As I have said before, one of the many great things about theater in the Richmond area, is that there are such diverse offerings available to satisfy everyone’s taste. With that said, TheatreLab’s current production of Closer, just wasn’t close to suiting my tastes.

TheatreLab generally presents plays with a young, hip vibe. Closer is a very stylized play that is more like watching an art film live. Visually and aesthetically, the staging of the production is fabulous. Michael Jarrett’s lighting creates a foggy film-like quality with shadowy very directional shades of reds, pinks and yellows. McKenzie Sherwood’s costumes are overwhelmingly black and white to add to the dark dramatic atmosphere, with splashes of red added to more emotional scenes. Deejay Gray’s scenic design utilizes the RVA event space well, with much of the action right in the audience’s face in sets on the floor, and a variety of scenes rotated on the stage area itself.

However, it is the elaborateness of these multiple sets that in part drags the show down. In a play that relies heavily on stilted dialog in lieu of action; long set changes and slow, dark, repetitive music made the 2 1/2 hours seem much longer. Stagnant blocking and acting that tended to stay on one level added to the draggy feeling of the show. There is little emotional depth, which leaves little opportunity to feel or empathize with the characters.

Another problem is in the casting. While the cast is capable, many of the actors are just too young to play the parts in which they were cast. The plot itself is very basic; where three people in England living very dull, ordinary lives have drama added to their lives in the person of a young stripper, Alice (Theresa Mantiply). Dan (Thomas Cunningham) is an obituary writer, Larry (Evan Nasteff) a dermatologist and Anna (Liz Earnest) a portrait photographer. The play follows the four as they meet and then bounce back and forth between one another in purely sexual relationships. The themes are blatantly stated as life without risk is death and the best sex is anonymous.

Mantiply captures Alice’s flirty, coy seductress nature with a bit of bratty, self-absorbed likeability. Cunningham captures Dan’s duality as a bit of a nerd yet a bit of a perv. Nasteff comes across as more kind, naïve, sensitive and charming than diabolical as Larry (with his British accent he reminded me of Andrew Garfield on SNL this weekend — who knew he was British?) Earnest is the more prim and proper of the four, and captures Anna’s cold, stoic nature.

Director Chanelle Vigue’s blocking creates beautiful portraits and utilizes the large staging area well; but often gets bogged down in still-sitting talking heads.

Be warned there is strong sexual language and action as well as a great deal of cigarette smoking. For those who enjoy a dark, artistic study of the more sinister sides of human nature, Closer is the play to see.

Photo Gallery

Thomas Cunningham (Dan) and Evan Nasteff (Larry) with Liz Earnest (Anna) in background	Theresa Mantiply (Alice) and Thomas Cunningham (Dan)
Thomas Cunningham (Dan), Theresa Mantiply (Alice) and Liz Earnest (Anna)

Photos provided by TheatreLab

Cast

• Dan: Thomas Cunningham
• Alice: Theresa Mantiply
• Anna: Liz Earnest
• Larry: Evan Nasteff

Crew

• Director: Chanelle Vigue
• Stage Manager/ Assistant Director: Chelsea Burke
• Directing Intern: Joe Toscano
• Props Design/ Assistant Stage Manager: Maggie Bavolack
• Scenic Design: Deejay Gray
• Lighting Design: Michael Jarrett
• Assistant Lighting Design: Ashley Swiger
• Costume Design: McKenzie Sherwood
• Original Music and Sound Design: Greg Elingburg
• Production Manager: Aaron Mowles
• Run Crew: David Plotnick, Angie Judson, Emily Sargeant
• Poster and Program Design: Deejay Gray
• Promotional Photography: Lucy Dacus
• Promotional Videography: Annie Colpitts

Disclaimer: TheatreLab provided two complimentary media tickets to ShowBizRadio for this review.

Forget about every convention of traditional theater before you go to see TheatreLAB’s Grace. Director Deejay Gray brilliantly turns this production at the RVA Event Space truly into an event of performance art.

