Organization
New Repertory Theatre
Comment on Facebook New Repertory Theatre produces plays that speak powerfully to the essential ideas of our time. Through the passion and electricity of live theater performed to the highest standards of excellence, New Rep expands and challenges the human spirit of both artists and audience. New Rep presents world premieres, contemporary and classic works in several intimate settings. New Rep is committed to education and outreach, including special dedication to the creation of innovative in-school programming and providing access to underserved audiences. New Rep is an active advocate for the arts and a major voice in the national dialogue defining the role of theater in our culture. New Rep produces its Mainstage shows in the Charles Mosesian Theater and its Downstage @ New Rep series in the Black Box Theater, both at the Arsenal Center for the Arts.
On I-95/128. take Exit 28A onto Trapelo Road towards Belmont. Stay on Trapelo Road (which turns into Belmont Street) for approximately 5 miles until you see the Oakley Country Club on your right. Turn right onto School Street at the next traffic light. Take School Street to the end and turn left onto Arsenal Street. Take the next available right into the Arsenal on the Charles Complex. When you come to the first stop sign inside the complex, the Arsenal Center for the Arts will be the first building to your left, but you will take your right after the stop sign and an immediate left into the 6-story free parking garage.
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At-a-
Glance-
Contact Info
New Repertory Theatre
in Residence at the Arsenal Center for the Arts
321 Arsenal Street
Watertown, MA 02472Phone: 617-923-8487 | Fax: 617-923-7625 | Email | Official Website
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Current Events
05/18/12-
06/03/12Three Viewings Remount 2012
Boston University Theatre, Lane-Comley Studio 210 -
Upcoming Events
There are no upcoming events available for this organization at this time.
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Current &
Upcoming Events-
Current Events
05/18/12-
06/03/12Three Viewings Remount 2012
Boston University Theatre, Lane-Comley Studio 210
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Upcoming Events
There are no upcoming events available for this organization at this time.
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Past
Events-
Past Events
04/29/12-
05/20/12Little Shop of Horrors
The Arsenal Center For The Arts04/10/12 Tales of Poe
The Arsenal Center For The Arts04/01/12-
04/22/12Long Day's Journey Into Night
The Arsenal Center For The Arts02/26/12-
03/18/12Bakersfield Mist
The Arsenal Center For The Arts01/15/12-
02/05/12'ART'
The Arsenal Center For The Arts12/11/11-
12/24/11A Christmas Story
The Arsenal Center For The Arts11/27/11-
12/18/11Three Viewings
The Arsenal Center For The Arts10/09/11-
10/30/11Collected Stories
The Arsenal Center For The Arts09/04/11-
10/02/11RENT
Arsenal Centre for the Arts08/26/11-
10/16/11The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
The Arsenal Center For The Arts08/11/11-
08/13/11When Push Comes to Shove
Downstage @ New Rep in Residence at The Arsenal Center for the Arts Black Box Theater07/10/11-
07/31/11The World Goes 'Round
Arsenal Centre for the Arts05/01/11-
05/22/11Passing Strange
New Repertory Theatre in Residence at The Arsenal Center for the Arts Charles Mosesian Theater03/27/11-
04/17/11The Last Five Years
New Repertory Theatre in Residence at The Arsenal Center for the Arts Charles Mosesian Theater02/27/11-
03/20/11DollHouse
New Repertory Theatre in Residence at The Arsenal Center for the Arts Charles Mosesian Theater01/16/11-
02/06/11afterlife: a ghost story
New Repertory Theatre in Residence at The Arsenal Center for the Arts Charles Mosesian Theater12/16/10-
12/23/10New Rep’s Darling Divas Deck the Holidays
New Repertory Theatre in Residence at The Arsenal Center for the Arts Charles Mosesian Theater11/28/10-
12/19/10Frankie and Johnny
New Repertory Theatre10/17/10-
11/07/10Cherry Docs
New Repertory Theatre in Residence at The Arsenal Center for the Arts Charles Mosesian Theater09/12/10-
10/03/10Boston Marriage
New Repertory Theatre in Residence at The Arsenal Center for the Arts Charles Mosesian Theater06/24/10-
07/11/10SOPHIE TUCKER: THE LAST OF THE RED HOT MAMMAS
New Repertory Theatre in Residence at The Arsenal Center for the Arts Charles Mosesian Theater05/02/10-
05/22/10HOT MIKADO
New Repertory Theatre in Residence at The Arsenal Center for the Arts Charles Mosesian Theater04/10/10-
04/11/10Advanced Scene Study
The Arsenal Center For The Arts04/06/10-
05/04/10Beginning Acting
The Arsenal Center For The Arts04/05/10 MACBETH
New Repertory Theatre in Residence at The Arsenal Center for the Arts Charles Mosesian Theater03/28/10-
04/18/10OPUS
New Repertory Theatre in Residence at The Arsenal Center for the Arts Charles Mosesian Theater02/21/10-
03/13/10boom
Downstage @ New Rep in Residence at The Arsenal Center for the Arts Black Box Theater01/17/10-
02/06/10INDULGENCES
New Repertory Theatre in Residence at The Arsenal Center for the Arts Charles Mosesian Theater12/16/09-
01/03/10THE SANTALAND DIARIES
Downstage @ New Rep in Residence at The Arsenal Center for the Arts Black Box Theater12/06/09-
12/27/09CHARLES DICKENS' A CHRISTMAS CAROL
New Repertory Theatre in Residence at The Arsenal Center for the Arts Charles Mosesian Theater11/02/09 ANIMAL FARM
New Repertory Theatre in Residence at The Arsenal Center for the Arts Charles Mosesian Theater10/18/09-
11/08/09SPEED-THE-PLOW
New Repertory Theatre in Residence at The Arsenal Center for the Arts Charles Mosesian Theater10/04/09-
10/24/092.5 MINUTE RIDE
Downstage @ New Rep in Residence at The Arsenal Center for the Arts Black Box Theater09/13/09-
10/03/09MISTER ROBERTS
New Repertory Theatre in Residence at The Arsenal Center for the Arts Charles Mosesian Theater08/20/09 New Rep's Open House
New Repertory Theatre07/06/09-
07/31/09New Rep Summer Studio--From the Page to the Stage: Musical Theatre Based on Literature
New Repertory Theatre in Residence at The Arsenal Center for the Arts Charles Mosesian Theater06/01/09-
06/09/09New Rep Studio StageSource Audition Coaching
New Repertory Theatre in Residence at The Arsenal Center for the Arts Charles Mosesian Theater04/19/09-
05/10/09PICASSO AT THE LAPIN AGILE
New Repertory Theatre in Residence at The Arsenal Center for the Arts Charles Mosesian Theater03/14/09-
04/05/09Fool For Love
Downstage @ New Rep in Residence at The Arsenal Center for the Arts Black Box Theater02/22/09-
03/15/09Exits and Entrances
New Repertory Theatre in Residence at The Arsenal Center for the Arts Charles Mosesian Theater
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Media
Reviews-
Media Reviews
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Event Name: Boston Marriage
Article: Some Troubles in this 'Boston Marriage'
Wicked Local - Sep 15, 2010
By Alexander StevensWatertown —
Theater Review
Even those people who aren’t great fans of David Mamet (full disclosure: I’m one) have to admit that the playwright has a way with words. And “Boston Marriage” could be Exhibit A. The play, current… ExpandWatertown —
Theater Review
Even those people who aren’t great fans of David Mamet (full disclosure: I’m one) have to admit that the playwright has a way with words. And “Boston Marriage” could be Exhibit A. The play, currently being performed in a lovely-looking production by the New Repertory Theatre in Watertown through Oct. 3, is a delicious mix of Victorian-era vernacular and modern expressions. Mamet cleverly builds walls of words, opulent sentences constructed with almost Shakespearean intricacy, and then, for laughs, he’ll mix in a modern phrase that’s blunt and guttural, like a punch line at the end of a joke.
