BWW Reviews: 10X10 NEW PLAY FESTIVAL at Barrington Stage Co

Barrington Stage Company presents 10×10 Upstreet New Play Festival

THERE'S NO MORE HERE HERE by Craig Pospisil, directed by Christopher Innvar with Emily Taplin Boyd as Juliette, Peggy Pharr Wilson as Gertrude Stein, Scott Drummond as Jean Luc and Dustin Charles as Lance.

YOU HAVEN'T CHANGED A BIT by Donna Hoke, directed by Kristen van Ginhoven with Matt Neely as Len and Peggy-Pharr Wilson as Lotte.

CHRISTMAS EVE, MANY YEARS FROM NOW by Martha Patterson, directed by Frank La Frazia, with Elizabeth Aspenlieder as June, Emily Taplin Boyd as Margie and Dustin Charles as Richard.

THE WILDERNESS by James McLindon, Directed by Christopher Innvar with Matt Neely as the Confederate soldier and Scott Drummond as a Yankeeone.

CAMBERWELL HOUSE by Amelia Roper, Directed by Julianne Boyd with Peggy Pharr Wilson as Annie.

FREEFALLING by Aurin Squire, Directed by Julianne Boyd with Elizabeth Aspenlieder as Stewardess, Dustin Charles as Anthony and Scott Drummond as Michael.

CONTEXT by John C. Davenport, DIrected by Kristen van Ginhoven with Emily Taplin Boyd as Woman, Dustin Charles as Man, Peggy Pharr Wilson as Mom and Matt Neely as Friend.

THE BOUNCE by Jacqueline Goldfinger, Directed by Frank La Frazia, with Elizabeth Aspenlieder as Sula Lee.

HIGHER GROUND by Christopher Innvar, Directed by Christopher Innvar, Shea Mcliquham as Sean, Scott Drummond as Mike, Elizabeth Aspenlieder as Maureen

THE STAND-IN by Brett Hursey, directed by Julianne Boyd, with Matt Neely as DIrector, Emily Taplin Boyd as Amanda and Dustin Charles as Xocko.

Scenic & Properties Designer-Brian Melcher, Lighting Designer-Tracy Lynn Wertheimer, Sound Designer-Allison Smartt, Director of Production-Jeff Roudabush, Production Stage Manager-Olivia O'Brien, Press Representative-Charlie Siedenburg, Associate Producer-Christopher Donovan. About two hours with one brief intermission. February 14-March 3, 2013. St. Germain Stage at the Sydelle and Lee Blatt Performing Arts Center, Linden Street, Pittsfield, MA.

Like a box of fresh chocolates, everyone seems to love short play festivals and come away with their favorites. It's a way for audiences, artistic directors and critics to sample what's out there that has not yet bubbled to the surface of commercial theatre. Barrington Stage Company in Pittsfield, MA does it their own unique way, and these popular winter offerings have enable a whole community to peg a ten day city-wide festival around it.

Branded the 10x10 UPSTREET NEW PLAY FESTIVAL, the event is the focal point of ten days of midwinter activity which also includes such things as a Smartphone Film Festival, a 10" x 10" art exhibit and ten singer-songwriters under 30.

What started it all is this: ten plays, each ten minutes long, and performed ten times. Ten playwrights, eight actors and four directors pull it off, and the performances almost always sell out to the walls. Audiences love it.

Reviewing the resulting plays is fun too, what with drama, comedy and absurdity all in plentiful supply. The most unusual of the evenings offerings is FFREEFALLING by Aurin Squire, two passengers and a flight attendant standing motionless in three tightly lit spots. With the landing gear stuck, their futures are uncertain. Using stream-of-consciousness and cinematic techniques we become drawn into each characters inner dialogue as the play jumps forward and backward in time to reveal its core messages. A wondrous and soothing Elizabeth Aspenlieder portrays the stewardess while actors Dustin Charles and Scott Drummond dig deep and grab our hearts as the potentially doomed passengers.

Also remarkably affecting is Donna Hoke's play YOU HAVEN'T CHANGED A BIT, artfully directed by Kristen van Ginhoven. Using the device of a 70th high school reunion, two classmates are brought together to discover that they have more in common than they think. It may have taken a lifetime to bring them together again but thoroughly enjoyable are Peggy Pharr Wilson as the unflappable Lottie while Matt Neely is her homeroom buddy Len.

In the opener, THERE'S NO MORE HERE HERE, Gertrude Stein makes an appearance in a Paris Cafe where Jean Luc (Scott Drummond) is courting the cold and snippy Juliette (Emily Taplin-Boyd). It takes the hilariously understated Peggy Pharr Wilson as Stein and Dustin Charles as the waiter who inserts himself into the plot as a true twist. Winning and whimsical, Craig Pospisil's little confection may be lightweight, but it goes down ever so easily.

On the more serious side, is THE WILDERNESS by James McLindon, the dramatic replaying of a Civil War incident. It covers a lot of historical, political, and religious territory offers intriguing characters and keeps you on the edge of your seat. That's a lot if theatre for director Christopher Innvar to deliver in just ten minutes.

In a similar vein, but for, by and about women is Amelia Roper's CAMBERWELL HOUSE, a little gem of storytelling deftly performed by by Peggy Pharr Wilson. Mixing old age, murder and gingernut biscuits, the intimate story was delicately directed by Julianne Boyd.

Less successful as a promising play - though the audience guffawed at much of it - is Martha Patterson's CHRISTMAS EVE, MANY YEARS FROM NOW. Director Frank La Frazia kept the foot tickling downstage and had the audience in stitches while the ever pliable face of Elizabeth Aspenlieder as June got a major workout. Whether telling of her latest hunt or seeking a forbidden sensual treat, her comedy skills sparkle plenty.

In THE BOUNCE, Aspenlieder has a solo turn in Jacqueline Goldfinger's play and she really laid on the southern accent, to the point that much of it was difficult to discern. The love story with its tragic ending dealt with misogyny and is in need of a little more cushioning than ten minutes can provide to buffer the horror.

HIGHER GROUND was written and directed by Christopher Innvar, and brought the elements of disaster together in a blend of reality and fantasy that combined the hope of survival with the pain of loss. Shea McIlquaham plays an eager son whose father (Scott Drummond) can not bear to speak the truth of the day's tragedy. Elizabeth Aspenlieder provides the spectral element that moves the play onto a higher plane.

THE STAND-IN by Brett Hursey, directed by Julianne Boyd was the last, the best, and in some ways the least of the ten plays. Auditioning with a sock puppet as your scene partner is disconcerting, but Emily Taplin Boyd is game. Dustin Charles manipulated a Groucho-like Xocko, while Matt Neely as the Director indulged his own fantasy. This comedy of characterizations skewered everything bad auditions stand for, and the in-jokes seemed to please the actors as much as the audience.

Laugh, gasp or cry, the ten plays of this festival were mostly good solid works, a credit to the state of playwriting today. Being able to sample so many artists work in a short period of time is a delightful way to spend a winter's eve. The festival continues to March 3.

Photo Credit: Emily Taplin Boyd and Socko by Scott Barrow.

To post a comment, you must register and login.