Right from the start, the audience enters into an intimate performance space, with one row of seats surrounding a living room set (every seat is a front row seat). One of the actors is already on stage going about her business as if the audience wasn’t even there.

The play starts at the end, and works its way back to the start, with a few twists and turns along the way. Even the set itself requires thought. Two neighboring apartments are blocked into one living room set, with, at times, dual action taking place in this separate yet conjoined room.

One apartment belongs to an evangelical Christian couple, Steve and Sara (Alexander Sapp and McLean Jesse) who have just moved to Florida from Minnesota, where the husband plans to launch a chain of gospel-themed hotels. Their neighbor, Sam (Nicklas Aliff) has survived a disfiguring car crash that killed his fiancée. Both apartments are visited by an elderly exterminator, Karl (Eric Dobbs) who has survived some severe childhood trauma of his own. Each character must decide how to deal with their pain and their explanation of God.

As a writer, I find myself at a loss for words to describe the power in each of these performances. So many words are overused such as masterful, emotional, gut-wrenching and professional, yet each superlative fits all four performers. The comedy is timed perfectly and the drama is heart-felt and raw.

As an entry in the Acts of Faith Festival and as an evening of theater, Grace hits the mark and is truly a show not to be missed.

Note: Grace contains adult themes & staged gun use.

The Cast

• Steve: Alexander Sapp
• Sara: McLean Jesse
• Sam: Nicklas Aliff
• Karl: Eric Dobbs

The Crew

• Director: Deejay Gray
• Scenic Design by Deejay Gray & McLean Jesse
• Costume Design by Caron Sinnenberg
• Lighting Design by Michael Jarett
• Properties Design by Amber Lashae Davis
• Sound Design by Maggie Bavolack
• Promotional Videography by Annie Colpitts
• Stage Manager/Assistant Director: Melissa Rayford
• Production Managers: Theresa Mantiply & Amber Davis

Disclaimer: TheatreLab provided two complimentary media tickets to ShowBizRadio for this review.

Just two years after their inception as a mobile theater company, TheatreLAB will be moving into their own theater space later this year. Appropriately named “The Basement,” TheatreLAB’s new home will be located in the basement at 300 East Broad Street in the heart of Richmond’s downtown theater district. Even the name has a young, “hip” cutting edge-Greenwich Village kind of feel.

Plans for the space are being developed through Storefront for Community Design’s partnership with VCU, and the mOb [Middle of Broad] program. A student team of interior designers, graphic designers, and illustrators, will be overseen by experienced mentors to develop all of the renderings and sketches for the space.

TheatreLAB will kick off their 2014-15 season in the newly renovated venue in October with John Cameron Mitchell’s cult classic rock musical Hedwig And The Angry Inch. 

They are in the final stages of filing their 501c3 non-profit paperwork so donations can be tax-deductible. They will be launching their full capital campaign on April 1st.

Deejay Gray, Co-founder and Artistic Director at TheatreLab, who was named to Style Weekly’s Top 40 under 40 in 2013, says “We always affectionately say that TheatreLAB is an organization that aims to ‘play with all of the kids in the sandbox’ through artistic collaboration and community outreach, so moving into The Basement provides us the exciting opportunity to open up a new creative playground to share with our fellow artists here in RVA.”

Managing Director Annie Colpitts adds “We’re very excited to be joining the Arts District as it continues to bloom, and also to be providing Richmond with its first basement performing space. In cities like New York and Chicago, basement theaters are all over the place. But for Richmond, this will be a first!” 

Construction will take place over the summer. All monetary and in-kind donation inquiries may be forwarded to Colpitts at colpitts.annie -at- gmail.com.

Having grown up learning to read in the “Fun With Dick and Jane” generation I kind of started out with the expectation that See Jane Quit would be a little bit silly. I was wrong — it was really, really silly…and I loved it for that.

