Word: andreassi
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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This Jekyll-Hyde tactic works well enough until Shen Te falls in love with a grounded pilot (James Andreassi), whose sole desire in life is to fly. She sees in him the romantic dreamer--he sees in her the ticket to a pilot's job in Peking. Passion, betrayal, a broken wedding, pregnancy & lawsuits; Brecht packed enough plot threads in here to power a whole season of Dallas...
...other hand, there are limits. Andreassi goes over the top and out the door playing the caddish pilot Yang Sun. When Brecht spoke of emotionally "distancing" the audience from the actors, he was thinking in terms of yards, not light-years. Though Shipley's male alter-ego Shui Ta is an outstanding piece of physical acting (her face is concealed by a mask), she never quite makes you believe that Shen Te was either a prostitute or someone who Did It All For Love. Joseph Costa is fine as an unemployed hobo, but in the important supporting role...
...Case of the Danish Prince, clocking in at under 15 minutes, sends Sherlock Holmes (James Andreassi) on the trail of the many murderers who have shown up in Shakespeare's work. The intrepid detective joins the hunt when Hamlet, sporting a Scandinavian accent worthy of the Muppets' Swedish chef, hops in to voice his suspicions regarding his father's untimely death. With Watson (Samuel Sifton) at his side, Holmes hardly gets to the bottom of things, but the game is afoot for the much sharper play to follow...
Next up is Desire, Desire, Desire, an overlong and heavyhanded parody of Tennessee Williams that ironically also features the best individual moments. Sandra Shipley slinks about as Blanche DuBois, while James Andreassi as Stanley sits lolling his tongue, shouting "Stella!" every fifteen seconds and occasionally spraying the overheated Blanche with a beer. Funny, but the humor fades long before the actors do. Not even the sudden introduction of Maggie from Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, as well as instant parodies of Mamet and Beckett tossed in like ingredients in Ubu's wild bouillabaise, can save it from ennui. Every...
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