So one scene may open with the resplendent, “The couture of the paranormal does not well withstand the gaze of day.” (Trust me, in context, that’s a good laugh line.) But, at another moment, when flowery language fails to achieve its desired results, the characters are prone to cut to the chase: “How icky,” one declares. Collapse -
Event Name: Boston Marriage
Article: ‘Marriage’ not your typical Mamet
The Boston Globe - Sep 15, 2010
By Don AucoinWATERTOWN — In the testosterone-soaked plays of David Mamet, word games have often been the instruments for mind games.
The schemers and sleazeballs who populate works like “Sexual Perversity in Chicago,’’ “American Buffalo,’’ “Glengarry… ExpandWATERTOWN — In the testosterone-soaked plays of David Mamet, word games have often been the instruments for mind games.
The schemers and sleazeballs who populate works like “Sexual Perversity in Chicago,’’ “American Buffalo,’’ “Glengarry Glen Ross,’’ and “Speed-the-Plow’’ are intent on manipulating others — and just as intent on concealing those manipulations by means of elaborately profane (and frequently funny) circumlocutions. If they just keep talking, they seem to feel, they will eventually get their way.
On one level, “Boston Marriage,’’ now at New Repertory Theatre in a production directed by David Zoffoli, is the least Mamet-esque work the playwright has ever written, from the gender of its three characters (women) to its setting (a Victorian-era drawing room) to its diction (arch, mannered, Wildean).
But the characters in “Boston Marriage’’ do share with their less genteel cousins in Mamet Country a belief in the sheer power of language as a means of mastery over others. What they do not share, even though New Rep showcases several solid performances and some entertaining flashes of Mamet’s scabrous wit, is a consistently compelling reason to watch and listen to them.
The title is drawn from a turn-of-the-century term used to describe unmarried women who lived together and was often a euphemism for lesbian lovers. When we first see Anna (Debra Wise) and Claire (Jennie Israel) in the former’s drawing room, there is a barbed formality to their exchanges that suggests a lot of shared history has given way to an awkward present.
Though Anna is the mistress of a rich man and has the expensive emerald necklace to prove it, she is plainly still in love with Claire. But Claire is enamored of a young woman. In fact, she is cheekily seeking to arrange a tryst with her new paramour at, of all places, Anna’s house. When the young woman arrives at the house (this action occurs offstage), unforeseen complications arise.
Further complications, and comic relief, are generated by Catherine (Melissa Baroni), a perpetually flustered Scottish maid who doesn’t so much enter rooms as totter into them. In a running gag that generates some of the play’s most amusing moments, Anna assumes Catherine is Irish and, to Catherine’s growing fury, cannot be dissuaded from that assumption. Nor does Catherine much like the fact that Anna keeps calling her “Nora’’ and “Molly’’ while heaping insults on her tousled head and on her alleged Irish heritage.
“Boston Marriage’’ premiered in 1999 at the Hasty Pudding Theatre in a production by the American Repertory Theater that was directed by the playwright himself and starred Rebecca Pidgeon, Mamet’s wife, and Felicity Huffman (who later found TV fame with “Desperate Housewives’’). Back then, it was seen as Mamet’s answer to criticism that he could not write for women.
Can he? Well, sure. At times, the ornate language of “Boston Marriage’’ has the dark gleam of that emerald necklace. At other times, though, it is simply stilted, with archaic utterances like “I have a boon to beg’’ and “Oh, bother your reticule’’ that coexist uneasily with (deliberate?) anachronisms, as when Anna snaps, “Tell it to the Marines.’’ Every so often the playwright reaches for the rhetorical equivalent of a whoopee cushion. Claire: “We’ve fallen victim to the worst sin.’’ Anna: “Farting in church?’’
Israel and Wise, practiced veterans that they are, handle the abrupt tonal shifts of “Boston Marriage’’ with aplomb and even relish. Delivering their lines in a purposefully stylized manner, they have some snarky fun with the repartee between Claire and Anna, and with the mean streaks that neither woman bothers to try to hide. Baroni, as the maid, makes an amusing foil for the pair, though she is more convincing when Catherine is resentful, spiteful, or angry than when she is tearfully distraught.
The visually sumptuous environment created by set designer Janie E. Howland — with its muted grays and greens, tastefully patterned curtains, and a pair of inviting divans — creates a tranquil mood that provides a striking contrast with the sharp verbal exchanges. Costume designer Rafael Jaen also does exemplary work, especially in devising an outfit for Claire — calf-high boots, tight-fitting jacket — that mirrors her crisp demeanor.
Yet it is invariably the ear, not the eye, that feels satisfyingly over-stimulated, even engorged, at the end of the most trenchant Mamet plays, and that feeling is lacking here.
Almost anything the man writes is worth checking out, and “Boston Marriage’’ is no exception. But it is more interesting for what it says about Mamet’s need to challenge himself at a certain point in his career than for its intrinsic quality. And when that remarkable career is over, it’s hard to envision “Boston Marriage’’ being much more than a footnote. Collapse -
Event Name: Boston Marriage
Article: Boston Marriage
EDGE - Sep 14, 2010
By Kilian MelloyA "Boston Marriage" is an old term referring to female couples who made a life together without the guiding influence of a man about the house. The term originated in the 19th century, with a Henry James novel called The Bostonians. It’s on… Expand
A "Boston Marriage" is an old term referring to female couples who made a life together without the guiding influence of a man about the house. The term originated in the 19th century, with a Henry James novel called The Bostonians. It’s only fitting that about a century and a quarter later, Massachusetts would be the first state to extend marriage parity to gay and lesbian families.
But social questions, in all their layers, inform and complicate personal lives, whether a person is gay or straight. David Mamet’s foray into an historical setting--the year in his play Boston Marriage is 1910--and into an all-female household makes use both of a certain formalism of structure (three acts, a single drawing-room set) and flourishes of Edwardian language--though Mamet, famed for his dialogue, refuses to got bogged down in the parlance of the day. As soon as the characters begin to wax too florid, they execute abrupt verbal left turns, bringing their manner of speech right down to earth once again. (This enables Mamet to spice things up with a few gratuitous, and hilariously incongruous, episodes of profanity.)