As TheatreLAB’s Artistic Director Deejay Gray points out in the introduction; See Jane Quit has the feel of a corny sitcom. Jane (Maggie Bavolack at her comedic finest) is a waitress who is about to turn 30. Jane has decided for various reasons to quit smoking. However, the four primary people in her life; her brother James (Adam Powell Mincks) and his wife Diane (Louise Mason), her grandmother Bessie (Linda Beringer) and her romantic interest Charles (Chandler Hubbard) all have secrets they don’t want Jane to know for fear of stressing her out and causing her to go back to smoking.

In true sitcom style, the web of lies eventually unravels as the laughter builds to an initial climax at the end of Act 1 (which runs almost exactly one hour much like soap opera dramedies like “Ugly Betty”). Act 2 (which runs about 30 minutes, like a traditional sitcom) has a few more twists and turns and misplays that wrap up in a nice neat little gosh shucks, all is well with the world resolution.

TheatreLAB achieves their mission in presenting a young emerging playwright like Beth Kander. The script is tight and entertaining and director Melissa Rayford keeps the action frenetic and captivating. Rayford, who is also the Scenic Designer, takes a large empty room at RVA Event Space on East 4th Street and creates two intimate living spaces; where the audience sits on opposing ends, with the actors literally inches away (and yes, I even enjoyed being flipped off by Jane!)

I know I am never supposed to admit this, but I have read other reviews of this production where one or two of the actors have been singled out for their outstanding performances. Honestly, I felt all five were perfectly cast; and all five worked effortlessly together creating believable characters who truly connected, making the comedic moments work even better. With a script like this, the performers could have easily tried to be over the top, but instead kept the characters much like people we all know — not caricatures.

Ryan Allen’s costumes fit the characters well (although, without revealing too much, one character’s dress fit a bit too well).

With so many top quality shows running in Richmond right now, it could be easy to overlook See Jane Quit. With only two shows left, I would encourage you, however, to find your way to this out-of-the-way space and find out for yourself whether you get to See Jane Quit.

Disclaimer: TheatreLab provided two complimentary media tickets to ShowBizRadio for this review.

Tonight I saw my last show of the summer, and my first show of the new Richmond Theater season, and let me start out by saying I am sorry!

I am sorry to the cast and crew of TheatreLab’s Speech and Debate that I did not get to see the show before closing night, so I could have helped spread the word what a phenomenal show you had! And I am sorry to my readers that I did not get a chance to tell you about this wonderful show before it closed.

As I have said before, I am not generally one to laugh out loud in public. This show had me in hysterics from start to finish.

Speech and Debate tells the story of three high school students who are each loners, each know a secret about the adults in their town, and each has a secret or two of their own to hide. The entire plot is revealed through a series of “debates” among the characters as they form a speech and debate team.

Solomon (Marquis Hazelwood) is an uptight wannabee journalist, whose conservative parents don’t accept his sexual preferences. Howie (Zach Bannard) is the new kid in town, who happens to frequent gay chat rooms and have occasional hook-ups with older men. Diwata (Kelsey Cordrey) has her own web diary where she reveals TMI about her own drama along with some rumored drama of her drama teacher.

There just aren’t enough superlatives to describe the talent of these three young actors. Each takes turns delivering great comedic moments, yet presenting characters that are real and believable. Let’s just say I will never hear the words “bathing suit area” without bursting out laughing again.

The actors drew pictures to animate stories their characters wrote, which were shown behind them on a screen. Uproarious would be an understatement.

Katrinah Carol Lewis adds her classy and point on talents as TheaterLabs’ summer session guest artist. She shows her diversity in portraying both a teacher and a reporter demonstrating great differentiation in her acting style and characterization.

Director DeeJay Gray shows unlimited ability to be creative, original and relevant. From his casting and staging to his use of visual graphics, a web cam and popular music; Gray keeps the show lively and fresh. Maggie McGrann’s costumes help develop the characters, especially showing Solomon’s transformation and self-acceptance. Amy R. Surratt’s sound and Addie Pawlick’s lighting worked especially well considering they were adapted to work in someone else’s space (and a special shout out to Richmond Triangle Players for giving a home to this orphaned show).

