Pittsburgh City Paper: Ah, nothing like a story about plucky orphans and family values to warm the heart -- and curdle the blood come Halloween time. Yes, unlucky orphans are often the victims in traditional scary fairy tales. But the opposite narrative has a legacy just as long, from Hansel and Gretel to (my fave) The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane. Along that spectrum place The Hamiltons, a 2006 cult film by "the Butcher Brothers" (Mitchell Altieri and Phil Flores). It's newly adapted for the Rage of the Stage Players by company director James Michael Shoberg, who also directs.
Sunday, November 06, 2011
The Hamiltons Rage of the Stage adapts a cult horror film.
Pittsburgh City Paper: Ah, nothing like a story about plucky orphans and family values to warm the heart -- and curdle the blood come Halloween time. Yes, unlucky orphans are often the victims in traditional scary fairy tales. But the opposite narrative has a legacy just as long, from Hansel and Gretel to (my fave) The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane. Along that spectrum place The Hamiltons, a 2006 cult film by "the Butcher Brothers" (Mitchell Altieri and Phil Flores). It's newly adapted for the Rage of the Stage Players by company director James Michael Shoberg, who also directs.
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5 comments:
The part of this article that is a bit infuriating is that it doesn't really mention what about the show makes a for adult audiences. Granted, I never saw the movie, which I'm sure would very much help me understand the plot, but the fact that this article doesn't delve into any of that is a bit of a shame.
The part of this article that I find particularly intruiging is the reference to the "perfect set", and the high quality of the work that is praised in this article. Also, the emphasis on how much visual stimulation there is. I think there are many many shows these days that are delving into being more visual than they are story based, which everyone has an opinion about whether that is good or bad. Nonetheless, the report that a company is pulling off this style well really makes me want to see this show.
I think the concept behind this production is very interesting and one that would certainly draw a crowd. I'm glad that the journalist added in a bit of information about the plot of the show, so even those who aren't very familiar with the story get the overall gist of the story. However, the journalist was a bit excessive with praising the actors. Maybe add in something about how the audiences took the show after watching it?
I've worked with Rage of the Stage before, so I decided I'd check out their latest work. It was pretty much as described, which was unsurprising for them. I was curious enough to check out the movie that inspired it afterward, and it was interesting to see just how close of a match there is between the two. James Shoberg noted that the movie flowed very much like a play and that's part of why he chose to adapt it, but I wasn't expecting to see just how many similarities there were. Even the actors that were cast looked physically similar to the ones on the screen.
I can't believe no one's made a, "Despite all their rage, they're still just a rat on a stage" joke yet; but I might be showing my age there.
I will say this, that the article does make me want to see the show; not because anything in the article is particularly appealing [like Calvin, I don't know what "meticulous attention to, or obsession with, perfect scenery but oh, it moves slow" means] but because nothing in the article is particularly helpful in figuring out what the actual production is actually about.
I agree that this article- considering its a review- is far to vague than it should be. I too would appreciate a more descriptive version of what a "perfect set" could/ would be. Granted- this review did inform me of a few things.. one of them being the realization that many shows that I've heard reviews for are going for similar styles- plays with edgier adaptions, relating to sex, drugs, rock and roll. In seeing how far theater has come, and what a huge reflection it is of our own society, I could understand why this is so- current plays want to be innovative- and are aimed towards targeting major issues we face today, challenging and making audiences more uncomfortable than we would be otherwise. With this, feel that this would be a noteworthy show to go see, not because I want to understand where our author is coming from, but also to connect the dots between how this play could be reflection on other plays that our running now.
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