattered with blood.
Sterchi often plays the heavy
in this kind of production, and he’s very good at it. Here,
he plays a goofy character, and he’s very
good at that, too. One of the best around, Sterchi’s
presence usually means a show is going to be excellent,
and that’s true this time.
Kelly’s lethal mix of pretty boy looks and
serious acting chops is an enjoyable combo. In
this play, he’s a charismatic cartoon psycho,
switching between caring tenderness and appalling
brutality with ease. I’ve seen a lot of Lenderking
around town in the last year or so, and his real
strength is his eccentricity. No matter what character
he plays, his presentation is appealingly weird.
In this case, seeing this big, hulking dude play
a vaguely effeminate sissy is a freaky good time.
The actors playing lesser roles
are all very good, too. The best performance
in the show, though,
might be Steve Tolin’s, whose amazing special
effects result in some truly eye-popping gore.
The Lieutenant of Inishmore isn’t
deep or insightful or thoughtful in any way, but
it is good, dirty fun. Besides, at this point,
most of us realize the war on terrorism has become
a joke, so we might as well get in a few good laughs
at its expense. As Schultz said, violence, especially
the senseless kind, is naturally funny, and what’s
more senselessly violent than terrorism? McDonagh’s
play isn’t realistic, and it won’t
hit too close to home, so sit back, enjoy the barbarism
and appreciate the fact that violence in the real
world isn’t nearly this agreeable."
Steven
Robert Allen, review, November 7, 2007 (on-line), The
Weekly Alibi:
Director: Jacqueline
Reid* ------------------------------ Father Floyd:
Ross Kelly* Sister
Aloysius:
Laurie
Thomas* Sister
James:
Rachel Tatum^ Mrs.
Muller:
Angela Littleton^
* member Actors
Equity Association
^ Equity membership candidate
Reviews
"The best play I saw this year
was John Patrick Shanley's award-winning Doubt with the FUSION Company at the Cell. Under Jacqueline
Reid's direction, each of the four cast members
gave a memorable performance in a complicated and
challenging play.
In her single scene, Angela Littleton
was haunting and compelling. As a naive nun,
Rachel Tatum had
to do a lot of reacting, and she was convincing
in her
character's growing concern for the ugly innuendos at the heart of the play.
Laurie Thomas conveyed so much as the strict parochial school principal— foibles
and faults, strength and dedication. Ross Kelly's striking face virtually shone
above his character's clerical collar. Kelly combined charm, anger, indignation
and hurt in his complex characterization. It was his best performance to date." Barry Gaines, year-end summary, Albuquerque
Journal
"On the day when letters were published indicating that Sister Teresa was
plagued with uncertainties of faith all through her saintly life, FUSION Theatre
Company opened the regional premiere of John Patrick Shanley’s Doubt.
It is an unpretentious but brilliantly constructed play that examines the relationship
of doubt and faith in a Catholic setting.
In 2005 Doubt won
five Tony Awards and the Pulitzer Prize for Drama;
the FUSION production
at the Cell is, I believe, Albuquerque’s
best of the year. Doubt is a four-character
play set in St. Nicholas Catholic Church and School
in the Bronx in 1964. Handsome, charismatic Father
Flynn preaches parabolic sermons and coaches basketball.
Sister James is a passionate teacher anxious to
connect with her students and convey her enthusiasm
for history. Sister Aloysius is the school principal,
a firm disciplinarian who favors formality and
distance in the classroom. Sister Aloysius questions
the motives for Father Flynn’s interest in
Donald Muller, the school’s only Negro student,
and enlists Sister James in a campaign to spy out
the truth of the relationship. Donald’s mother
is questioned by Sister Aloysius. The insightfully
crafted script moves intelligently from scene to
scene, subtly suggesting without providing easy
answers. Not until the play’s last words
is the story complete. And that is all the plot
you will get from me.
FUSION founding member Jacqueline
Reid directs this production with clean, deft
strokes. Richard
K. Hogle’s set and lighting designs allow
the action to move smoothly from the Principal’s
office—featuring a desk and chair with a
large wooden cross behind—to the flanking
pulpit and garden bench. Coincidently, the two
nuns are in Sister Teresa’s order, the Sisters
of Charity, and Cassidy Zachary costumes them in
black bonnets and floor-length habits.
All four actors are brilliant.
In her single scene, Angela Littleton as Mrs.
Muller is haunting and
compelling. A fierce advocate for her son, Littleton’s
character spars with Sister Aloysius. As naïve
Sister James, Rachel Tatum has to do a lot of reacting,
and she is convincing in her character’s
growing concern for the ugly innuendos. Ross Kelly
makes an ideal Father Flynn. His striking face
virtually shines above his clerical collar and
his passionate commitment to his vocation is palpable.
Kelly combines charm, anger, indignation, and hurt
in his complex character. It is his best performance
to date. Laurie Thomas has taken the full measure
of Sister Aloysius. Thomas conveys her character’s
foibles and faults without lapsing into caricature,
and she is equally adept at suggesting the nun’s
strengths and dedication. The result is a fascinating,
full creation.
Playwright Shanley sent Director
Reid a congratulatory email for opening night;
he would have approved
of the performance and the standing ovation. See Doubt.” Barry Gaines, review, August
26, 2007, Albuquerque Journal
"No one can tell a sinner just by looking at his face. At least, not most
people and not most faces. Sin has a way of making itself look attractive, appealing,
sexy; and some sinners know how to wear that appeal as a mask, hiding their true
nature.
That allure is what make sinners such excellent
literary characters, full of unknown motives, personal
convictions and nondescript torment. John Patrick
Shanley takes that person and puts him into the
heart of the Catholic Church in Doubt,
a play that questions what we think we see.
The FUSION Theatre Company's regional premiere
of Doubt at The Cell begins with
a dark stage and a soft folksy-rock song, allowing
the audience members to clear their minds. As the
song ends, the lights come up and the friendly,
attractive face of Father Flynn (Ross Kelly) smiles
warmly at his congregation from behind the pulpit.
Father Flynn delivers a moving sermon about loneliness
and doubt, setting the tone and theme that continues
throughout the story.
