Mike Roche

Shelter Inn Place

September 23, 2026

The major problem with director Joan Kane’s production is that the play is too slow and sluggish, needing to be faster and more breakneck. As a result, the jokes don’t land as the audience has too much time to think about them and we never believe that the characters are worried about the impending storm. Also the acting is so exaggerated that the actors seem over the top rather than overwrought and stressed out. She has also allowed each actor to be one dimensional making the play rather hollow and artificial: Frank is harried, George is melancholy, Sam is randy, Mildred is flamboyant and Heidi is depressed. As to the plotting, each piece of stage business goes on too long; more events are needed. This is basically a farce but not staged at farce tempo or having enough mishaps to keep it going. Although we hear enough about the approaching storm from the periodic radio reports, the characters do not get upset enough about it. No one seems ready to take cover. It takes the whole first act for Frank to finish boarding up the windows. [more]

A Tomato Can’t Grow in the Bronx

December 7, 2022

Under the permissive direction of Garfield-Szita—who also designed the costumes—the cast comes across more as members of a sitcom than a serious drama, not helped by Morgenstein’s dependence on shtick and clichés. The actors work hard to find some emotional resonance in their dialogue, particularly Kusher, O’Brien and Roche who occasionally rise above their lines. Bell Wolff as Gladys is in a world of her own. Her voice is a colorful instrument that takes Tomato into an almost surreal place. Morgenstein does have a good feel for what drives each of his characters. A sweet scene on a fire escape between Eleanor and Sammy shows that the playwright can be subtle and incisive. [more]

ray gun say0nara

December 11, 2019

Fabulous technical elements and spirited performances from a large ensemble of actors, singers and dancers cannot overcome the authorial negligence of the musical science fiction pastiche, "ray gun say0nara." It runs over two hours plus an intermission and has some engaging sequences but makes little cumulative impact. [more]

The Fool’s Lear

January 13, 2019

Whether being pushed in a wheelchair or hobbling around on a cane, Mark Peters is an excellent Lear. Mr. Peters forcefully captures all of the character’s pathos, humor and despair with his mature presence and rich vocal delivery. As The Fool, Judy Krause’s clowning and feistiness is delightful. Ms. Krause and Mr. Peters’ marvelous rapport energize the production, hinting at the tantalizing possibilities of an even further stripped down treatment focusing more on these two characters. [more]

Midtown Int’l Theatre Festival Spring: March 7 – 27, 2016

February 7, 2016

Powerful and unique themes pervade this series of works including spirituality and "the other side;" sexuality and relationships and its burgeoning diversity; the power of - and within - women; the casualty of war - and the casual way we look at it; fine art; the church; crippling illness from the point of the crippled; redemption; and myriad more are explored in under two hours! [more]