Reviews
little moons in Taipei Shorts II: A Festival of Shorts
Taipei enjoyed a delightful treat this past weekend with the first five of the original 10 plays that make up Taipei Shorts II. And if viewers liked those, the coming five plays promise an even more provocative and enticing evening.
In the upcoming works, the five new playwrights transverse time and space with challenging existentialist, absurd and inquisitive themes...
…Finally, after all the heavy stuff, Emily Haver brings delight with Little Moons. Here two people wearing hydrated face masks and listening to Debussy’s Clare de Lune come together to witness an eclipse.
On one level, it is simply a “sweet and silly love story” the dream-like type that everyone longs to experience. Yet at another level, it reminds us that love and magic are real and that we should always be open to their possibility.
All in all, the coming weekend promises to be a wild ride for viewers, and certainly one well worth the experience. Read more at: Taipei Times
Macha Theatre Work's ...And Starring Claire from Hollywood
"As the summer’s biggest movies start to roll out, Macha Monkey Productions presents some small-scale, alternative entertainment. …And Starring Claire From Hollywood, a new comedy by Jim Moran, is full of humanity, heart, and humor, all in a small town Pacific Northwest setting.
...From the supporting cast, Emily Haver stands out as a performer to watch, showing off comedic chops and bubbly charisma as ingenue Jana.... This new play is definitely worth the trip to 18th & Union for any theatre fan. …And Starring Claire From Hollywood is a down-to-earth comedy with heart, humanity, and a lot of laughs." Read more at: Drama in the Hood
"Drawing inspiration from Noël Coward’s “Private Lives,” there’s a bit of acid-tongued drollery in the backstage comedy “… And Starring Claire from Hollywood,” a new work from local playwright Jim Moran.
Macha Monkey’s production — directed by incoming artistic director Amy Poisson, who’s replacing company co-founder Kristina Sutherland Rowell — is generally diverting, thanks largely to its variety of likable performances." Read more at: The Seattle Times
Seattle University's The Tempest
“'The Tempest’ is the last play Shakespeare wrote alone, so it’s very special,” Gottberg said. “It’s one of his most romantic and soulful stories, because it tells us about the complexity of human nature.”
Students are guaranteed to be empathetic toward the characters’ plights as they witness their thought processes throughout the play. Some moments will make us laugh, while others will make us cringe as we watch characters act instinctively and plot patiently.
It's going to be a production that you won’t want to miss. Starring Ariana Chriest, Dylan Zucati, Gabrielle Sigrist, and Emily Haver, “The Tempest” promises to stay true to Shakespeare’s vision, yet incorporate a few noticeable differences that will make the production a unique interpretation. (Seattle University Spectator)
REBATEnsemble's The Tempest
"In a neighborhood cruched for arts spaces that arts groups can actually afford, the REBATEnsemble might present a few useful lessons.
Bringing “engaging theatre to unconventional spaces,” the “Recession-Era Broke-Ass Theatre Ensemble” has learned how to stage even the greatest works of performance without a stage. Or a theater, for that matter." (Capitol Hill Seattle Blog)
Seattle University's Women of Troy
"Due to its subject matter, the play is quite intense, a feature amplified by Alice Gosti’s choreographic direction.
"There is a part in the play where we build the Trojan Horse with the bodies of us—the chorus—and we came up with that by doing a series of compositional exercises, and we didn’t know that we were creating the horse when we made it,” said chorus member and junior Emily Haver.
The women's struggle drives the play forward. What moves the emotions of the characters and the audience, and the women's fight for survival is what makes Women of Troy a tragic and timely piece." (Seattle University Spectator)