Members of the Ensemble Cast do it all... in Perfect Harmony

Whatever its deeper meanings, Folger Theatre’s The Conference of the Birds, in a stage version by Peter Brook and Jean-Claude Carriere and directed by Aaron Posner, is a downright brilliant piece of theater. The key words are intricacy and precision.The main elements: Erika Chong Shuch’s choreography for the ensemble cast, involving a significant degree of coordinated group movement, unison breathing, hand gestures, and occasional bits of tumbling; Jennifer Schriever’s spectacularly detailed and varied lighting design; Tom Teasley’s music on multiple instruments. Each movement by the ensemble is perfectly, instantaneously timed with corresponding light cues and individual notes in Teasley’s music. The evening is one of virtuosic execution of a carefully conceived plan for presenting the story.

The story, based on a 12th century Sufi poem written by Farid Uddi Attar, is a mythic quest, deep in Joseph Campbell territory. Led by the Hoopoe (Patty Gallagher), the 10-strong ensemble, representing all the other birds, debate how to deal with their uncertainties and dissatisfactions by seeking their true king, Simorgh. The “conference” of the title takes place in the first act. The Hoopoe tries to persuade the other birds to begin the quest. Many of the other birds demur. The Parrot (Robert Barry Fleming) is comfortable in his cage; the Duck (Katie deBuys) is reluctant to leave the comfortable water in her pond; the Falcon (Jay Dunn) wishes to remain with his king; the Sparrow (Britt Duff) is too timid to take a dangerous journey, etc. The Hoopoe responds primarily by telling stories. To the Falcon, for example, she recounts a series of stories in which kings arbitrarily kill their devotees. Ultimately the Hoopoe – the narrator as well as the leader of the flock – succeeds in persuading the others to leave their fears and comforts behind and undertake the journey.

As befits a mythic quest, the journey is long and arduous, involving a wide desert and seven valleys (representing various emotional and existential states — quest, love, unity, astonishment, etc.) through which the birds must pass, each with its own challenges and its own meanings to decipher. Many fall short: the 30 that succeed learn that Simorgh is not a separate being (no Wizard at the end of these birds’ Yellow Brick Road), but within themselves (indeed, “Simorgh” is a Persian pun for “30 birds”). As one commentator put it, “By annihilating themselves gloriously in the [Simorgh] they find themselves in joy, learn the secrets, and receive immortality. So long as you do not realize your nothingness and do not renounce your self-pride, vanity, and self-love, you will not reach the heights of immortality. Attar concluded the epilog with the admonition that if you wish to find the ocean of your soul, then die to all your old life and then keep silent.”

In keeping with the superb stagecraft of the production, the burlap curtains that are a key part of Meghan Rahm’s set design part at the play’s conclusion to reveal a mirror in which the birds see themselves. Given the allegorical nature of the work – these are human emotions and a human spiritual quest we are dealing with, after all — Olivera Gajic’s costume design makes no attempt to make the cast look like birds. The subdued palate emphasizing greys, browns, and greens never calls attention to itself (save one disco queen-like costume for a peacock) and perfectly complements the movement and lighting of the production.

The members of the ensemble cast do it all – moves, speaks clearly and in character, sings on some occasions – and most of all do it in perfect harmony with one another.Regardless of how much Sufi mysticism of a millennium ago may or may not resonate with a Washington audience of today, the presentation of Attar’s story at the Folger can only inspire admiration.

by Rob Ashby for Showbiz Radio 

Rasmussen has a menacing air of self-satisfaction that's quite effective.

REVIEW: The Other Man at Theatre Row

In "The Other Man," their first produced play, authors Bryant Martin and Mark Botts have written an often taut if not always convincing thriller-cum–love story, in the process giving Martin a savory meal of a role. The actor plays Tom Donaghy, a young thug from England just released from a New York prison. Facing deportation, Donaghy is desperately searching for his vanished drug-addicted girlfriend Lisa. Not only does Martin's Donaghy sport a tangy cockney accent with generous amounts of rhyming slang; he can be violently threatening one moment, barking orders in a booming voice; funny and sexy the next, gently but confidently flirting with a woman he's just met; and then crushingly sensitive, recalling his early years in an orphanage. Martin melds it all into an impressive performance.

