Articles by Scotty Bennett

About Scotty Bennett (124 Articles)

Scotty Bennett is a retired businessman who has worn many hats in his life, the latest of which is theater critic. For the last twelve years he has been a theater critic and is currently the treasurer of the American Theatre Critics Association and a member of the International Association of Theatre Critics. He has been in and around the entertainment business for most of his life. He has been an actor, director, and stage hand. He has done lighting, sound design, and set building. He was a radio disk jockey and, while in college ran a television studio and he even knows how to run a 35mm arc lamp projector.

Soulmate

April 26, 2025

Clarke's direction is uneven, giving the show a rehearsal or community theater vibe. The narrative line is unclear as to whether the main characters are real or a hallucination of one of them. The songs, what few there are, are extraneous to the action, adding nothing of importance to understanding the point of the story. The main characters are Cyrene (Shannon Wong) who is the wife of Caleb (Zachery Michael Shook), a construction manager. According to the play notes they are involved in pushing "the boundaries of love, desire, and intimacy." The major problem with this dramatic idea is Cyrene is a memory of Caleb's dead wife, who is directing him to find new and provocative sexual relationships with other women. The character is a constant presence with Caleb but is not seen by any other person. This dramatic element is hinted at but unclear until halfway through this short play. [more]

minor•ity

April 20, 2025

"minor•ity" is a wonder of a play written by francisca da silveira and skillfully directed by Shariffa Ali telling a tale of clashing artistic egos encompassing issues of Black identity, cultural influences, and financial support. The cast of three leaves no question in the viewers’ minds that what is being witnessed are real people telling a story through their actions, not actors playing roles. There is a message in the name of the show presented in the script but not in the show. [more]

Scammed into Love

April 12, 2025

Although there are humorous moments, the production doesn't work for various reasons, including characterizations and technical issues with sound reproduction. None of the eight songs are memorable, and the characters do not engage the audience, which is a question of direction and acting. While the performers work hard at portraying their characters, the effect is uneven. Some characters appear two-dimensional, and performances feel like a college or community theater production. The vocals are problematic, with some performances being overpowered while others pitchy. Overall, the show doesn't engage the audience in caring about the characters or their stories. [more]

Danger and Opportunity

April 6, 2025

Jack Serio directs a strong cast of seasoned actors whose personal chemistry gives the ensemble a solidly believable portrayal of their characters. Juan Castano is Edwin, a mid-30s man married to Christian, a man ten years older, believably played by Ryan Spahn. The two men are struggling with issues in their marriage when Margaret enters the picture. Julia Chan is Christian's "girlfriend" from high school. They have not communicated with each other in 20 years. [more]

Remembrance

March 30, 2025

"Remembrance" by Patricia GoodSon is a story about her journey, for more than a decade, in dealing with her mother's Alzheimer's disease. As directed by Joan Kane, it is told from the perspective of a woman working with a therapist to unravel the emotional impact of those years of caregiving. It is not about the impact of the disease on the person with it but on the effect on the caregiver. [more]

Maybe Tomorrow

March 24, 2025

"Maybe Tomorrow," written by Max Mondi and directed by Chad Austin, is a play about such a place and the person who created it. Inspired by a true story, Austin directs a cast of two in an exploration of a person lost in the present and locked within a mental space defined by the four walls of a bathroom, a person mediating the outside world through a computer and contact with one human caregiver but unable to move from a world they have defined as "safe" into the unknown world beyond the walls of a room. [more]

Lists of Promise

March 21, 2025

The scene with Adam and Eve establishes the structure for the show, with each of the ensuing vignettes being conducted in a call-and-response format. The second explores a list of rules established during the Victorian Era. In this set, the aerial performers represent a young girl just coming of age and two older, more established women. The aerial characters make the call with the response coming from different members of the Grounded Women, each expanding on the list of comments being made by the aerialists. The set ends with the Contemporary Woman bringing together some of the ideas presented in the call and response, presenting the state of a woman's status in society as the result of the list of rules. [more]

Fog and Filthy Air

March 14, 2025

It is essential for the audience to become fully engaged with the story and to care about the characters. When that does not happen, the show falls flat. While Homeyer and McGrath make an effort as Father and Mother, they are saddled with one-dimensional characters whose interactions lack chemistry. Gamble’s character is more developed but lacks a believable emotional connection with the other two. The dialogue touches on emotional issues within the family but does not effectively build dramatic tension with those issues. In the final analysis, the play lacks a compelling emotional hook. [more]