Sitting under the bold wooden
cross above her desk, Sister Aloysius (Laurie
Thomas), principal
of St. Nicholas Church School in the Bronx, is
visited by one of her eighth grade teachers, Sister
James (Rachel Tatum). Sister Aloysius uses this
unexpected visit to question Sister James about
the goings on in her class, particularly if Sister
James had noticed any strange behavior relating
to Father Flynn. The young and inexperienced Sister
James is flustered and put off by Sister Aloysius'
old-fashioned views of discipline and order, and
even more put off by Aloysius' absolute conviction
that Father Flynn is hiding a dirty secret. Sister
James eventually recalls smelling alcohol on the
breath of Donald Muller, the school's first and
only black student, after a meeting with Father
Flynn. Sister Aloysius seizes this evidence and
begins her journey to uncover the truth—for
the sake of the children, no matter the cost—including
questioning Donald's mother (Angela Littleton)
and the man of the cloth himself.
Doubt is a masterfully written
play and has garnered the accolades to prove it,
including four Tony awards, the New York Drama
Critics' Circle Award for Best Play of the Season
and the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, just to name
a few. Shanley has created four incredibly different
and rich characters. As new evidence is found or
an explanation given in Doubt,
it's impossible to place faith and support onto
any one character long, for as surely as the next
scene begins another character appeals to that
trust (making the play's title work on many incredible
levels). Because the characters are so strong,
it takes strong actors to portray them, and, by
god, the FUSION Theatre Company found some.
As the first actor on stage, Ross Kelly immediately
sells the audience on his charm and charisma. Kelly
delivers the kind of sermon that would draw crowds
to any church at 8 a.m. Sunday morning. He's gripping,
delightful and believable to a sickening level,
especially as his character comes under more and
more suspicion for wrongdoing.
Opposing Father Flynn's immediate
likability is Sister Aloysius' immediate dislikability.
Laurie
Thomas’ presentation of the strict schoolmarm
your mother always told you about when you were
being particularly naughty is spot on without being
melodramatic. Sister Aloysius' unwavering faith
would take beating after beating, yet Thomas keep
her conviction fresh while hinting at a deep suffering
just under the surface.
Rachel Tatum's innocent Sister James seemed ready
to burst from embarrassment, uncertainty, passion
and unwavering goodness at any moment. Where Thomas
hid Sister Aloysius' warmth under her black tunic,
Tatum wears it gleaming on her face. Sister James
deals with doubt of her own, and Tatum doesn't
shy away from the consequences of that doubt.
While Angela Littleton’s
Mrs. Muller is only on stage for one scene, it's
heated and tense.
Littleton's reserve and poise while under pressure
from Sister Aloysius makes the moments when the
facade of niceties slink away chilling, wrenching
and desperate. For a moment, Sister Aloysius seemed
small, and that's an accomplishment.
While anyone involved in theater will say no performance
is ever perfect, it's hard to find a flaw in Doubt.
The performances were fantastic, the costuming
and set design dynamic, the directorial choices
complemented a masterful script and there wasn't
an empty seat in the house. Call ahead and reserve
your seats—unlike church, there's not always
room for everyone." Amy Dalness, review, Weekly
Alibi
"I remember the name “John Patrick Shanley” as the writer of
the Oscar-wining 1988 film, “Moonstruck.” I wasn’t as fond
of it as most people, so when I saw that Shanley was the writer of a Pulitzer-
and Tony-award-winning play called Doubt: A Parable, enjoying
a sold-out run at the Cell Theater, I said to myself, “Well, maybe that’s
why; maybe Shanley is actually more of a playwright than a screenwriter.”
But it turns out that Shanley has in fact had little recognition as a playwright,
for his nearly 30 plays written in the past couple of decades. That is,
until he wrote Doubt.
Twisted logic aside, seeing FUSION Theater Company’s production of Doubt is
one of those peak theater experiences where a brilliantly crafted and engaging
work is executed by an essentially perfect cast of wonderfully skilled
actors, beautifully directed.
The setting is a parochial school in the 1960s, long before the priestly
molestation scandals exploded publicly -- but obviously not before the
activity was in progress. A scandal is brewing at St. Nicholas Church School.
But is it really? Is the handsome father Flynn having his way with a particularly
vulnerable young student, or is the highly analytical and controlling Sister
Aloysius simply letting her imagination and her own bitterness run wild?
Hmmm it’s not real clear, and this fine line of Doubt keeps
the audience engaged and in suspense as much as even the best murder mystery
might do – perhaps even more so. What’s at stake here is reputation,
a child’s life, and reality itself.
Ross Kelly plays the earnest, attractive and appealing Father Flynn. Appealing,
that is, to everyone but the suspicious Sister Aloysius, played with razor-keen
intensity by Laurie Thomas. The sincere Sister James (Rachel Tatum) doesn’t
know quite what to believe, and just wishes all the turmoil and confusion
would go away. “You would trade anything for a warm look,” Sister
Aloysius admonishes her. Ouch!
In the middle of all this the child’s mother, Mrs. Muller, visits
the school for a conference with Sister Aloysius, who as always has an
agenda which reveals itself only after a snakelike few minutes of intense
coiling before the strike. But Mrs. Muller, a flawless Angela Littleton,
has a few surprises herself hidden under her at-first-compliant veneer,
and the struggle and maneuvering between these two powerful, determined
women is breathtaking.
It’s also on a strangely different note from the rest of the play,
and it was interesting to read that this scene was actually the initial
inspiration, the original vision, from which Shanley wrote the rest of Doubt.
FUSION is an Equity theater company, a professional designation which unfortunately
carries with it a relatively high admission price, but for those who are
able, Doubt is a powerful and unforgettable performance.
Extra performances may be added to accommodate the tremendous response
to this production; call the Cell Theater at 766-9412 or visit FusionAbq.org
for ticket information." Jim Terr, review, KUNM-FM 89.9
click photo to
view photo montage by Susan McLendon, original music
by Playroom 24.5MB
QuickTime movie
click photo to
view photo montage by Richard Hogle, original music
by Playroom 7.5MB
QuickTime movie
Mad Hattr
by Laurie Thomas
presented May 10-27, 2007
Director: Jacqueline
Reid ------------------------------ Charles Lutwidge
Dodgson:
Justin Lenderking Alice
Pleasance
Liddell:
Ellen
Herschel Mrs.
Lorina
Liddell:
Beth
Bailey Dean
Henry
George
Liddell:
David
Lang Archdeacon
Charles
Dodgson:
John
Wylie Canon
Edward
Pusey:
John
Hardman Canon
Arthur
Stanley:
Aaron
Worley Miss
Lucille
Dodgson:
Kathy
Millé Wimmer Miss
Ethel
Dodgson:
Shelley
Epstein Dame
Ellen
Terry:
Angela
Littleton Miss
Isa Bowman:
Rachel
Tatum
Reviews
"The
Cell was filled for the opening night of Mad
Hattr, Laurie Thomas' dramatic treatment
of Oxford mathematics lecturer Charles Lutwidge
Dodgson who (by playing with the Latin forms of
his first and middle names) became Lewis Carroll,
author of "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland."
