Sugarward (The Side Project) JOHN TAFLAN REVIEWER

Sugarward, the boringly mesmerizing new play by Sean Graney (though not directed by Sean Graney; directed by Geoff Button), strikes that delicate balance of being almost impossible to follow if you aren’t paying attention at all and being about several things it’s not ostensibly about.

In four terrible but excellent performances, John Henry Roberts (as Colonel Parke) and Joel Ewing (as manservant Thomas Kirby, former Governor Christopher Codrington, and corrupt sugar baron Edward Chester) have obviously memorized their lines.  And what lines they are!  To be honest though, I didn’t immediately understand some of the words in those lines until I thought about the context in which they were used.  Having then gleaned their meaning via a process of brain engagement, it was exciting because the writer (Sean Graney, who didn’t direct the play) would use them again and again and it was like getting a little treat every time you heard them because you had learned something earlier that you didn’t know before but now that you had learned it it was fun to be in on the joke and all of the sudden realize that a play can be about something other than people just sitting around complaining about a playwright’s loosely fictionalized friends and relatives.  (Also: don’t worry if you’re hard of hearing or feeling, because Joel Ewing projects at Metallica concert-like levels, accompanying every plosive with a justly infused shower of spittle.  [As alluded to above, Joel Ewing does play several different parts which is confusing unless you just accept it.]) 

Geoff Button directed this play as well as he could…which was actually really, really, really well.  He did an awesome job with it.  He spots Roberts and Ewing’s verbal calisthenics when they’re at the polysyllabic pull-up bar and holds their feet when they’re doing emotional sit ups.

Alright.  Let’s get down to brass tacks here.  No more smarming around.

There’s no need for a plot summary, just go see the play and know that what makes it so damn interesting is it’s assertion that the drive to obtain and ultimately possess power is, in fact, less dangerous than the desire men and women have to believe in those who pursue that power.  Oh, and it’s also about sugar.

A

-John Taflan

The Mikado (The Hypocrites) John Taflan

As some day it may happen that an opera must be viewed,

Put this one on your list:

Mikado by the ‘crites.

A fantastic compilation of the bawdy and skewed

In a promenade-y mist

(and there’s booze, if you insist).

Just enter Chopin’s basement and you’ll join a festive throng,

Whose tendency to strum and strut makes right from so much wrong.

(By “wrong” I mean your standard theatre most often passes

As arguments o’er kitchen sinks, four walls, and seats for asses.)

But never mind my bitching, Go!  This play should not be missed.

Put your name upon the list,

(Something something) coexist.

Put your name upon the list!

(Something something) coexist!

In their audience, enlist.

I think you get the gist.

There’s Casey--that’s her family name--and little Shawny Pfautsch

Both pulling double shifts

(That almost rhymed with “list”).

Singing/acting all while playing isn’t for your common slouch,

But two parts each?  That kissed?

A fine quadruple tryst.

When Kahler speaks you cannot help but laugh until you keen.

And Rob McLean was being quite especially Rob McLean…you know what I mean.

Both Bourque and Pawlik’s spunk (along with Schroeder’s) is in season,

And of the girls, I’ll mention Dana Omar for no reason.

Forgive me, Becky and Christine, for I could not resist.

It’s another brilliant twist

From the awesome Hypocrites.

It’s another brilliant twist!

From the awesome Hypocrites!

Sean and Kevin still persist.

Epistemologist.

The Mikado:  A

-John Taflan

EXCLUSIVE Interview with Sean Graney!!!

Hey Iews Fans! We got a chance to sit down and dish with avant-garde wunderkind Sean Graney about food, sex, acting, and The Hypocrites!

We met at a place called Filter, which was a coffee house that had been infiltrated by horrible hipsters in their Chuck Taylors and Elvis Costello glasses. We knew we were in the right place, and once we braved the hipster tide to find our man of mystery, Sean Graney, we settled in for mochas and gossip! Let's take a look at what this darling of the Chicago storefront theatre scene had to say!

Nice to finally meet you. So you are a vegan?

Sean: Yes.

What do you eat?

Sean: A lot of tofu and fruit.

I can tell you eat a lot of fruit. Why you so vegan?

Sean: I love animals. I guess it's a spiritual thing.

Whatever, fag. Let's talk for a sec about your home life.

Sean: Ok.

You are married?

Sean: Yep. Her name is Vanessa Stalling and she is beautiful and great.

Who are some actors and actresses you really love in Chicago?

Sean: Jude Law?

Nope.

