Theatre Review: Stalin’s Master Class

Posted on April 16, 2024April 16, 2024 by Glamour

Stalin’s Master Class is presented by the Odyssey Theatre Ensemble, Ron Sossi Artistic Director, in association with Isabel and Harvey Kibel. Written by David Pownall. Directed by Ron Sossi. Produced by Beth Hogan.

Although the meeting depicted by playwright David Pownall didn’t actually happen, the characters and some of the events mentioned were real. During Stalin’s regime, the so-called Zhdanov Doctrine was used as a mechanism to align all artists to the Politburo’s propaganda.

In 1948, the Soviet Communist Party held the Moscow Composers’ Conference, where six of the leading composers, including Prokofiev and Shostakovich, were censored for being considered formalistic, undemocratic, and their music labeled as a cacophony. In Stalin’s Master Class, Pownall imagines what transpired in a meeting before the 1948 Conference.

Concerned that Soviet music is not patriotic enough, Joseph Stalin (Ilia Volok) and Soviet cultural minister Andrei Zhdanov (John Kayton) summon composers Sergei Prokofiev (Jan Munroe) and Dmitri Shostakovich (Randy Lowell) to the Kremlin.

Stalin decides to introduce socialist realism into Soviet music and tries to teach the two composers a lesson on patriotism, Marxism ideology, and the idyllic image of Georgian pastoral life. Exasperated by their lack of commitment, Stalin instills fear on the two musicians, forcing them to compose a cantata that fits the triumphant spirit of the Soviet proletariat.

Displaying anti-cosmopolitan attitudes as a way to keep any western influences at bay, Stalin despises jazz and other genres popular in the 1940s. After a few glasses of vodka, the psychological and physical abuse starts to take effect. Prokofiev and Shostakovich relent to Stalin and Zhdanov’s requests.

In a production that feels a bit static at the beginning, the action starts to build up right before the intermission. The play is mainly psychological, but Director Ron Sossi manages to turn the script into an entertaining spectacle of music and humor, especially when the four characters try to put their minds together to compose the emblematic cantata intended to inspire an entire generation of faithful communist subjects.

The play delves into the mind of one of the most enigmatic figures in the political scene of recent times. From his poor upbringing to the madness of power, Pownall explores Stalin as a political figure and a human being at the edge of implosion, a characterization captured brilliantly in the last scene.

The music is fantastic and so is the scenic design with its 1940s vibe. The humor helps to move the story forward and it is an excellent contribution to the characters, but then the main theme of the play takes over: A troubled sense of regret and the tragic loss of liberties that marked one of the most tumultuous periods of the 20th century.

Stalin’s Master Class

Odyssey Theatre
2055 S. Sepulveda Blvd.
Los Angeles CA 90025

Tickets: odysseytheatre.com

Performances: April 13 – May 26
• Wednesdays at 8 p.m.: April 17* and May 15* ONLY
• Fridays at 8 p.m. (wine nights): April 19**, April 26* **; May 3**, May 10**, May17**, May 24**
• Saturdays at 8 p.m.: April 13 (Opening Night), April 20, April 27; May 4, May 11, May 18, May 25
• Sundays at 2 p.m.: April 21, April 28; May 5*, May 12, May 19, May 26
*Post-performance discussions on Wednesday, April 17; Friday, April 26; Wednesday, May 15; Sunday, May 5
**Wine Night Fridays: Enjoy complimentary wine and snacks following all Friday night performances.

Written by David Pownall. Directed by Ron Sossi. Music Direction by Nisha Sue Arunasalam. Starring John Kayton, Randy Lowell, Jan Munroe, Ilia Volok. Produced by Beth Hogan. Presented by the Odyssey Theatre Ensemble, Ron Sossi Artistic Director, in association with Isabel and Harvey Kibel.

Creative team: Scenic designer Pete Hickock; lighting designer Jackson Funke; sound designer Christopher Moscatiello; costume designer Mylette Nora; props designer Jenine MacDonald; and graphics designer Luba Lukova. The stage manager is Jennifer Palumbo.

Theatre Review: Picnic

Posted on March 29, 2023March 29, 2023 by Glamour

Odyssey Theatre Ensemble presents a revival of Picnic, a play written by Pulitzer Prize winner William Inge. Directed by multiple award winner John Farmanesh–Bocca. Produced by Beth Hogan in association with Isabel and Harvey Kibel.