Thomas is a founding
member of FUSION Theatre Company as is Jacqueline
Reid, who directs the large and largely familiar
cast in this world premiere.
The play's central
figure's fascination and friendships with young
girls is well documented, and his nude and semi-nude
photographs of these children have earned him classification
as a pedophile, albeit, perhaps, a celibate one.
Thomas, however, apparently
influenced by British playwright [sic] Karoline
Leach's revisionist biography of Carroll, presents
him lusting for Alice's mother, [Lorina] Liddell,
more strongly than for his prepubescent muse. Leach's
argument has not convinced most scholars, but Thomas
has written a play, not a biography. And a lively
and inventive play it is.
The script is learned
(quoting Shakespeare as well as Carroll) but humorous
and thought provoking. Like the first Alice book,
the play is dreamlike, a phantasmagoric series
of scenes, songs, and dances accompanied by original
music written by Playroom, quartet of percussion,
tuba and cello.
The audience is seated
behind low barriers ringing the acting space. Richard
K. Hogle's stage design looks like a large courtroom,
and, again like "Alice's Adventures," the
play includes a courtroom scene. Hogle's lighting
design features strings of small colored lights
festooned across the theater's ceiling. Pink papier-maché flamingos
await a game of hedgehog croquet.
The cast includes FUSION
regulars: Kathy [Millé] Wimmer and Shelley
Epstein play Carroll's aunts, providing instrumental
and vocal accompaniment from the sides of the stage.
Aaron Worley, David Lang and John Hardman portray
Oxford faculty, while Angela Littleton and Rachel
Tatum give spirited performances as stage actresses.
John Wiley is austere
as Carroll's archdeacon father. Justin Lenderking
presents Dodgson/Carroll as a rather passive, confused
figure who is more often reacting than acting.
Talented eighth-grader Ellen Herschel is a very
grown-up Alice Liddell, pursuing the admirer who
would immortalize her.
It is newcomer Beth
Bailey as Lorina Liddell who makes the strongest
impression. Tall, slim, with golden hair atop her
head and face framed by two wispy tendrils, draped
in a long red gown by costume designer Cassidy
Zachary, Lewis Carroll wasn't the only one who
couldn't take his eyes off of her. Her acting is
natural and understated, a calm center in the whirling
world of fantasy, enhanced by the graphical programming
tool Isadora Mark Cleveland operates to display
photographs and visual effects on overhead screens.
Mad Hattr provides
an answer to Carroll's (and Alice's) question,
'Who in the world am I?'"-- ALBUQUERQUE
JOURNAL review, Barry
Gaines
"Laurie Thomas' Mad
Hattr is a jabberwocked reenactment
of the biography of Charles Dodgson, the English
mathematician, photographer and writer who, under
the name Lewis Carroll, authored what are quite
possibly the most beloved works of children's
literature ever composed in the English language.
For decades, numerous societies and journals
have analyzed the impact of this mysterious man,
but despite recent scholarship based on new discoveries
about his life, Dodgson remains a big question
mark, a riddle just as mind-twisting as his books
and poems.
Thomas' play---the world premiere of which runs one
more week at The Cell Theatre--- attempts to explore
these mysteries. In many regards, it succeeds. Before
you even get to your seat, you know you've entered
a magical place. The entrance to the fabulous set
designed by Richard Hogle is framed with narrow bands
of light. The interior is likewise roofed with chords
of illuminated color. Flickering video screens mounted
on each wall of the theater-in-the-round play as
large a role as any human character. Likewise, the
elaborate costumes and props indicate that much time
and attention has gone into making every detail just
right.
In this play, the historical characters in Dodgson's
life behave much the way the fantastical characters
behave in Carroll's stories. Ellen Herschel is a
14-year-old from Albuquerque Academy who plays Alice
Liddell, the real-life inspiration for Carroll's
famous heroine. She's perfect in the part. Herschel
has the wide-eyed, otherworldly demeanor of the Alice
we all recall from John Tenniel's original illustrations.
Justin Lenderking's portrayal of Dodgson is earnest
and strange, but it fits into the twisted comedic
mood of the production. Other performances are also
strong, especially Beth Bailey as Alice's mom, Lorina,
and David Lang as Alice's sexually confused father,
Henry. Aaron Worley also does a funny absurdist turn
as Arthur Stanley, Henry's friend.
One of the best aspects of the show is the ingenious
manner in which it explores Dodgson's love of photography.
The four video screens flash images as Dodgson photographs
them, a clever illusion that adds to the psychedelic
ambiance. This trick also subtly examines some of
the controversies in Dodgson's life story, such as
his nude photographs of children and his possible
tendency toward pedophilia.
The play is brillig and mimsy. In its best moments,
it gyres and gimbles in the wabe. Still, Lewis Carroll's
genius was his knack for producing clear, unmuddled
nonsense. His stories and poems remain popular to
this day because they are as lucid and meticulous
as they are zany.
Sadly, while the original music provided by the Playroom
ensemble is excellent, it's also too loud. In many
cases, it muffles the dialog rather than providing
a fitting soundtrack to enhance it. I felt like I
missed several quick exchanges between characters,
and this is a shame.
Another problem is that it's about as difficult to
make sense of Dodgson's life as it is to make sense
of his stories. Unfortunately, near the end of the
play, Thomas seems to make the mistake of trying.
For my tastes, the show would have worked better
if it had sustained the lunacy from start to finish.