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Event Name: INDULGENCES
Article: 'Indulgences' sells clever brand of fun
Boston Hearld - Jan 22, 2010
By Jenna SchererThe title of Chris Craddock’s “Indulgences” lets you know what to expect. Craddock is off on a spree - mashing genres and making up rules as his whims take him. You might as well indulge the man - even if you’re not always gulping down the snake oil… Expand
The title of Chris Craddock’s “Indulgences” lets you know what to expect. Craddock is off on a spree - mashing genres and making up rules as his whims take him. You might as well indulge the man - even if you’re not always gulping down the snake oil he’s selling.
Kate Warner last staged this play two years ago, during her previous gig as artistic director of Dad’s Garage Theatre in Atlanta. Now that she’s helming the New Repertory Theatre, Warner takes on “Indulgences” again. It’s a playful, if sometimes pointless, production.
Ground zero for Craddock’s cut-and-paste story is a dive bar on some sort of astral plane. The tables and chairs are see-through and insubstantial, but the whiskey is very real. So, apparently, is the bar’s most reliable regular, a drunken heavenly emissary in an ill-fitting suit (Benjamin Evett). He’s in the business of selling indulgences - which, if you recall your medieval history, are basically get-out-of-purgatory-free cards sold by the Catholic Church to wary sinners. They were a big con, but these salesman’s are supposedly the genuine article.
In walk two gents (Ed Hoopman and Tony Larkin) in Elizabethan garb - minor “Macbeth” characters Malcolm and Fleance, if you’re keeping score - groaning in faux-Shakespearean verse about their impossible love. The salesman agrees to help them murder Malcolm’s dad, the King (Joel Colodner), so the pair can usher in an age of same-sex-marriage tolerance in their realm. Meanwhile, the King has switched places with a modern-day businessman (Neil A. Casey) he met at the astral watering hole.
If that sounds random, it is. Craddock writes like a kid who’s mixed together all his Lego sets and is curious to figure out what the fireman and the dinosaur might say to each other at the space station. A Stoppard-esque dialogue about identity gives way to a medieval sitcom, gives way to a bitter monologue on living in delicious sin, David Mamet-style. The voice of God sounds like Frank the rabbit from “Donnie Darko” and there’s a joke or two we already heard in “Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me.”
As the salesman, Evett has way too much fun. He’s our stumbling, blustering guide to Craddock’s crazy world - and the most vividly realized character onstage. The others are basically pawns, but that doesn’t stop Colodner from roping us into the King’s existential crisis, or Leigh Barrett from cracking us up as a throwaway villain.
More fun is had in “Indulgence” ’s second half, but it’s hard to care much about characters who are little more than playthings in Craddock’s hands.
“INDULGENCES”
Presented by New Repertory Theatre at the Arsenal Center for the Arts, Watertown, Monday night. Through Feb. 6.
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Event Name: INDULGENCES
Article: New Repertory Theater's ‘Indulgences’ is a heavenly comedy
The Patriot Ledger - Jan 19, 2010
By Alexander StevensPlaywright Chris Craddock takes some nuggets of philosophical thought and spices them liberally with slapstick, word play and a little sacrilege. Then, just for good measure, the New Repertory Theatre adds a couple of scene-stealing turns from some o… Expand
Playwright Chris Craddock takes some nuggets of philosophical thought and spices them liberally with slapstick, word play and a little sacrilege. Then, just for good measure, the New Repertory Theatre adds a couple of scene-stealing turns from some of the area’s most talented comic actors, and sets the whole thing on a slow simmer.
The result is a delicious little comic confection called “Indulgences,” playing through Feb. 6 at the Arsenal Center for the Arts in Watertown.
It’s a fractured fairy tale, which gives Craddock and company license to do whatever they want. That’s why business-suit-clad 21st-century men share the stage with characters straight out of a Shakespeare play, and no one seems to notice or care.
It’s part of the humor, of course – caped men spouting “thees” and “thous” in the same conversation with a salesman who’s just trying to make a buck by selling “indulgences” – a kind of get-out-of-purgatory card for sinners.
Business will soon be booming because we’ve got sinners up the wazoo. Straight from the 16th century, that’s two male lovers – Malcolm (Ed Hoopman) and Fleance (Tony Larkin) – who reject their kingdom’s medieval stance on homosexuality, and plot to kill the king, who also happens to be Malcolm’s father. That’s a big payday for our salesman, who stands to make a pretty penny on all these top-drawer transgressions.
At the same time, two men note the similarity of their appearance and style, and decide it would be possible to swap identities, swap jobs, swap lives. The fact that they’re successful with such ease is funny, but Craddock also seems to be saying something about the sleepy and disinterested way we go through our lives. Their wives don’t even notice the change.
It may all sound crazy, but “Indulgences” could be crazier. Although the play dabbles with deep thought, the premise mostly feels like an excuse to win laughs. And you sense there’s a zanier, Marx Brothers-style version of this play that’s aching to get out.
But Craddock – who’s got a real knack for Elizabethan-speak, by the way – offers up some funny stuff, and he gets a boost from director Kate Warner and this talented local cast.
It’s always hard to take your eyes off Neil A. Casey; he steals scenes at will with that easy smile, that glint in his eye, that impeccable comic timing. He’s put to good use in “Indulgences.”
New Rep stalwarts Steven Barkhimer and Leigh Barrett are rock-solid, as usual. And much of the play rests on the professional shoulders of Benjamin Evett, the Actors’ Shakespeare Project founder who has popped up in a number of New Rep shows.
If there’s depth to this farce, we find it through Evett’s salesman and his desire to not only understand the world, but also improve it. He, like the rest of us, is a little perplexed by the way upper management – our CEO? our GOD? – is running things.
But a playwright’s wisdom is rarely ineffable, and “Indulgences” feels like it could be tweaked. Some of it is just a matter of pace, and that may get sorted out as the run continues. But there are also slow stretches in Craddock’s script, which occasionally gets bogged down in words, including an unnecessary little recap scene between Evett and Barkhimer right when we should be sprinting toward the finish line.
But it’s hard to argue with the little comic glow you feel at the end of the show. You may wish for a few more out-loud laughs in this farce, but you rarely stop smiling.
INDULGENCES Written by Chris Craddock. Directed by Kate Warner. At the Arsenal Center for the Arts, 321 Arsenal St., Watertown, through Feb. 6. $35-$54; 617-923-8487, www.newrep.org. Collapse -
Event Name: INDULGENCES
Article: Mash Up Your Shakespeare
The Hub Review - Jan 19, 2010
By Thomas GarveyOne more into the time-space-continuum gap! Tony Larkin, Benjamin Evett, and Ed Hoopman indulge themselves.
So - are you ready for a gay-Tom-Stoppard, "Fleance-and-Malcolm-Aren't-Dead-But-Getting-Married-in-Vegas" kind of metap… ExpandOne more into the time-space-continuum gap! Tony Larkin, Benjamin Evett, and Ed Hoopman indulge themselves.
So - are you ready for a gay-Tom-Stoppard, "Fleance-and-Malcolm-Aren't-Dead-But-Getting-Married-in-Vegas" kind of metaphysical-philosophical mash-up? At first I didn't think I was, either, but I admit the New Rep, and its crack comic cast (headlined by a hilarious Benjamin Evett), did eventually win me over, and I began to indulge Indulgences, the new production of Chris Craddock's meta-comedy which runs through February 6. This is a very silly show, and kind of conceptually sloppy - but it is a funny show, certainly the funniest in town, and you don't have to tell me what that means in January in Boston. (It means the New Rep has a hit.)
