Word: ayckbourn
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...circus act it is, though a highly enjoyable one. Ayckbourn turns the troubles of married life into a high speed adventure, and Ruiz takes him up on every challenge. Aristotle might not have been pleased, but so what? The three unities can be left for classics majors to ponder...
Ruiz makes the bold decision to take on Ayckbourn's play at full speed. Using the split stage like a trapeze, he has his actors bounce, trip and tumble from one level to the next in rapid succession. Props fly, clothes come off and on and off again, and lines of dialogue ricochet off the walls like bullets...
...times, Ayckbourn's zany play gets the best of Ruiz and his cast. There are moments of uncomfortable silence and even emptiness on stage, and at points the actors seem almost ready to collapse with exhaustion. The overall effect, though, approaches that of a Paganini Caprice. The physical and verbal virtuosity of the performance is captivating, and the raw energy that everyone throws into the production is contagious...
...with little in the way of an enchanting melody to anchor his flights of dexterity. What makes Ruiz's production so successful is that for all its high-speed antics, it keeps its feet planted firmly on the ground. The sets of Glenn Reisch '99 manage to keep Ayckbourn's experiments with time and place under control. Reisch essentially designs two sets, one for each home. Remarkably, they are different enough so that the audience never loses its bearings as the action shifts from home to home and back again. At the same time they are similar enough so that...
...most outrageous of this trio, though suitably so. She breathes cold-blooded temptress through every line. Kate Agresta '02 as Teresa Phillips and Rabbit as Mary Detweiller provide the backbone of the ensemble. Stressed out and overwhelmed, respectively, they provide glimpses from outside the crazy world that Ayckbourn creates, giving a somewhat more reasoned (or at least reasonable) response to the circus act that their life has become...