Review: ‘Round and Round the Garden’ at The Winnipesaukee Playhouse (Meredith, NH)

Courtesy The Winnipesaukee Playhouse

‘Round and Round the Garden’ is the final play in The Norman Conquests Trilogy written by Alan Ayckbourn. The first, ‘Table Manners’, was performed at the Winnipesaukee Playhouse during the summer of 2015, and the second play, ‘Living Together, was performed there in the summer of 2016. Artistic Director Neil Pankhurst, director of all three plays, set out to bring the trilogy to Playhouse audiences over the course of three consecutive summer seasons.

While each play stands on its own, they all take place at a country house in West Sussex, England, era 1974, and revolve around six characters and their feisty, flirty, and funny interactions one summer weekend. Each play takes place in a different area of the estate: one: the dining room, two: the living room and three: the garden. They even have overlapping scenes, where an exit in one play corresponds to an entrance in another. While the characters are the same and the plot of Norman conquering and confusing the females is same, each of the characters is showcased differently in each of the three plays. That being said, while I have seen each play and have enjoyed them all, there were a number of audience members who had not seen the previous two productions and they had no problem following the story and it was clear by their response they very much enjoyed this play.

The Cast of Round and Round the Garden. Courtesy The Winnipesaukee Playhouse

As I mentioned, this play focuses on six characters, three of them grown-up siblings who bicker as if they were still children, and their significant others who contribute quite a bit to the squabbling and chaos. Annie, played by Shanel Sparr, lives in the family home and cares for her elderly mother. Sparr, who was new to the role this season, was likable and fit in nicely with the other cast members, all of whom were reprising their roles. Annie’s older brother is Reg, played by Richard Brundage, who is married to the uptight and harsh Sarah, played by Molly Parker Myers. This pair with all their snippiness and back and forth is very amusing and believably portray the married couple. Annie’s older sister is Ruth, played by Suzanne Kimball, who is married to Norman, a mischievous man who feigns his innocence, while manipulating everyone around him. Norman was outstandingly performed once again by Nicholas Wilder. Add in Annie’s sort-of boyfriend Tom, played by Jason Plourde, and these six personalities and temperaments clash and make for a very entertaining play. Kimball, was funny as Ruth and I enjoyed her scenes with the sweet but slow-to-catch-on Tom (Plourde). They played off each other wonderfully. Their dialogue was well timed with pauses for their characters’ awkwardness and confusion. I really enjoyed their interactions in this play; which added more to their characters and to the story overall than I what I had observed in the previous plays.  Wilder, as Norman, has gotten stronger and funnier every time he has stepped back into this role. In each part of the trilogy, he has displayed charisma, perfect comedic timing, and great chemistry with his fellow actors. He is absolutely outstanding and I think this is one of his best roles at the Playhouse in his many years performing there. 

The detailed and very pretty garden set was designed by Meredith Brown, who also did the set design for the previous plays in the trilogy. The lighting design was by Becky Marsh, assisted by Beth Marsh. The costumes were by Daneé Rose Grillo and the sound was designed by Neil Pankhurst. This is a delightful comedy full of family drama, witty dialogue, playful flirtations and a top notch cast. It is a great play in which to escape, to relax and laugh for a few hours at the zany dysfunction of a family that isn’t your own. ©

‘Round and Round the Garden’ plays at the Winnipesaukee Playhouse until August 26th with performances Mondays through Saturdays at 7:30pm and a 2pm Matinee on August 21^st. There are no Sunday performances. Tickets range from $20-$34 and are selling quickly. For additional information and tickets visit www.winnipesaukeeplayhouse.org.

Special Events from the Education Department: 

Tuesday, August 22nd 6-6:45pm - Symposium: “The English Garden: Techniques and Philosophies”. Presented by Neil Pankhurst, Artistic Director 

Wednesday, August 23rd - Talk-back: Following the performance, you’re invited for an informal discussion with the cast and creative team.