All three young actors show great promise (I can especially see them in a future cast of Saturday Night Live).

My only regret is that there is no way you will ever get to see what I saw. Even if Speech and Debate is performed in the area again, I doubt it will have the same quality that resulted from the perfect mixture of just the right cast, just the right director and staff in just the right venue.

Photo Gallery

Diwata: Kelsey Cordrey	Howie: Zach Bannard
Solomon: Marquis Hazelwood

Photos provided by TheatreLab

The Cast

• Howie: Zach Bannard
• Solomon: Marquis Hazelwood
• Diwata: Kelsey Cordrey
• Teacher/ reporter: Katrinah Carol Lewis

The Crew

• Director: DeeJay Gray
• Assistant Director/ Projection Design: Chanelle Vigue
• Stage Manager: Addie Pawlick
• Production Manager: Theresa Mantiply
• Lighting Design: Addie Pawlick
• Costume Design: Maggie McGrann
• Sound Design: Amy R. Surratt
• Sound Engineering: Amy R. Surratt and Joe Morris
• Props Design: Maggie Bavolack
• Run Crew: Alex Eliades, Christian Hill, Reid Kirtley and Theresa Mantiply
• Promotional Photos: Ben Hill
• Poster and Program Design: DeeJay Gray

Disclaimer: TheatreLab provided two complimentary media tickets to ShowBizRadio for this review.

I can guarantee this is going to be one of the most “interesting” and unique reviews I will write this year.

While we were waiting for the show to start, my guest for the evening, Travis, asked me if I knew what TheatreLab’s production of Exquisite Corpse was about. I told him, no. Now that the show is over, I can still honestly say I don’t know — and according to director Amy R. Surratt; that’s a good thing. Surratt said during a talkback after the show, that as a devised theatre piece, the audience members should each give it their own meaning.

Now, no matter how I interpret the show, I am proud to say, this old guy “got it.” In a series of skits, poems and movement pieces the cast is expressing their feelings on life and this mortal body — the exquisite corpse.

At times, it was like watching an episode of “Seinfeld” — a show about nothing. At other times, it was like a series of sketches from Monty Python or “Saturday Night Live.” Still other points were like my High School Theater Improv class, sometimes it felt like a 60’s Beatnik Poetry Club, and other times it was reminiscent of the musical Godspell.

Confused? Intrigued? How do I summarize? There was laughing yoga, interns watching a doctor operate with kitchen tools, zombies who had eaten gummy bears and yes, nudity.

As Managing Director Annie Colpitts pointed out during the talkback; it is TheatreLab’s mission to present things that are different. On this front, they truly succeeded. At times it was entertaining. At times it was intriguing. At all times, it was different.

Tonight is the closing performance, so unless you go to New York and see its next incarnation, which according to Director Surratt may or may not include some of the current actors and may or may not include some of the current material which was created in just two weeks of hard-core improv by the cast and crew, you’ll miss this unique opportunity. I look forward to the next production by TheatreLab’s summer workshop — Speech & Debate which opens August 4th. I hope you will join me there and support the unique and innovative work of some of Richmond’s developing young talent.

Photo Gallery

Photos provided by TheatreLab

The Cast

• Maggie Bavolack, Dan Cimo, Melissa Earp, Alex Eliades, Christian Hill, Samantha Kittle, Theresa Mantiply, Jeremy V. Morris, Arden Moscati, Emily Sargeant

The Crew

• Director: Amy R. Surratt
• Production Stage Manager: Annie Colpitts
• Production Manager: Theresa Mantiply
• Props Design: Samantha Kittle
• Lighting Design: Addie Pawlick
• Costume Design: Maggie McGrann
• Sound Design: Amy R. Surratt
• Sound Operator/ Assistant Sound Design: Joe Morris
• Poster and Program Design: Deejay Gray
• Promotional Photos: Lucy Dacus
• Artistic Director: Deejay Gray
• Managing Director: Annie Colpitts
• Artistic Associates: Heather Falks, McLean Jesse, Melissa Rayford, Sarah Roquemore, Chanelle Vigue

Disclaimer: TheatreLab provided two complimentary media tickets to ShowBizRadio for this review.

