"Trifles" by Susan Glaspell

Trifles
Susan Glaspell
a full cast audio performance
starring Jeanie Hackett, Amy Madigan, Sam McMurray, Stephen Vinovich and Steven Weber
Produced by L.A. Theatre Works
29 minutes

Cast:
Jeanie Hackett as Mrs. Peters
Amy Madigan as Mrs. Hale
Sam McMurray as the Sheriff
Steven Vinovich as Mr. Hale
Steven Weber as the County Attorney
Directed by Rosalind Ayres.
Recorded at The Invisible Studios, Los Angeles in April, 2011.

Once again I get the pleasure of attending a theatrical performance without leaving my home, okay, actually I left my home because I listened to this production from L.A. Theatre Works in my car on my commute to work.  Being just under 30 minutes of performance time I heard the entire play from beginning to end without interruption.  This one act play is loosely based on the murder of John Hossack, which the author, Susan Glaspell, reported on while working as a news journalist for the 'Des Moines Daily News. Hossack's wife, Margaret, was accused of killing her husband. However, Margaret argued that an intruder had killed John with an axe. She was convicted but it was overturned on appeal.  The play was written and first performed in 1916.

Even if it is a one act play, such as this one, L.A. Theatre Works, puts their all into it.  The recordings of the performances are so clear that every movement made by the actors is clear in its intent.  Such as when the women in the play are checking the canned fruit jars, some of which were cracked due to the excessive cold in the house, when the women are pulling out the jars to find one undamaged, every clink of the glass and the scooting of the jars in the cabinet can be heard.  It is amazing that they can create the complete theatre of the mind aspect without over emphasizing anything, it all has intent and once again the production value from L.A. Theatre Works captures all the ambiance of the performance.

While the title of the play is taken from one of Mr. Hale's lines, "Well, women are used to worrying over trifles." It also can refer to the time period when women were treated as mere trifles themselves.  "Trifles" is seen as an example of early feminist drama, because it is two female characters', Mrs. Peters and Mrs. Hale's, ability to sympathize with the victim's wife, Minnie, and so understand her motives, that leads them to the evidence against her, while the men are blinded by their cold, emotionless investigation of material facts.

While the men are investigating the murder scene and other aspects of the house it is the women that uncover the whole story from the clues in the quilting, the broken birdcage and more.  The play doesn't end with the trial, but only after the women discuss their found evidence and decide not top pass the info on to the men, who probably wouldn't listen anyway.  The sheriff, says of the kitchen "Nothing here but kitchen things." This dismissal of the importance of the woman's life and the male reluctance to enter the "woman's sphere" is key in the men's failure to discover the crucial evidence for the case. The most important evidence is found hidden in Minnie's sewing basket.

A very haunting play and a brilliant performance produced by L.A. Theatre Works makes for a solid performance you won't forget.

"Becky Shaw" by Gina Gionfriddo

 "Becky Shaw"
by Gina Gionfriddo
Multicast performance starring;Emily Bergl, Matt Letscher, Marsha Mason, Mandy Siegfried, and  Josh Stamberg
Produced by L.A. Theatre Works
1hour 49 minutes

One thing about relocating to a small town in the middle of nowhere is that there is a very limited choice of theatrical and cultural experiences.  Okay maybe just theatrical, there's plenty of cultural experiences that come to small towns like harvest festivals, wine tasting festivals and various other, but with only a community college nearby the theatrical experiences are severely limited compared to when I lived in the city.  I guess really that's the one thing I miss, sitting in the darkened theater with live performers, that sometimes are friends and sometimes major celebrities that come to town on a touring performance.  Getting lost in the story and the full four dimensional experience that is the theatre.

Luckily I've stumbled across the audio releases from L.A. Theatre works.  These recorded performances put you right in the middle of the audience and while the visual aspect of the theatre is missing, the quality of production of the audio keeps you in the performance without missing the visual.  The sound effects and audience response are perfectly mixed in to not distract but instead enhance the performance.

This time around I listened to a contemporary play, "Becky Shaw" written by Gina Gionfriddo.  The play is a bit of a comedy of errors type play but may even seem as a bit of a love story with some suspense thrown in, so I guess you could say, a suspenseful comedy of romantic errors.  The main characters are Max and Suzana who are raised together after Max's mother dies and Suzana's parents take him in. Suzana's mother suffers from MS and has recently taken a young lover, a mere 4 months after the death of Suzana's father.  During the introductory scene we learn that Max and Suzana may have an attraction to each other.  The action starts when we jump a few months later after Suzana has run off to Vegas to get married and Suzanna sets up Max, on a blind date with her husband's co-worker, the mysterious Becky Shaw. During the date Max and Becky are mugged and what follows is a series of cataclysmic events that forever changes all their lives.