And it's nice to see new artistic director Kate Warner, who seemed to stumble slightly on her maiden voyage with Mister Roberts, right herself here, with a crisp, clever production that's tighter than a duck's you-know-what. It's true the play itself isn't nearly that taut - Canadian author Chris Craddock mashes together Shakespeare, Mamet, The Prince and the Pauper, "Fractured Fairy Tales," and a whole lot more in this long-form skit about cross-dressing and destiny - and part of the joke is that he doesn't much care that most of his gambits don't hang together. Shakespeare's Fleance and Malcolm, for instance, who drive the plot of the show, were never even friends in Macbeth, so when they meet for drinks in some sort of Purgatorial pick-up bar with a fallen angel who's a kind of insurance salesman, we do think to ourselves, "WTF, milord?" Or at least I did.
But wait a minute, let's back up. Here's the set-up: two Shakespearean characters (Malcolm and Fleance, played by Ed Hoopman and Tony Larkin) walk into a bar, where they meet, no, not a priest and a rabbi, but a seller of "indulgences" (Benjamin Evett). Remember those? I think the Catholic church actually still sells 'em, but at their height they were the proud pinnacle of Her venerable commitment to corruption - time-off in Purgatory was available for a variety of sins, for a small fee (or a large one, depending on the sin).
Only Craddock's salesman isn't some hack from the Vatican - he's from the Big Kahuna himself. As in Jehovah. Yahweh. The Almighty.
Which is quite an interesting intellectual proposition - God himself is offering an escape hatch from his own morality? Indulgences that work? And get a load of His reason - he wants to "re-inforce free will!" Holy conundrum, Mr. Stoppard! For a moment, it seems like a heavenly host of fascinating dialectics about the knotty problem of pre-destination might be in the offing.
But no such luck; playwright Craddock may scramble the dramaturgical map to pin his themes, but he isn't actually serious enough about them to indulge in any intellectual depth. Instead, he skates along the contradictions of Catholic philosophy to hilarious, but not deeply satisfying, effect. Still, that's enough for Saturday night. I won't get into the silly-and-sillier plot, except to say that Malcolm and Fleance want to both get hitched and kill Dad, who's not hip to modern romance. Only they don't know that Dad isn't actually Dad - he sort of swapped spots in the universe with some schlub from the present day (back in that Purgatorial bar). Who wants his old gig back. Then there's the schemers in the palace, who methinks fpout a moft excellent pastiche of pfeudo-Shakespeareana; they've got their sub-plot, too. Collapse -
Event Name: SPEED-THE-PLOW
Article: Speed up 'The Plow'
TAB - Oct 23, 2009
By Alexander StevensThey’re having fun down at the New Repertory Theatre in Watertown, happily doing battle in David Mamet’s war of words, “Speed-The-Plow.” You’ll have fun, too. Sure Hollywood is an easy target — perhaps even easier now than when Mamet wrote the play i… Expand
They’re having fun down at the New Repertory Theatre in Watertown, happily doing battle in David Mamet’s war of words, “Speed-The-Plow.” You’ll have fun, too. Sure Hollywood is an easy target — perhaps even easier now than when Mamet wrote the play in 1988. But director Robert Walsh has seized upon the play’s wit and its rat-a-tat-tat rhythms, turning it into a musical of words. And even if some of Mamet’s plotting remains a little creaky and suspect, you’ll forgive the play’s lapses because the characters are so richly comical, so pathetically human, and so much fun to hate.
At the center of it all are two Hollywood insiders who are also Hollywood stereotypes — fast-talking, self-loathing salesmen who almost believe their own chatter. As a comic vein to mine, it’s rich. They have no illusions about their professions, readily and repeatedly describing themselves as whores. “Bobby likes his coffee like he makes his movies,” jokes Charlie, “nothing in it.” But there’s more truth than jest in his jibe.
The two men appear headed for Easy Street. Charlie (Gabriel Kuttner) is on the verge of sealing a movie deal with A-list actor Doug Brown (think: Tom Cruise), and he’s brought the project straight to his longtime friend, and boss, Bobby (Robert Pemberton).
One more meeting to seal the deal, and then nothing to do but sit back and tally the boffo box office receipts. But this is a Mamet play — things aren’t going to go that smoothly. Surely, there are plot twists, power plays and f-bombs to follow.
Enter Karen (Aimee Doherty). She’s the comely temp who’s apparently as naive as they come. But when Bobby bets Charlie that he can bed her, Karen soon holds the key as to whether or not this Doug Brown picture ever gets made.
Bobby offers her an assignment as a ruse to get her back to his house. She’s supposed to read a book about radiation and the end of the world, and report to Bobby — at his house, that night, over wine, of course — about whether the book would make a good (translation: profitable) movie.
That’s where Karen turns on the charm. She’s wowed by the book, and makes an impassioned pitch to Bobby to green-light it. And Doherty has such a beguiling beauty and wholesome delivery that you start to think a movie about radiation just might be a good idea. And as Karen’s hair comes down and the wine flows, Bobby starts to think that way, too. The next morning, at the office, he’s had a change of heart that just might give Charlie — who’s so close to pay dirt he can taste it — an aneurism.
It’s in this last scene that the play really fires on all cylinders. The gloves come off, and out comes the hostility, profanity and misogyny that have been the foundation of Mamet’s career. It’s a pleasing bit of fireworks, and if you haven’t seen the play before, you’ll have a hard time figuring out how the whole thing is going to end.
But the fireworks — as resplendent as they may be — aren’t quite enough to distract you from some obvious holes in the story. The biggest comes during Bobby’s planned seduction. When Karen says that she’d like to help make the radiation movie, Bobby (inexplicably) tells the truth, saying it will never be turned into a film. Mis-take. Why would a guy who’s trying to seduce a woman crush the dream that has her so fawning and excited? A guy who’s slimy enough to make a $500 bet that he can bed a woman would promise her that she’ll play an important role as creative adviser on the movie, and, of course, she’ll also be his personal assistant.
As much fun as the cast is having with the show right now, they’ll be having more fun in a week. They’re still wrestling a bit with their lines, and “Speed-The-Plow” is really one long breathless 90-minute sentence. Director Robert Walsh can clearly hear the tumble of words in his head, but his cast isn’t quite delivering it, yet. When they do, this one-act will be a pleasing little roller coaster ride.
And Gabriel Kuttner, who’s already terrific, will be delivering one of the finest performances of the theater season. He’s astounding, bringing depth and dimension to a Charlie who’s pitbull, hitman and schlep. He shifts effortlessly from pathetic to loyal to scary. When the three actors are completely up to speed, “The Plow” will be a ferocious little jazz trio that’ll be mighty fun to watch. Collapse -
Event Name: SPEED-THE-PLOW
Article: Witty repartee keeps New Rep's 'Plow' moving
The Boston Globe - Oct 22, 2009
By Don AucoinWATERTOWN - There was reason to worry about the vitality of the New Repertory Theatre last month when Kate Warner began her tenure as artistic director with a sluggish production of the dated “Mister Roberts.’’
