Sunday, January 14, 2007

The Polish Play: 01/14/2007

Katharsis Theater Company's The Polish Play, “devised” and directed by Henry Wishcamper, is part Ubu Roi, part Macbeth, and that's the problem – well that's one of the problems. Alfred Jarry's Ubu is partially based on Macbeth, so the fusing of the two is already redundant. The execution of of The Polish Play is the remainder of the problem. The performance I saw was obviously rough, but the inherent problems of the production can't be overlooked. Most of what is intended to be humorous, just isn't funny. The large set pieces are not easily maneuvered around Walkerspace's narrow playing area. And while there are some creative ideas they are few an far between and even those are executed poorly. The live sound effects are good and actually wind up stealing focus. Happily, things were proceeding briskly, however after about an hour the announcement of an Intermission, after Act III, Scene 4, came as a huge surprise/disappointment. I didn't return for the second half.

For Info & Tickets: www.katharsistheater.org

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