Still, this is an enjoyable production, and an admirable
and ambitious experiment. Thomas' script and Jacqueline
Reid's direction succeed in creating an irresistible
fairytale about a man who still looms large in our
imaginations more than 100 years after his death." --WEEKLY
ALIBI review, Steven
Robert Allen
Director: Jacqueline
Reid ------------------------------ The Man:
Gary Houston The Woman:
Laurie Thomas
Reviews
"...The
quality of [FUSION's] productions is abundantly
displayed in their present staging of The
Unexpected Man by Yasmina Reza who is
famous for her highly acclaimed and often produced
play ART....Reza has placed two
strangers in a railroad compartment traveling between
Paris and Frankfort. In the written script of this
dual monolog there is only one stage direction
which comes in the final minute: He Laughs. What
a challenge for any director....The two are strangers
in actuality but not in intellect. The Man is a
successful middle-aged novelist of popular fiction
whose last book is entitled “The Unexpected
Man.” We discover early on that the book
is being read by The Woman. He knows The Woman
only in what he conjectures he knows. These conjectures
are verbalized from his rambling mind. The Woman,
as many readers do, know authors vicariously through
their writings. In her mind Fate has placed her
in this compartment and she would like to say to
him, it was a “... great stroke of luck (for
you) to have known how to make yourself loveable
to me.” By the end of the 70 minutes of verbalized
thoughts each character has become known to the
audience but not to each other. As written it does
not truly become a play until the final 5 minutes
when there is actual interaction with emotional
intensity.
Theater production
is a collaborative effort. To judge a staging on
the play’s merits of construction or content
is unfair. So it is with The Unexpected
Man. The total production is a complete
success. Director Reid has insisted that The Man
(Gary Houston) and The Woman (Laurie Thomas) must
be opposite one another unlike the usual staging
of sitting side-by-side facing the audience. The
seats are further apart then actually found in
railroad compartments to assure a physical as well
as an emotional “separation” between
them....Reid has overcome the challenge presented
by no stage directions. Greek philosopher Heraclitus
says you cannot step twice in the same river. But
Reid has deftly supported the author’s concept
that we can in our minds step into the river of
our past. We are a compilation of what we were
and are at any moment of time.
Her concept is enhanced
by the set and lighting designer Richard Hogle.
The floor of the set has white lines suggesting
both railroad tracks and a music page with a few
notes painted in pastel shades between the dual
seats to emphasize the common bond of time, art
and music between the characters. There is a suggestion
of Bergson’s philosophy that life is a continuum
and out of this continuum springs the elan
vitale. In that philosophy is the concept
of relative time. The rails and the trip are that
continuum. Music is softly played (Brahms?) before
the show begins. Two LCD TVs, one above each set
of seats display actual railroad schedules shown
and announced in French.
And then we come to
the actors. There is always a fine line between
directorial conceit and brilliant acting but in
this production the difference is blurred and complimentary.
Houston is highly respected, popular Chicago-area
product, an original member of Steppenwolf with
extensive credentials. Thomas’s credentials
are legion and her acting equally superb. Houston
and Thomas have a charisma that should be bottled
and taken on the road."--THEATREWORLD
INTERNET MAGAZINE review,
Dr. Kedar Adour
"At the top of
my Christmas wish list is a piece of imaginary
technology I like to call the Thought Machine.
It basically consists of a set of headphones connected
to a kind of ray gun. When you aim the gun at people
and press the trigger, it shoots out an invisible
ray that allows you to listen to their thoughts.
I'm hoping that 20 years from now I'll be able
to pick up one of these babies at Target for $39.95.
In The Unexpected Man, a play
currently running at the Cell Theatre, playwright
Yasmina Reza uses a similar sort of theatrical
technology to crack open the silent thoughts of
her two characters.
On a train traveling
between Paris and Frankfurt, a novelist (Gary Houston)
somehow ends up in the same cramped compartment
with a woman (Laurie Thomas) who deeply admires
his books. The play is only 70 minutes long. During
most of this brief run-time, these two characters
don't speak a word to each other, but Reza allows
the audience to hear every word they're thinking.
The novelist spends
a lot of time kvetching about his family, friends
and health, and his fears that he's turning into
a bitter man. He eventually notices the woman seated
across from him. When he does, his first thought
is how pathetic it is that she isn't reading a
book.
Ironically, the woman
has been aware of the identity of her traveling
companion from the first moment she stepped into
the compartment. That irony is quadrupled by the
fact that she's carrying his latest novel, "The
Unexpected Man," in her handbag. Throughout
most of the play she dissects the novelist's profound
impact on her life while at the same time nervously
toying with various methods for engaging him in
conversation.
The beauty of Reza's
play is that although these two characters don't
know each other, they can't accurately be described
as strangers. The first half of the play is extremely
frustrating, largely because it's difficult to
have respect for a woman who feels so deeply about
a writer, yet when she finds herself in the same
compartment with him can't muster the courage to
reveal her admiration.
As the play progresses,
though, you begin to understand that this woman
isn't just some starry-eyed literary groupie. As
Reza switches back and forth between the inner
worlds of her two characters, you begin to understand
that this woman might very well have a deeper understanding
of the books in question than the author himself.
Gradually, the awkward conventional relationship
between artist and fan shifts toward a rarer, almost
utopian bond that transforms the creator and his
admirer into absolute equals.
In this FUSION Theatre
Company production, designer Richard Hogle has
created a highly stylized set that places the audience
on both sides of the train compartment. This creates
the illusion that we're voyeurs peering through
the windows of the moving train.
The way the playwright
exposes her characters' thoughts and personalities
creates a surprising amount of dramatic tension,
especially considering the limited interaction
between the pair. Waiting to see if she'll speak,
if he'll speak, if she'll pull the book out of
her bag, if they'll somehow develop the bond you
want them to have—all this makes you squirm
in your seat.
Thomas is one of our
better local thespians, and Houston, who back in
2003 performed brilliantly in [FUSION's] production
of Enda Walsh's Bedbound, is a
veteran Chicago stage and screen actor. Under the
direction of Jacqueline Reid, their chemistry makes
this simple production boil over with an appealing
sort of awkward energy.
It's worth noting,
too, that this is the perfect play for the Cell.
I'm sure part of the reason FUSION selected it
is because the Cell's location on First Street
next to the train tracks fits the play to a tee.
Trains roll by outside the theater, and the racket
of their passing melds seamlessly into the drama
of the story." --Albuquerque Alibi review,
Steven Robert Allen
Anna Felix, Kathy Mille-Wimmer
Vic Browder, Dean Eldon Squibb
Shelley Epstein, Ross Kelly,
Laurie Thomas, John Hardman, Dean Eldon Squibb
Director: Jacqueline
Reid ------------------------------ Frankie:
Ross Kelly Jake:
Vic Browder Beth:
Laurie Thomas Mike :
Dean Eldon Squibb Meg:
Shelley Epstein Baylor:
John Hardman Lorraine:
Kathy Mille-Wimmer Sally:
Anna Felix
Reviews
"FUSION Theatre
Company [opens] this month its fourth season with
a strikingly well played and directed production
of Sam Shepard's three-act and three-hour work, A
Lie of the Mind.... Laurie Thomas, Kathy
Mille-Wimmer and Shelley Epstein [are] especially
fine in the difficult roles of spouses struggling
variously with co-dependency, abuse, abandonment
and neglect.... "--Roy Durfee, KUNM
Evening Report, 89.9-FM
"Performances
ring true in A Lie of the Mind.... FUSION
Theatre Company begins its fourth season at The
Cell with Sam Shepard's seldom-performed three-act
play A Lie of the Mind, directed
by Jacqueline Reid. The large opening night crowd
responded warmly....As Lorraine, Kathy Mill[e]-Wimmer
is simultaneously outrageous and frightening.
