Laura Eason's Mr. Smitten, set in a veterinarian's office and directed by Kent Nicholson, is the best of the Humana Festival's three 10-minute plays this year. Though rather thin, it gets lots of laughs as Anna (Cassie Beck), waiting to hear about her old, ailing cat, finds potential romance with the sympathetic, prone-to-crying Dr. Loomis (Gerardo Rodriguez).
Gregory Hischak's Hygiene, also directed by Nicholson, opens with a great sight gag with a strange object growing out of the head of Wendy (Teresa Avia Lim), a young girl whose alarmed parents (Sara Surrey and Daniel Pearce) are desperate to find out what it is and remove it. And what is it?
In her music class at school, a minimalist composer, a blood-sucking parasite, buried its head deep into her scalp. It seems he needs blood from a host creature to stay alive.
Marc Bamuthi Joseph wrote and performs his dance-plus-monologue, Chicago, Sudan, directed by Michael John Garces to contrast lives of those suffering from the horrible genocide in Sudan with his life as a Chicago "latte liberal" who organizes greening conferences . Much of what he said amid the dancing is difficult to hear -- in more ways than one.
Opened:
April 2, 2011
Ended:
April 3, 2011
Country:
USA
State:
Kentucky
City:
Louisville
Company/Producers:
Actors Theater of Louisville
Theater Type:
Regional
Theater:
Actors Theater of Louisville
Theater Address:
316 West Main Street
Website:
actorstheatre.org
Genre:
one-acts
Review:
Critic:
Charles Whaley
Date Reviewed:
April 2011