Paging Dr. Mamet: W… ExpandWATERTOWN - There was reason to worry about the vitality of the New Repertory Theatre last month when Kate Warner began her tenure as artistic director with a sluggish production of the dated “Mister Roberts.’’
Paging Dr. Mamet: With “Speed-the-Plow,’’ a Hollywood satire by the ever-provocative David Mamet, the New Rep stage has come back to life. Cursing, scheming, down-and-dirty life.
Though “Speed-the-Plow’’ sags a bit in the middle, Mamet was mostly in top form with this tale of two blockbuster-obsessed movie producers and the idealistic temp who upends their moral universe. The playwright ingeniously maps the shifting balance of power, as first one character seems to be holding all the cards, and then another, and finally another.
“Speed-the-Plow’’ has a production history as colorful as the events onstage. It twice created a stir on Broadway: first, at its premiere in 1988, when Madonna made her stage debut amid great hullabaloo (with costars Joe Mantegna, and Ron Silver), and again last December, when Jeremy Piven abruptly left the cast because of elevated levels of mercury in his blood, which he attributed to the excessive consumption of fish. “My understanding is that he is leaving show business to pursue a career as a thermometer,’’ Mamet cracked at the time.
In the snappy New Rep production, Robert Pemberton plays Bobby Gould, the newly appointed head of production at a film studio. As Gould is sitting at his desk one day, rolling his eyes while giving a “courtesy read’’ to “The Bridge,’’ a turgid piece of literary fiction about radiation and the Meaning of Life, in walks a lower-ranking producer, Charlie Fox (Gabriel Kuttner), with some marvelous news.
Fox has uncovered an old action-caper script from a studio file, gotten it into the hands of a major movie star named Doug Brown, and Brown loved it! He wants to make the film! The script is preposterous, of course. Here is how Gould sums it up after hearing Fox’s outline: “. . . a buddy film, a prison film, Douggie Brown, blah, blah, some girl . . . action, blood, a social theme. . .’’
And dollars. Lots and lots of dollars. Fox, who is badly in need of a break, is jubilant. But beneath his excitement is a discernible undercurrent of resentment toward the more successful Gould. Unable to resist tweaking him, Fox bets Gould $500 that he cannot seduce Karen (Aimee Doherty), Gould’s temporary secretary. Gould takes the bet. He asks Karen to read “The Bridge,’’ then come to his house that night and give him a full report on whether it would make a good movie. She does so, which is when things get complicated. A seduction does indeed take place, but who seduces whom? And which movie will get made, the sure-thing blockbuster or the art film?
As these questions get entertainingly thrashed out, director Robert Walsh gives us Mamet in all his complexity. An actor who has performed in Mamet’s “A Life in the Theatre,’’ Walsh knows that the suspense in Mamet-land stems from the sense that just beneath the verbal violence lurks the threat of physical violence. Sooner or later, Mamet’s people run out of words and things get primal.
But while few writers deliver a jolt to the nervous system (or a punch to the gut) quite like Mamet, the dialogue is of course central to his work, including “Speed-the-Plow.’’ With its choppy, rat-a-tat-tat rhythms and half-finished sentences, Mamet-speak poses a challenge to actors: If it doesn’t seem like their natural idiom, you could end up with the stilted tough-guy patter of, say, HBO’s “Deadwood’’ or ABC’s “NYPD Blue.’’
In their fast-paced scenes together - part conversation, part duel - Pemberton and Kuttner avoid this pitfall. Kuttner endows Fox with an edge of desperation; he has jittery limbs and jumpy eyes, like a man who knows this is his last chance. There is a stillness to Pemberton’s Gould; for all his bluster, he sometimes appears to be listening to an inner voice. Is that his conscience calling? Doherty’s nuanced Karen, meanwhile, has an air of mystery. Does she have an agenda? Is she as interested in power as everyone else in Hollywood? The actress smartly leaves us guessing.
Eric Levenson’s set establishes a visual correlative to the prevailing mood: It is all sharp planes and angles, not unlike the characters. But as always with Mamet, it is our ears, not our eyes, that have most of the fun.
Don Aucoin can be reached at aucoin@globe.com.
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Event Name: SPEED-THE-PLOW
Article: Get up to 'Speed' with Mamet's biting wit
Boston Herald - Oct 21, 2009
By Jenna Scherer“Speed-the-Plow,” David Mamet’s play about the movie business, has been beset by industry dramaitself. The original 1988 production marked Madonna’s controversial stage debut. And last year’s Broadway revival resulted in a media storm when Jeremy Piv… Expand
“Speed-the-Plow,” David Mamet’s play about the movie business, has been beset by industry dramaitself. The original 1988 production marked Madonna’s controversial stage debut. And last year’s Broadway revival resulted in a media storm when Jeremy Piven (“Entourage”) bowed out, claiming sushi-related health troubles.
New Repertory Theatre’s production doesn’t have any big names or behind-the-scenes gossip to call its own, but it does have a solid local cast and a keen grasp of Mamet’s caustic wit.
This three-hander goes down in the belly of the Hollywood beast - a production company. And Mamet takes no small pleasure in showing us how the sausage gets made. Bobby Gould (Robert Pemberton) has just been made head of production and everyone wants a piece of him. He’s got two offers on his desk: an arty, apocalyptic novel, hilariously titled “The Bridge: or, Radiation and theHalf-Life of Society. A Study of Decay”; and a big-budget prison movie starring megawatt celeb Doug Brown (think Tom Cruise).
Bobby’s business associate and frenemy Charlie Fox (Gabriel Kuttner) is dead-set on co-producing the Doug Brown picture. At first there’s no question Bobby will make the profitable choice. The monkey in the machine is Karen(Aimee Doherty), a secretary who gulps “The Bridge’s” end-of-days Kool-Aid and will do whatever it takes to make Bobby green-light it.
Director Robert Walsh’s production is short and sour, like a hard candy you never crack. His “Speed-the-Plow” has a physical, rough-edged quality in keeping with Walsh’s background as a fight choreographer.
Mamet’s insult-peppered exchanges play like a fast game of squash in the hands of Pemberton and Kuttner. New Rep regular Doherty, who chiefly performs in musicals, proves she’s got dramatic chops. Some of the funniest moments come during Karen’s readings of pseudo-intellectual passages from “The Bridge.” Doherty infuses them with the right dose of airheaded reverence.
“Speed-the-Plow” is a Mamet classic that covers two of the playwright’s favorite subjects - business politics and men behaving badly. Everyone is trying to cut through the bull. But the point is that it’s all bull, whether the pretentious kind in “The Bridge” or the pulp action kind in the prison movie.
Real human stuff like friendship and desire is also not free from a choking layer of hot air, and that’s what “Speed-the-Plow” really has to say about the industry - that all this game-playing can be bad for your system. Heck, just look at Jeremy Piven.
“SPEED-THE-PLOW” Presented by New Repertory Theatre at Arsenal Center for the Arts, Watertown, Monday night. Through Nov. 7.
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Event Name: SPEED-THE-PLOW
Article: Speed-the-Plow
The EDGE - Oct 21, 2009
By Killian MelloyThe New Repertory Theatre’s production of David Mamet’s Speed-the-Plow starts off at a jolly boil and stays there, rattling the lid and sending up plumes of coarse language together with elegant plotting and characterization.