I had thought I was not going to be able to catch any more of the entries in the Acts of Faith Festival, but based on several recommendations, I squeezed in TheatreLAB’s production of Riding the Bull. I am glad that I did.

This play has it all — comedy, drama, allegory, symbolism and pathos. It even had a veritable who’s who in Richmond’s actors, directors and producers in attendance to show their support (apparently I wasn’t the only one to hear about it through word of mouth).

Gaylord “GL” Mitchell (Deejay Gray) is a rodeo clown in Godsburg, Texas. He tries to be a good man and a good Catholic, but he faces many temptations in his life, including a crazy mother and an absent father. He especially has problems with lust and hatred of fat people. Of course, he ends up falling for the fattest woman he knows, Lyza Mary (Maggie Bavalack). She is like a younger and “larger” Vicky Lawrence in “Mama’s Family.” Acerbic, yet still likeable and laughable.

The two end up having passionate, lustful sex — with one problem. Every time they make love, Lyza calls out another man’s name. At first, GL thinks they are the names of Lyza’s other boyfriends, but eventually he figures out that she is some how calling out the names of men who are about the win big sporting events. The two devise a gambling scheme where they can rake in a small fortune. However, as in life, enough is never enough and GL keeps wanting more.

The slow emotional transition of the two characters in the play is riveting. GL starts out as a sweet, innocent, warm and engaging southern hick — a cross between Gomer Pyle and Jimmy Chance on “Raising Hope.” Lyza begins as a slovenly, self-loathing atheist, who eats an entire pie in one sitting in the first scene. Act 1 is pure comedy, with Gray and Bavalack masterfully handling the pair’s banter, dead-pan humor and one liners. In the second act, everything changes. GL becomes mean and hateful and selfish, whereas Lyza becomes the empathetic character, and even “finds God” and believes her predictions are tied to visions from God.

My companion for the evening, Katie, pointed out that through the play she saw a new way to “believe.” Tactile things like money, notoriety, and sex don’t compare to what we believe, or desperately want to believe.

Playwright August Schulenburg wonderfully twists the story line, eventually punctuating the change in the two characters by having Lyza take over the narration that GL had been supplying throughout the show. Without revealing too much, the laughs are over by the end of Act 2, as GL’s innocence turns to selfishness and rage, and Lyza’s self loathing turns to self-realization and heartache. Both Gray and Bavalack are believable and raw in their emotions and vulnerability. A fight scene is realistic and intense (and again, I won’t spoil the ending). Bavalack’s anguished deep sobs are heart-rending.

Schulenburg also uses many interpretations to the “bull” in Riding the Bull. Does it refer to GL and Lyza’s sexual relationship? Does it stand for GL’s job as a rodeo clown, where others “ride the bull.” Is it a reference to Lyza’s bull “Suarte” which is Spanish for destiny or luck? Is it all the above?

Director Sarah Roquemore used the stage well. At the production on Tuesday at Gallery 5, she made good use of a small space to keep the action moving, varied and interesting. With the help of Set Designer McLean Jesse, the stage is simply adorned with bales of hay and a few saw horses which are moved and used as tables, chairs, cars, windows, etc., creating the essence of each scene. Jesse doubled as costumer, and visually enhanced the changes in the two characters between acts 1 and 2 with perfectly varied costumes, make-up and hair styles.

Among the nice touches were the singing duo of Brad Tuggle and Rebecca Muhleman who serenaded the audience with country music until the show started.

