BWW Review: RTW's Surreal THE VIOLET HOUR Subtly Colors The Future
Violet--The color and time of day named in T.S. Eliot's 1922 epic poem The Waste Land. This color permeates Renaissance Theaterworks (RTW) season ending production figuratively and literally in the Studio Theatre titled The Violet Hour. Directed by Artistic Director Suzan Fete, the comedy infused with a surrealist happening sets a scene in 1919, a few years after World War I and before the Great Depression. The story tantalizes audiences with the question that is prophecy, knowing the future, a gift or a curse? Richard Greenberg's 2003 Broadway play explores this dilemma and models the period's hope and optimism after "a war to end all wars," on characters referencing Zelda and Scott Fitzgerald and chanteuse Josephine Baker. All celebrities who reached a zenith in their careers, and then ended their lives in some despair. When the audience sits in the theater watching from the 2017 perspective, what do they make of these questions, lives and future?
BWW Reviews: SECRET GARDEN at St. Edwards University is Haunting and Beautiful
The last few times I've seen a production at St. Edwards University's Mary Moody Northern Theatre, I've had to remind myself that I'm viewing a show featuring a cast of mostly college students. Every time, the production is of professional quality, and their current production of The Secret Garden is no exception. All audience members are bound to be mesmerized by the physical beauty of the stagecraft and the incredible performances.