As the play begins, a gun-wielding Donaghy storms into the office of Raphael Cardozzo, a big-time drug dealer, demanding to know Lisa's whereabouts. It seems that Cardozzo not only sold Lisa drugs but also had a ruinous affair with her, and apparently his office has up-to-date records on all his old customers. While Angelica, Cardozzo's secretary-mistress, searches in the next room for information on Lisa, Cardozzo, captive in handcuffs, and Donaghy chat it up. The ex-con rhapsodizes about his love for Lisa, and in flashback we see their romance developing and then collapsing as Lisa sinks deeper into addiction. He also forces Cardozzo to telephone his wife and confess his affair with Angelica and periodically threatens to harm Cardozzo's two young daughters. The men further manage to go at each other in a nicely staged brawl.(Choreographed by Rasmussen.)

Toward the end questions of blame come up—who's really responsible for Lisa's downfall—but they seem perfunctory. The play runs a scant 70 minutes or so, but some of the talk has the feel of obvious filler, despite Kimberly Faith Hickman's well-paced direction and a skillful cast.

Jens Rasmussen's trim, well-spoken Cardozzo may not be the most brutish mob boss around, but he has a menacing air of self-satisfaction that's quite effective. Kara Durrett believably limns Lisa's journey from fresh young thing to wretched addict, and Lucy Sheftfall imbues Angelica with an appropriately scary hard edge. But it's watching Martin bringing his own script to life with relish that gives the show its raison d'être.

Reviewed by Ron Cohen

Rock Solid Performance by Jens Rasmussen

REVIEW: Stephen King's Survivor Type

For almost thirty years now Stephen King has been granting up and comers the rights to some of his stories. We’ve all heard of his dollar babies, where he give filmmakers a chance to adapt his work for the princely price of a dollar and one copy of the flick. I was lucky enough to catch Frank Darabont’s first flick “The Woman in the Room” years ago, and it showed obvious talent in the making. The only rule King puts on the filmmakers is that they don’t release it commercially without his permission, that he’s given screen credit, and that his name isn’t put in the title unless he specifically gives his approval. I guess the title credit is his secret handshake to let fans know which of his children he likes the best.

Right now, Chris Ethridge’s “Survivor Type” is just hitting the festival scene, and I’m wondering if Mr. King has seen it yet, because if he hasn’t, they might have to cough up some quick cash for new poster art. “Stephen King’s SURVIVOR TYPE” has a nice ring to it, and considering how well they pulled off the impossible, I think it’d be a well deserved award.

“Survivor Type” is based on the short story form SKELETON CREW about a doctor who finds himself shipwrecked on a desert island with only a bit of heroine and an itty bitty knife. There’s no food, no water, and no way off. There’s also no redeeming qualities to be found in the soul character of Dr. Richard Pine, and that’s what makes this story legendary for being unfilmable. It’s not because the story deals with autocannibalism, but more due to the fact that King wrote the main character as an absolute prick, something I was worried the short film would pull back on. I was sure these guys weren’t going to wuss out on the dietary etiquette on the island, but I wasn’t sure anyone would portray Pine as he was written. Another challenge the production had was how to make the film without it being immediately compared to “Castaway.”

The answer to that is simple, the just fucking ignore Tom Hanks.

Jayson Palmer delivers a script which fills in just enough of Pine’s back story to make it more cinematic, but avoids the trap of finding that silver lining in Pine. Nope, he leaves the character as the prick he was meant to be, and in the rock solid performance by Jens Rasmussen, it’s never cartoony. Playing a man slowly being forced to eat himself while hallucinating his life’s wrongs and rights could easily become a joke, but Rasmussen and director Ethridge kept it straight and never wink at the audience. They play it serious, and in that, keep it as honest as can be.

And yes, when we get to that scene, it does hurt to watch. Whereas a similar bit is done by Danny Boyle in “127 Hours,” that amputation was helped with sharp editing and violent sound design. Here, we have straight forward practical effects and acting to get us all queasy. And it does.

Maybe it’s just me. I have a thing about vulnerable feet. For me, “Die Hard” and the broken glass drives me batshit crazy each time I see it, and I still can’t watch “Home Alone” and its nail up the boot gag.