I always try to find something positive and some constructive criticism for each show, but Riding the Bull makes it hard to find fault. Bavalack does a fine Elvis impression earlier in the play, but seems to lose it at the emotional climax of the play. Gray is perfect with his facial expressions and movements as the “good” GL in Act 1, but could develop more “evil” in his expressions and mannerisms in Act 2.

Beyond that, all I can do is encourage you to catch the extended run of Riding the Bull closing this Saturday night at Sycamore Rouge. Trust me, the word of mouth is right on this one!

Director’s Note

Dear friends,

Thank you for supporting TheatreLAB and joining us for our first of hopefully many acts of Faith shows. When I first read August Schulenburg’s Riding the Bull a few years ago, I was smitten. It was quirky, touching, and, most importantly, it was about everything I love. Jesus, Elvis, and even the Lone Star State.

My grandparents own several acres of land in East Texas. I’ve only been there once when I was very young, but I have this vivid memory of the drive to “the farm” from their house outside of Houston. I remember passing by dilapidated farms and ramshackle fences, cud-chewing cows, rusted oil wells, and dusty, empty roads for what seemed like days. And every 25, 50 miles or so, there’d be an old church, a few houses, maybe a diner or two.

I imagine Godsburg as one of these towns. Tiny and slow, sepia-toned, where God and Texas are all anyone could ever need to know of the world.

Yet the story told here transcends its small town limits. In talking about this script, I once referred to it as a southern morality play, and I do still think an argument can be made to that effect. But as these talented actors have brought flesh and blood to Lyza and GL, I’ve realized that this story is so much more than a simple Sunday school lesson. This is a story of Juxtaposition. It’s a story of loss and love; of grace and damnation; of denial and belief. It’s hilarious and heartbreaking, beautiful and terrifying, edgy and earnest. In short, it’s human.

There couldn’t be a better show for TheatreLAB to produce for Acts of Faith. We are so proud to be a part of this festival and to premiere this phenomenally rich script in Richmond.

Now sit back, relax, and enjoy the bull.

Sarah Roquemore

Photo Gallery

Photos provided by TheatreLAB

The Cast

• GL Mitchell: Deejay Gray
• Lyza Mary: Maggie Bavalack

The Crew

• Director: Sarah Roquemore
• Stage Manager: Addie Pawlick
• Production Manager: Theresa Mantiply
• Costume and Set Designer: McLean Jesse
• Producers, Lighting and Sound Design: Matt Shofner and Maggie Roop
• Production Assistant: Michael Musatow
• Fight Choreographer: Axle Burtness
• Poster Design: Adam Darland
• Promotional Videography: Annie Colpitts
• Photographer: Ben Hill

Disclaimer: TheatreLAB provided two complimentary media tickets to ShowBizRadio for this review.

Antigone. What do you think of when you hear the name “Antigone?” I’m quite sure that most of you will think of your high school English class where you were tortured into reading this traditional Greek tragedy. Upon arriving at Gallery 5, for the first performance of The Antigone Project, I quickly realized that this was certainly not going to be the traditional torture I once lived through.

Firstly, I must explain that this production was a devised adaptation of the original Greek play, Antigone. For those who don’t know what a devised adaptation is, it is a type of theatre where the script originates from collaborative work, typically improvisatory, by a group of people rather than one writer. The performers usually write it, but it’s not necessary. Normally, I am not a fan of these sorts of productions due to my perfectionist propensities. One must keep in mind that this is more of a performance piece than a play.

The topic of this adaptation was “media killing the celebrity.” I felt that they sort of missed the mark on this one. Even though different forms of media were used in the set and the odes, nothing of it was spoken of in the dialogue. So, when the scene “Fashion Ambulance” began, it felt very out-of-place. I really would have loved to see that type of theme and enthusiasm in that scene depicted throughout the entire piece.

