Wednesday, March 16, 2011

CHOP in Portland - Media!


CHOP is mentioned on the KBOO Out Loud Queer Culture Radio broadcast as part of the Portland Mini-Fringe. Mentioned about 14.00 minutes in.

The Interview is with Kate Mura. She works with the Fuse Theater Ensemble, and is very involved with the Portland Mini Fringe Festival. Grant Knutson joins the conversation to discuss the many theater events happening with this festival.

Listen to it here.

CHOP in Portland

CHOP, the twisted, romantic solo show about a man finding his place in the world by finding himself in a subculture of amputation fetishists makes it's way to the Pacific Northwest. Invited for an exclusive one-weekend engagement at the Portland Mini Fringe Festival.

Playing March 17-19, 2011 at 8 PM. At the FUSE Theatre, 3430 SE Belmont Ave., Portland OR 97202.

CHOP promo trailer from FT Bonnigan on Vimeo.

Tuesday, March 8, 2011

GREAT GOD off to a good start


Loop Review: I Have Angered a Great God
Audacity Theatre Lab gets Tiki with it at Out of the Loop.
by Kris Noteboom
published Monday, March 7, 2011

If there’s one thing theater sometimes needs, it’s a lighter side. In a landscape strewn with weighty dramas, the occasional quirky comedy is an oasis for the laughter-famished gut.

And in I Have Angered a Great God, Audacity Theatre Lab gives the audience that healthy dose of comedic nourishment they so desperately need.

The brainchild of Audacity founder Brad McEntire, I Have Angered a Great God takes the audience on the flashback-laden tale of Robert von Ritchie Ritchie (Oscar Contreras), as he tries to figure out just what he did to spark the wrath of an ancient Tiki god (Jeff Hernandez).

Much of this introspection is accomplished in the office of his therapist (Jeremy Whiteker), who coincidentally also happens to treat Robert’s now ex-girlfriend, Martha (Angela Parsons), and the Great God itself. Due to a crippling selfishness, Robert is oblivious to how his actions affect those around him, particularly the Great God. Naturally, he comes to realize his mistake and make amends, but not until after most of his friends and family have paid the price in his stead.

Opening with a rapped prologue complete with cardboard cut-out Tiki gods, McEntire quickly establishes the expectations for the performance. It’s gonna get a little weird…but, in a good way.

Jokes pepper the non-sequential, sometimes hard to follow, script, and while they don’t always fully land with the appropriate oomph, McEntire’s offbeat sense of humor still manages to shine through.

Parsons and Whiteker bring substantial comedy chops with them to the production, and it shows. With all apologies to Hernandez, whose lines under his giant, cardboard Tiki head consisted of a series of grunts and barely decipherable words, Parsons and Whiteker stood apart from the bunch when it came to communicating McEntire’s unique comic voice.

McEntire himself, who delivers the opening rap and plays several other minor characters, channels Graham Chapman with his deadpan delivery. The purest measure of a truly gifted comedic performer is their ability to make any character funny. McEntire does that with his turns as a barista and a MENSA rep.

I Have Angered a Great God is a quirky romp through the human psyche, externalized in the visage of a blue-clad Easter Island escapee. The comedy is sometimes bungled in the delivery, but enough of it connects that this remarkably peculiar, yet boldly inventive, story comes out all smiles.

I Have Angered a Great God plays at the Addison Theatre Centre's Stone Cottage. View a full Out of the Loop Fringe Festival schedule here.

One critic's opinion of GREAT GOD

Loopy lite 2011: Audacity Theatre Lab’s I Have Angered A Great God

Alexandra Bonifield - Mar. 8, 2011 - CriticalRant.com

Audacity Theatre Lab produces some outstanding work regionally, so I was curious to see their show. According to the program notes, this is company founding artistic director Brad McEntire’s sixth presentation at Out of the Loop. Although it had a modicum of artistic continuity with respectable acting performances, the short work was less than compelling to watch.The rap-style prologue went on too long (don’t tell me what you’re going to show me, just show me) and its cardboard cutout puppets failed to amuse me or hold my interest. The female puppet lost a leg early in the show, inspiring polite tittering and causing improvised script adjustments. I expected more creative depth from Audacity, felt disappointed by what appeared to be very hastily thrown together. Pay to see this? Really? Acting ensemble: Oscar Contreras, Angela Parsons, Jeff Hernandez, Jeremy Whiteker and Brad McEntire ~AB