“Survivor Type” has sat around for years waiting to be adapted, and it’s been one of those flicks I’ve been waiting to see someone try and pull off. I can cross that off my list. I’ve seen it. It’s been done. And it was worth the wait. If “Survivor Type” is playing a festival near you, do yourself a favor and see it before it disappears into the corner of King’s office where he keeps his other dollar babies. Good stuff, and unlike a lot King adaptations, this one knows and respects its source material. Can’t wait for these guys to give us a feature.

by Jason Lees, MoreHorror.com

BWW Reviews: GRUESOME PLAYGROUND INJURIES - Altogether Intriguing

What happens when two people can't deal with their messed up lives? Gruesome Playground Injures. And things were gruesome for them, indeed.

Presented by Know Theatre, Gruesome Playground Injuries tells the story of Kayleen (Beth Harris), a troubled girl who deals with emotional pain, manifested as recurring stomach pains, cutting, or an array of drugs from the psychiatrist, and Doug (Jens Rasmussen), who's reason for pain wasn't quite established but he dealt with it by constantly getting into accidents or being at the wrong place at the wrong time (like a rooftop during an electrical storm).

The play takes place in just eight scenes, but even though the timeline isn't chronological, it worked at Know and it was interesting to see how something alluded to in a previous scene later played out in another. The scenes are brief, long enough for the couple to reunite and catch you up on what's been going on in their lives and then they're off and jumping to another moment.

Because of the unique storyline of the play based solely on the eight meetings of the two couples throughout thirty years, scene changes could have been boring or brought the play to a complete halt while you waited for them to reset themselves as another age for their characters. But instead the audience gets a rare glimpse at the preparation an actor goes through to change and apply stage makeup (and often makeup that includes bruises or bleeding cuts) just to the side of the set - close enough to kind of see and wonder what's going on over there, yet away from the main pieces of the stage. Even their changes were choreographed and staged in a cooperative, couple-like manner, with Rasmussen comically lighting a cigarette for Harris before going back on stage, or the way Harris held out the backpack for Rasmussen to put on. Watching the way the two danced around each other to prepare was just as interesting as the way they connected on stage.

Jens Rasmussen in Gruesome Playground Injuries

Rasmussen and Harris play their complex characters very well. They have the subtle nuances of Kayleen and Doug down, from the foot tapping or twitching Kayleen does to the way an awkward eight-year-old boy would sit. Their dialogue is delivered at a fast pace, instantly reacting in an often-sarcastic manner.

The dark comedy of Gruesome Playground Injuries will leave you with a lot of questions about the characters and why they are what they are, but yet intrigued as well.

by Jill Siekman for Broadway World

Gripping and Off-Kilter

Jens Rasmussen in Gruesome Playground Injuries

Critic's Pick
“Does it hurt?” Kayleen (Beth Harris) asks Doug (Jens Rasmussen) that question repeatedly in Rajiv Joseph’s Gruesome Playground Injuries at Know Theatre. We observe their intersections at various moments in their lives between the ages of 8 and 38. In the first scene (age 8) his cheek is split open following an Evel Knievel bike-jump off the school roof; in scene two (age 23) an errant firework has blown out his eye.

And so it goes, a pair of lost souls, a masochistic daredevil and a depressive self-hater. But they have a bond: Her presence seems to heal him, and his odd behavior breaks through her wary exterior despite her steady stream of disdain.

Joseph, a 1996 Miami University grad whose Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo was short-listed for the 2010 Pulitzer Prize, has envisioned a world of pain for this pair that ultimately feels tender and intimate.

The meet in sterile rooms — a nurse’s office in a parochial school to a hospital room where he lies in a coma after being struck by lightning — but genuine if twisted emotion is the regular result. Know has reconfigured its theater space (with comfortable new seats) for a wide stage allowing for three side-by-side playing areas. I’m not sure all are necessary, but they enable an easy flow from moment to moment.

Harris and Rasmussen change clothes and make-up in full view of the audience, enhanced by video and music, which allows for some distance between incidents and diminishes the shocking nature of mutilation. This show reunites the actors with director Drew Fracher; a year ago they created Skin Tight, the best production of Know’s previous season.

If subsequent shows are as gripping and off-kilter as this one in which humor and pathos constantly elbow one another, Know will deliver on its annual promise of edgy theater. And that doesn’t hurt at all.