Sean: Any of The Hypocrites and Erik Hellman.

What is the biggest problem you run into in non-equity theater?

Sean: Well, by far it's the fatigue. You have people giving all they can, and usually working another day job also.

Eric and I aren't afraid of looking stupid, why don't you cast us more?

Sean: Well, why don't you guys audition for me more?

Audition? No thanks. Let's talk about the value in your work. What do you find value in?

Sean: I find a lot of value in breaking the normal ways if presenting plays and doing the unexpected. I like to challenge audiences sometimes. I also like to satisfy the work ethic of Chicago theater. Chicago has this, blue collar/ hard working way of looking at the world, that I've always had. But I also like to do weird artsy things every now and then.

Do you feel like you have a certain style?

Sean: I don't feel like I do. I try to challenge myself with every show, and make it different from all the others. But I do have a big fruity toolbox that I draw from, every now and then. That means, when faced with a road-block I look at what has been successful in the past. And then I also draw from criticism of my work.

Criticism?

Sean: Yeah, it's never really from "critics" per se, as much as from audience feedback. For example, Comedy of Errors or Pirates [of Penzance]. Some feedback that I've received has basically been, you know, "You ruined this play" which I take to heart. I understand people's frustration, because they think I offended a basic rule of life, that a play is made of words on a page. But I think a play is an experience that unfolds in front of audiences. So to the people I offend, I really am sorry, but they should know, it's not like I go to the library and burn the Comedy of Errors, it's not like other artists can't do it in more traditional ways.

How many tattoos and piercings do you have?

Sean: 4 tattoos and 1 piercing.

Yuck.

Eric: (sotto voce) This is getting a little heavy, brah. Shall we get a drink at that place that looks like a bar next door?

Andy: (sotto) I think we should. Do you think Sean can hear us whispering right now?

Eric: Nah, he's scoping hot chicks to be in his next promenade style play.

Then, as if guided by the voices of a thousand angels, Eric and Andy snuck out through the bathroom window into the night.

Eric: Woooooo! That was a daring escape! This is Steve McQueen shit, yo!

They wandered next door to what appeared to be a bar. They trounced in, shook off the cold and noticed that this was nothing but a stupid bicycle store!

Eric: This is a stupid bicycle store!

What would they accomplish here? Sean Graney was no doubt becoming aggravated by the boys' tardiness.

Bicycle Store Guy: Hi, dudes! Are you interested in any retro bicycle seats or handmade cigar box dioramas?

Andy: Ummmm... I don't-

Bicycle Store Guy: This diorama is an exact replica of the set of MASH, final season. Here's Hawkeye telling that lady to kill her chicken...it turned out to be a baby though. That was sad.

Andy: Well, I guess we could use one of those.

Eric: What's this bicycle seat with a picture of Justin Bieber on it go for?

Bicycle Store Guy: $409.99. Would you like it to go?

Eric: Bag all this shit up, hipster! I'll be paying by check!

Then, Eric and Andy slunk off, creating distractions to fool Sean Graney.

Sean: Where did you guys go?

Eric: Andy's jacket was on fire.

Andy: I hate this jacket.

Ok, let's quit fucking around and talk about what we need to talk about. We have heard on the streets that you are stepping down as Artistic Director of the Hypocrites. Is this true and why?

Sean: I am leaving the Artistic Director position for The Hypocrites. Helena Kays will be taking over. It's time for me to go, although it's not like I have anything better lined up..The company needs a strong active Artistic Director, and I just couldn't make that re-commitment .

I had one major question...Do I want the company to go on? The answer was yes. Next thing i had to ask was, how can it go on without me?

Not too many companies make theater like we do (for better or worse). I would be heartbroken if the company didn't go on, if we closed the doors and didn't give it a chance to survive beyond me. But we need an AD who is fully committed to the business as well as the art.

Do you feel like it was too much of a business?

Sean: When we first started, it was so exciting! The challenge of running a small business, but we reached a point where the business was moving but there still wasn't money coming in. We had to continue to APPEAR like we were growing and it was hard, because no one was getting paid but we had to keep growing somehow.

So how did you do it from a business standpoint?

Sean: In the early days, sheer will, determination and insanity. When business started to suffer, I had to start programming plays I thought would sell well. We started doing safer plays.

Our Town?

Sean: Sort of. That was just a play I felt like we should do, but I didn't really want to do that.

How did Our Town effect your bottom line?

Sean: Besides our productions of it at the Chopin, which did very well, we didn't make anything on the New York production. The work on the stage is the intellectual property of the director, so we had to let it go.