Mixing sharp wit and humor with the suspense of a psychological thriller, this critically acclaimed play will keep you guessing as to what will happen next.  I will warn you the play would be R-rated as the main characters seem to love throwing around the F-bomb.  But the performance is spot on, as have been all the plays I've heard from LATW.  Also the play is a lot of fun with the humor, twists and turns, and quick view of human nature.

Not until the very end do all things get sorted out, and even then I was still left wondering, who is this Becky Shaw?

"She Stoops to Conquer: or Mistakes of the Night" by Oliver Goldsmith

"She Stoops to Conquer: or Mistakes of the Night"
by Oliver Goldsmith
a full cast audio performance starring James Marsters, Joanne Whalley and Ian Ogilvy
Produced by L.A. Theatre Works (2010)
Approx 2 hours

Once again I'm going back for a visit to the classics, and this time a classic theatre performance from L.A. Theatre Works.   I originally sought out this audio performance because of James Marsters, I have recently become a fan of his, after listening to his narration of the Dresden Files series of books by Jim Butcher.  Marsters then started showing up in some of the TV programs I watch and well I've become somewhat of a fan.  I had listened to a couple of previous productions from L.A. Theatre Works and a couple of them featured Marsters, so I looked to find out what else he'd done with them. 

I remember reading this play back in college and just looking at it as just another play we have to read.  When reading and analyzing it I did find some of it humorous, but very little.  Now that I've heard this performance, I find it quite a bit more humorous.  The acting in this production really focuses on the fun parts of the play and with the freedom of not having to get graded on my analysis, I was able to enjoy it more. 

I think the acting is what made this even more fun the cast consists of: Rosalind Ayres as Mrs. Hardcastle, Adam Godley as Tony Lumpkin, Julian Holloway as Elder Marlow and Stingo, James Marsters as Charles Marlow, Christopher Neame as Roger, Paula Jane Newman as Bet Bouncer and Pimple, Ian Ogilvy as Mr. Hardcastle, Moira Quirk as Constance Neville, Darren Richardson as Diggory and Jeremy, Joanne Whalley as Kate Hardcastle, and Matthew Wolf as George Hastings.  While I was in this for the James Marsters performance, I can honestly say that all the actors performed so well that no one single person stood out and the production as a whole was a complete success.  So far all of the productions I've heard from LATW are perfect.  They put you right smack dab in the middle of the audience and you can't help but enjoy these performances.

This play is pretty much a comedy of manners, basically a play about the difference in classes, with the mistaken identities and the expected behaviors, the comedy comes from those acting out of their class.

A man of wealth, Mr. Hardcastle arranges for his daughter Kate to meet Charles Marlow, the son of a wealthy Londoner, hoping the pair will marry. Marlow has a problem with women, it seems that when he's speaking to those of the upper-class he is nervous and stammers and cannot look them in the eye, however the lower class women he has no problem talking with. 

When arriving in town Kate's cousin Tony Lumpkin intercepts Marlow and sends him to Kate's home, only Lumpkin tells Marlow it is an Inn and not their home.  Expecting the people of the house to be Innkeepers and servants Marlow treats them as such.  Mr. Hardcastle, unaware of the misunderstanding, takes offense, but Kate sees this as the opportunity to actually be able to talk with Marlow and avoid his nervousness, by pretending to be the barmaid.  During the night the whole mistaken identity and class wars create some good humor until finally someone arrives to straighten out the whole mess and those that are actually in love with each other can be open about their relationships.

Bravo, LATW, on yet another fine production. 

"Enron" by Lucy Prebble

"Enron"
by Lucy Prebble
a full cast audio performance
starring Greg Germann, Gregory Itzin, Amy Pietz and Steven Weber
Directed by Rosalind Ayres.
Recorded before a live audience at the Skirball Cultural Center, Los Angeles in October, 2010
Produced by L.A. Theatre Works
1 Hour 51 Minutes

One of my latest treasures I've found are the classic theatrical productions in audiobook form produced by L.A. Theatre works.  I've been listening to plays by Shakespeare, Arthur Miller, Chekov, Oscar Wilde and others.  Listening to the classics is fun but this time around I was curious to see what LATW had to offer in the more modern theatre genre.  I was intrigued by this play, "Enron," due to the fact that as the Enron scandal unraveled I was was working on a Business format radio station and at the time and this was all big news, and I heard most of it unfold live on the air with our in depth coverage on "Business Radio 1190 KPHN."  What I didn't know then was how this would affect our economy today. 