Wounded

March 12, 2025

"Wounded," written by Jiggs Burgess, is a story using a cloak of humor to obscure the pain and dark feelings being hidden by the protagonists. Although referred to as a comedy or dark comedy, it should be noted that the simple addition of humor does not make it so. This play is a serious drama, in the full meaning of that form, with some humorous elements. Del Shores skillfully directs an excellent ensemble of three players to expose layers of emotional and physical wounds in the characters. Shores and the cast successfully create a deceptive cover for the story's final destination, with the dramatic tension slowly building to a surprising and unexpected ending. It is a play worth experiencing, even with a few issues concerning the logic in some of the characters' interactions. [more]

Avalona: A Musical Legend

March 9, 2025

"Avalona, A Musical Legend," created by Dina Fanai, with music and lyrics, is a concept album with elements of modern opera. While not a musical in the usual sense of that form, it fits in a class of shows with the feel of a musical, such as "Jesus Christ, Superstar," which in its original form was a concept album concert with some notable productions being in the form initially conceived by Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber, but many not. It is a show at the edge of being a spectacle in the best meaning of that word, and one to be experienced as if viewing oneself on an immersive journey of discovery and transformation. [more]

The Audit & The American Dream

March 4, 2025

Urban Stages conducted a Dynamic Duos playwriting competition for one-act, two-character stories covering any subject during their 2023-24 season. Eight plays out of over three hundred submissions were chosen for staged readings. Two were selected for a full production as part of the current season. Those shows, "The Audit" by Lynda Crawford and 'The American Dream" by Juan Ramirez, Jr., opened on February 27 in a twin bill. They are both interesting stories told well with solid performances. [more]

Safe House

February 23, 2025

"Safe House" is an amorphous mosaic of sight and sound just out of reach of being any one thing. It is at once a song cycle, memory play, comedy, tragedy, a visual and aural potpourri of sensation resembling a modern avant-garde opera more than a theatrical musical or play with music. Written and directed by Enda Walsh with music by electronic-acoustic composer Anna Mullarkey, the show tells the story of Grace, a young, homeless Irish woman living on a handball court in Galway. According to Walsh, it is a story of survival in the chaotic jumble of memories mixed with dreams and fantasies of a different life. [more]

After Endgame

February 16, 2025

Doyle’s storytelling skillfully blends didactic commentary with humorous anecdotes, holding the audience’s attention throughout and resulting in a thoroughly satisfying evening of entertainment. Whether you are a chess person or not, it is a show worth seeing. Afterward, you can hang around in the "Soho Chess Lounge," the Huron Room performance space skillfully transformed by set designer and chess consultant Charles “Chuck” Matte. [more]

Night Sings Its Songs

February 14, 2025

"Night Sings Its Songs" by Norwegian author Jon Fosse (pronounced FAH-suh), the 2023 Nobel Prize-winning playwright, explores alienation and emotional disconnection by a couple in a dysfunctional marital relationship. Fosse's works are often compared to those of Henrik Ibsen and Harold Pinter. His minimalist style fits into the Norwegian existential and psychological drama tradition. Fosse is one of the most performed contemporary playwrights globally, but he is not well-known in the United States. The play, directed by Jerry Heymann from a translation by Sarah Cameron Sunde, never engages the audience in caring about the characters' emotional struggles. There is a feeling of "so what” or “why should I care” rather than one of concern or empathic understanding. [more]

How Is It That We Live or Shakey Jake + Alice

February 12, 2025

In reading the script, I didn't see how the story made any sense or could have been given a reasonable life on stage. I was very wrong on both scores. The four actors of the ensemble breathe life into each of the characters, creating a compelling narrative even given the minimalist sets used. Director Hayes did a superb job blending reality with the fantastic, delivering a compelling story of love found, lost, and found again. [more]

Cymbeline

January 31, 2025

The modern verse translation reasonably maintains a semblance of the Elizabethan iambic pentameter form supported by the ensemble's solid delivery of the lines. People familiar with Elizabethan dramatic poetry may be put off by the change in the wording but not necessarily by the presentation of the text. Overall, it is an enjoyable show worth spending time on whether or not one is an admirer of Elizabethan drama done to a modern beat. [more]

Sheltered

January 25, 2025

"Sheltered" by Cate Wiley is a story about what it is to be a homeless woman in a city in the United States. As directed by Liz Peterson, this play tells the stories of these women trapped by circumstances in systems of neglect and half-measures that are often beyond their control. In some cases, homelessness is a choice to escape something in the home, usually an abusive partner or spouse. Drugs, alcoholism and mental illness play a role as well. All of these things are depicted by a hardworking cast who effectively delivers a snapshot of the day-to-day reality of homelessness. It is an emotionally powerful play with an important story to tell. It is not a blockbuster play, but it is a play that should be seen for the compelling story it tells. [more]