By Rick Pender for City Beat

Worth noting... the performance of Jens Rasmussen

Ebenezer Scrooge has been immortalized in popular culture over the years, from the earliest surviving screen adaptation — a British short film from 1901 — to last year’s Disney motion-capture animated picture featuring comedian Jim Carrey.

All could have provided a template for Terry Weber, a professional actor and instructor of various performance classes at the University of Tennessee who stars in this season’s production of the Charles Dickens classic, taking place at the Clarence Brown Theatre through Dec. 19.

Weber, however, discarded those who did the part before him, and in doing so makes the role entirely his own.

“I guess I didn’t worry too much about what other people had done and decided to work with whatever was given from the script,” Weber told The Daily Times this week. “I really like this adaptation a lot by Joe Hanreddy and Edward Morgan because it’s one that allows the transformation of Scrooge to be more gradual than some of the other adaptations that are out there.”

That transformation is at the heart of this year’s Clarence Brown production, an annual affair that remains true to the original Dickens story but, by all accounts, finds a new way to tell the tale every year. Such comparisons, however, are moot — because Weber takes the character of Ebenezer Scrooge and acts out his journey of transformation with an eye for both tradition and innovation.

“One of the dangers is that in the original adaptation, Scrooge has made his complete transformation at the end of Act 1 — but when he is finally able to feel again, you have to make certain that that’s not the end of the journey,” Weber said. “The feeling he gets at the end of Act 1 is mostly pain, and the pain isn’t necessarily where he wants to stay.”

That pain, however, is the motivation for the transformation that is at the heart of “A Christmas Carol.” When the production opens, Weber’s Scrooge has all the hallmarks of the class character and then some — stern, unrelenting in his devotion to making money, hard-hearted, flinty-eyed.

Weber, however, plays the part with a certain weariness of posture and expression that belies his gruff exterior. Like his dead partner, Jacob Marley — whose spectral appearance sparks the journey Scrooge will take with the three spirits of Christmas — he seems shackled with chains, albeit metaphorical ones. It’s a little thing, but it’s part of the beauty of Weber’s performance.

“One makes choices early in rehearsal that one ends up discarding by the time the show opens, and by the same token small discoveries are made after the show opens,” Weber said. “You discover how a moment or gesture can work; you look at the physical mask of the character and what kind of energy would be appropriate for him. I found myself thinking of those things — how the description of Scrooge as ‘squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scraping, clutching’ would affect how I held my hands and carry over as unconscious mannerisms in the character.

“It’s a long process of sketching a physical and vocal mask for the character. But you don’t want to be a slave to that mask either — you want to be in the moment for each performance.”

An actor, of course, is limited by certain things — the direction of the production, the performances of his fellow actors, the work of the behind-the-scenes crew and volunteers that make the play possible. In “A Christmas Carol,” Weber is in good company — aside from a few timid performances by a couple of the younger actors, the work in this year’s production is first-rate. Worth noting are the performances of Jens Rasmussen as the put-upon Bob Cratchit, who maintains a certain dignity while staring down the twin barrels of poverty and Scrooge’s neverending scorn; and Conrad Ricamora as Fred Scrooge, the nephew of Ebenezer and the optimistic yin to his uncle’s dour yang.

Although they don’t appear in front of the audience, the works of guest artist/Jim Kronzer, guest artist/set designer Katherine Rohe and guest lighting designer Beverly Emmons are spectacular. Rustic, warm and Victorian, their efforts serve as a backdrop that both enhances the story and draws the viewer in. The special effects are fantastic as well — Jacob Marley’s ghostly appearance and the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come both are capable of inspiring fright in young audience members.

“It’s a blessing to be able to work with the design and production support at the Clarence Brown Theatre, which is the flagship professional theater in this area,” Weber said. “I’m humbled at the chance to work with such great designers and technicians and volunteers. We are blessed with the university’s support as well and their ability to bring in top-notch designers. As an actor, it’s always a great privilege to be a part of something like this. Theater is one of the most collaborative art forms there is.”

And “A Christmas Carol,” he added, is more collaborative than many other plays — especially when performed during the holiday season. Director Edward Morgan writes in the program notes about how “A Christmas Carol,” when first published in 1843, took America by storm and helped to elevate Christmas into the most revered holiday of the year; such a legacy, Weber said, is humbling to uphold.