This play not only points out the greed and political underhandedness of the time and of the company but also gives great insight as to how the world economy today has fallen into the state it is in.  The interesting aspect of this play is that it, at times, takes an absurdist look at the situation and company.  For example, when the company develops a way to make losses seem like profits they illustrate the feature by feeding dollar bills to Raptors, yes in the performance you hear actual dinosaurs eating money.  The raptors soon become too much to handle and must be released or killed.  Another fun feature of the play is that it has song and dance numbers.  A musical about greed...too much.

When Enron slumped into bankruptcy in December 2001, Lucy Prebble was a 20-year-old English literature student at the University of Sheffield in northern England.  She tossed around the idea for a few years and eventually got to do her show making it into this musical adventure that actually puts into plain language the cryptic language of finances and Mark to Market financing that gave Enron the edge.  So with a little British humor the average listener is able to understand the disaster that came crashing down on Enron and the U.S.   Informative, entertaining and frustrating, you'll find yourself laughing with disgust at big business.

"Macbeth" by William Shakespeare

"Macbeth"
by William Shakespeare
Multi-cast performance starring James Marsters
Produced by L.A. Theatre Works
Approx 2 hours

While getting my degree in Theatre from Southern Illinois University, I learned to appreciate the works of Shakespeare.   The first thing I learned is that the plays are meant to be performed not just read.  Once I started performing scenes from Shakespeare's collection I saw how much fun and in depth the stories were.  Yes, even the tragedies were fun, from a performance perspective.  So now when I hear of students having to read Shakespeare I cringe a little knowing they may never learn to appreciate Shakespeare.  In comes  L.A. Theatre Works and their releasing in audiobook format theatrical performances.    I've had the chance to listen to several of these and, to be honest, I was leery at first.  I was thinking, how can you turn such a visually dependent medium into an adequate audio book? 

L.A. Theatre Works goes well beyond the adequate, and are able to produce superb audio versions of some great performances.  Most of this lies in the excellent production using sound effects that make sense in the right places and with even more excellent casting.  The many plays always feature accomplished actors, not just famous ones but ones that are capable of filling the role to perfection.  In the case of this release, James Marsters is cast in the lead as Macbeth, and just knocks it out of the park.  There is one scene where the ghost of Banquo sits in Macbeths chair at a dinner party and the issue is that Macbeth begins yelling at the spirit and the other members of the party don't see the ghost.  In his vocal gymnastics alone on this recording, Marsters is able to explain to the listener that only he sees the ghost.  Great performance throughout by all the actors. 

As for the story of "Macbeth,"  this is one of Shakespeare's shortest plays and carries with it some baggage.  "Macbeth" is considered a cursed play, so much so that theatre tradition does not allow one to mention the name of the play within a theatre,  many refer to it as "The Scottish Play" and when referring to the main characters, just call them "Mr. and Mrs. M."  The reason behind this superstition goes back many years, the origin is that Shakespeare used some actual witches' spells when writing it, and as revenge for giving out the secrets of the craft some real witches cursed every mention of the play.

The play is about a General in the Scottish army who becomes king, but not in a traditional happy sort of way.  Two generals, Macbeth and Banquo are returning from a battle and stumble across three witches in the forest where the tell the two of their fortunes.  Macbeth will be king and Banquo will have his children for many ages become King. 

Putting the thought of becoming King into Macbeth's head leads to the murder of King Duncan and the fall into madness that surrounds Macbeth.  Soon he must go to the witches again to find out more of his future.  This time around the witches tell him that no man born of a woman can kill him, leaving Macbeth with the false belief that he is invincible.  Tragedy ensues and another classic has been engulfed.  Enjoy this classic performed by wonderful cast.

"Death of a Salesman" by Arthur Miller

"Death of a Salesman"
by Arthur Miller
a full cast audio performance
starring Stacy Keach and Jane Kaczmarek
Produced by L.A. Theatre Works
approx 2 hours

Once again I'm going back to my theatre roots and listening to an audio performance of a classic play, "Death of a Salesman."  While in college I acted out a scene from this play and from that moment I fell in love with it.  Not sure why, I mean, it's not really a happy play, but something about this play grabbed me.  I think mainly because it was the first play I'd read and performed and that it seemed to tell it straight.  Life does not always turn out like you want. 

When I ran across this audio performance from L.A. Theatre Works (LATW), I knew I had to give it a listen mainly because of Stacy Keach.  He's a subtle actor yet can give you a larger than life performance.  In this performance he knocked it out of the ball park.  I had seen a version of the play on television with Dustin Hoffman as Willie Loman and thought at that time I had just seen the only person who I could ever picture as Arthur Miller's salesman.  But now I have to shift that to Keach.  Mr. Keach performed the role to perfection.  As you can see, I was highly impressed.

