Love me or hate me... warts and all
Salome by Oscar Wilde
In "Salome," banned in England in the 1890s, the Judean princess demands the head of John the Baptist. Arthur Repertory captures to lyrical effect playwright Oscar Wilde's tension between Christian judgment and pagan sensuality. Contemporary paramilitary motifs are contrasted artfully with traditional Middle Eastern dance and costumes. Heather Quigley, stunning as Salome, doesn't shrink from the sadistic relish implicit in Wilde's text. The cast, also directed by Quigley, embodies magnetically an ancient incestuous court steeped in a culture of corruption.- JOHN TOWNSEND-Pioneer Press
The Birds by Aristophanes
Heather Quigley is a lot of fun as the goddess Iris, who just doesn’t want to let anyone else be the center of attention (in character, of course)- MATTHEW A EVERETT
Orpheus Descending
Yet another speech, the ‘lovemaking’ speech by townswoman Beulah Binnings, in the beginning, is also beautifully rendered: Heather Quigley sets the poetic tone of the production and from that we’re off to the chariot race in the sky, so to speak. - JOHN TOWNSEND - Lavender Magazine
Other standouts in this small town cast of characters include: ... Heather Quigley as Beulah Binnings, the very definition of a vicious gossip, who launches the play with a story of the fire that changed Lady’s life, and drops hints about where the play might be headed; - MATTHEW A. EVERETT - T. C. Daily Planet
A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court
The almost inept rulers, Dan Zbichorski's King Arthur and Heather Quigley's Guenevere were played with glee and a touch of the empty-head syndrome. -
CLAUDIA HAAS -Minneapolis Performing Arts Examiner
Macbeth
...And then there was the nudity, almost exclusively male (though we did get to see Lady Macbeth’s breasts, and a fair amount of flesh from her lady-in-waiting who got all dolled up in a Fredericks of Hollywood lingerie ensemble to join the orgy.) ...
Dual roles and undercover devils...
Some actors, such as Heather Lorraine, playing Lady Macbeth’s female servant, and Mic Weinblatt, playing Hecate, are supposed to be secret participants in the supernatural goings on as well as servants to the Macbeth family. So that’s one role, two separate lives. A handful of other actors, however, were supposed to be double-cast, playing a member of the army here, a witch/priest elsewhere. The longer the play went on, the more muddled this became. While it was easy to catch on to the servants having their own evil agenda, that duality made it harder to keep it clear when someone else was going back and forth between what were supposed to be completely different and unrelated roles. I’m not sure how to solve this problem easily. Even with a large cast like this one, it’s necessary to double-cast in order to make sure all the roles are covered. Still, the confusion of sorting people out would occasionally take me out of the play.
Kudos to the cast...
As I’ve said before, this is a good bunch of actors. Most of the troubles of the production don’t deserve to be laid at their feet. ...
When all is said and done...
It’s Shakespeare. Some of my friends get all tied in knots about certain performances bringing a script down, but if I’m going to a Shakespeare play and things aren’t going well at any given moment, I just tune everything else out and listen to the language. The opportunity to hear these scripts is often reason enough to go. I commend the cast and the design team for what they managed to do, despite the given circumstances. One wishes they’d had a chance to display their full potential under the guidance of a more skilled director.-MATTHEW A EVERETT
Everyman
I'll start by saying that this show isn't for everyone.
If you don't like plays that deal with Christianity, then it isn't for you.
This isn't about the Jackson Browne song, people.
(Oh Lord, I am old. 95 percent of Fringe audiences aren't gonna get that reference - or they will but they'll question my taste in music. Oh well...)
If you're interested in seeing an example of the origins of theater, and can put aside the religious question (if you need to), then I recommend you see this production, because I don't think you're going to see a better staging of Everyman any time soon.
This is a morality play from the 15th or 16th century (I don't have my theater history cheat sheet handy).
As such, it's a very simple allegory play. No psychological realism. No subtext. It's all right there on the surface. So it's a hard play to do, either with a straight face or even as camp.
This is a good production of an ancient text.
Some in the cast are better than others but as an ensemble they all work well together.
The design of this show, though simple, is very effective. Everyone has a unit costume which is the same, and accessories allow them to take on the various characters that Everyman encounters on his journey to the afterlife.
At the end, in the curtain call, it is revealed that even the Everyman character has been wearing a variation on the simple unit costume underneath his signature shirt. It was clever touches like this that made me appreciate the show.