Her dialogues with her children about their father
are seething with resentment. Beth's mother,
Meg, is less threatening, but no less crazy. Shelley
Epstein delivers her strange observations with
a disarming comic lilt. As her husband, Baylor,
John Hardman is impressive. His eyes suspicious
slits, his voice raspy, he pontificates from
his favorite chair when he is home. His macho
paean to deer hunting is fine.... Vic Browder
as Jake and Laurie Thomas as Beth are at the
broken heart of the show. Browder sensitively
portrays the brutish Jake with smoldering violence
always close to the surface. Yet there is also
perverse tenderness and perhaps even a mutant
form of love. Thomas skillfully presents the
tangled language of Beth's aphasia and produces
sympathy for her character without resorting
to sentiment. She understands Shepard's men:
'Look how big a man is. So big. He scares himself.'"--Barry
Gaines, Albuquerque Journal
"This isn't the
Montagues and the Capulets. It isn't even the Hatfields
and the McCoys. The battle between two seriously
screwed-up families in Sam Shepard's A
Lie of the Mind is even darker and more
deranged than either of those infamous feuds.....
Lorraine, played with easy perfection by [Kathy]
Mille-Wimmer, is a swirling tornado of maternal
neurosis. In other local productions, Kelly often
plays a smart-talking pretty boy. It's a character
he plays very, very well. Here he plays against
type. With his bad haircut and trailer park wardrobe,
he does a nicely understated job as Frankie, a
backward, soft-spoken dimwit.... With his penchant
for gratuitous violence against wildlife, Mike-played
with hilarious energy by [Dean Eldon] Squibb...
is the kind of backwoods lunatic you wouldn't want
to cross paths with while alone in a forest....
The set for this FUSION Theatre Company production
is a work of beauty. A lot of Shepard's dialogue
is extremely funny, but you might feel bad about
laughing during some of the darker bits. I know
I did... If you're in a appropriately twisted mood,
FUSION's A Lie of the Mind might
be a worthwhile experience. At the very least,
it'll make you feel a lot better about your own
life."--Steven Robert Allen, Weekly
Alibi
A Lie of the
Mind a Theatrical High.... By every
measure of dramatic art, this presentation is
in a class by itself, again illustrating the
highest standards of professional excellence
for shows performed by FUSION, the theatre company-in-residence
at the Cell Theatre... In addition to superb
acting and directing, this production is noteworthy
from [the] standpoint of its off-stage staff
(those handling lighting, sound, set, costume,
makeup, etc.), together with stage manager Maria
Schmidt. In a word, the presentation is "dynamic." This
entertaining play opened this past weekend to
full houses for all performances, evidencing
the mature recognition this theatre has justly
attained.--LiveArtsToday.com
Interview with Jacqueline Reid
and KUNM's Spencer Beckwith
(mp4-check Apple for
free player
if link above doesn't work for you)
Director: Fred Franklin ------------------------------ Laura: Jacqueline Reid Amanda : Laurie Thomas Tom: Vic Browder Jim/Father: Ross Kelly
Reviews
"...this FUSION
version succeeds in communicating the play's impressive
balance of dizzying comedy and bleak, soul-smashing
tragedy.... Since this play takes place in the
great stormy state of Tennessee Williams,... everything
must end badly, and it does -- so, so badly. Thankfully,
the play's hilarity keeps it from sinking into
a lightless pit, and the cast, especially Thomas
and Kelly, know how to milk this teat for laughs.
Whenever Thomas is on the stage, she owns it. As
the woman seated behind me said, 'She's so good
I felt like slapping her.' Amen, sister. Thomas
creates such a stylized, exotic Amanda, the character
almost seems like a caricature. Yet Amanda is in
many ways the most mysterious and intriguing personality
in the play. Thomas paints a masterful portrait
of a desperate, abandoned middle-aged woman who
is simultaneously sympathetic to the audience and
intolerable to everyone around her. As the overly
enthusiastic, hyper-ambitious gentleman caller,
Kelly is uproariously funny. He nails some of the
best physical gags in the show.... Browder [is]
one of the undeniable stars of Albuquerque theater...
Reid... seems so breakable here, a fragile soul
demanding protection. As she opens herself to Jim,
you can almost see her flesh and bones transforming
to glass in front of you then shattering to a thousand
pieces during the inevitable unhappy ending. Reid's
vulnerability is excruciating to watch, but during
these later scenes it's impossible to tear your
eyes away from her.... {A] truly ingenious aspect
of the staging is the living portrait of Amanda's
slimy ex-husband positioned in the middle of the
set. Played with smarmy poise by Kelly, this winking,
grinning photograph provides some of the play's
funniest moments. It also serves as a smart thematic
bridge between the man who abandoned the family
and the gentleman caller Amanda hopes will replace
him. I'm personally grateful that FUSION continues
to present polished, professional stagings of Tennessee
Williams' plays each season.... the fantastic stretches
in the performance are long and dazzling enough
to make this production will worth the price of
admission."--Steven Robert Allen,Weekly
Alibi
The Cast
William Sterchi, Richard Move
Richard Move
William Sterchi, Richard Move,
Ross Kelly, Rebecca Gibel
Director: Jacqueline
Reid ------------------------------ George:
William Sterchi Martha :
Richard Move Nick:
Ross Kelly Honey:
Rebecca Gibel
Reviews
"FUSION Theatre
Company's second show of the 2004 season is a gender-bending,
exciting new staging of Edward Albee's Who's
Afraid of Virginia Woolf? The play, expertly
directed by FUSION founding member Jacqueline Reid,
examines the brutality that spouses visit upon
each other and the search for intimacy and understanding.