John Farmanesh-Bocca set his version of William Inge‘s Picnic a little bit later than the original play. He transfers the story to the 1960s, at the beginning of America’s involvement in Vietnam. This period exemplified the dreams and frustrations that run deep in a country still healing from the consequences of World War II. Within this environment, we find Madge Owens (Mattie Harris Lowe), who is in a relationship with wealthy Alan Seymour (Ahkei Togun). Madge, however, finds herself dissatisfied, yearning for more. It is in that setting of rural communities of necessity that the rest of the characters interact and listen to each other’s problems and aspirations.

A sudden disruption occurs when the attractive drifter and Alan’s friend Hal Carter (Monti Washington) arrives in town, charming the women with his looks and demeanor. Caught in the middle of emotions, Madge also falls for him. Hal’s condition as an underdog is even more compelling to Madge, who is so smitten with him that she contemplates the possibility of leaving behind her family and breaking up with Alan to run away with Hal.

Another character representing rural America and the aspirations of a better life is Madge’s younger sister, Millie (Symphony Canady), who has artistic inclinations and wants to try new opportunities in New York. Also in the picture is Rosemary Sydney (a fantastic Sydney A. Mason). She’s a schoolteacher who’s desperate to get married and finds storekeeper Howard Bevan (Derrick Parker) her perfect match, specially after a night of drinking and dancing.

The rest of the characters are Madge and Millie’s mother, Flo Owens (Yolanda Snowball), neighbor Mrs. Helen Potts (Rosemary Thomas), Bomber (Rogelio Douglas III), Rosemary’s fellow schoolteachers Irma Kronkite (Erika L. Holmes) and Christine Schoenwalder (Caitlin O’Grady).

The play contains hints of romance, humor, sexual awakening, and historical significance. The characters’ traits are a rich tapestry of the American experience. The characters could be Black, White, Latinos, or Asians and still resonate with the same impact.

Picnic is a sublime painting of the American heartland, a meaningful play with a ray of hope in the face of emptiness. The direction and the cast give a refreshing and meaningful rendition to William Inge’s exceptional script; a story set in a small Kansas town on a Labor Day picnic that says so much of what America was and what it has become, for better or worse.

Picnic

Odyssey Theatre
2055 S. Sepulveda Blvd.
Los Angeles CA 90025

Performances: March 25 – May 28
• Wednesdays at 8 p.m.: May 10*, May 17 ONLY
• Fridays at 8 p.m.: April 28**, May 19**, May 26 ONLY
• Saturdays at 8 p.m.: March 25 (Opening), April 1, April 8, April 15, April 22, April 29, May 6, May 13, May 20, May 27
• Sundays at 2 p.m.: April 2, April 9, April 16, April 23, April 30, May 7, May 14, May 21, May 28
• Mondays at 8 p.m.: April 17*, April 24, May 8 ONLY
*Post-performance discussions on Monday, April 17 and Wednesday, May 10
**Wine Nights on Friday, April 28 and Friday, May 19 complimentary wine and snacks and after the show.

Tickets: odysseytheatre.com

Written by William Inge. Directed by John Farmanesh-Bocca. Starring Symphony Canady, Rogelio Douglas III, Mattie Harris Lowe, Erika Holmes, Sydney A. Mason, Caitlin O’Grady, Derrick Parker, Yolanda Snowball, Rosemary Thomas, Ahkei Togun, and Monti Washington. Produced by Beth Hogan for the Odyssey Theatre Ensemble in association with Isabel and Harvey Kibel. Presented by the Odyssey Theatre Ensemble, Ron Sossi Artistic Director.

Creative team includes set designer Frederica Nascimento, lighting designer Chu-Hsuan Chang and costume designer Mylette Nora. Farmanesh-Bocca co-designs sound with Jeff Gardner and (posthumously) Adam Phelan, and co-choreographs alongside Briana Price. The stage manager is Terrance Stewart.

Theatre Review: Ghosts

Posted on September 11, 2022September 11, 2022 by Glamour

Odyssey Theatre Ensemble presents Richard Eyre‘s adaptation of Ghosts, written by Henrik Ibsen. The play is directed by Bart DeLorenzo. The setting is somewhere in Norway in 1882.

Widow Helene Alving (Pamela J. Gray) is about to face additional challenges in her life. Once her son Oswald Alving (Alex Barlas) is back from Paris, he starts having feelings for the house maid, Regina Engstrand (Viva Hassis Gentes). Regina, however, has her own challenges. Her father, Jacob Engstrand (J.Stephen Brantley [sic]), is trying to convince her to come live with him when he opens up a hostel for seamen. In reality, he implies that this place would be a brothel. Regina dislikes the idea to live with Jacob, preferring to dream of a life with Oswald in Paris—even learning a few words and phrases in French.