Review: Shakespeare & Company presents a delightful production of ‘The Tempest’ in their new outdoor theatre (Lenox, MA)

Courtesy Shakespeare & Company

Shakespeare and Company presents William Shakespeare’s ‘The Tempest’ in their new outdoor Roman Garden Theatre, located in the Shakespeare Garden adjacent to the Tina Packer Playhouse. Directed by Allyn Burrows, the Company’s newly appointed Artistic Director, it is the story of Prospero, a betrayed duke and magician, who is fixated on justice and revenge until he sees, through his daughter, the power of love and forgiveness. This play touches on many themes including envy, betrayal, redemption, forgiveness, freedom and love. Shakespeare’s writing beautifully encompasses the human spirit and the resiliency and ever-changing emotional and mental states of his characters. 

All performances of this play are performed in-the-round at dusk and it is the perfect fit for the new, intimate outdoor venue. The atmosphere is woodsy with ample natural lighting. The set includes ropes that hang over the stage and above the heads of the audience. Well placed sails hang over one section of the audience to decrease some of the glare of the setting sun while also hinting at the storm that swells and wreaks a ship at the start of the play. The wooden stage is cut with jagged edges and is surrounded by large rocks, sand, shells and beach grass. The set, designed by Jim Youngerman, features multiple levels and locations throughout the space for the actors to utilize and fully immerse the audience in the world of this island and its inhabitants and visitors. The added musical elements and creative magical moments were unexpected, but enjoyed. They added humor, lightness and intrigue to the overall performance. 

Nigel Gore as Prospero. Photo by Stratton McCrady

Taking on one of Shakespeare’s most famous characters, Prospero is veteran actor Nigel Gore. He was commanding of the stage, and performed a believable and tender father-daughter relationship with Miranda, played by Ella Loudon. Gore has a fantastic grasp of the Shakespearian language and he seemed very comfortable in his character. Loudon, as Miranda, was innocent with youthful esperance. She was fully invested in her character and never broke from her character, staying fully present in each scene as it took place. She was very natural, with a sweet, yet strong demeanor. In an early scene where Miranda lashes out at Prospero’s savage servant Caliban, Loudon was boomingly infuriated. She exhibited fiery power and anger that once the scene was over we didn’t see come out of her again. It was a very powerful and riveting moment.

Jason Asprey as Caliban. Photo by Stratton McCrady.

Caliban, the savage son of the witch Sycorax, was born on the island and cared for by Prospero and Miranda. He was perfectly portrayed by Jason Asprey who, in detailed costume and make-up, gave a horrifying, but at times humorous performance of the servant monster. He fully embodied his characters’ voice, physicality and quirks while also showing various emotional sides of his character. He didn’t just play the monstrous qualities; he portrayed a multi-faceted character, who experiences a variety of emotions, thoughts, impulses and temptations. His portrayal was impeccably well done and one of the strongest performances I’ve seen this summer. 

A few stand-out scenes during the production include the multiple drinking scenes involving Stephano (Josh Aaron McCabe), Trinculo (Bella Merlin) and Caliban (Jason Asprey). Each was very funny with superb physical comedy elements and characterizations by the trio. The audience couldn’t help but smile and laugh aloud during most of the time this group was on stage. Another scene was when Ferdinand was carrying logs for Prospero, and Miranda joins him and easily takes the logs from him and adds them to the pile for him. Their interaction was full of sweet, falling in love moments that were performed genuinely by Deaon Griffin-Pressley, as Ferdinand, and Ella Loudon, as Miranda. The pair had wonderful chemistry. It was easy to believe they were falling love in at first sight and becoming completely infatuated with one another. 

The cast is rounded out by a number of other Company favorites including Tamara Hickey as the airy sprite Ariel who is impatiently awaiting her freedom from serving Prospero. Thomas Brazzle as Sebastian, the brother to Alonso, King of Naples played by Josh Aaron McCabe who also played Stephano, and Mark Zeisler who played Prospero’s brother Antonio.