.. The set, crafted by Charles Clute, an Emmy Award
winner and veteran Santa Fe Opera designer, is
a snapshot of the bourgeois trappings of a disappointed
life.... The best two compliments I can give to
Move's charismatic, boiling Martha is that I forgot
Elizabeth Taylor's iconic movie portrayal and I
forgot that Move is a man playing a woman's role.
His physical and speech mannerisms convey only
a bitterly disappointed, angry middle-aged woman
whose only joy comes from belittling her long-suffering
but equally angry husband. Sterchi's verbal facility
and vulnerability enlivens George's polyester-clad
whipping boy.... This production is another triumph
for Albuquerque's best theater group."--Kelly
Koepke,ABQArts
"When Edward Albee's Who's
Afraid of Virginia Woolf? exploded on
Broadway in 1962, it shocked and confused some
audiences and critics while capturing the New
York Drama Critics Circle and Tony Awards. The
FUSION Theatre Company production directed by
Jacqueline Reid at The Cell demonstrates that
the play has not lost any of its impact. It remains
a powerful and painful American classic... Unexpectedly,
Martha is played by Richard Move, who is too
young (20 years his character's junior), too
tall (reportedly 6 feet 4 inches), and, well,
male (with pancake makeup struggling to cover
a five o'clock shadow). Move, however, has Martha's
voice, from the vulgar bray to the dusky smoothness
of 12-year-old scotch. Moreover, he understands
and conveys Martha's coarseness, anger, cruelty,
and vulnerability. The other actors have the
advantage of being the same age and gender as
the characters they play. They are excellent.
Ross Kelly is ideal as the handsome, hunky Nick...
Kelly successfully conveys bewilderment as well
as academic ambition. As his wife Honey, Rebecca
Gibel is delightfully dim. Her character strains
to make sense of the carnage swirling around
her. Gibel's performance is a joy to watch. The
strongest achievement is William Sterchi's portrayal
of George. Sterchi's ruddy, round face and cherubic
grin belie the cruelty his character inflicts.
Sterchi embodies decades of disappointment and
belittlement twisted to viciousness."--Barry
Gaines, ABQ Journal
"The FUSION Theatre
Company is currently staging a production of Albee's
iconic American masterpiece at The Cell Theatre.
Directed by Jacqueline Reid, this version, I'm
happy to report, is as hilarious as it is terrifying
.... Engines fueled by a couple gallons of gin,
bourbon and brandy, the unpleasant situation quickly
degenerates into a scene of pure domestic hell.
Don't let this description repel you. This play
is very funny, even if its humor is mostly mean-spirited
and cynical. The best thing about FUSION's production
is the peculiar but brilliant casting. Reid brought
in New York actor Richard Move to play the role
of the domineering, back-biting Martha. You should
know that Move is a burly man who towers at least
seven feet tall. With his stubbled chin, horrid
bleached hair, fake tits and slurry, drunken swagger,
Move brings a perfect funky eroticism to the mix.
heightening and highlighting the hilarious surreality
of Albee's caustic dialogue. In an inspired application
of one of the golden rules of comedy, Move's gargantuan
stature makes William Sterchi seem all the tinier...
One of the things that makes this production so
enjoyable is that the two performers are utterly
unconvincing as a realistic married couple, but
the unbelievability of their pairing just makes
this production even funnier... A long-time veteran
of local theater and film, Sterchi is always reliably
good, and in FUSION's Who's Afraid of Virginia
Woolf? I've never seen him perform better.
Time after time, he brings an ingenious, unexpected,
idiosyncratic twist to Albee's lines. Who's
Afraid of Virginia Woolf? is a loud play
-- meaning there's an awful lot of yelling. Thankfully,
these players don't yell merely to cover up a lack
of acting skills. All four actors are sharp and
effective. This polished professional production
is also aided greatly by a simple, frumpy scenic
design created by Emmy Award winner Charles Clute...
No sharper black wit can be found in American theater,
and this cast and crew wield that wit with the
precision of brain surgeons. "--Steven Robert
Allen, Weekly Alibi
Laurie Thomas, Arron Shiver
Jacqueline Reid, Angela Littleton
Jacqueline Reid, Arron Shiver,
Laurie Thomas
Vernon Poitras, Vic Browder,
Arron Shiver, John Hardman
Director: Susan
Finque Additional Staging and Direction:
Fred Franklin ------------------------------ Stella:
Jacqueline Reid Stanley :
Arron Shiver Blanche:
Laurie Thomas Mitch:
Vernon Poitras Eunice:
Angela Littleton Steve:
Vic Browder Pablo:
John Hardman Doctor:
Wayne Rowe A Collector:
Nick Robbins Mexican Woman:
Florence Tonissi Nurse:
Teddy Eggleston
Reviews
"...Williams says
he's always felt closest to people who are screwed-up
in one way or another, people who don't adjust
well to this world. He places these people in his
plays not because he has any deep admiration for
depressed, violent, mentally unstable men and women,
but because he believes that to be well-adjusted
in a country and world that are themselves so screwed-up
is disturbing. That strange sympathy toward human
shortcomings floods through the FUSION Theatre
Company's production of Streetcar like
a steaming river of sweat. The actors savor every
inch of Williams' dark poetry. From start to finish,
this is a technically polished but emotionally
raw production, the kind of professional theater
I rarely see in New Mexico ... a day before the
opening, Arron Shiver stepped into the role of
the belligerent Neanderthal, Stanley -- played
so perfectly by Marlon Brando on Broadway and in
the movie. It isn't particularly easy filling Brando's
shoes under any circumstances, but, astonishingly,
Shiver took to Stanley like a drunk takes to wine,
putting in a truly brilliant performance. The rest
of the cast is great, too. Jacqueline Reid, playing
Stella, Stanley's wife, juggles the subtleties
of that role well. Vernon Poitras plays the awkward
doofus Mitch very convincingly, too. ...I'm happy
to report, Laurie Thomas does everything right.
Thomas is just so damned good--she's irritating,
she's funny; she's pathetic, she's sympathetic.
For my money, she presents an almost archetypal
Blanche DuBois .... FUSION, as they have so often
in the past, have shown they're up to the task
of performing such stellar material. Trust me,
these people know what they're doing. I can't recommend
this play enough."--Steven Robert Allen, Weekly
Alibi
"FUSION's latest
production, A Steetcar Named Desire,
could have been a war-horse. It's a classic of
American theater for sure, but really, how many
times has it been done? How many times has it been
badly done? FUSION worked its magic though, breathing
new life into a staple of the theater and giving
Albuquerqueans thirsty for professional caliber
performance an outstanding drama.... The performance
hinges on the astounding ability of Laurie Thomas
to transform herself into Blanche DuBois, the alternately
funny, sad, tormented and tormenting Southern belle....
