From Off-Off Broadway Review:

Only one, actually

TWO WITH TROUBLES

Ice Floes written by Kate McLeod

Directed by West Grantom

Felons and Family written by Gerry Sheridan

Directed by Kevin Horne

Midtown International Theatre Festival (www.midtownfestival.org for showtimes)

Where Eagles Dare Theatre, 347 West 36^th St., ground floor

Equity Showcase (closed July 21, 2007)

Review by Michael D. Jackson

Two With Troubles, a pair of one acts that is disparaging in quality from one to the other, opens with Ice Floes by Kate McLeod. Eunice (Renata Hinrichs) arrives, suitcase dragging behind her, at a remote Antarctic spot that seems to be occupied by Roger (Martin Treat). She is escaping from Lord knows what and decides that she wants to inhabit the icy dock alone. Roger is not willing to give it up, for he too is feebly searching for the meaning of life in isolation, and anyway, he got there first. Since the way to a man’s heart is food, Eunice seduces Roger by feeding him slices of apple dipped in peanut butter. He goes for it, hook, line and sinker, until she tricks him out of his icy corner. This is the plot of the slim one act play, but the point of it is up for grabs. As strong and as dedicated to the material as the two actors were, the meager meal was perplexing and difficult to follow. We don’t even get a try at the meaning of life.

The second play, Felons and Family, is more satisfying by leaps and bounds. Betsy (Maggie Low), a well educated actress, has a sister in mental health court. Not knowing what to expect from this new idea of mental health court, she befriends William (Rob Morgan), who is waiting his turn to see the judge. William gives us a little lesson in what it means to be in mental health court. The play is educational and makes for a nice encapsulated character study between the two different worlds for Betsy and William. Another person waiting to see the judge is a misguided victim called Dawn (Claire Deming). Once William educates Betsy on the ins and outs of mental health court, Betsy attempts to give the dense Dawn advice on what to say to the judge so that she won’t end up in jail for a year. Morgan sets the tone for the play with his warm, easy going personality giving the play a natural realism. Low plays off him well and the duet scene has a friendly hopefulness to it. Sheridan has been educational and revealing with this simple slice of life story.

Comparing the two plays together, it is amazing how a simple idea for a play can be either foggy and meaningless or clear and illuminating. Two With Troubles is actually one with troubles and one with no troubles at all succeeding as satisfying theater.

From the Chicago Reader:

Lysistrata, Side Project, and Bowlscrapers to Skyscrapers: Business as Usual, Side Project, at the Side Studio. Adam Webster in his new 70-minute adaptation of Lysistrata pays little attention to Aristophanes’ exploration of sexual politics and indictment of war. But he wholeheartedly embraces the comedy inherent in this story of Greek women withholding sex until their men agree to end a ten-year battle.

Director John Shaterian delivers a broad farce complete with lewd humor, pratfalls, and bold double entendres. And while some of the actors overplay the silliness, Vayram Nyadroh’s Lysistrata is intelligently enthusiastic rather than strident, and Dave Taylor’s blustering Magistrate hits just the right note of arrogant incompetence. Chris Genebach is entertaining as a Rocky Balboa-esque Cinesias pining for the pert, loopy Myrrhine (Jennifer Marschand in a sparkling performance).

The biggest hindrance to this production is the small Side Studio stage, which many actors share at times, often haphazardly. Careful attention to slapstick comedy and pop-culture references doesn’t make up for the show’s overall aimlessness.

Bowlscrapers to Skyscrapers: Business as Usual fares better in the small space. Webster efficiently directs this sketch-comedy revue, which also benefits from Greg Hill’s buoyant music choices. The show’s 19 bits offer smart social commentary on the dark underbelly of corporate culture, among other things. Not all the punch lines have the same force, but the jokes are well written and the pieces usually end on a high note. “Local Travelers” features a tourist couple content to take pictures against the backdrop of travel posters. In “FDR” the president fights to keep a long list of worries in his speech while his staff lobbies for the simple “fear itself” ending. And in “Eldercare Payment Facilitator,” by Gerry Sheridan, the evening’s funniest sketch, someone is on hand to help the elderly locate their change and determine that the bill is accurate in a grocery store checkout line.

Bowlscrapers offers a funny 90 minutes, but the show would be even stronger if the entire ensemble shared Jeff Madden, Rasika Mathur, and Alexandra Cwajbaum’s ability to truly inhabit their characters even in brief scenes.

–Jenn Goddu