Theater Beat: Drunken Bard; Theater with a View out in the open; FringeArts curated schedule
The Bard of Beer. We've had Drunk History, The Drunk Makeup Challenge, My Drunk Kitchen, and now . . . ShakesBEER in Pretzel Park: Twelfth Night. It staggers on at 7 p.m., July 8, at Pretzel Park Farmers' Market, 4300 Silverwood St. Free (donations encouraged). "What happens if the actors are drunk?" the Facebook page asks. Fair question.
The Bard of Beer. We've had
Drunk History, The Drunk Makeup Challenge, My Drunk Kitchen
, and now . . . ShakesBEER in Pretzel Park:
Twelfth Night
. It staggers on at 7 p.m., July 8, at Pretzel Park Farmers' Market, 4300 Silverwood St. Free (donations encouraged). "What happens if the actors are drunk?" the Facebook page asks. Fair question.
Big as all outdoors. Since 2014, Theater with a View has been doing summer nighttime theater en plein air at Sycamore Hill, property of Nick Leasure and Veronica Covalesky, at 481 Ebelhare Rd., Pottstown.
Sister Nina Covalesky is executive director of the theater. "We're dedicated," she says, "to nimble, tight-budget productions." This summer, it's the 2007 Pulitzer Prize-winning Rabbit Hole by David Lindsay-Abaire, Wednesdays through Saturdays, July 12-29. Covalesky and artistic director Seth Reich wanted "a play about the possibilities of healing, which seemed to speak to so much of what's going on around us right now."
These New York actors rehearse up there, then come to Pottstown. This time, the theater auditioned Philly-area actors, too, selecting Jo Twiss and Drew Seltzer. "We'll have a two-prong rehearsal schedule," Covalesky says, "us in New York and certain scenes rehearsed in Philly, and then bringing the whole cast together at the end."
As for Sycamore Hill ("there's a lake in the background, with a heron"), Covalesky says it's magical: "We first did Proof on the porch, because why not? It was an experiment, a couple of weeks for us in the countryside. We hung a big banner on the side of the barn, and people driving by saw it and came in on that basis. And they still do." Ah, romance: summer in exotic (as far as the New Yorkers are concerned) Pottstown, meeting local folks (some of whom volunteer), riding bikes around, getting into the community.
And sometimes the rain. "In one performance of Proof," Covalesky says, "we dealt with a lot of rain. We were reblocking on the fly and moving the theater around to where it was a little less wet, and it was fantastic." All shows at 7 p.m. Wednesdays through Saturdays, July 12-29. Wednesdays: Pay what you wish; Thursdays through Saturdays: $25 reserved seats. theaterwithaview.com.
Curated Fringe. FringeArts announces its curated shows for Philly Fringe 2017 (Sept. 7-24). You have veteran Fringies such as New Paradise Laboratories (Hello Blackout!, Sept. 7-17), Geoff Sobelle (HOME, Sept. 13-16), Thaddeus Phillips (A Billion Nights on Earth, with Steven Dufala, Sept. 14-17), and Pig Iron Theatre Company (A Period of Animate Existence, Sept. 22-24). And I really want to see A Love Supreme (Sept. 22-24), by Belgian dance company Rosas, about John Coltrane's epic 1965 album. More at fringearts.com/ 2017-fringe-festival.
Out-Chicagoing 'Chicago'
The King of Prussia Players just wrapped its Chicago at the Centre Theater in Norristown. David McMenimen of Philly writes that the singing and dancing was "better than Broadway." See something? Say something!
215-854-4406 @jtimpane