[FRANKENSTEIN] Presented by Know Theatre of Cincinnati Oct. 27-28 Over-the-Rhine
Cast: Merritt Beischel, Dylan Shelton, Harper Lee & Alex Talks
A mysterious disease rages; wiping out women in a place and time not far from here and now. Baffled by the sickness and drowning in his own grief, a brilliant scientist develops a radical solution. A (very) loose adaptation of Mary Shelley’s novel, [Frankenstein] is told through music, movement, drama, and film.
KEVIN THORNTON TALKY CONCERT THINGY Presented by Know Theatre of Cincinnati Oct. 21 Over-the-Rhine
Cincy Fringe favorite Kevin Thornton [Sex, Dreams, and Self-Control, I Love You (We’re F*%cked), Bryyann Loves You] returns with new songs, new stories, and new underwear. Join him for a hilarious, semi-unscripted evening of music, storytelling, and comedy in Know Theatre’s Underground.
Double Your Play Pleasure at CPT Two Honored Shorts take the Clifton Stage in October
SARGE and THE MONKEY’S PAW written by Kevin Crowley Fri. Oct 10 – Sun. Oct. 19
Christine Dye as Jerry Sandusky’s wife, Dottie, in Kevin Crowley’s SARGE.
Can a person be so close to evil it leaves them blind? This question and others are examined in the play “SARGE.” The short by Kevin Crowley was the Critics Pick for Best of Fringe at the 2014 Cincinnati Fringe Festival. The play and its title character were inspired by the recent headlines surrounding football coach Jerry Sandusky.
Jerry Sandusky’s wife, Dottie is re-imagined in monologues. In the Jerry Sandusky scandal, one figure remains the most enigmatic to the public, his wife, Dottie, or Sarge, as she was known. People tend to dismiss her as complicit, a liar, naive or delusional. “Sarge”, imagines her in three settings over the course of a year as the Sandusky scandal plays out. The play is the work of actor/writer and director Kevin Crowley, who when not acting on the silver screen, calls the Clifton Performance Theatre home.
Crowley has created a script that leaves one grasping at every word from the title character, looking for a moment to lay blame. Crowley says he does not want the story to provide answers, “I never wanted to make anyone love or hate her. I really just wanted to know, for my own edification, what was it like to be in that situation as the wheels came off their life together. The words are carefully crafted and presented with great precision by actress Christine Dye. Dye’s turn as the tough den mother to wayward boys takes you on a roller coaster ride of emotions. Is she villain, victim or both? Catch “SARGE” now before it heads south for a run in New Orleans.
Carol Brammer & Dylan Shelton in THE MONKEY’S PAW.
The second play on this double feature is another short by Crowley called “The Monkey’s Paw.” The cast includes CPT regular Carol Brammer and actor Dylan Shelton. It is tale of two people consumed by the anxieties of early parenthood. Mike, a new father, is terrified and jealous of his son. Meanwhile his wife is fighting her own building fear of the world outside the for walls of their home. “The Monkey’s Paw” is a dark comedy exposing parenting on a different level.” Nat Cassidy of NY Theatre Now says, “ It’s smart stuff on Crowley’s part.”
October 10 Friday 8pm
October 11 Saturday 8pm
October 12 Sunday 7pm
October 16 Thursday 8pm
October 17 Friday 8pm
October 18 Saturday 8pm
October 19 Sunday 3pm
October 20 Monday 8pm
You can order tickets online at https://cpt.tixato.com/buy or call 513-861-SHOW (7469). The Clifton Performance Theatre is located at 404 Ludlow Ave.
SARGE and THE MONKEY’S PAW Presented by Clifton Players Oct. 10-20 Clifton
Written and directed by Kevin Crowley
SARGE was the critic’s pick in the 2014 Cincinnati Fringe Festival, hailed as “a solid, unflinching portrayal of a woman in a state of crisis, yet trying to hold her life together.” [My Fringe review -Rob]
THE MONKEY’S PAW is a hilarious, surreal look at parenting and marriage. Mike and Tish’s son is missing. Tish can’t leave home until he returns and Mike can’t ever get the house clean enough. This play has been produced in London and NY and will have a limited run with SARGE.
While New Yorkers may call Robert Taylor and Richard Oberacker “unknowns,” those names are a bit more familiar to local theatre audiences.
Richard Oberacker is a Cincinnati native and a graduate of UC College-Conservatory of Music.
Back in 2006, Taylor and Oberacker had their original musical, ACE, premiere at Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park. It went on to receive five Helen Hayes Nominations in D.C.
In 2009 they were back, this time at Ensemble Theatre of Cincinnati (they still had the “of” back then) with DON’T MAKE ME PULL THIS SHOW OVER: DISPATCHES FROM THE FRONTLINES OF PARENTING. They had previewed a shorter version of the musical as an entry in the 2008 Cincinnati Fringe Festival.
Back to New York. A reading this week of their new musical, BANDSTAND has the NYC theater community abuzz. You can read the NY Post article here.
Behind the Curtain Cincinnati 