“It’s a familiar story, one that’s universal in terms of renewal, redemption, rebirth — a journey someone takes from darkness into light, if you will,” he said. “For most people, regardless of how many times you’ve seen it, it still is an uplifting kind of journey and really is a part of our fabric in Western culture. It’s a story that sort of defined Christmas in Western culture from the mid-19th century through the present day.

“When you say Scrooge, everybody knows who you’re talking about, and when you’re playing the role, it definitely adds to it. There’s definitely a sense of being connected with the community and years of tradition of our culture that you don’t get otherwise, because it really is a story that reaches across the last 160 or 170 years. There’s a connection to our community here in 2010 Knoxville, but a sense of being connected to all of Western culture as well.”

By Steve Wildsmith of the Daily Times

Rasmussen's Bob Cratchit Brings Much Appreciated Humor

Jens Rasmussen in A Christmas Carol

Clarence Brown Christmas Carol Review

KNOXVILLE — The holiday season has officially begun. Turkey, Black Friday and television holiday specials tend to mark the advent of a seemingly compartmentalized mindset focused on vacations, gifts and - if we're lucky - a quiet moment to reflect and remember the reason for it all.

With modern schedules as they are, taking this moment can be impossible, but the Clarence Brown Theatre's perennial production of "A Christmas Carol" provides a genuine opportunity.

Tightly adapted by Edward Morgan and Joseph Hanreddy, this rendition of Charles Dickens' novel moves smoothly through the well-trodden tale of the miserly Ebenezer Scrooge "bah-humbugging" his way through tradition until, by the gift of spirit (and spirits), he comes to learn his micromanaged ways are in fact a horrible miscalculation of his eternal soul.

The cast is wonderful, especially Terry Weber's portrayal of Scrooge. From his stomping and imposing Act 1 to his supplicating finale, Weber skillfully walks the tightrope where one missed step could drop his Scrooge into a stereotypical caricature. Jens Rasmussen's Bob Cratchit, Neil Friedman's Mr. Fezziwig, and the courtship between Ricardo Birnbaum's Mr. Topo and Magan Wiles' Miss Lucy bring much appreciated humor.

James Kronzer's set, Kathryn Rohe's costumes and Beverly Emmons' lighting provide an ideal context, color and focus.

And, of course, the music. "A Christmas Carol" without Christmas carols would be something else entirely, and the sonorous voicing of seasonal tunes is welcoming.

However, on opening night Friday, a surprising moment occurred possibly by happenstance but more likely by design. Throughout the evening, as the ensemble harmonized Christian tradition, a voice or two could be heard from the seats. A crackled soprano here and a dusty bass there tried to contain their impulses to join in and, much to the delight of some fellow patrons, failed.

It was in this moment that Clarence Brown's "A Christmas Carol" reached its most profound mark. For a few members of the audience to become so engaged as to forget the theatrical protocol of only clapping, laughing and standing when culturally appropriate is not only theater at its best, but also a reminder of what is at the heart of the holiday season: a happiness and joy readily at hand for each and every one of us, should we have the opportunity to remember, embrace and share it.

Rasmussen... fundamental honesty and an irresistible charm.

Know Theatre opens season with spare, passionate love story

Critic's Pick

Jens Rasmussen in Skin Tight

Gary Henderson’s Skin Tight is as much a piece of lyrical poetry as it is a play. It’s also likely to be the most physical performance — wonderfully staged and choreographed by director Drew Fracher — you’ll see onstage in this Cincinnati theater season. Know Theatre’s 2010-11 season opener is brief — about 60 minutes of performance — taking you on an emotional, passionate journey that’s both a lifetime and the blink of an eye.

Although set in rural New Zealand with references to local places and mid-20th-century events and featuring characters who speak with Kiwi accents, Skin Tight really happens in a place of no time — or, rather, a timeless place. Roughhewn boards suggest a barn; an opening is awash with light that changes to underscore emotions ebbing and flowing. (Andrew Hungerford served as both scenic and lighting designer with evocative results.)

From the shocking first moment, when Beth Harris (as Elizabeth) and Jens Rasmussen (as Tom) fling themselves at one another with startling brutality, this ardent couple explores their long relationship physically, violently, emotionally and pleasurably.

