Word: kupferberg
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Under the direction of Noah Kupferberg, the three male convicts, provocatively, are played by women. This literal feminization of the script raises interesting questions about the construction of masculinity, but also presents many challenges to the complex male interactions, explicitly violent and implicitly homoerotic, which fuel Genet's script. To the credit of the production, these tensions, though at times stylized and cliche, are generally sustained and credible...
Mamet and director Noah Kupferberg have a common insight into the interpretation of the fairy tales: the characters in the tale might very well be aware of how insincere or even sarcastic they, and the other players, are being. The actors in The Frog Prince are playful--they take things less seriously than many audience members would expect. The prince, for example, is rightfully dubious when his servant tells him that he and his beloved fiancee are universally loved. "Sire," the servant says, "the people love her as yourself," and the prince rolls his eyes...
...Kupferberg deserves credit for his decision to stage The Frog Prince in a narrow outside patio. The sky at dusk provides a fitting backdrop for the action, and the characters incorporate us into the setting by making their enterances from behind the audience. The Herald (Christopher Davidson) also helps in this capacity--he introduces us to each scene with wonderfully realistic-sounding solos on an imaginary trumpet. Kudos also to the producer Valerie Nestor for the Mickey Mouse blankets distributed beforehand to ward off cold...
...Frog Prince. Not every character lives happily ever after. Frequent allusions are made to a totalitarian government which closes the borders of the kingdom at night, and justice and execution there are arbitrary. But The Frog Prince never loses its delicate balance between cynicism and celebration. As a result Kupferberg's production has a warm, delightful tone, even in its mockery. And that is no mean feat...
...questions which remain in the minds of the audience constitute the power of the play. Angel City provides food for thought, and Kupferberg's production is worth seeing...