TOWARDS ZERO

Presented by Richardson Theatre Centre
Runs through 9/22/2019

I have always been a huge fan of Agatha Christie’s work – both her books and her plays. Richardson Theatre Centre also has a long-standing relationship with Ms. Christie’s plays, as they have produced quite a few of them over the years, to great success. Their current production of Towards Zero does not disappoint.

There are actually various versions of Towards Zero, as the Agatha Christie penned novel was first published in 1944. In 1956, Christie adapted the book into a play with Gerald Verner, which was first staged in September 1956 at the St James Theatre in the West End of London. However, Christie first wrote a play with this title in 1945, which received only one week of performances in Martha's Vineyard. This script was uncovered in 2015 by Julius ...

PLAZA SUITE

Presented by Garland Civic Theatre
Runs through 9/22/2019

Hotels are a curious thing. They are a meeting place brimming with all manner of activities. Take Neil Simon’s “Plaza Suite”, a play about three encounters in the same room at #719. The story takes place in 1968 at New York City’s Plaza Hotel over the course of three unrelated acts.

The first act is one about Karen Nash (Robin Coulong) and Sam Nash (Tim Doyle) whom are in a loveless marriage and Karen is attempting to salvage the situation by bringing them to their honeymoon location 23 years ago. She is wild, unpredictable and not very good when it comes to the finer details (like her own age). Karen flutters around the suite with an airy spring and excitable anticipation for her husband’s arrival. When Sam finally enters the hotel room, ...

THE ARK

Presented by Artisan Center Theater
Runs through 9/28/2019

Upon entering the Artisan Theater Center main stage, one is instantly transported inside Noah’s famous Ark. The premise is that the audience makes up the cadre of animals saved from the great flood. To that end, some audience interaction is required, and in one case was a pleasant surprise. The ambiance was set with authentic barnyard and bird sounds in the place of preshow music.

Eric Luckie’s beautiful set included a gathering of bird cages and chicken coops, a number of rooms, a rather temperamental door, and an all-purpose room. The faux-wood walls and Connie Sanchez’s brilliantly painted floor served to immerse the audience in the experience.

Director Dee Ann Blair used every inch of the set, plus quite a bit of the house, bringing Noah’s story to life. Staging in the round ...

A PIECE OF MY HEART

Presented by Greater Cleburne Carnegie Players
Runs through 9/29/2019

A Piece of My Heart by Shirley Lauro, currently playing at Cleburne Carnegie Players, shares the stories of six women as they journey through their lives during the time of the Vietnam War. This story explores the lives of five nurses and a country singer as they naively enter their role in the war, survive “The ‘Nam” and experience the hard transition to life back home after their service. Predominantly using a series of monologues, each woman’s story is told often independently with the help of supporting characters played by the women with the addition of two men.

Director, Set Designer and Lighting Technician Jonathan Nash led an overall powerful production, but made several different choices that were inconsistently followed throughout.

Eight simple dark platforms of ...

NIGHT, MOTHER

Presented by Tarrant Actors Regional Theatre
Runs through 9/29/2019

Night, Mother by Marsha Norman won a Pulitzer in 1983 by putting the audience into the story in the first few minutes with a declaration about suicide, but then strings them along to see if it actually happens. This one-act play produced by Tarrant Actors Regional Theatre in the Sanders black box in Fort Worth had two actors playing a mother and daughter who live together in a dysfunctional relationship. In time though, family secrets come out and explain the daughter's motivation to quit on her life. But this unfolds in slow motion.

Allen Walker directed the production team to support a powerful, if uncomfortable, drama. Bryan S. Douglas designed an integrated living room and kitchen where almost all action occurred, lit the set with an unchanging color plot that ...