January

January 19, 2025

"January" presents a story about the emotional impact of the killing of one child by another by weaving together the thoughts and actions of the two single mothers involved and how the national media treats the event. There are scenes blending memories and dreams with reality, presenting the protagonists' thoughts as if they existed in real-life moments with an almost hallucinogenic quality. These dramatic devices work most of the time. Still, there is a critical point in the play where what is being presented goes on for too long, almost to the point of losing the story thread. The projections used are effective but sometimes come very close to being propagandistic. Even with some of the unevenness of the production, it does present an important story that needs to be told. "January" is a heavy lift emotionally but ultimately worth the effort. [more]

My Mother’s Funeral: The Show

January 10, 2025

Charlotte Bennett directs an exquisite cast of three in an exploration of these themes. Nicole Sawyerr solidly leads the ensemble in the lead role of Abigail Waller, a working-class playwright. Sawyerr is supported by Samuel Armfield, who perfectly embodies two characters: an unnamed theatrical director with a class-based condescending attitude and Darren, Abigail's brother. The third member, Debra Baker, skillfully takes on a number of other characters, the two most important of which are Abigail's mother and an actress portraying the character of a mother in a play written by Abigail. Baker gives distinctly different presentations of these two pivotal characters. She also takes on a number of other ancillary characters who voice supporting elements to the overall story. [more]

A Shift of Opinion

December 23, 2024

There are a number of problems with these vignettes, ranging from the individual characterizations of the men involved to the superficial nature of the historical details of the events being discussed. Sheppard overacts in portraying O. Henry as a barely coherent alcoholic. It is not credible that a person as "drunk" as O. Henry would be engaged in any serious discussion with the likes of Mark Twain and William Hearst, let alone Teddy Roosevelt or even Schiff. The performances don’t engage the viewer to care about who the character is and what he has to say. In a number of the scenes, the dialogue seems contrived to present a particular socio-political viewpoint without any explication or depth. [more]

Racecar Racecar Racecar

December 14, 2024

Sarah Blush directs a cast of five in the story of a father and daughter on a road trip from New York City to a storage unit in California. It is a trip that is both se in the present and past, and it is filled with a flow of information that mixes reality with fantasy in a liminal space between sanity and insanity. This story operates from a different dimension the moment one walks into the performance space. The set is a large orange square, shag-carpeted pit with no clues as to the staging. The two principal characters making this trip by car never sit as if they are in a car but casually walk the raised outside edge of the box. It is an element of this stagecraft that adds beautifully to the edginess of the production. [more]

Welcome to the Big Dipper

November 30, 2024

"Welcome to The Big Dipper" is a musical comedy with music and lyrics by Jimmy Roberts and a book by Catherine Filloux and John Daggett (inspired by the play "All Dressed Up and Nowhere to Go" by Filloux). It is under the direction of DeMone Seraphin and is billed as being based on an actual event. However, the nature of the event is never revealed. It is a mixed bag of things that work and don’t, which leads to confusion about what it’s about and where it’s trying to go. [more]

Woman on a Ledge

November 23, 2024

"Woman on a Ledge" is an adaptation by Hershey Felder of harpist Rita Costanzi’s writings about her life. Ms. Costanzi is a world-renowned harpist whose life experiences have been woven into a fascinating and highly engaging theater piece. As directed by Lissa Moira, this one-woman production beautifully integrates Ms. Costanzi’s superlative playing with her solid storytelling. One does not have to be a harpist or classical music fan to enjoy this production. Her storytelling alone is worth the time spent, and it becomes exceptional when coupled with her exquisite playing, used to underscore elements of her story. [more]

Okuni: The Woman Who Created Kabuki

November 23, 2024

Ako's portrayal of Izumo no Okuni combines traditional Japanese dance movements with Western-style acting. The nature of the script limits the impact of her performance. The dialogue is simplistic, verging on a museum presentation. The story being told is too small for someone who is such a large character in the folklore of Japan. It is a story that calls for a larger cast to show the impact her dance and performance style could have on audiences. Okuni certainly did not dance alone, so what needs to be added is the pageantry and bravado of a fully engaged dance ensemble. Ako also portrays Lady Yodo, the mistress of the late Toyotomi Hideyoshi, credited with the unification of Japan that led to the establishment of the Tokugawa shogunate. [more]