That sucks. Do you get along with your board and managing director?

Sean: I do, but we need a board that brings in money. I don't wanna kick in my own money any more. I'm also bad at raising it, so to grow, something needed to change.

Will you still be involved?

Sean: Yes. I will direct 2 shows a season for the next 2 seasons. This will give Helena a chance to find her own voice and direct 1 show a season while figuring it all out.

What are you gonna do with yourself? Do you have other things lined up?

Sean: Nope. I have been directing 7-8 shows a year for the last 3 years, and now, when I decide to leave to free up time, I've got nothing lined up. Hopefully some one will hire me for something. I can direct bar mitzvahs.

Maybe you need a new career. If you hadn't gone into theatre, what would you have done?

Sean: Math.

You would be a weird lookin' math guy. What are your favorite companies in town?

Sean: You know, when I first came here, I was hugely inspired by the Factory Theater and still hold them among my favorite companies. Also Strawdog and the Neo-Futurists. Court and Goodman are good too.

Give em Hell, Sean Graney. We love you so very much.


Sean Graney
A+

-Eric Roach, Anderson Lawfer
-Anderson Lawfer, Eric Roach

Pirates of Penzance- The Hypocrites (play review)

Sometimes I think that Sean Graney is the super villain of plays.
It's like he gets hired to do a show and gives it the most ridiculous treatment he can think of, all in a maddening scheme to wreck the show and ruin the careers of all the actors involved. Then the show does well and his plans are foiled again! Then he disappears into Logan Square, never to be seen, until his next horrible experiment is foiled by his own petards.

If you think about it, it isn't the craziest theory out there.

Let's take Pirates of Penzance for example.
Everyone I have met in the past 10 years did this retard of a play in high school for the same reason that the Hypocrites are doing it now. It's free!
It's free and weird.

If you have managed to avoid this play your whole life, here's the rundown:

Frederic is a pirate apprentice and orphan. His father told his nurse to take him to PILOT school, but she misheard him and took him to PIRATE school. So then when he was a baby, he signed a contract that said he had to remain a pirate until his 21st birthday under penalty of nothing.
Turns out, he was born on leap year, so he's really only 5 years old after 21 years.
So he joins these pirates that are all SUPER gay and dress like Steve Prefontaine at a cocaine festival. They don't really do anything, because they pity orphans, so all the other real pirates that they try to take over (with no swords) say that they are orphans and then the gay, cocaine pirates split.
Frederic thinks that his old nurse named Ruth is ugly and doesn't want to marry her, even though no one is forcing him to, and so he says he needs to search for other women to see if she really is beautiful.
So the stupid pirates go to some remote island where there are only a bunch of sisters and their father who was the Major General of something that they never say.
He meets this other ugly broad named Mabel, and sort of falls in love with her? I don't know.
Then all the pirates marry these sisters and dance around and...live on an island?
Who knows, man. And frankly, who cares.
Then they all turn into policemen and dance around!

Here's the thing though, the play is AWESOME. It's great fun to watch, and in typical Graney bizarreness, it's standing room only, around this catwalk that looks like a pier and lots of beach balls and coolers full of Fresca.

Graney has an ability to find a mix of some of the best performers in town (Rob McLean, Nikki Klix, Shawn Pfautsch) and mix them with relative unknowns (Emily Casey, Christine Stulik) and make everyone act totally insane.

All the actors play their own instruments which lends itself, and takes away from, the show. He could have literally had a karaoke track of the show playing behind them, and I would've left with the same impression.
Maybe not, the musicians were great. They were all incredible at their jobs and very attractive doing it.
My favorite number is "With Cat Like Tread".

Ezekiel Sulkes is very lovable as Frederic, the idiot boy which none of the right moves, and Rob McLean is Rob McLean-ish as the Pirate King. He has a Hunter S. Thompson sort of look to him, if Hunter S. Thompson lived on Fire Island in the 70's.
The actor named Christine Stulik plays both Ruth and Mabel and sings like Snow White in the cartoon movie. She will have a great and flourishing career, for sure.
Matt Kahler as the Major General nearly walks away with the show in his crazy looking pocket after his song. He has 2 big numbers, one is "the Modern Major General" song, but I like his second one better. I can't remember the name, nor will you, but he is in pajamas.