Another nice bit was that the suitcase (or baggage, if you will) that Everyman carried around with him had those travel stickers on it, but each was one of the deadly sins, rather than a travel destination. And after visiting the character of Confession, who was dressed as a hotel bellboy, his baggage was taken off his hands.
They didn't belabor this. It just happened. Some people may not even have gotten that little visual bit. But those who did no doubt appreciated the clever work of director Heather Lorraine (who also plays the role of Good Deeds).
Also on display was one of the more multi-ethnic casts I've seen in the Fringe, with a variety of gender, body type and age to boot. All of this made the show more visually interesting to watch, and more representative of the human condition for which Everyman is standing in.
Of note in the cast is Chenea Love Green, who portrays both Death (very cool in a leather jacket and shades - ha, pun, I just got that) and the warm and supportive Knowledge, who helps guide Everyman into the afterlife.
A simple show, simply done. And well done. -MATTHEW A. EVERETT
Agamemnon
"...The key is to ignore logic, which would leave you wondering how sock puppets and faxes make their way into Greek tragedy. Focus instead on the not-that-funny but almost-likable characters. Heather Quigley has the looks and demeanor for a feisty Clytemnestra..."
— LIEN HOANG- Pioneer Press
The Two Noble Kinsmen (2 Noble Kinsmyn)
“Under director Jeremy Cottrell, CalibanCo's well-acted, noir-flavored production makes a decent case for this Elizabethan bodice-ripper on its own terms.” - PETER RITTER, City Pages
Lost Shakespeare Given Evocative Wellesian Treatment
"“...The youthful CalibanCo Theatre is also among the most masterful ensemble presentations ever done at any Minnesota Fringe Fest....To be sure, all the actors shine. Their vocal delivery and use of the language is quite good. Their emotional connection to the words is marvelous and their sense of the dark, brooding style Cottrell has drenched this production in is remarkable. Get thee to see this show. It holds unexpected emotional power.” - John Townsend, MACT
"Top Ten Shows of 2002: Amongst The Guthrie, Penumbra, The Children's Theatre Company, Park Square Theatre and Outward Spiral" - John Townsend, Lavender Magazine
In "Salome," banned in England in the 1890s, the Judean princess demands the head of John the Baptist. Arthur Repertory captures to lyrical effect playwright Oscar Wilde's tension between Christian judgment and pagan sensuality. Contemporary paramilitary motifs are contrasted artfully with traditional Middle Eastern dance and costumes. Heather Quigley, stunning as Salome, doesn't shrink from the sadistic relish implicit in Wilde's text. The cast, also directed by Quigley, embodies magnetically an ancient incestuous court steeped in a culture of corruption.- JOHN TOWNSEND-Pioneer Press
The Birds by Aristophanes
Heather Quigley is a lot of fun as the goddess Iris, who just doesn’t want to let anyone else be the center of attention (in character, of course)- MATTHEW A EVERETT
Orpheus Descending
Yet another speech, the ‘lovemaking’ speech by townswoman Beulah Binnings, in the beginning, is also beautifully rendered: Heather Quigley sets the poetic tone of the production and from that we’re off to the chariot race in the sky, so to speak. - JOHN TOWNSEND - Lavender Magazine
Other standouts in this small town cast of characters include: ... Heather Quigley as Beulah Binnings, the very definition of a vicious gossip, who launches the play with a story of the fire that changed Lady’s life, and drops hints about where the play might be headed; - MATTHEW A. EVERETT - T. C. Daily Planet
A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court
The almost inept rulers, Dan Zbichorski's King Arthur and Heather Quigley's Guenevere were played with glee and a touch of the empty-head syndrome. -
CLAUDIA HAAS -Minneapolis Performing Arts Examiner
Macbeth
...And then there was the nudity, almost exclusively male (though we did get to see Lady Macbeth’s breasts, and a fair amount of flesh from her lady-in-waiting who got all dolled up in a Fredericks of Hollywood lingerie ensemble to join the orgy.) ...
Dual roles and undercover devils...