From the first scene, when a weary Blanche unexpectedly
arrives at the young couple's tiny apartment, Thomas
creates the portrait of a fragile woman teetering
on the brink of madness.... Reid's Stella is a
sensual woman, torn between the childhood role
of sibling and her mature one as wife and soon-to-be
mother... Shiver convincingly gives Stanley a primal
quality, with violence lurking just beneath (and
sometimes on) the surface. But Thomas is the star
of the show. She's in almost every scene, many
of them featuring long monologues exposing diverse
emotions, one after another. Never does her accent
waver, never does a hand motion seem unnecessary
nor out of place, nor does her body show any hint
of being anything other than Blanche, a broken,
lonely, desperately unhappy woman."--Kelly
Koepke, ABQArts
"The FUSION Theatre
Company's production of A Streetcar Named
Desire by Tennessee Williams is spectacular.
Williams won the Pulitzer Prize for this play more
than 50 years ago, and this production at The Cell
shows us why. The entire cast is strong, but Laurie
Thomas is phenomenal as the faded Southern belle
Blanche DuBois. Thomas continually displays new
and compelling aspects of Blanche's character.
Her subtly nuanced performance is one of the finest
I have ever seen.... Arron Shiver took on the part
of Stanley the day before opening, and he has done
well considering the circumstances. Talented Jacqueline
Reid is excellent in the rather thankless role
of younger sister Stella. She maintains a trace
of her character's plantation past and a believable
reticence in her sister's presence. Her scenes
with Thomas are powerful. Reid is also strong in
showing Stella's sensual attraction to her husband.
As mama's -boy suitor Mitch, Vernon Poitras does
fine work.... The play belongs, however, to Thomas'
Blanche. Thomas is able to convey palpable disdain
as she enters her sister's apartment for the first
time.... Portraying Blanche as a consummate actor
(another word for liar), Thomas is superb in the
roles she plays; those roles, however, take their
toll. Thomas is wonderfully inventive as she stages
Blanche's decline into madness.... Thomas showed
me unexpected facets of Blanche with a classic
performance of a classic role. Don't miss it."--Barry
Gaines, ABQ Journal
Direction: Cecil
O'Neal ------------------------------ Dad: Gary Houston Daughter: Erin Neal
Reviews
"Bedbound is
currently playing in New York; it's also--in a coup
de grace in production now at The Cell. The
Cell hit the ground running and hasn't slown down.
They do brand-new theater, edgy theater; and a
few fun classics, such as last season's You
Can't Take It With You. Both Houston and
Neal are terrific actors, able to keep control
of the torrents of words that fall from the characters'
mouths....Director Cecil O'Neal does a fine job
of choreographing the action on the tiny stage....Bedbound is
a tour de force, and Daughter expresses
the nothingness that being bedbound creates, and
Dad is adept at expressing striving, always, to
failure." --Ann L. Ryan,ABQ Journal
"The
curtain doesn't part: It
falls with a crash to the
stage floor, revealing a
girl in dirty pajamas seated
on a brass bed covered with
ratty, stained blankets.
The room is bare, white,
fluorescent. The walls and
ceiling angle in to make
the room's contents look
more remote than they really
are....In Bedbound,
FUSION continues its brief
but distinguished tradition
of bringing the best possible
theater to Albuquerque....O'Neal's
stark, blindingly lit set
is ideal for this darkly
comical drama, and the performances
by the two leads are very
high caliber.... FUSION's Bedbound is
a worthwhile production.
The ticket price might be
double what you pay at some
other theaters in town, but
in this case you'll definitely
get what you pay for." --Steven
Robert Allen, Weekly
Alibi
"The Cell Theatre
and its resident professional theatre company,
FUSION, have brought another hot new play to town.
An Irish father and furniture salesman and his
polio-stricken daughter re-enact memories from
their pasts in Walsh's very Irish play. The father
erects walls and forms a sort of prison for his
daughter. Entirely a countryman of William Butler
Yeats and Samuel Beckett in theater style and James
Joyce in use of language, Walsh's play has a rhythm
that is infectious.The two actors, Chicagoans Gary
Houston and Erin Neal, inhabit the stage for the
entire play. Neal has the very difficult task of
portraying her character with limited use of her
body. FUSION's actors are all professional actors,
so it is a treat to have the opportunity to see Bedbound,
directed by another Chicagoan, Cecil O'Neal of
the Tony award-winning Victory Gardens Theater.
Just like other theaters in bigger cities, The
Cell has a rush ticket policy for students on Thursday
nights. For $10, students can see professional
theater in downtown Albuquerque.
What the Cell and FUSION
are doing for theater in Albuquerque is tremendous;
they are providing a chance to see groundbreaking
new plays and classics... but they also give local
actors a shot at roles -- and a paycheck. The building
they are housed in, located in the 'warehouse district'
downtown south of Lomas on First Street, was practically
empty a little over a year ago. I attended a rave
there before its transformation and a few months
later a brand new British play was on its stage
with the first use of onstage cyber sex [Closer by
Patrick Marber, presented February 13 through March
9, 2002]. The Cell doesn't try to put on a different
show each weekend. Instead, it puts up quality
shows for a good run." --Rafael Gallegos, Daily
Lobo
Interview with Jacqueline Reid and KBSG's "Raving
Richard" (mp4-visit Apple if
you need free
QuickTime player)
Direction: Jacqueline
Reid ------------------------------ Dodge:
John Hardman Halie:
Colleen McClure Rev. Dewis:
Wayne Rowe Tilden:
Paul Ford Bradley:
Tim D. Janis
Vince: Malcolm Sharbutt Shelley: Kerry Morrigan
Reviews
"Never have five
characters been so honestly awful, so full of anger
and self-loathing. The Cell's current production
is gutsy; director Jacqueline Reid and her phenomenal
cast realize that sometimes going too far is the
only way to go far enough. The result is a mesmerizing
trip back to the root of this family's self-created
horror show....Hardman, Ford, Janis, Morrigan and
Sharbutt are as good as they've ever been, and
that's damn good....Reid's direction is invisible--it's
that good. Watching Friday's premiere was like
watching a car crash. I wanted to leave, but I
couldn't. It's a powerful production--maybe the
best of the year--and deeply, disturbingly honest.