The real glory of this show belongs to the ensemble. The musicianship is unparalleled on non-equity stages and features the talents of Nikki Klix, Ryan Bourque, Emily Casey, Shawn Pfautsch, Becky Poole, and Doug Pawlik. They have to run and jump and dive and swim all over that weird place and still play instruments.
The harmonies are dope and the choreography is pretty quick and cute as well.
I particularly like Nikki Klix, because she wears this really cute bathing suit and has the best smile ever.


I'm not gonna lie to you, there will be moments during the show when you won't be able to understand the lyrics, but after 10 minutes of watching the show, you will realize that they aren't really saying anything important anyway, and then you can sit back and enjoy the show.

AND ENJOY IT YOU SHALL!

This is the best non-Christmas show of the Christmas time!



A+

-Anderson Lawfer, Eric Roach

The Comedy of Errors - Court Theatre (theater review by guest blogger Joe Tansino)

In the two years since I started following the Chicago theater scene, I’ve learned a few things about Sean Graney.


First, I’ve learned that Sean Graney hates walls. The mission of his theater company, the Hypocrites, is in part “to strengthen the connection between artist and audience,” i.e. break down walls. Also he loves playing four square, which is really just handball with no walls. The first play I saw Sean Graney direct was an abridged version of Edward II performed Upstairs at the Chicago Shakespeare Theater. There were no reserved seats - just a couple of benches that audience members could fight over until Chris Sullivan came along and shoved them out of the way. I found it hilarious that Graney blocked actors in spaces where people would be expected to be sitting during the play. Some theatergoers who were more accustomed to traditional productions were thrown off guard, which I enjoyed because I love seeing people made to feel uncomfortable, especially if I feel uncomfortable too. I learned that theater people have a fancy term for this sort of uncomfortable staging: “promenade.” Graney likes this sort of staging a lot and has directed so many promenade-style productions that he caused Chris Jones to say, “Enough already.” And then Graney went and directed a promenade staging of Oedipus Rex! so it was pretty clear he wasn’t listening or else he just doesn’t give a shit what Chris Jones says.

Second, Sean Graney loves playing with gender roles and sexuality. It’s already been established here that his production of No Exit was a sexed-up exploration of Hell’s vagina. And in Edward II Graney revised the plot by casting the prince as a starry-eyed twink whose downfall had more to do with his advisors’ homophobia than his own unsuitability as a ruler. Most people who have opinions about these sorts of things seem to agree that the play is ripe for this interpretation even if it was not Marlowe’s specific intent to have it staged that way. Is there a more homophobic way to kill a man than by red hot poker in the butt? Yikes. Graney also loves to cast men as women and women as men (N.B.: seeing Kurt Ehrmann dressed up as a courtesan in The Comedy of Errors was worth the price of admission alone).

Third, Sean Graney loves driving purists crazy by smearing foreign matter all over their favorite plays. He did this literally in No Exit and wasted literally dozens of tubes of toothpaste in the process. He removed large chunks of the script from Edward II and Oedipus and modernized much of the language. In reviewing The Comedy of Errors, Chris Jones wondered why Graney didn’t just “write his own fucking play,” then gave it three stars anyway because he was feeling magnanimous.

Based on these things that I’ve learned about Sean Graney and his craft, I had a pretty good idea of what I would experience going into his most recent production at the Court Theater. Maybe if you’re reading this you have a pretty good idea as well. In case you do not, I should warn you that Graney’s Comedy of Errors is a purists’ nightmare.

The Comedy of Errors is about a brother Antipholus and his slave Dromio in search of their long lost twins in a dumpy, unfriendly city. Antipholus and Dromio travel from Syracuse to the hostile city of Ephesus in search of their twin brothers. In order so that the action of the play works, Antipholus’s twin brother is also named Antipholus (of Ephesus), and Dromio’s twin brother is also named Dromio (of Ephesus). Egeon, the father of the master twins also travels to Ephesus in search of his son(s) and is thrown in jail. Throughout the remainder of the play the twin brothers from Syracuse wonder mildly why everyone in Ephesus recognizes them, seemingly forgetting that they’re on a fucking quest to find their twin brothers who both share their own fucking names. Graney and his cast recognize of the absurdity of the plot, and they instill the characters with an awareness of the absurdity that makes the play far more enjoyable than if they just went along with Shakespeare’s conceit.

The Court is a proscenium theater, so the actors aren’t playing “keep the balloon afloat” as you enter. Instead you get to listen to annoying UofC undergrads prattle about their academic schedules before the show begins. The seats are reserved, so you’re trapped. But there are tell-tale signs that this is going to be a Graney bonanza. Garbage skirts the stage. Graffiti covers the set. This Ephesus is a shithole, sharing more in common with Syracuse, New York than with a city of antiquity. At the start of the play this chick dressed up like newsboy rolls out on a scooter and asks the audience, “How y’all doin’?” Gender role reversal: check. Script bastardization: check. Breaking the fourth wall: check. Graney meets expectations here, and if you’re into Graney’s style like I am, you will enjoy this play.