Everyone in this performance was great, Jane Kaczmarek (you know, the mom in TV's "Malcolm in the Middle") did a wonderful job as Willie's wife, Linda, but let's face it the play is about Willie Loman, and the star shined brightly.  Actually while were talking about being impressed, this makes the 4th or 5th performance from LATW that I've heard and each time they impress me, not only with excellent casting, but the productions are superb.   Each release places the listener directly into the audience of the performance, with excellent sound effects, music and just a dash of the audience response to remind you you are listening to a performance. 

"Death of a Salesman" is the story of an aged salesmen who was always wanting the best for his family.  He wanted his boys to grow up and be well liked, not just liked, but WELL liked.  The problem is that the reality of Willie Loman's life never really matched up to his dreams.  He is full of regrets, such as missed opportunities, never knowing his father and his son, Biff who was a High School football star that could have gone on to play in college.  The problem is that Biff flunked out of Math and refused to go to summer school and never went to college. 

The play takes place in Willie & Linda's home when Biff is back from "out west."  Hap, the other son, who is trying to follow in his father's footsteps still lives near to home, is also visiting.  Willie cuts short his trip from Boston because he nearly runs off the road while driving.  Wille has lately become a victim to his mind wandering and he starts revisiting his memories out loud.  

The play is told with a constant barrage of flashbacks from Willie's point of view as he begins to see the reality of his dream.  Linda tells her sons of Willie's troubles and that she believes he is trying to kill himself.  It all builds up to a scene, where to make their father happy, Biff and Hap attempt to go into business together, but reality comes crashing down on everyone leaving a tragic ending. 

This performance from L.A. Theatre Works is superb in every manner and this classic play is one that should not be missed.

"Three Sisters" by Anton Chekhov

"Three Sisters"
by Anton Chekhov
Multi-cast performance featuring: Jennifer Westfeldt, Sarah Zimmerman, Tessa Thompson and Jon Hamm.
Produced by L.A. Theatre Works (2011)
Approx 2 hours

Every so often you have to go back and visit the classics, okay you don't HAVE to but it is really nice to see what you may have missed either the first time around or for the first time. This time around I visited a classic thanks to the wonderful production of L.A. Theatre Works. L.A. Theatre works has a full catalog of plays which have been artfully reproduced into audiobook form. This is the third play from LATW I've heard and I'm always amazed at how well they are able to translate a visual medium into an audio performance. Not only do you hear every detail but throughout the performance it feels as if you are right in the middle of the audience during the performance.

As with all the other productions I've heard from LATW the cast is excellent, performing their roles and able to translate emotions straight through the audio performance. For those of you interested and wanting some "star factor" to go with your theatre, this performance of "Three Sisters" features John Hamm as Lt. Colonel Vershinin. You may recognize Hamm from the TV series "Mad Men." Now, don't get me wrong, in the ensemble cast everyone shines, but just for a trivia aspect or able to say you know that voice, it's kinda neat.

"Three Sisters" was first performed in 1901 and at first made myself ready for a period piece, but I was surprised by the timelessness. Yes it is a period piece but the theme of the play carries on through the ages. The main theme of the play to me was trying to discover the meaning of life. At times it's a matter of wanting to be happy but other times not knowing what it's about. This was made evident to me in the final lines of Olga (one of the Sisters) and the old Doctor Chebutykin;

CHEBUTYKIN It doesn't matter, it doesn't matter.
OLGA. If we only knew, if we only knew!

Overall the play is about the decay of the privileged class in Russia and the search for meaning in the modern world and takes place in four acts. Each act progressing through time for the characters. At this point I would like to say for this production It would have been nice to know how much time had elapsed at the beginning of each act. LATW produced the play with music separating the acts, but I personally would have liked to know in advance how much time has elapsed. As each act progresses it becomes fairly obvious but it did seem a bit confusing at first.

Another nice production from the folks at L.A. Theatre works, I can't wait to see what they serve up next, but in the meantime, I'll be visiting their back catalogue.

"The Importance of Being Earnest" by Oscar Wilde

"The Importance of Being Earnest"
by Oscar Wilde
Multicast performance Featuring: James Marsters, Charles Busch, Emily Bergl, Neil Dickson, Jill Gascoine, Christopher Neame, & Matthew Wolf.
Produced by L.A. Theatre Works (2009)
Approx 2 hours

There were three main reasons I was drawn to this audio book / audio drama. The first was that the actor playing Jack/Earnest was James Marsters. I have really enjoyed Marsters delivery on audio books before and have come to love his acting. Second I have studied theater and one of my favorite plays is this one, I love the twists on words. And finally, it was a L.A. Theatre Works production. I recently listened to their production of "A Raisin in the Sun" and was impressed by how great their stage productions translated to audio book format without losing anything.