Some actors, such as Heather Lorraine, playing Lady Macbeth’s female servant, and Mic Weinblatt, playing Hecate, are supposed to be secret participants in the supernatural goings on as well as servants to the Macbeth family. So that’s one role, two separate lives. A handful of other actors, however, were supposed to be double-cast, playing a member of the army here, a witch/priest elsewhere. The longer the play went on, the more muddled this became. While it was easy to catch on to the servants having their own evil agenda, that duality made it harder to keep it clear when someone else was going back and forth between what were supposed to be completely different and unrelated roles. I’m not sure how to solve this problem easily. Even with a large cast like this one, it’s necessary to double-cast in order to make sure all the roles are covered. Still, the confusion of sorting people out would occasionally take me out of the play.
Kudos to the cast...
As I’ve said before, this is a good bunch of actors. Most of the troubles of the production don’t deserve to be laid at their feet. ...
When all is said and done...
It’s Shakespeare. Some of my friends get all tied in knots about certain performances bringing a script down, but if I’m going to a Shakespeare play and things aren’t going well at any given moment, I just tune everything else out and listen to the language. The opportunity to hear these scripts is often reason enough to go. I commend the cast and the design team for what they managed to do, despite the given circumstances. One wishes they’d had a chance to display their full potential under the guidance of a more skilled director.-MATTHEW A EVERETT
Everyman
I'll start by saying that this show isn't for everyone.
If you don't like plays that deal with Christianity, then it isn't for you.
This isn't about the Jackson Browne song, people.
(Oh Lord, I am old. 95 percent of Fringe audiences aren't gonna get that reference - or they will but they'll question my taste in music. Oh well...)
If you're interested in seeing an example of the origins of theater, and can put aside the religious question (if you need to), then I recommend you see this production, because I don't think you're going to see a better staging of Everyman any time soon.
This is a morality play from the 15th or 16th century (I don't have my theater history cheat sheet handy).
As such, it's a very simple allegory play. No psychological realism. No subtext. It's all right there on the surface. So it's a hard play to do, either with a straight face or even as camp.
This is a good production of an ancient text.
Some in the cast are better than others but as an ensemble they all work well together.
The design of this show, though simple, is very effective. Everyone has a unit costume which is the same, and accessories allow them to take on the various characters that Everyman encounters on his journey to the afterlife.
At the end, in the curtain call, it is revealed that even the Everyman character has been wearing a variation on the simple unit costume underneath his signature shirt. It was clever touches like this that made me appreciate the show.
Another nice bit was that the suitcase (or baggage, if you will) that Everyman carried around with him had those travel stickers on it, but each was one of the deadly sins, rather than a travel destination. And after visiting the character of Confession, who was dressed as a hotel bellboy, his baggage was taken off his hands.
They didn't belabor this. It just happened. Some people may not even have gotten that little visual bit. But those who did no doubt appreciated the clever work of director Heather Lorraine (who also plays the role of Good Deeds).
Also on display was one of the more multi-ethnic casts I've seen in the Fringe, with a variety of gender, body type and age to boot. All of this made the show more visually interesting to watch, and more representative of the human condition for which Everyman is standing in.
Of note in the cast is Chenea Love Green, who portrays both Death (very cool in a leather jacket and shades - ha, pun, I just got that) and the warm and supportive Knowledge, who helps guide Everyman into the afterlife.
A simple show, simply done. And well done. -MATTHEW A. EVERETT
Agamemnon
"...The key is to ignore logic, which would leave you wondering how sock puppets and faxes make their way into Greek tragedy. Focus instead on the not-that-funny but almost-likable characters. Heather Quigley has the looks and demeanor for a feisty Clytemnestra..."
— LIEN HOANG- Pioneer Press
The Two Noble Kinsmen (2 Noble Kinsmyn)
“Under director Jeremy Cottrell, CalibanCo's well-acted, noir-flavored production makes a decent case for this Elizabethan bodice-ripper on its own terms.” - PETER RITTER, City Pages
Lost Shakespeare Given Evocative Wellesian Treatment
"“...The youthful CalibanCo Theatre is also among the most masterful ensemble presentations ever done at any Minnesota Fringe Fest....To be sure, all the actors shine. Their vocal delivery and use of the language is quite good. Their emotional connection to the words is marvelous and their sense of the dark, brooding style Cottrell has drenched this production in is remarkable. Get thee to see this show. It holds unexpected emotional power.” - John Townsend, MACT
"Top Ten Shows of 2002: Amongst The Guthrie, Penumbra, The Children's Theatre Company, Park Square Theatre and Outward Spiral" - John Townsend, Lavender Magazine