They wrestle literally and emotionally, and we sense that they’re on the brink of a passage, referenced by Elizabeth in her first line, “I have to go.” But her departure is delayed, multiplied, elaborated and enhanced by Henderson’s spare, poignant script — few words, many actions and metaphors using a handful of simple props (buckets of water, a pocket knife, an apple).

Harris, a veteran Cincinnati actor and singer, has a glittering spark of defiance and fierce warmth that shines forth from Elizabeth’s defiant core. Rasmussen’s sly smile and understated delivery give Tom a fundamental honesty and an irresistible charm.

Skin Tight is driven by the exquisite sensuality of being touched. In a scant hour, you’ll know this pair, love them and be profoundly touched yourself.

By Rick Pender for City Beat

Rasmussen commandeers attention from the get go

Know Theatre’s ‘Skin Tight’ offers passionate look at love

Jens Rasmussen in Skin Tight

Cincinnati’s best off-off-Broadway playhouse, the Know Theatre, opens its 13th season with the intimate, advant-garde play, Skin Tight. Written by New Zealand playwright Gary Henderson and directed by Drew Fracher, the show runs through October 30, 2010.

Skin Tight tells the story of a rural New Zealand couple, Tom and Elizabeth, who relive their love story on stage. From its opening moments, Skin Tight grabs the audience and leads them through a frenzied, passionate dance that refuses to let go. The performance is a heady mix of touching, romantic prose spoken by the duo, coupled with bouts of physical activity: fighting, wrestling, dancing, and loving gestures. The show toes the line between the reality of the couple’s situation and the way they see and view each other.

Director Drew Fracher says, “A friend gave me Skin Tight, knowing my penchant for action and stage combat and suggest that I might like the play. I felt that the Know was the only place in town that fit the style and content best. Thankfully, producing artistic director Eric [Vosmeier] felt the same way. I’m thrilled to have an opportunity to work on such an amazing, theatrical piece.”

Veteran Equity actor Jens Rasmussen (Tom) and local theatre starlet Beth Harris (Elizabeth) commandeer their audience’s attention from the get go. With believable accents and even more convincing love and care for each other, these two actors reveal the inner workings of a relationship that has stood the test of time. From juvenile taunts to real fears and honest wounds, the chemistry between the two on stage draws the viewer in and invites them to experience the same feelings. Their raw, emotional portrayal of a very real, intimate relationship – the combination of trust, pain, passion, laughter, anger, fear, hope – reduced many in the audience to tears by the end of the show.

The sets and lighting, designed by Andrew Hungerford, are simple yet effective, drawing the viewer into rural farmland without distracting from the action. Sound design by Doug Borntrager helps to illustrate the emotions being played out on stage.

This is not an easy show to attend. There is nudity, there is fighting, and it moves at a jarringly quick pace. Basic plot and character development unfolds very slowly, and even at the end the audience may have questions that were not answered.

The experience of this show, however, is completely worth every question and plot twist. In the end, love is a confusing and tricky thing. The heart and soul of Skin Tight is the bond between two ordinary people…people with just enough detail left out to be any one of us.
Let go of your expectations and come along for the ride. Experience the realities of a life well lived and fiercely loved.

BY: JENNY KESSLER for UrbanCincy

BWW REVIEW: Rasmussen... Excellent onstage chemistry

Know Theatre of Cincinnati's SKIN TIGHT

Jens Rasmussen in Skin Tight

Know Theatre of Cincinnati opened a new season with Gary Henderson's Skin Tight this past Saturday night and while the play is only one act, it's one act you won't forget anytime soon.

Skin Tight tells the story of New Zealand couple Elizabeth (Beth Harris) and Tom (Jens Rasmussen). From the first scene, where Elizabeth and Tom circle around each other on the sparse stage before engaging in a well-choreographed, knock-down, drag out fight, to intimate gestures later of Tom washing Elizabeth's hair or Elizabeth shaving Tom, the play explores the often volatile relationship between the two. Throughout, the audience learns about the couple's history -- from infidelity issues, to their relationship with their estranged daughter, even the little quirks that annoy each other. But even with the ups and the downs, by the end it's clear the couple had a sort of inescapable love for each other.

We know from Elizabeth's first, simple words of "I have to go," that change is occuring but it isn't until deep within the play that we know just exactly where she's going. And after becoming enveloped in the couple's lives, it's a heartwrenching ending.