Bob (Robert… ExpandThe New Repertory Theatre’s production of David Mamet’s Speed-the-Plow starts off at a jolly boil and stays there, rattling the lid and sending up plumes of coarse language together with elegant plotting and characterization.
Bob (Robert Pembleton) has just been given a promotion at the movie studio where he’s long been employed along with best friend Charlie (Gabriel Kutter). On his first day, Bob is besieged with scripts from hopefuls looking to break into the film business. But Charlie has a golden opportunity for him: a film starring Hollywood hunk and box-office draw Doug Brown. (Evidently, in the world Bob and Charlie inhabit, Doug Brown is the equivalent of Tom Cruise of George Clooney--his plain-as-dishwater stage name notwithstanding.)
The news is thrilling; the new office temp, Karen (Aimee Doherty), not so much: she can’t find the coffee pot or, for that matter, the big button that provides direct phone access to the studio head, to whom Bob and Charlie will have to pitch their plan for the Doug Brown movie.
Karen may be at a loss when it comes to her office responsibilities, but she’s a David Mamet character and so endowed with a primal cunning and ambition to match. (In one searing, off-color rebuke, Charlie sums her up quite nicely.) She’s also pre-loaded with the full palette of Mamet dialogue tics: meeting with Bob privately, she stammers her way through an impassioned oratorio of sentence fragments and garbled nonsense, reading aloud from a book she wants Bob to green light for movie development.
The book stinks, of course, but its ludicrous message of human development through irradiation proves convincing, and Charlie is sent into a towering tizzy when he finds that Bob is ready to bail on the Doug Brown movie in favor of Karen’s new pet project. The third act’s Charlie is a thundering revelation, and a transformation: Kuttner handles both versions of Charlie-- a sweating, jittery mess of nerves and avarice, then a raging inferno of fury and disappointment--with utter authority.
Pemberton’s Bob is just as well played: Bob is slick with the professional Hollywood hustler’s varnish, but he’s also insecure and scared. Pemberton brings all that, plus Bob’s infatuation with Karen, into a crackling performance that harmonizes with Kuttner’s, creating comic sparks that just don’t stop.
Doherty has the hardest role of all, playing a scheming vixen with as much brio as the boys. We are supposed to root for Charlie and Bob as a team--an early exchange between them rhapsodizing about the money they are going to make on the Doug Brown film plays like a love duet in which cash, rather than one another is the object of their affection--and Doherty has to swim against the unfair double standard that tells us that women shouldn’t be as greedy and driven as men, not to mention the fact that her character is the archetypal female intruder that breaks up male partnerships, distracting one member of the duo from business with a promise of sex. Despite all this, Doherty--without apologizing for her character’s ambitions--comes across as one more player in a town where you either play or get played.
There’s no clear setting for the play in terms of when this is all happening, but Charles Schoonmaker’s costumes give us a few clues about the era and the attitudes that apply to the characters. Bob is dressed in what looks like early ’80s casual; Karen, in her office setting, is done up in something that could have come out of Mad Men’s early 1960s setting, before she transforms into a freer spirit, almost resembling a later ’60s flower child. Charlie is stuck in the ’70s, which fits his chattery second-banana status all too well.
J. Hagenbuckle’s sound design is minimal, but effective: the play starts off with a nod to Tinseltown by using a well-known studio’s fanfare, before jumping into a jazzy original score.
As for Eric Levenson’s set, it’s minimal but not too Spartan: the same dual-level space, its halves defined by brown and blue carpeting, serves as Bob’s office, complete with desk and chairs and suitable props, and as Bob’s apartment, where Bob thinks he’s seducing Karen--and Karen knows she’s seducing Bob.
The New Rep have taken one of Mamet’s best scripts and realized its potential for understated existentialist panic as well as for blistering, incorrect comedy.
Speed-the-Plow plays at the Arsenal Center For the Arts, located at 321 Arsenal Street in Watertown, through November 7.
Tickets cost $35-$54; seniors get discount of $7 off. Student rush tickets cost $13. Tickets can be obtained online at www.newrep.org or via phone at 617-923-8487.
Performance schedule: Thursdays at 7:30 p.m.; Fridays and Saturdays at 8:00 p.m.; Sundays at 2:00 p.m. Additional performances will take place Thursday, Oct. 22, at 2:00 p.m., Saturday Oct. 31 and Nov. 7 at 3:30 p.m., and Sunday, Nov. 1, at 7:30 p.m.
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Event Name: SPEED-THE-PLOW
Article: Director aims to make Mamet's words work
The Boston Globe - Oct 20, 2009
By Joel Brown“How we talk sometimes determines who we are," Robert Walsh says, paraphrasing David Mamet. Due diligence on the dialogue is key as Walsh prepares to direct Mamet’s “Speed-the-Plow’’ at the New Repertory Theatre.
“Mamet’s care in wo… Expand“How we talk sometimes determines who we are," Robert Walsh says, paraphrasing David Mamet. Due diligence on the dialogue is key as Walsh prepares to direct Mamet’s “Speed-the-Plow’’ at the New Repertory Theatre.
“Mamet’s care in word selection is obvious, but also there’s a degree to which his plays are wonderfully rhythmical and musical. It’s part of the energy, part of the information,’’ Walsh says. “He is very meticulous in how he uses grammar and punctuation. There’s a lot of information in the text on what words are the dominant word or operative word in a sentence . . . the language is filled with ellipses and implied language.’’
Walsh directs Robert Pemberton, Gabriel Kuttner, and Aimee Doherty in the New Rep production, Sunday through Nov. 7 at the Watertown theater. Pemberton plays Bobby Gould, a mid-level Hollywood producer with some pull at his studio. Kuttner is Charlie Fox, another producer, who while less successful than Bobby, does have his hooks in a potential hit action film. He wants Bobby to get behind it.
“Certainly Charlie Fox and Bobby Gould have their own shorthand. They’ve been working together so long,’’ Walsh says. “Not unlike a marriage, you begin to fill in the other person’s comments. It’s how little of their language do you need, before you’ve intuited what they’re going to say?’’
Then into their lives steps Karen, a pretty young temp whom Bobby will try to bed to win a bet with Charlie. She has a more idealistic film she says Bobby should tackle instead.
“You’ve got a very male sensibility, very gritty, very sort of ‘guy language,’ and into that walks Karen, this woman who in many respects is rather mysterious,’’ Walsh said. “She brings a polar opposite dynamic to the language and how people communicate. It certainly catches Bobby Gould where he is in his life, in his age, his sensibility - she finds him at an opportune moment. So it’s fun as these paradigms of language get changed in the moment.’’
“You’re looking for signposts on a journey,’’ Pemberton said in a separate conversation. “[Mamet] gives them to you in his punctuation, in what he italicizes, in the very specific words he chooses to use, in the shortness of the sentences. That’s how you each find the rhythm.’’
The play tackles themes of art versus entertainment, idealism versus cynicism, loyalty versus betrayal, and all in less than 90 minutes. And while much has changed since “Speed-the-Plow’’ debuted on Broadway in 1988, the basic realities of life in Hollywood remain the same, Walsh said. In fact, Hollywood belt-tightening means that even the production budgets in the script didn’t have to be updated, he said.
