Reviews by T de V

Fuddy Meers, like the funny mirrors in a fun house carnival, is a wacky comedy. I’ll tell you right now, I neither liked nor understood it. That’s not to say the acting was poor; the plot and dialogue are just not my kind of humour. At intermission, I did a quick temperature test of the audience and discovered we were fairly evenly split: fully half of the respondents thought the play was side-splittingly funny. Certainly the audience howled throughout. Actually, I had another litmus test: I asked how well the interviewee liked Monty Python. Those that do, did; and those that don’t, didn’t. I rest my case.

First performed in 1999, Fuddy Meers was written by David Lindsay-Abare and is directed by Michael Haven. Claire, an amnesiac, wakes up each morning remembering nothing; so her family must teach her who she is, every day. When she is kidnapped, her adventures really begin!

With FLIGHT OF AQUAVIT, Anthony Bidulka has done it again. From the eyes and heart of a lovable soul, we rejoice in a world of intense cold winter with warm fireside friends and a spot or two of danger. It amazes me how much I enjoy living as this person.

Young, of course, and attractive. But male. And gay.

Someone on DorothyL mentioned SOME DANGER INVOLVED by Will Thomas, and I'm very grateful.

It's a very character-driven story. I know that sounds like a popular use of buzzwords, but it's describes events in the story well. Thomas Llewelyn has a great sense of humour and it drives him to do (and say) unexpected things. Events happen BECAUSE of the kind of person he is, and some of them could make you snort your tea. (In my family, delivering the punchline so as to make the most people snort their cups of tea was considered a high art).

Feeling at loose ends? Don’t know what to have for dinner? The Apple Tree might solve your itch—it’s three, seemingly unconnected plays in one. Continuity occurs because the same actors play throughout, time travels from long ago to the present, and the stories are about love and innocence. The publicity flyers for the show differ, stating that these plays are about getting what you want and discovering what you really wanted afterward. You’ll have to decide who's right.

Music and lyrics of The Apple Tree were written by Jerry Bock and Sheldon Harnick. The first play was based on the writings of Mark Twain, the second a short story by Frank R. Stockton and the third a story by Jules Feiffer. In the Masquers performances, Robert Love directs, with music direction by Pat King. Music is ably performed by Pat herself, Ted Bigornia, Jo Lusk, Jim Ware and Barbara Kohler. The show plays until May 1.

The first play is The Diary of Adam and Eve, a sweet comedy, especially for those with a Judeo-Christian background—particularly since it answers so many questions. (Photos by Jerry Telfer).

Last year when I read an earlier Linwood Barclay, the story was pretty good, but a bit too contrived; I felt a little manipulated. Lately, I've read several books where, halfway into the story, I've wondered if it would ever be possible to become enthralled.

TOO CLOSE TO HOME by Linwood Barclay (2008) captured my attention within the first few paragraphs, and had thrown the first whammy by the end of Chapter One.

Begun in 1991, DorothyL is a mailing list which goes 3330+ addresses of people in 25+ countries who are interested in mystery, suspense, & crime fiction. Click DorothyL to start at the top of the DorothyL section on this site (i.e. the underlined and highlighted word). This link will give you some extra information about the group of DorothyLers.

Every year members of DorothyL post lists of their favourite books read in the prior year. This year we had a team of kindly volunteers to help get the job done. Click Best of 2009 DorothyL booklists or select the menu item "DorothyL" at the top of the screen to see 2009 and prior years. And I have finally gotten around to putting 2006 data online!

Part of the job of a work of art is to startle the viewer, to jostle her/his expectations in some way—often, but not necessarily, unpleasantly—to do something new and fresh. Many people who write reviews, or those who burble about a performance just seen, convey their impressions of the work by detailing what happened, not how it made them feel—in other words, they diminish the power of the storyline to surprise the viewer. In my view, every creater should get her/his moment in the sun. For this reason before I see a new work, I usually shun speculation and limit myself to the first sentence and last paragraph of reviews and publicity announcements.

In spite of these habits it’s almost impossible to bring a truly open-minded perspective, so I had expectations for Kitchen Witches—what do you expect from a comedy whose playbill illustrates a chef wearing her mixing bowl with contents as a hat? Camp jokes?

Kitchen Witches, written by Caroline Smith and directed by Robert Taylor, concerns two friends who aren’t, anymore. These historically rancorous celebrity chefs (should that be chèves?) must work a televised show together.

I'm not a fan of horror but I read Chapter 1 of AFRAID and survived, so I volunteered to review the book. Then I forgot about it. A few days later I woke up from a horrible nightmare, only pulling through by remembering the book was fiction. Chapter 1 seemed well written and friendly enough, but it intimated terrifying things.

RACING THE DEVIL, by E. Michael Terrell, is a compelling story you know you’d like to slow down and savour; but there’s no time—you must read on. Forget laundry and gardening, once you begin the story, your afternoon is done for.

Bay Area community theatre management (not limited to Masquers in Point Richmond) would do well to reconsider having actors speak in accents which are not their own. At least not without some extensive training or a teleprompter.

Few community theatre actors perform accents well, so speech is difficult to understand in all plays with accented English (including British).