Harris and Rasmussen have excellent onstage chemistry, with Harris giving her character just the right amount of sass to Rasmussen's more melancholy Tom. Their movements have a thrilling sensuality, thanks to director and fight choreographer Drew Fracher. With only two pails and a large washtub, the simple scenery keeps the focus where it belonged on the characters and their actions. Rough, weathered boards in the back add a feeling of rusticity. Lighting by Andrew Hungerford also help to set the environment, changing colors to reflect the mood on stage.

Don't miss this exciting play running now through October 30th.

by Jill Siekman for BroadwayWorld.com

Jens Rasmussen... a level of acting proficiency rarely seen

There were moments during "Doubt" at Mill Mountain Theatre when I forgot I was watching a play. That's how involving is John Patrick Shanley's aptly titled drama, and how compelling the actors' performances.

A collaboration of Hollins University and Virgini
a Tech, the production was staged at both schools and then on Mill Mountain's Waldron Stage as part of the Roanoke Arts Festival. It was directed with typical adroitness by Hollins theater Chairman Ernie Zulia, who is to valley theater what Google is to search engines.

But to "Doubt." Drawn from today's sexual abuse scandals in the church though set in a Catholic school in 1964, the multilayered drama pits an authoritarian old-school nun against the equally strong-willed parish priest. Sister Aloysius, the school principal, accuses Father Flynn of seducing a 12-year-old black student at St. Nicholas School. She rests her case on flimsy evidence but long experience and theretofore reliable intuition.

Father Flynn, a popular priest who embraces Second Vatican Council liberalizations as fervently as Sister Aloysius condemns them, denies the charge vigorously but with a tantalizing dollop of equivocation. Accused and accuser are portrayed by Patricia Raun and Jens Rasmussen at a level of acting proficiency rarely seen on area stages.

Ably supporting them are KT Broido as Sister James, an idealistic young teacher, and Idara Aquaowo as the student's startlingly pragmatic mother. Sister James admires Father Flynn and his modern ways but is influenced by Sister Aloysius to question his denials. At the same time, she is unsettled by the principal's seemingly steely certitude.

The young nun in that way may represent the audience, for the playwright never lets us know whether the priest is guilty. The final scene, a sort of epilogue, only deepens the mystery while giving playgoers even more to ponder, talk about -- and doubt.

-- Jeff DeBell, Special to The Roanoke Times

Petruchio, expertly portrayed by Jens Rasmussen

At the outset, you’d think an umpire had yelled “play ball!” The antics, cavorting, double entendres, and mistaken identities in the wickedly funny opening production of Virginia Shakespeare Festival’s 2008 season, “The Taming of the Shrew”, never stop. This rascally

entertaining comedy of misdemeanors and intentions is off and running from the moment you sit down.

Kevin Stidham as Lucentio and Matt McGloin as Tranio

In the Italian city of Padua, a rich young man named Lucentio, (perfectly cast in Kevin Stidham), arrives with his servants, Tranio, (near–genius comic timing by Matthew McGloin) and Biondello, (a winning performance by Connor Hogan), to attend the local university. Lucentio is excited to begin his studies, but his priorities change when he sees Bianca, a beautiful, mild young woman (charmingly played by Amaree Cluff), with whom Lucentio instantly falls in love.

There are two problems: first, Bianca already has two suitors, Gremio and Hortensio; second, Bianca's father, a wealthy man named Baptista Minola, has declared that no one may court Bianca until first her older sister, the vicious, ill-tempered Katharina gets married. Lucentio

decides to overcome this problem by disguising himself as Bianca's Latin tutor to gain an excuse to be in her company. Hortensio disguises himself as her music teacher for the same reason. While Lucentio pretends to be Bianca's tutor, Tranio dresses up as Lucentio and begins to confer

with Baptista about the possibility of marrying his daughter.

The “Katharina problem” is solved for Bianca's suitors when Hortensio's friend Petruchio, (expertly portrayed by Jens Rasmussen), a brash young man from Verona, arrives in Padua with the intention of marrying a rich woman. He does not care what she is like as long as she will bring him a fortune. He agrees to marry Katharina sight unseen. Let the games begin.