Café Utopia

November 15, 2024

"Café Utopia" by Gwen Kingston and directed by Ashley Olive Teague tells the tale of a juice bar that, on the surface, appears to be socially progressive, but behind the scenes, is a different story. Based on real stories from workers involved in the current efforts to unionize juice bars and coffee shops, this play lays bare the corporate behavior that puts profits before workers. During changes in some scenes, different characters read statements collected from workers about their work-related experiences. These moments are important in underscoring the overall content of the show as it relates to the plight of workers who lack union protection. [more]

Loneliness Was a Pandemic

November 12, 2024

Haller has created a world where robots have conquered all of humanity through the ability to copy, with precision, the technical aspects of a functional society. The lack of understanding of human artistic creation keeps them from destroying a particular element of human culture: creative artists. The missing element in the totality of their superior nature is the spark of artistic creation. It is an aspect of humans they do not fully understand. So, they keep alive those humans considered to be creative artists in an attempt to understand and replicate the human ability of singular artistic creation. [more]

Medea: A Musical Comedy

November 3, 2024

Fisher directs a solid ensemble through a production of "Medea" that is a spoof of a college production with a gay man in the role of Jason and a feminist as Medea. It takes place from the last days of rehearsals to opening night. It is a play within a play with a romantic entanglement between the actor playing Jason and the actor playing Medea. It is amazing that with all the different elements of two storylines being played out the show works as well as it does. [more]

Rawshock

October 30, 2024

"Rawshock" is a powerful, insightful, compelling play that lays bare the craven manipulation of corporate healthcare in the name of profits. It is beautifully written by Rita Lewis and superbly directed by Ken Wolf, who also did the lighting and sound design. It is a story about a group of patients in a psychiatric hospital setting and what happens to them when the new corporate owners of the hospital disrupt their therapeutic group. It is a gem of a show with outstanding performances that should not be missed by anyone who enjoys solid dramatic theater. [more]

Honeyland

October 20, 2024

The story weaves together the group's history with flashbacks to their childhood, high school years, and a time immediately after college. It is a show that tries to cover too much territory without getting a solid handle on any of it. There are two potential dramatic threads, either of which would provide a strong story arc if developed as the heart of the story. One is the Vietnam War's social, political, and personal impact on the group members, and the other is the interpersonal romantic relationships within the group. These two themes are the strongest in the show but lack the depth to explore the dramatic possibilities fully. [more]

Lakeplay

October 12, 2024

Welcome to 'Lakeplay," a character study-play written by Drew Valins and directed by Hamilton Clancy. It is billed as “a terrifying adventure” but does not live up to that description. There are moments of suspense, but not terror-filled. If being frightened by a story is what you are looking for, this is not the show for you. The show is more of a work in progress with issues relating to the venue, sets, and unevenness of some of the scenes. [more]

Dickhead

October 2, 2024

"Dickhead," written by Gil Kofman and directed by Richard Caliban, is a story about the patriarch of a dysfunctional family in the midst of a near-total disintegration. The action is centered on Richard (Ezra Barnes), an abrasive, abusive lawyer who is rightly called “a dick” by his wife and just about everyone who interacts with him. He is also called Dick, as a nickname for Richard. The only time he is called "Dickhead" is midway through the action, in a maybe friendly comment by his oldest friend Howard who is given a solid portrayal by Chuck Montgomery. In the opening scene, Richard is in the office of his therapist Dr. Adams (Frank Licato) on a cell phone call with a tech support person at the internet company. This action provides a portrait of Richard’s personality: nasty, abrasive, ego-centric; a real dick. It also indicates that things are not going well in Richard's home life and job. Barnes' performance is well-tuned to the character, although, at times, getting close to being too much of a dick. Licato effectively embodies the therapist who is not as balanced as he appears to be in the opening. Licato gives a good performance of another character late in the play, the doctor’s wife. [more]

Honor

September 26, 2024

"Honor," a one-act play, written and superbly directed by T.J. Elliott, explores the conceptual nuances of “honor” within the context of a corporate investigation into a case of harassment and intimidation brought against a corporate executive. It is a clashing of privilege and ego between executives, revealing some ugly truths about corporate management while also dealing with the ambiguities of personality and individual perceptions. The play is short and solidly to the point, and I don’t see how expanding it will add anything to the mix. It is a beautifully executed production and will resonate with anyone with a passing familiarity of executive corporate culture. [more]

The Diamond as Big as the Ritz

September 21, 2024

This adaptation, directed by John Hickok, uses the Fitzgerald story as a counterpoint to a tale of a couple caught in the legal vagaries of the United States and Canadian immigration laws. The connection between their experiences at the border and the satirical nature of the Fitzgerald piece does not work even with the addition of musical numbers. It would be better to make a show of the original story without the contemporary border issues thrown into the mix. [more]

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