Walsh says he has known Mamet casually for nearly two decades, since a benefit reading of Mamet’s work when the playwright lived in the Boston area. He worked briefly on a couple of Mamet films, including “State and Main,’’ which was shot in Massachusetts. “I play a state trooper. I arrest Alec Baldwin, so I have a scene with Alec Baldwin and David Paymer. The other bit was in ‘The Spanish Prisoner’; I was Steve Martin’s stunt double. At the end of the movie he gets shot with a stun gun, and they asked me to come in and pull that off for him.’’
Perhaps more relevant, Walsh directed Mamet’s “A Life in the Theatre’’ for a New Jersey theater company before tackling “Speed-the-Plow.’’
What’s Walsh like as a director? “He allows each actor to go through their process. He’s very patient,’’ Pemberton says, noting that’s probably because Walsh is also an actor. Among several times they’ve worked together, the first was a Merrimack Repertory Theatre production of “Our Town’’ perhaps 15 years ago, when Walsh played his father-in-law, Pemberton says.
There have been numerous productions of “Speed-the-Plow’’ with stellar casts, from the 1988 teaming of Joe Mantegna, Ron Silver, and Madonna to a recent Broadway version that became notorious when star Jeremy Piven dropped out, claiming high mercury level, perhaps from excessive sushi consumption.
“I had the cast over for an informal reading before we got started,’’ Walsh says, “and coincidentally sushi was served, so I think we’re dispelling the notion that there are any bad omens around it.’’
“Speed-the-Plow’’ opens Sunday at the New Rep and continues through Nov. 7. Tickets, $35-$54, at 617-923-8487 or www.newrep.org.
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Event Name: 2.5 MINUTE RIDE
Article: 2.5 Minute Ride
EDGE Boston - Oct 08, 2009
By Kilian MelloyOne woman, a slide projector with no actual slides, and three story threads that weave and twine in a hilarious, mesmerizing way: that’s 2.5 Minute Ride, a memoir and monologue written by Lisa Kron and performed by Adrianne Krstansky.
Th… ExpandOne woman, a slide projector with no actual slides, and three story threads that weave and twine in a hilarious, mesmerizing way: that’s 2.5 Minute Ride, a memoir and monologue written by Lisa Kron and performed by Adrianne Krstansky.
The production premieres the fourth season of Downstage @ New Rep and is directed by M. Bevin O’Gara, who guides Krstansky’s performance, along with the show’s other elements, with an eye to the confessional and the naturalistic. As Kron, the daughter of a Holocaust survivor who visits Auschwitz with her elderly father, Krstansky in unstoppable and irresistible: she commands hearty laughter even as she breaks the heart--not just for the victims of the Holocaust, but, as the narration continues, for the perpetrators also, victims as they were of a monstrous machine of war and murder.
But that is only one strand in the show’s triptych. Kron’s script parallels the Auschwitz trip with another family outing--this time with both parents, as well as a flock of aunts and cousins--to an amusement park, where her nearly-blind 75-year-old father, munching on nitroglycerin tabs, cheerfully queues up to ride a roller coaster. It’s a plain and plainly presented metaphor, but neither Kron nor anyone else is apologizing for it: her father enjoys every minute, even though her mother is convinced that an earlier ride caused a hemorrhage that led to her father’s severe loss of sight.
The third strand deals with the wedding of Kron’s brother, who sets out one day to find a wife online. For Kron’s mother, the occasion is something like the roller coaster is for her father, though perhaps without the expectation of fun: she frets over her clothing, her hair and makeup, and everything else. (The character Krstansky plays confides that her mother must have been thrilled to hear that her daughter was a lesbian, knowing that would be one wedding she wouldn’t have to deal with.)
But the various rites, passages, and literal roller coaster rides through life leaves everyone radiant--an outcome underscored by the blank projection of white light from the slide projector. Those white squares (and, later, colored fields of light that pop up all around the stage courtesy of lighting designer Caleb Magoon) are invitations to the audience’s imagination, only the first means of bridging the gap between performer and onlooker. By the time the 85-minute show is done, you almost feel like a member of this oddball extended family.
"2.5 Minute Ride" plays through October 24 at the Black Box Theater, located at the Arsenal Center for the Arts, 321 Arsenal Street in Watertown.
Tickets cost $25 general admission and can be obtained online at www.newrep.org or via phone at 617-923-8487.
Performance schedule: Thursday evenings at 8:00 p.m.; Friday and Saturday evenings at 8:30 p.m.; Saturday afternoons at 4:00 p.m.; Sunday afternoons at 3:00 p.m.; Sunday evenings at 8:00. There will also be one Wednesday evening performance on Oct. 21 at 8:00 p.m.
Talkbacks are scheduled for after the Sunday 3:00 p.m. performances on Oct. 11 and Oct. 18.
Kilian Melloy reviews media, conducts interviews, and writes commentary for EDGEBoston, where he also serves as Assistant Arts Editor. Collapse -
Event Name: MISTER ROBERTS
Article: It's smooth sailing for New Rep's 'Mister Roberts'
Boston Herald - Sep 16, 2009
By Jenna SchererIt’s in with the new and the old at New Repertory Theatre, as new artistic director Kate Warner takes the helm with an old battleship of a play.
While Diane Paulus is busting down walls at American Repertory Theater, Warner is taking a m… ExpandIt’s in with the new and the old at New Repertory Theatre, as new artistic director Kate Warner takes the helm with an old battleship of a play.
While Diane Paulus is busting down walls at American Repertory Theater, Warner is taking a more traditional approach to her local creative debut with the 1948 classic “Mister Roberts.” Nothing wrong with tradition, especially when it’s done this well.
Penned by Thomas Heggen and Joshua Logan (and based on Heggen’s 1946 novel of the same name), “Mister Roberts” was the first play to win a Tony award, and was made into a 1955 film starring Henry Fonda and Jack Lemmon.
The comedy follows the crew of a U.S. Navy cargo ship in the South Pacific in the waning days of World War II. It’s an ensemble piece through and through, and Warner’s group of actors work together with the comfort and chemistry of a real ship’s crew.
Lt. Roberts (Thomas Piper) is a smart and ambitious man desperate to get in on the fight in the Pacific Theater. Unfortunately, he’s stuck as a cargo officer aboard a ship that’s about as far from the action as you can get. Though the men hardly have a thing to do, they haven’t had a shore leave for 14 months, thanks to their tyrannical captain (Paul D. Farwell).
Roberts is the only thing standing between the crew and total, self-annihilating boredom. He keeps spirits high, even while he works to get himself out of the doldrums and into the real war.
Warner’s production plays out on an ingenious three-tiered set designed by Patrick Lynch. Men run up and down clanging metal scaffolding that mimics the feel of an actual ship. Warner infuses “Mister Roberts” with an easy realism and natural flow, moving seamlessly through characters and settings.
Piper is a pitch-perfect Mister Roberts, transmitting a Fonda-like charisma, wit and passion. His scenes with Farwell’s Captain are riveting, as both actors throw themselves into the tense standoffs.