Another thing I know about Graney: he loves his company. Three of the six cast members here are Hypocrites company members, and all six look like they’re having a fun time running around and dressing up in crazy costumes and throwing beer cans. And actually in that aspect Graney does exceed expectations: the breakneck speed of the production, the quick costume changes, the plethora of puns, sight gags and musical interludes - it all had audience members laughing like a pack of hyenas, even the stuffy octegenarians in the front row who maybe didn’t realize what they were getting into.

After the play, an usher tried to stop me and get me to fill out a survey about the play, but I was in a hurry to get to Bed Bath and Beyond before it closed. I rushed out the door without apologizing and promised myself that I would write this review as penance. This is a good play and you should go see it before it closes.

A-

The Comedy of Errors - Court Theatre (theater review by guest bloggers Michael Peters and Jessie Fisher)

Jessie: Oh man, if I have to sit through ONE MORE play that focuses on the xenophobic consequences of economic turmoil, I’m going to...

Michael: Boy howdy. I hate things that do with things that happen now. Which is why I’m glad I got a chance to see Comedy of Errors down at Court Theatre on the campus of University of Illinois at Chicago last weekend.

Jessie: I was there too. Last weekend. That University sure knows how to throw money at a problem, and by a problem, I mean Sean Graney. This was a college production, right?

Michael: It must be. They can’t get very many actors into their queer theatre department, so there were only six of them. But what windows! Man, they put all kinds of money into windows. Which is good, saves on heating costs in the winter time.

Jessie: I will say, for college kids, they were pretty good. I’m not going to say great or professional, because they aren’t, but pretty good.

Michael: So, this play. Comedy of Errors is I guess about these two dudes who show up in this place and then get mistaken for these other dudes that already live there who talk a little different but look like the other dudes. Like, a lot.

Jessie: Yeah, for example: Alex Goodrich plays twin servants named Bro-meo. One is real foppish and muppet like. The other one, like, cares about his job. And doesn’t make as many dick jokes. That’s hows you can tell ‘em apart. Hey, speaking of muppets, you can check out the Jim Henson exhibit at the Museum of Science and Industry.

Michael: Aw, totally! That’s right nearby! I wish I had seen that play this week so I could have gone to that great exhibit first and had a good time before I went to a boring play. But anyway, Bro-meo’s boss/friend (played by Erik Hellman) is this guy Aristotle (and both of these guys, well, all four of these guys I guess have the same name, I mean, two of the guys...whatever. You’d totally get it if you saw it next week before it closes) and one of the Aristotles totally sounds like one of the Jersey Shore Boys.

Jessie: Note to reality TV casting directors: If you ever need to cast an Aryan Jersey Shore, call Erik Hellman.

Michael: Um, and me. Hello? I totally drink Becks and am German.

Jessie: Oh man, that’s true. What would your German Jersey Shore nickname be?

Michael: Herr-y?

Jessie: Oy.

Michael: Ja vohl! Anyhow, so these guys are getting mistaken for their identical looking and exactly named counterparts and they have these crazy wives who love these dudes and keep mistaking the other dudes for their dudes.

Jessie: Those wives are all played by Stacy Stoltz and Elizabeth Ledo. Who have really been given some great opportunities in this community, considering they are college students.

Michael: I was just happy to be a replacement in a late-night production of Psycho Beach Party at the Bailiwick when I was in college, and these chicks are tearing it up! Stacy Stoltz does more shows than Zero Mostel. And he’s dead!

Jessie: AND, she is totally dating the quarterback of the football team named Matt Hawkins.

Michael: Yeah, both their names and genetics are totally cut out for their chosen careers.

Jessie: Keep your eye on these kids, they might just make something of themselves once they graduate.

Michael: But back to that play thing. So this mistaken stuff goes on and on after we’ve gotten the gist of the joke in the first ten minutes. I heard this dumb writer dragged this out for, like, two and a half hours. I would have probably carved my chest out like a pumpkin (Halloween!) if I had to sit through one more minute of “Oh, you were there? I was here! No, you was there! I am was!” stuff.

Jessie: Thankfully, this turkey (Thanksgiving!) has been carved apart masterfully by the electric knife hands of Sean Graney. So it’s short and dumb. And has more blowjob jokes than you can shake a drumstick at.