Ella Loudon as Miranda, and Deaon Griffin-Pressley as Ferdinand. Photo by Stratton McCrady

Shakespeare’s language is so melodic, that though you may not understand each word and phrase that is spoken you can understand the sentiment that’s there through the actor’s passionate portrayals and their wonderful story-telling ability. This play was very well done and I was captivated from start to finish. Looking around at the other audience members, it was clear they too were enthralled by these characters and the world they had brought us in to. The audience thoroughly enjoyed the production giving it an enthusiastic standing ovation. This show was definitely worth the long drive and traffic I experienced to attend and I encourage any Shakespeare lovers within a 3 hour drive to go see this production.©

‘The Tempest’ plays through September 3^rd at the Shakespeare & Company campus located at 70 Kemble Street in Lenox, Massachusetts. Tickets and more information about this play as well as Shakespeare & Company’s full season can be found at www.shakespeare.org or by calling the box office at 413-637-3353. 

‘The Producers- A Mel Brooks Musical’ at Peterborough Players (Peterborough, NH)

From L to R- Tom Frey as "Leo", Elyse Collier as "Ulla", and Kraig Swartz as "Max". Photo Courtesy Peterborough Players

Mel Brooks’ Tony award winning musical farce, The Producers, tells the story of long-time Broadway Producer Max Bialystock and accountant Leo Bloom who form a partnership to pull off, what they think, is a masterful scheme to make a few million dollars by producing the biggest musical flop Broadway has ever seen. With original direction and choreography recreated by Gus Kaikkonen and Bill Burns, the Peterborough Players’ production kept the audience laughing aloud despite the many technical nuisances that occurred.

Oy-vey with the sound issues! While this production was funny and featured talented performers, they were unfortunately over shadowed by the multiple sound problems that occurred throughout the production. The most notable being the muddled sound quality with a number of the individual microphones. There were many instances where I was unable to understand what the actors were singing because of a lack of clarity, crispness and, at times, balanced volume. In addition, there were multiple occasions when actors’ microphones were on while they were not on stage and their conversations could be clearly heard over the actors speaking on stage. You know things are not going well when the actors on stage are being distracted by hearing voices coming from the speakers that they shouldn’t be hearing and are trying to subtly motion to people off stage that their microphone is hot and to stop talking. Furthermore, while the orchestra, led by music director Michael Sebastian, adequately played the music, they often drowned out the actors.

However, even with the technical problems, the cast, led by Players favorites Kraig Swartz and Tom Frey as Max and Leo, kept the audience engaged in the story and laughing throughout almost every scene. Their voices blended nicely together and they had a fantastic, believable camaraderie. Elyse Collier, as Ulla, delivered a strong performance with consistent character choices and fantastic dancing skills. It was unfortunate that her microphone was one that continued to have problems making it difficult to hear and understand her consistently during the show. Strong and very funny performances were also given by Leon Axt, as Franz Liebkind, and Danny Vaccaro, as Roger DeBris. Both men had sharp comedic timing and powerful vocals that were nicely showcased in their solo numbers. Another highlight of this performance were the superbly danced production numbers including “I Wanna Be A Producer”, “Keep It Gay”, and “Springtime for Hitler”. The large cast shined in these numbers that allowed them to portray their unique characters and show off a few special tricks. The tap dancing sections were especially well done with crisp, clear and unified sounds.

The Producers runs about 2.5 hours including intermission and plays on the Peterborough Players stage, 55 Hadley Road, Peterborough, NH, through August 13^th. For tickets call the box office at 603-924-7585 or check out www.PeterboroughPlayers.org.

