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Wednesday, May 14, 2008
THEATER REVIEW: ‘The Poetry of Pizza’
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Grade: B-
Deborah Brevoort’s “The Poetry of Pizza” is a zesty, easily digested romantic comedy that tastes more like thin crust than deep dish.
When a saucy American college professor goes on sabbatical in Europe, the table is set for a culture-clash caper of slamming doors, mistaken identities and amorous exchanges over the pleasures of sausage and pepperoni.
No intellectual calories will be burned. No cosmic revelations about the nature of love shall be revealed in this Theatre in the Square production. About the only surprising ingredient of this comedic mishmash is that it’s set in the cold Nordic landscape of Denmark instead of the sun-dappled splendor of Tuscany.
Yet expat poetry expert Sarah Middleton (Agnes Lucinda Harty) isn’t about to fall under the spell of the foolish married fop Ule Enevold (Scott E. DePoy) or cheesy Danish academic Heino Anderson (Robin Bloodworth). Not when the handsome Soran Saleen (David Kronawitter) is showering her with Purple Passion, Persian Kisses and Rose Petals (as she names his beautifully crafted pies).
“The Poetry of Pizza” has whiffs of magic realism (see the foodie film “Chocolat”) and the exotic allure of romantic travel tales (see “The Light in the Piazza”).
Soran, a Kurdish immigrant, is the kind of guy who gets homesick for figs and pistachios and speaks with the rhythmic thud of Sacha Baron Cohen’s Borat. Kronawitter imbues Soran with pitch-perfect comedic timing and the soul of an artist. (You can guess who the true poet is here.)
Also good are Karen Howell as Sarah’s agorophobic-turned-nymphomaniac landlady, Olga; William S. Murphey as Soran’s employer, Rebar; and DePoy, as the flustered romantic Ule, who happens to be married to another agorophobiac (played by Nita Hardy). In this dishy bunch, Harty’s Sarah seems a little bland.
Director Jessica Phelps West’s ensemble could use a lot of guidance with their Scandinavian accents, which are cartoonish one minute and non-existent the next. While costume designer Joanna Schmink’s parade of red buttons is cute, Rochelle Barker’s faux-stucco set has the curdling effect of a purple stomach laxative.
At 2 1/2 hours (including intermission), this light-as-piecrust offering stays in the oven just a bit too long and has a predictable, happily-ever-after flavor in the end. But no matter how you slice it, “The Poetry of Pizza” is still a fool-proof recipe for fun.
THE 411: 8 p.m. Tuesdays-Saturdays. 2:30 and 7 p.m. Sundays. 2:30 p.m. June 4. Through June 8. $18-$33. Theatre in the Square, 11 Whitlock Ave., Marietta. 770-422-8369, theatreinthesquare.com
Bottom line: Fresh-baked, with plenty of cheese.
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‘In the Solitude of Cotton Fields’
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
THEATER REVIEW. Grade: C
In Albert Camus’ existentialist novel “The Stranger,” a Frenchman kills an Arab man he sees on the beach for no apparent reason. In Bernard-Marie Koltés’ “In the Solitude of Cotton Fields,” a momentary glance between a white “client” and a black “dealer” prompts a study of the tipping point between fear and desire, attraction and repulsion.
Koltés, a French playwright who died of AIDS in 1989, had an abiding fascination with the complex relationships between blacks and whites. After producing Koltés’ “Black Battles With Dogs” in 2001, Atlanta’s 7 Stages now embarks on a 10-year investigation of the dramatist’s mysterious body of work, which uses poetry and symbolism to express his political and moral concerns.
Directed by Eric Vigner, Isma’il ibn Conner’s elegant new translation of “In the Solitude of Cotton Fields” applies a precisely choreographed vocabulary of language and movement to portray the dangerous pas de deux of the dealer (Conner) and client (Del Hamilton).
Beginning as a series of alternating monologues, “Solitude” strains to turn a passing glance into an erotically charged, 90-minute meditation on the dynamics of power, trust, control and submission. Though the psychological face-off can be a slow-going, tedious experience, it also offers moments of genuine heartbreak.
What happens when a game of seduction turns into an orgy of anguished words and regret? In this case, it’s as if the client expects a kick and doesn’t know what to do when he gets a caress. His rage over the hustler’s compassionate impulse can easily be interpreted as a case of self-loathing and homophobia.
While you admire these artists’ affinity for the material, “Solitude” treats a minor playwright with an air of self-importance that will stretch the patience of many theater-goers. At the end of the day, the piece might play better in the solitude of graduate seminars than the public domain.
THE 411: 8 p.m. tonight-Saturday. 5 p.m. Sunday.$ 25. 7 Stages, 1105 Euclid Ave., Little Five Points. 404-523-7647, 7stages.org.
Bottom line: A lot of work.
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A Voyage Long and Strange
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Tony Horwitz’s book “Confederates in the Attic: Dispatches from the Unfinished Civil War” looked at ways in which the Civil War lives on, from re-enactors to controversies over a Lincoln statue. He took a year traveling to various shrines and battlefields, and the book was as much his own sometimes bizarre journey as it was a work of proper sociology.
Now Horwitz has written a new book, “A Voyage Long and Strange: Rediscovering the New World,” which covers American history from 1492 to the pilgrims, the period that even some of us history buffs are a little spotty on. That was Horwitz’s own realization one day as he stood at Plymouth Rock.
Horwitz being Horwitz, of course, this isn’t a textbook. He goes on his own pilgrimage, all around North America, visiting the sites where stuff happened, and filtering it through his idiosyncratic lens.
Here’s what our reviewer, Emory professor Michael A. Elliott, had to say Sunday in his review:
“It is in his description of how our contemporaries experience history that Horwitz really shines. He does more than serve up a cast of colorful characters. He depicts an overlooked paradox of American life: Even though surveys repeatedly show that most of us know little about our shared past, there remains a large, diverse assemblage of Americans for whom history remains very much alive. It is hard to read “A Voyage Long and Strange” without catching a little of their passion for the past.”
Horwitz will give a lecture and sign books at the Margaret Mitchell House at 7 tonight.
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