Michael: Also, there’s some other college students whom I’ve seen in other Sean Graney plays, Kurt Ehrmann and Swarthy Steve Wilson really outdo themselves being a bunch of different parts other than themselves. There was one other woman in it too who was this totally sexy whore that made me feel all tingly, I’m not sure she was an actress, but I’d definitely like to hit it.

Jessie: I am pretty sure she was a real live whore that just wandered into the theatre. And everyone improvised around her.

Michael: I don’t care who she was. The PACKAGE on that girl. Daaaaaaaay-UM!

Jessie: Settle down, Michael.

Michael: I’m sorry, I got excited over her ruffles. They have rrrrrridges.

Jessie: Did you just steal a “joke” from an early 90’s chip commercial?

Michael: ...what?

Jessie: So anyway, at the end, every thing gets straightened out in a disco abbey, just like Shakespeare intended.

Michael: Yeah, the lighting design by TV’s Melissa Heather Gilbert in that part really set the mood. And it reminded me of that whot whore again. Which reminds me of her now...

Jessie: You should probably fill out a missed connection on craigslist for her. If she comes back to you, it was meant to be...

Michael: We’ve got to finish this up so I can wander 55th street with a flashlight and a metal detector. Whores like that always leave a trail of nickel-plated jewelry.

Jessie: Sounds like a safe plan. So shall we wrap this up?

Michael: Indeed.

Jessie: I give this play an A. Because the Hypocrites are the only theatre company that will hire me so I have to stay on their good side.

Michael: I’ll give it an A too, an A for the Aggravated Sexual Assault I’ll be committing on the South Side in about an hour. Whee!

No Exit- The Hypocrites (Theater Review)

No Exit is a famous college play from the 40's about three people who are stuck in a little room where they have to sit next to each other.

One guy is a German Nazi who escaped the war and went to Brazil.
One lady is a Mexican postal worker that looks like Sherlock Holmes.
One lady is a whore.

In the play No Exit, these characters are forced to deal with the weirdo lesbian postal worker as she gropes at the whore and uses all the toothpaste. Then at the end, they realize that hell is actually just being around other people in a little room.

If this play was written nowadays, this would be happening on the #36 Broadway bus, right here in Chicago. Man, one time I was on that bus, and this guy was throwing up in the back and this old lady was complaining about it next to me, and then we got stuck in the Gay Pride Parade. So I know what they are going through.

Sean Graney has turned this once innocent and revealing sketch of human thoughts into another tour-de-vagina for the Hypocrites at the Athaneum Theatre. Jesus, Lord above, I have never been inside a worse theater in my life. Not only are the seats uncomfortable, but the clientele... yuck.

When the curtains opened, when I thought I couldn't take anymore of these grease balls kicking the back of my chair, I saw before me the most exhillarating set I've ever seen.

Now I know you all will think I am joking, but in all seriousness; the set is the inside of a vagina. I'm not joking. It is a cavernous pink waiting room with a sideways door (vagina opening) in the back, two globes (ovaries) downstage, and a giant clitoris statue in the middle of the room that they all rub through the show.

I'm serious.

Graney has really outdone himself this time. I had thought I had seen everything.

Now, in addition to the set, it wouldn't be a Graney play unless everyone talked at the same time with music playing too, and he would not disappoint. This play had everything.

And readers, I know you know what a huge fan I am of Rob McLean, and I was so lucky to see him in this play as Gomez or some other name that he made up when he fled the Allies in Europe. God, is he incredible. This Rob McLean has really grown as an actor in the last few years, I mean really grown into himself. Now is that because he has been gray since he was 17? I'm not here to judge him, for he is glorious.

Also in the play was Samantha Gleisten which I'm not entirely sure isn't Kevin O'Donnell with a wig on, but either way, really nice specific choices, Kev.

Erin Barlow gives the finest performance of her nubile 21 year life as a blonde girl who thinks she is better than me. And whom could forget the amazing and adaptive John Taflan as the Duke of Cercey or something, because he is dressed like an old fashioned British fellow and nobody else dressed like that, but maybe that's HIS Hell, because he just wanted to fit in, but somebody told him it was a costume party and now he's gonna go cry like a fat girl in the bathroom for an hour.

All in all, people talk a lot in Hell, about shit that doesn't always necessarily make so much sense. But you can always look into an ovary and see your family that you left behind.

No Exit

B

-Anderson Lawfer, Eric Roach