What makes this production live and breath is how the 11-member cast works together as a whole, whether the sailors are ogling nurses through binoculars or the officers are bantering in their quarters. And I haven’t even mentioned the live goat that makes a memorable cameo.
“Mister Roberts” may not be the most groundbreaking choice for a debut, but who said ground always has to be broken? Heggen and Logan’s piece is one of the cornerstones of American theater, and you can’t top the greats. Warner has taken her first steps at New Rep on solid ground and I can’t wait to see where she goes next.
“Mister Roberts” presented by New Repertory Theatre at Arsenal Center for the Arts, Watertown, Monday night. Through Oct. 3. Collapse -
Event Name: MISTER ROBERTS
Article: http://www.tauntongazette.com/arts/x1080448891/Lenny-at-Large-Kate-Warner-takes-the-helm-at-New-Rep-with-Mister-Roberts
Taunton Daily Gazette - Aug 30, 2009
By Lenny MegliolaSay this for Kate Warner: she's not exactly easing into her new job.
Warner took over April 22 as the New Rep's artistic director and hit the ground running. "I've done a lot of social networking," she says. "It's like I'v… ExpandSay this for Kate Warner: she's not exactly easing into her new job.
Warner took over April 22 as the New Rep's artistic director and hit the ground running. "I've done a lot of social networking," she says. "It's like I've been speed-dating the Boston theater community."
And as if she doesn't have enough on her plate trying to attract audiences, Warner is directing "Mister Roberts" which kicks off New Rep's 2009-10 season with a Sept. 13 through Oct. 3 run.
Warner arrived from Atlanta where she was artistic director at the acclaimed Dad's Garage Theatre, where she also directed plays for 10 years. "Dad's Garage was founded by 10 gentlemen who all went to the University of Florida," says Warner. "I was the first chick to run it. I couldn't be prouder of my work there."
Warner has big shoes to fill at New Rep, where longtime artistic director Rick Lombardo brought the company to prominence from a church space in Newton to the state-of-the-arts main stage and black box spaces in Watertown. When Lombardo left for a theater job in California, New Rep's search committee was set in motion.
"I interviewed twice," says Warner. "Both times it was in the winter. There was snow both times. So I knew what I was getting into. It snows in Atlanta about once every other year."
Once she settled in - she's now living in Cambridge - Warner was greeted by a dose of Northern hospitality. "I knew this was going to be an amazing professional (theater) community. People were extremely warm and generous. It kinda blew me away."
An Atlanta native, Warner attended Kalamazoo (Mich.) College where she decided "I wanted to be a director and run a theater." Actually, the seeds were planted long before that. "When I was 4 or 5 my mother says I was directing when we were playing house or with dolls."
The high school Warner went to didn't have a drama program, so she entered a summer arts camp. "I was training to be a musician in the orchestra and band. I played viola and percussion in the band. My sense was that's what my parents were hoping I'd do. But once I got to college, theater people became by tribe."
During her sophomore year, Warner interned at an off-Broadway production. "I was 19 and in New York. It was fantastic." The next year she studied in Greece and Turkey.
After graduating she needed some time to herself. "I was somewhat irresponsible, traveling across the country." It was a carefree time. She was also jobless. "I returned to Atlanta and got jobs in theater, including waiting tables."
At Dad's Garage, Warner directed more than 20 plays, "One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest" being one of her favorites. "I was really proud of that. We got 60 gallons of white paint and turned the black box white."
At her final interview with New Rep, Warner presented her vision for the new season. "There have been some small changes but, by and large, it's what I'd chosen."
Warner painstakingly searched for the "Mister Roberts" lead, made famous by Henry Fonda. "We did hours and hours of auditions, but I didn't see the right Mister Roberts." Then Thomas Piper showed up. "I'd known him through a mutual friend," says Warner. "He was in New York. I called to see if he'd be available."
He was, and she had her Mister Roberts. "He's really a smart actor," says Warner.
Somehow, the ever-busy Warner has made time to check out her new environs, and not only the city. "I'm letting myself explore. This is a big move for me. I've been to the beach, went out to Concord and to Maine. I've been whale-watching. I'm trying to give myself the full Boston experience."
Kate Warner has come a long way from Dad's Garage. There's no turning back now.
"Mister Roberts" runs Sept. 13 to Oct. 3 at the New Repertory Theatre at the Arsenal Center for the Arts, 321 Arsenal St., Watertown. For tickets, go to newrep.org or call 617-923-8487. Collapse
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Event Name: Passing Strange
"Passing Strange--Strangely Passionate"
Review posted by: Lisa Leavitt from Newton, MA, May 23, 2011
I just went over the weekend to Passing Strange. I found it to be extremely entertaining. A bit of a travelogue combining a young man's search for himself amidst the very different cultures of... Expand
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Event Name: Passing Strange
"Passing Strange Good Adaptation of Broadway"
Review posted by: KDRMJC from Boston, May 23, 2011
We loved this Broadway rock musical and this was a well done rep version. Although shorter, the staging and performers were up to the task of taking Stew's work in a slightly different direction.
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Event Name: Passing Strange
"A hit"
Review posted by: Ed from Newton, MA USA, May 04, 2011
We were up front and found volume too loud, improved with a bit of cotton in the ears. Engaging story line, great cast. Definitely a "go see it."
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Event Name: Passing Strange
"Great show"
Review posted by: Jane from Newton, MA USA, May 03, 2011
Great production. The acting, music, sets. Well done.
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Event Name: Passing Strange
"See it!"
Review posted by: BarbaraT from Braintree MA, May 01, 2011
Would have given this 5 stars if the music didn't drown out the lyrics in several numbers (especially the opening song). Other than that, this production is sensational. Cast is phenomenal. The entire... Expand
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Event Name: DollHouse
"DollHouse"
Review posted by: Chopstix from Boston, MA USA, Mar 02, 2011
Truthfully, I fell asleep during the first act. The writing and the characters couldn't keep me awake. Perhaps its because I couldn't hear the actors, either. I stayed awake for Act 2, though,... Expand
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Event Name: afterlife: a ghost story
"Provocative"
Comment posted by: Elaine from Jamaica Plain, Feb 01, 2011
This was a ghost story that was scary in a very non-scary way. It produced a lot of thought and discussion. Everything was outstanding - the cast, the set, and especially, the sound. Not a happy... Expand
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Event Name: afterlife: a ghost story
"Loved this play"
Comment posted by: Brenda Marquis from Boston, MA, Jan 31, 2011
I really enjoyed this play. From the opening scene until the closing curtain I could feel the tension between the actors and the audience. The lead actress did an amazing job at drawing the audience... Expand
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Event Name: Frankie and Johnny
"Great show!!"
Review posted by: fstfngrs from Boston, MA, USA, Dec 08, 2010
Went to the opening matinee. Terrific acting by both, great script, funny, romantic. Thoroughly enjoyed the afternoon. It was our first time at this venue, very cozy, every seat a good one, free... Expand
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Event Name: Cherry Docs
"Electrifying theater experience"
Comment posted by: Laurie from Boston, MA, Nov 08, 2010
I just saw Cherry Docs yesterday and it was one of the most piercing analysis of the connection between hate and love I have ever seen on stage. The actors personified those emotions marvelously... Expand
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