L.A. Theater Works has a large catalog of plays that have been produced into audio book form and I know I'll be going back for more, I was attracted to this because of James Marsters, but the other actors were hilarious and perfect to the roles. The casting and direction of these plays is perfect as comes out in these releases. The minor sound effects are heard and it sounds as if you are in the front row of the performance. The audience response is even heard making this even more of a sitting-in-the-audience experience.

The reason I like this play is the use of language. The plays on words are fun and at times have a bit of a message for the audience. Deep down the play demonstrates that over all we must all be honest. Wilde pushes this idea through the English parlour type of a play where people aren't who they seem to be.

Jack tells his household that he is off to visit Earnest, his brother who is ill. Earnest doesn't exist but it gives Jack the excuse to leave home and get out of social events. When Jack is off visiting Algie he goes by the name Earnest. Jack confesses his alter ego to Algie and gives Algie an idea on how he can do the same. Jack then meets Algie's cousin Gwendolyn and falls in love, but she couldn't love anyone other than someone named Earnest. Jack goes back home and is determined to become christened to be Earnest, but first he tells everyone his brother has died.

The death of Earnest is a big surprise, because Algie goes to visit Jack under the guise of Jack's brother Earnest. Algie falls in love with Jack's ward, Cecily, but Cecily would only marry someone named Earnest, Algie now makes arrangements to be christened.

In the big scene real names are revealed including the surprise that Jack is not who he thinks he is. All in all the mixed identities are fun but the real fun is the use of language. With this play Wilde paved the way for future comedies in this genre including Monty Python's Flying Circus. Great way to have fun for a couple of hours, just pick up this audio book from L.A. Theatre Works.

"A Raisin in the Sun" by Lorraine Hansberry

"A Raisin in the Sun"
by Lorraine Hansberry
Live Cast recording
Produced by L.A. Theatre Works
Approx. 2.5 hours

Wanting to revisit my theatre days, I set myself to listen to a few plays turned into audio books. I read several plays while earning a degree in theatre from Southern Illinois University and I know that plays are meant to be performed but now residing in an area where live theatre just doesn't happen on a regular basis, I decided to go back and listen to some audio performances as part of my constant audio book stream. I first tried some Shakespeare, I actually love Shakespeare, but the audio performance wasn't clicking with me at the time. So, after a while I find this treasure L.A. Theatre Works' Production of "A Raisin in the Sun." I remember reading this play in my Theatre History class and seeing a couple performances with some great actors and knowing I have enjoyed the play in the past, I gave this one a shot.

I was in for a couple of treats when putting this cd into my player. First that one of the performers, Rutina Wesley is one of my favorite actors from the TV series "True Blood" (she plays Sookie's friend Tara). And second that the recording is superb. Every subtlety of the voices is captured and it seems as though the actors have been doing audio only acting for a while because events that may be seen in the performance and not necessarily heard were clearly communicated. The recording was superb and the acting was excellent in this audio version. Even the sound effects were captured perfectly, things such as shutting of doors, flushing of toilets and clinking of glasses were heard when needed. This makes for the perfect audio book experience that I have come to expect. I know I will be searching for more productions from L.A. Theatre Works.

The story covers a struggling African-American family in Chicago, the Youngers. The Youngers represent the 4th, 5th and 6th generation of their family brought to America via slavery. The family is struggling to make a go at living out the American dream. Mama Lena Younger's husband has passed and the family is expecting a $10 thousand check from the insurance company. Mama Lena has plans to move into a better home, however, her children have other plans. Son, Walter Lee wants to buy a liquor store and daughter, Beneatha wants to go to medical school.

On the day the check arrives, Lena goes out and comes back that evening having used the money as a down-payment on a house in a white neighborhood. Eventually she entrusts Walter with the remaining amount. She tells Walter to put $3 thousand into the bank for Beneatha's school and use the rest as he sees fit.

This story is full of ups and downs as the family is told they are not wanted in the white neighborhood, Beneatha gets a marriage proposal, and Walter invests all the remaining money (including Beneatha's share) and loses it. How the family handles the good and the bad creates a play that is a true testament to hope, not only to African-Americans, but to anyone. Virtues and vices are explored and true hope is found.

A classic play produced with excellent quality create this great audio masterpiece.