Now we are into the next round of mayhem, which ceases only with the final curtain call bows.

This is a fast-paced, warmly funny, deftly acted and directed company of performers interpret the Bard with glee and endless humor. Director James Alexander Bond has brought much intelligence to the text without updating, altering or resetting the play. No need to reinvent the

wheel. (This too often is the case with productions of Shakespeare and sometimes not successful.)

Bond has brought out many honed, well-defined performances from his cast.

(Sorry, I can’t write about each one of them but my compliments to all and to the departments.)

With lightning agility, the actors execute cleverly staged action sequences designed by David Doersch. Their comic vaudevillian feats are performed with razor-sharp precision. Always in character, the actors leap, cavort and hurtle their bodies and things toward one another with

complete abandon: a theatrical cousin to “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” without wires.

Though “Shrew” is oftentimes criticized for its misogynistic, anti-feminist views, the resolution at the end found in Katharina’s long final speech, (well-delivered by Catherine Gowl), shows us that the tamer can be tamed because, as with everything, politics underlie all: that winning doesn’t always mean you have laid down the highest hand. Rather, if you listen well to Shakespeare’s text and glean from it his pearls of wisdom on the ways of the world, you may learn this: It’s how you use the cards in all the hands you are dealt that brings meaning and success to your life.

Whatever critics and academics argue from both sides of the aisle over what Shakespeare was saying about women and gender divide, in the end, Bond gives us a satisfying conclusion in that both Petruchio and Katharina consider themselves equal to one another. That’s evolution.

by Victoria Racimo for the Williamsburg Yorktown Daily

Walking, slowly, toward the peace

You might have missed them if you were running late on your way to the American Dance Festival on Monday night. The hard rain had come by then, washing out the list of words chalked in meridians radiating out from the traffic circle in front of Duke University's Bryan Center: forgiveness, empathy, elevate, respond....

An hour earlier, the people who had written the words had scattered, from Duke Chapel to Science Drive. They were walking, deliberately, one step every five seconds or so, converging from all angles on the trees at the circle's center. They were ADF dancers, taking part in a form of political protest and movement called "slow walk."

Though they were in different dress, many in white, all had one clothing choice in common: a pale blue sash, with words or symbols each had written or drawn to express a deeply felt wish.

Conscientious, compassionate action, one sash read. The Hindu Aum was on another. A third read, Walk toward a new beginning: Vote.

On a fourth, Justice was written on one end of the fabric. On the opposite end was Just Us.

As they moved silently down the paths, you could sense the space, the people in, it calming down as well. A few pedestrians asked questions. Most just watched--and walked slower, more carefully, through the space themselves.

Apparently, peace is contagious.

That's the real reason for a slow walk in the first place. "It is an example," said organizer Jens Rasmussen. "It's an example of being the change we want to see in the world, to quote Gandhi. I'm angry and outraged, but this is a way of channeling that energy that's more constructive than a lot of demonstrations I've been a part of. It builds us up and empowers us, instead of tearing us down."

"I loved seeing people moving faster than me," said Marcela Giesche, a dancer from Ohio State University. "I loved seeing nature move faster than me. The wind blowing my hair was like a thousand times faster than my walk."

"The time just sort of melted away," observed dancer Alice White from Berkeley, Calif. "It didn't feel like an hour at all."

A young man wearing a long-sleeved T-shirt with "1984" printed on the front held his sash in his fingers, almost like a rosary. Slowly he walked forward, eyes closed, head bowed.

Then the clouds opened at 7:45. A clap of thunder brought waves of water down upon the walkers.

No one accelerated. All moved quietly toward their goal.

After a moment, a young man in an NYPD T-shirt strode back out into the deluge. When he reached one of the walkers, he opened a yellow umbrella and escorted her slowly down the ramp, holding it carefully over her head.

After a moment, he handed her the umbrella and ran back under the Bryan Center awning.

A moment later he ran back into the rain--and handed another umbrella to another walker.

Then he did it again. And again.

By the time we spoke to dancer Joshua Christensen, he had reallocated at least six umbrellas from concert-goers to the dancers in the rain, walking slowly toward peace.

After hanging their sashes in the trees, the protesters stood, holding one another; silent, smiling, peaceful, in the rain. One portrait of what peace looks like after you've walked a while to get there.