Don't miss it, but be forewarned." --Ann L.
Ryan, ABQ Journal
"Buried
Child by Sam Shepard
is a tough play to sit through,
but the Cell's November production,
directed by Jacqueline Reid,
was so mesmerizing that it
was impossible to leave.
It's the story of the most
loathsome family you will
ever meet--if you're lucky.
They hate themselves, each
other, the world, the universe...and
into all this stumbles Shelley
(Kerry Morrigan), girlfriend
of Vince (Malcolm Sharbutt),
son to Tilden (Paul Ford),
grandson to Halie (Colleen
McClure) and Dodge (John
Hardman). As these folks
ravage each other, the actors
involved give the best performances
of their careers." --Barry
Gaines, ABQ Journal,
in his summary of the year's
best shows
"An excellent production of Buried Child just opened last
week a the Cell Theatre and the cast, under the accomplished direction of Jacqueline
Reid, milks Shepard's bent sense of humor at every turn. Paul Ford as Tilden
brings an enormous amount of subtlety to what is probably the play's most difficult
role....The other standout is Tricklocker Kerry Morrigan as Shelley. A stranger
to the family, Shelley...the la-la rabbit fur princess, gets a lot of the play's
funniest lines, and the night I saw the performance Morrigan nailed all of them.
She's by turns manic, terrified and, finally, utterly spent as she passes in
and out of this familial house of horrors....Go see it. It might give you a whole
new appreciation for your own dysfunctional family." --Steven Robert Allen, Weekly
Alibi
"The Cell Theatre,
an up-and-coming creative
Downtown hotbed, is presenting
an excellent night of drama.
The play Buried Child by
Sam Shepard won the Pulitzer
Prize for drama in 1979 and
is still fresh and haunting
23 years later....This Buried
Child is a highly
satisfying evening at the
theater and The Cell has
certainly raised the bar
for other theaters in town....Ford's
Tilden is a semester's worth
of acting classes in one
evening. Morrigan is so electric
as Shelly, I wanted to watch
her the whole time she was
onstage. Hardman's Dodge
was his best character work
I've witnessed. Sharbutt
has proved he is a key player
in this taxing role.....The
Cell Theatre and its in-house
company FUSION certainly
live up to their mission
stated as "rooted in
conviction that theatrical
arts nourish and renew community
through the dialogue expressed
in storytelling," and
their dedication to professionalism." --Rafael
Gallegos, Daily
Lobo
Ellen Herschel, Paul Blott,
Tom Shuch, Levi Shaw-Faber
Direction: Laurie
Thomas ------------------------------ Big Daddy: Paul Blott Big Momma: Robin Goodhue Maggie: Jacqueline Reid Brick: Joe Pesce Mae: Kristin de la O Gooper: Tom Schuch The Reverend Tooker: Alan Hudson Doc Baugh: Frank Melcori No-Necked Monsters: Dixie: Ellen Herschel Sonny: Levi Shaw-Faber
Reviews
"Cat on
a Hot Tin Roof at the Cell Theatre in
May was a finely wrought, thoughtful interpretation
of Tennessee Williams' long, dark classic. Laurie
Thomas as director was able to get her hands
around this sprawling play--an accomplishment
in itself. Standouts in the cast included Robin
Goodhue as Big Mama, and Paul Blott as Big Daddy.
None of Burl Ives' false cheeriness in this Big
Daddy. Blott's take was as a gaunt, used-up man
who has seen everything and believes in nothing...." --Ann
L. Ryan, ABQ Journal,
in her review of the year's best theatre.
"Albuquerque's newest professional theater company presented an evening
of powerful drama and surprising staging, breathing life into Tennessee Williams'
American dramatic classic.... And unlike the Broadway and film versions, director
Laurie Thomas uses Williams' own 1974 rewrite of the play's conclusion, refusing
to succumb to a happy ending. The characters are left in their own uncertainty
and the audience left to ponder a first-rate production of a true American classic."
--Kelly Koepke, Crosswinds Weekly
"An incredible
cast has been assembled for this Cell Theatre production....The
prize of the night, though, goes to Paul Blott
as the cancerous, cantankerous Big Daddy. In a
lot of ways, his is the key role of the play, and
Blott pulls it off perfectly. He's gruff. He's
mean. He's funny....Cat on a Hot Tin Roof is
classic American theater, and this team really
nails it."
--Steven Robert Allen, Weekly Alibi
FUSION
Theatre Co. Productions:
Complete History
Year
Shows
Link
2009/10
How the Other Half Loves by
Alan Ayckbourn First Love by
Charles L. Mee A Lovely Sunday for Creve Coeur by
Tennessee Williams The Mandrake by
Niccol Machiavelli,
trans. by Wallace Shawn
The Seven: New Works Festival [theme TBA in January]
2008/9
The Homecoming by Harold
Pinter Death of a Salesman by
Arthur Miller Parlour Song by
Jez Butterworth Sarah Ruhl's
Eurydice by
Sarah Ruhl
The Seven: New Works Festival "That One Thing"
2007/8
Doubt, a Parable by John
Patrick Shanley The Lieutenant of Inishmore by
Martin McDonagh Madagascar by
JT Rogers Boston Marriage by
David Mamet "Being David Mamet:" One-Acts by
David Mamet
The Seven: New Works Festival "Something Left Unsaid"
2006/7
Private Lives by Noël
Coward The Seven: New Works
Festival "Games People Play" Suddenly Last Summer by
Tennessee Williams Tennessee Williams'
One-Acts
Anna Christie by
Eugene O'Neill Orange Flower Water by
Craig Wright Mad Hattr by
Laurie Thomas
The Seven: New Works Festival "No Regrets"
2005
A Lie of the Mind by Sam
Shepard Hedda Gabbler by Henryk Ibsen The Unexpected Man by
Yasmina Reza The Long Christmas Ride Home by
Paula Vogel
2004
The Taming of the Shrew by
William Shakespeare Who's Afraid of Virginia
Woolf by Edward
Albee The Glass Menagerie by
Tennessee Williams The Eight: Reindeer
Monologues by Jeff
Goode
2003
Bedbound by Enda Walsh Bye Bye Blackbird by Willard
Simms A Streetcar Named
Desire by
Tennessee Williams The Art of Dining by
Tina Howe
2002
Closer by Patrick Marber Cat on a Hot Tin Roof by
Tennessee Williams You Can't Take It
With You by Hart
and Kaufman Buried Child by
Sam Shepard
