Tony Torn Archives - TheaterScene.net

Tony Torn

The Whole of Time

January 8, 2024

Aside from the title not being explained, the Jean Graham-Jones translation seems to end very abruptly. Nothing is settled at the end of its short running time and it certainly feels like more is to come, unlike Williams’ play. There are also too many unanswered questions like what does Ursula do that supports the family of three, why has Lorenzo chosen Spain to move to, what event caused Antonia to stop going out, what is the relationship between Lorenzo and Maximiliano, etc. While Ursula is proud of her Hungarian and Mexican heritage we don’t learn much about it. The Whole of Time plays like a sketch of a play that hasn’t been written or that need a second act to deal with all the loose ends. [more]

Fall River Fishing

March 7, 2023

Absurdist to an increasingly ho-hum degree, Szadkowski and Knox let their imaginations run amok with silly speculations about pre-double-homicide life in the Borden household that are punctuated by head-scratchingly anachronistic jokes involving Tinder, Cabbage Patch Kids, John Belushi, and whatever other free associative references apparently sprung to mind during their no-doubt personally enjoyable writing sessions together. The problem is that Szadkowski and Knox are incapable of bridging the gap between their evident fun and our actual entertainment, an obnoxious shortfall made cringe-worthy by the fact that they both star in "Fall River Fishing." For the charitable among us, I suppose, seeing Szadkowski and Knox delivering their own unfunny dialogue might compel a forced giggle, especially in such close downtown quarters. But theater is expensive and time is fleeting, so a lack of chortling generosity is also perfectly understandable. [more]

The Fat Lady Sings

March 26, 2019

Jean-Claude van Itallie, one of the key figures in New York’s Off-Off Broadway theater in the 1960’s, takes on Trumpian politics in his new play, "The Fat Lady Sings" (directed by David Schweizer). Clearly, van Itallie still feels at home at the La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club, where he developed some of his most influential early work, including parts of his landmark anti-war trilogy, "America Hurrah." The fire in this playwright’s belly can still radiate heat in the East Village more than a half century after the premiere of his most famous title. [more]