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Best of the Suncoast 2009: Best Theater
October 19th, 2009 by CL Staff in Best of the Suncoast 2009
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They did it again! Offering only three plays, Banyan showed such intelligent programming and inspired casting, you couldn’t help but wish that they produced dramas all year round. First came Martin McDonagh’s brilliant The Beauty Queen of Leenane, about a life-and-death struggle between a mean woman and her vicious mother. Next was Jon Marans’ Old Wicked Songs, in which the splendid Kenneth Tigar played an old Viennese music teacher confronting a crabbed and unwilling American student. And finally there was Neil LaBute’s stunning Fat Pig, about a young man daring to love a large woman in spite of the carping of those nearest to him. No fluff in this season, no lightweight filler in the name of “balance.” Just important plays, beautifully presented. Thank you, Banyan. |
Best of the Suncoast 2009: Best Play
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Banyan Theater’s electrifying version of Neil LaBute’s play was a success on every level: script, acting and directing. The play was about Tom, a young man exasperated by superficial relationships, who begins romancing an oversize woman and then finds himself the target of society’s prejudices. In this difficult role, Sam Osheroff was entirely persuasive, and Margot Moreland as the object of desire Helen was a sweet and engaging as one could hope a mate to be. But Dane Dandridge Clark as biting Carter was a formidable counterforce, as was Bethany Weise, as a spurned lover without pity. Greg Leaming’s direction was taut, Jaye Annette Sheldon’s costumes were businesslike and crisp — the entire production was unforgettable. |
Best of the Suncoast 2009: Best Actress
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Martin McDonagh’s The Beauty Queen of Leenane is about vicious Maureen Folan, a 40-year-old virgin, and her nasty, devious, self-saving mother Mag. In Banyan Theater’s fine version of the play, Jessica K. Peterson as Maureen was spiteful, bad-tempered, abusive — and so desperate for love that it was almost painful. It’s a testament to Peterson’s talent that we wanted Maureen to find romance even as we knew that this malevolent, vitriolic woman would be a danger to anyone who got too close to her poison heart. Looking for irony? Well, consider that this twisted, bitter soul was anointed by a clueless suitor as “the beauty queen of Leenane.” Looking for artistry? It was in every move Peterson made. |
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