As Reverend Manders (Barry Del Sherman) comes to visit Helene, a few things are revealed. Manders finds some of the books Helene has been reading. Some are about systems of oppression and others are about women’s rights. This concerns Manders as they live in a conservative community in the countryside. There is also the fact that Helene once run to Manders to tell him she was in love with him, willing to leave her husband behind. Manders rejected her and she went back to her husband. Helene then sent Oswald to Paris and he became a painter.

After her husband passed away, Helene set up an orphanage in his memory. Jacob works as a carpenter and Manders handles the legal matters of the institution. Manders suggests Helene not to insure the orphanage as that would imply her lack of faith in God’s protection. Later, the orphanage catches fire and burns down.

The character’s dynamic relationships and motivations are influenced by events that occurred years earlier. Helene’s feelings for Manders, Helene’s husband dissolute lifestyle, and the relationship between Jacob and her wife Johanna—this character is only referenced and never seen in the play—all happen years ago.

Ibsen created strong female characters in his plays. Much like Nora in A Doll’s House and Hedda in Hedda Gabler, Helene in Ghosts is also a troubled woman who has to figure out how to survive the humiliation of her husband’s infidelities with other women and either leave or stay with him to meet the community standards as an obedient housewife and a dedicated mother.

Regina is one of the most intriguing characters in this play. Regina is seen flirting with Manders when he arrives to visit Helene. It is also implied that Jacob molested Regina earlier in her life. Regina flirting with Manders could be a result of her abuse by Jacob, a way to test Manders’ integrity as a man of God, or a way for her to open up a possibility if everything else fails for her.

Talking to Manders, Helene admits that she sent Oswald to Paris to protect him from the negative influence of his father and that she built the orphanage as a screen to hide the licentious life of her husband. Helene also discloses Oswald and Regina who they really are and the impossibility of their relationship. The devastating fate of Oswald is also revealed and both Helen and Regina find themselves at a crossroad, forced to make difficult decisions that will define their lives forever. When the orphanage was destroyed by the fire, it was also a symbol that the truth was finally exposed and the ghosts of the past were coming back to haunt them all.

Ghosts is about the conservatism of the late 1800s, the traditional roles of women, the discussion of venereal diseases, prostitution, incest, and euthanasia, highly controversial issues at the time Ghosts was published. In fact, the play was banned in Europe for several years and thrashed merciless by the critics when it was finally allowed to be staged in theaters.

As for DeLorenzo’s production, the choice of cast is an excellent opportunity to pair up experienced thespians with upcoming ones. Pamela J. Gray and Barry Del Sherman offer exceptional performance, carrying most of the weight of the material. J.Stephen Brantley delivers a terrific performance as an unnerving and opportunistic Jacob. Viva Hassis Gentes and new comer Alex Barlas are two fine young actors giving their performances the intensity and vulnerability necessary to portray Ibsen’s complex characters.

The lighting (Christine Ferriter, lighting designer) is a phenomenal element that helps the director tell the story. Both the lighting and sound effects/music (John Zalewski, sound designer) add a dramatic effect to the transitions and pivotal scenes and create a dark and Gothic ambiance to the set (Frederica Nascimento, scenic designer).

Ghosts is an intense experience; the lighting, the music, the scenic design, and the powerful performances create a latent sense of tragedy, featuring topics that are still controversial and relevant in today’s society.

Ghosts

Written by Henrik Ibsen. Adapted to the stage by British director Richard Eyre. Directed by Bart DeLorenzo. Starring: Alex Barlas, J.Stephen Brantley [sic], Barry Del Sherman, Viva Hassis Gentes, and Pamela J. Gray. Presented by Odyssey Theatre Ensemble. Ron Sossi, Artistic Director.

Odyssey Theatre
2055 S. Sepulveda Blvd.
Los Angeles CA 90025

Performances: September 10 – October 23
Fridays at 8 p.m.: Oct. 7, Oct. 14* and Oct. 21 (dark Sept. 16, Sept. 23, Sept. 30)
Saturdays at 8 p.m.: Sept. 10 (Opening Night), Sept. 17, Sept. 24, Oct. 1, Oct. 8, Oct. 15, Oct. 22
Sundays at 4 p.m.: Sept. 18, Sept. 25, Oct. 2, Oct. 9**, Oct. 16, Oct. 23 (dark Sept. 11)
Mondays at 8 p.m.: Sept. 19**, Sept. 26, Oct. 3, Oct. 10, Oct. 17 (dark Sept. 12)
^*Wine Nights on Friday, Sept. 9 and Friday, Oct. 14: enjoy complimentary wine and snacks and after the show.
**Post-performance discussions with the artists on Monday, Sept. 19 and Sunday, Oct. 9

Tickets: www.OdysseyTheatre.com