Something that did, however, make this piece unique were the prerecorded choral odes. Each of these odes would play with a media laden collage showing stock footage of current events. These images tied in with the scenes that the chorus was speaking of. I thought this was interesting because typically the chorus slates these odes live and directly to the audience, basically telling a story. The decision was made to prerecord these odes due to the lack of having each cast member present for rehearsal and that asking the actors to memorize many 8-couplet odes in less than a month would be impossible. I felt that, even though they were hard to hear at times, it still delivered that “media feel.”

I really enjoyed the set of this production. Even though it was small, they utilized almost every inch of the space down to the last few inches between the cast and the audience. The stage was a sort of thrust stage meets Greek arena. It was surrounded on three sides, like a thrust stage, but the acting space was level with the audience. A mat of newspapers and tabloids squared out the stage in the center. Behind that was the apron of a stage with old TVs stacked on either corner playing the dreaded static from the “bunny ear” days. A podium wrapped in cords and cables was off set with a giant projection screen behind it. I began to see what this adaptation was going to entail, media and the death of a celebrity.

From the start of play there was great choreography. It opens with the actors filing in from off stage locations. They begin to rhythmically walk through the small square of the thrust in a grid like pattern until all the actors were marching in chaotic formation. Suddenly, two of the actors slam into each other with a loud scream, startling the audience, and went back to formation. This happened two more times until the actors cleared except for the two men. They begin to fight. We realize that this is the battle of Antigone’s two brothers. This great choreography continued throughout the piece in different and exciting ways.

However, the same cannot be said for some of the blocking. When using a stage surrounded on three sides, you really have to think about the viewpoints of the entire audience. Many times I was left unable to see one, or all, of the actor’s faces. This led me to lean into the person next to me, hoping to see the expression on the actor’s face. This caused to disconnect from the play during those moments. I would have liked to see the actors more “cut out,” or angled, so that each audience member can experience what is happening.

I have to commend TheatreLab on a fantastic casting job. Maggie Roop delivered a wonderful performance of her role as Antigone, reminiscent of traditional Greek Theatre. It is clear to see why she is also the Directing Manager for TheatreLab. The “guest artist” of the evening was Stephen Ryan. His portrayal of the sinister Crion was nearly spot-on. Why nearly? Crion seemed to have far too much comic relief. Comic relief is definitely necessary in a tragedy, yet I felt that this piece’s comic relief was misplaced. Mary Shaw who portrayed the seer, Tiresias, took me away. I could not keep my eyes off of her whenever she was on stage. There was something about her that just made you look toward her.

When speaking to the cast and director at the “Talk Back,” immediately after the performance, Deejay Gray (Director) stated that not all of his actors were present for any rehearsal until the opening night; the night I attended. Personally, I might have died if a show of mine was going up without a single rehearsal with the entire cast present. However, they seemed to pull it off with only a few minor problems with the fluidity of the scenes.

When looking back at the production in its entirety, the TheatreLab did a pretty good job on their first devised adaptation. And, when speaking to the director, one on one, he told me that we’re definitely going to see more of these in the company’s future. They certainly have some things to work on to clean it up, but Deejay Gray is adamant on the fact that The Antigone Project was more of a performance piece and the process in which they got there, than it was a play. Even though I’m a complete perfectionist, I definitely enjoyed watching The Antigone Project and can’t wait to see what comes next from the TheatreLab.

Cast

• Antigone: Maggie Roop (Managing Director)
• Crion: Stephen Ryan
• Ismene: Eleanore Bellamy
• Polynices/Ensemble: Mauricio Marcés
• Eteocles/Ensemble: Bryan Lamorena
• Tiresias/Ensemble: Mary Shaw (Marketing Director)
• Guard/Ensemble: Elisabeth Ashby
• Guard/Ensemble: Michael Musatow
• Messenger/Ensemble: Theresa Mantiply
• Messenger/Ensemble: Maggie Bavolack

Designers

• Director: Deejay Gray
• Produced by: TheatreLab

Disclaimer: TheatreLab provided a complimentary media ticket to ShowBizRadio for this review.