Archive for March 28th, 2007

“Blindness” at 59E59 Theatre is a stage adaptation of Jose Saramago’s award winning novel by the same name. My hopes were extremely high for this production, as the novel is a fantastic and brilliant look at human nature– “Lord of the Flies” with a terrifying, much darker edge. One man is struck by a sudden blindness, and little by little the blindness spreads through the entire city. Those infected by the blindness are locked into a former mental institute and the government officials abandon them, harass them, shoot them and above all abuse their power in ways that are both apalling and realistic.

The play’s technical aspects were truly inspired. The show was staged impeccably behind two sheets of white scrim, the lighting was beautiful and the movement in the narrow space was choreographed with professional precision. These aspects lent themselves well to the eerie atmosphere of the play, and reall echoed Saramago’s writing and ideas.

Where the production fell short, unfortunately, was with the sub-par acting. Despite the beautiful vision, the story was told by actors forcing emotions instead of letting them occur naturally. The material is intense, and the actors were awkwardly melodramatic, where they should have been understated and terrorized. The story is already painful and dark, therefore it was unnecessary to have constant screaming and tantrums on stage. Some of these unfortuante mistakes could have easily been in the directing, and perhaps the director and I simply have different ideas about Saramago’s original story and the emotions behind it.

The adaptation itself was ery true to Saramago’s text which was an interesting choice given the unusual writing style. It was refreshing to see a novel being used with gentle accuracy rather than absurd “interpretations”, and I applaud director/adaptor Joe Tantalo for honoring the beautiful novel and making strong choices with the text.

Perhaps it is simply hard to compete with such a gorgeous novel, and those who haven’t read the book may find themselves enthralled by the full world that Tantalo and his cast have created. It is a fully realized project with bold choices and a unique point of view, so even with its faults, it is a work that deserves recogition.

The performance schedule is Tuesday - Saturday at 8:30 PM and Sunday at 3:30 PM and 7:30 PM. Closes April 8. Single tickets are $25 ($17.50 for 59E59 members) and are available by calling Ticket Central at 212-279-4200 or online

I’m an actor and I have actor friends. This means that I have seen, and quite frankly been a part of, A LOT of bad theater. Bad acting, bad directing, bad sets, bad writing. Bad, bad, bad. That being said, I’m obviously not easily impressed. So I went to see the first production of MTB Studio’s THEATRE UNPLUGGED with less than great expectations. The play is being presented at the MTB Acting Studio. It’s a small space with 3 rows of chairs, the equivalent of a black box theater but nicer. It’s simple with hard wood floors and black curtains surrounding it. There was no set, few props, and no lighting or sound effects. In fact, the house lights were up the entire time. We were up close and looking right into the actor’s eyes and they were looking back at us. There was nowhere to hide.

Thankfully, I didn’t feel the need to. It was brilliant and the actors held my rapt attention for the whole time I was there. (Keep in mind, that I am a person that can fall asleep anywhere and on this particular Sunday, I was a bit hungover.) The play, a satire about greedy politicians and little people coming together to save the day, is entirely relevant and I really enjoyed it. If you are a fan of acting, you should see this show because the acting was flawless. I looked hard for the weak link in the cast but I just couldn’t find it. I especially enjoyed the performance of Noelle McGrath who played the title character. She was simply delightful. I look forward to the next production from THEATRE UNPLUGGED.

This is the kind of theater that should be supported and celebrated. Seating is limited, so make your reservations in advance!