‘The Graduate’ at The Winnipesaukee Playhouse (Meredith, NH)

The Graduate is a play adapted by Terry Johnson based on the novel by Charles Webb and the motion picture screenplay by Calder Willingham and Buck Henry. Most people can recall the film version that launched Dustin Hoffman to super stardom fifty years ago and has since become a cinematic classic. This “coming of age” comedic drama is the story of Benjamin Braddock, a recent college graduate, who is struggling with what he wants to do next, where he wants to go and who he really wants to become. Though he comes from an affluent family, and may appear to have everything going for him, he feels lost with no direction and no connection. His encounter with a family friend, the older Mrs. Robinson, starts him on a path of rebellion; rebellion against everything he has ever known, and in search of himself. In the end he may not have a clearer understanding of his career path, but he has a better understanding of himself, of other people, and how he wants his future life to be different from his past.

Under the sharp eye of director Samantha Tella, this eight-person cast, delves into their characters and brings to life a story most audience members may have previously only seen on screen. The result is a funny, realistic, and touching production that audience members clearly enjoyed. The design elements of the production were simple, with clean, sharp lines in both the architecture of the set, as well as the costumes, thus allowing for the humorous language of the script and performances of the actors to shine.

Outshining all the rest were the two young actors playing Benjamin Braddock and Elaine Robinson: John-Michael Breen and Kelley Davies. Together they were delightful to watch, fully engaging with one another with their eye contact and authentic character connection. Their rocky relationship was at times amusing, at times fierce, but always completely heartfelt. Their journey from two young people being set up on a date by their parents and dreading it, through Benjamin falling crazy in love with Elaine and following her back to school so he can propose, to Elaine making a difficult decision moments before saying “I do”, was wonderfully performed.

Breen’s comedic timing was spot on throughout the production. Even in the midst of changing costumes (many times) on stage while carrying on a conversation, his character never dropped. He was entirely believable as a college graduate finding his way and rebelling against what he believed everyone else expected his life to become. His interactions with his parents, played by Richard Brundage and Pam Schnatterly, were familiarly amusing to many in the audience. Breen was strong in portraying Benjamin’s ever-changing feelings about his dramatic affair with the seductive Mrs. Robinson, played by Molly Parker Myers, and he aptly showed the complexity and confusion of his characters’ emotional and mental state during much of the play.

As Elaine, Davies was stunning and displaying a wide range of confusing emotions as her character dealt with her mother’s affair, falling in love, trying to please other people, being a college student, and finding her own voice and ultimately, her own path. There were many moments when Davies captured the audiences’ attention; completely charming them by her performance. One instance that stands out was when she was fighting with Benjamin and let out a bloodcurdling scream. In this moment, it was as if the audience didn’t exist and Elaine and Benjamin were alone in the room arguing about getting married. In this role, Davies delivers not only one of the best performances in this production, but of the Winnipesaukee Playhouse Summer Season overall.

Needless to say, Breen and Davies were absolutely perfectly cast in these roles and their performances are not to be missed!

The cast is rounded out with more admirable performances including Ray Dudley, as Mr. Robinson, passionate about business and seemingly less so about his wife, yet after learning of his wife’s affair, comes across as a very realistic, poignantly sad and pitiful man. Also in the cast is Playhouse favorite Nicholas Wilder, playing multiple roles including, in a very funny scene, a desk clerk who is overly attached to his bell. Shanel Sparr, and the previously mentioned Pam Schnatterly, Richard Brundage and Molly Parker Myers complete the cast. ©

The Graduate plays at the Winnipesaukee Playhouse until August 12^th with performances Mondays through Saturdays at 7:30pm and a 2pm Matinee on August 7^th. There are no Sunday performances. Tickets range from $20-$34 and are selling quickly. Please note this production contains brief nudity in addition to its mature content. For additional information and tickets visit www.winnipesaukeeplayhouse.org

Special Events from the Education Department:

Tuesday, August 8th at 6pm – Symposium
Join us for an enlightening conversation led by an expert in a field connected to the production.

Wednesday, August 9th - Talk-back
Following the performance, you’re invited for an informal discussion with the cast and creative team.