Through Sun 8/31
None Too Fragile Theatre has a new home. But fear not. If their production of Woody’s Order! is any indication, the high quality of the company’s shows will not suffer.
In its short existence, None Too Fragile has received many Cleveland Critics Circle and Broadwayworld.com recognitions for excellence in acting, directing and productions. It has achieved this while appearing in an assortment of settings, including the back room of a restaurant. Finally, the company has a new, and hopefully, permanent home — the former Coach House Theatre at 732 W. Exchange Street in Akron.
While sprucing up the building, which houses a proscenium stage, comfortable theater-style seating and a big lobby, None Too Fragile’s co-artistic director, Sean Derry, is on the road with Boogieban, which last year was one of the area’s most awarded shows, with David Peacock and Travis Teffner being chosen as co-winners of the Cleveland Critics Circle award as Best Actors in a Non-Musical.
After a run in Chicago, which received rave reviews from Windy City critics, the NTF troupe will travel to the New York where they will attempt to prove that it is THE place to produce new contemporary plays.
In the meantime, Alanna Romansky, the company’s co-founder and co-artistic director, with the help of a determined group of theater supporters, opened the new performance space with Woody’s Order!, a solo show written and performed by Ann Talman. Talman appeared on Broadway in The Little Foxes with Elizabeth Taylor, as well as in The House of Blue Leaves, Some Americans Abroad and The Women.
Woody’s Order! is often emotional tale of the decision that must be made by Ann, a professional actress/comedian who is torn between her Broadway career and being the sole caretaker for her nonverbal, cerebral palsied brother and Alzheimer-afflicted father. At one point, she’s dividing her time between Los Angeles, New York, her brother’s nursing home in Allentown and her father’s nursing home in Pittsburgh.
This is a tale of high drama with strong underlying comedy segments. The play, which has also been made into a documentary, is finely directed by John Shepard who “makes this a deeply moving journey of pain, compassion and, ultimately, love.” For the compassionate, this is not an easy play to watch. But it is a performance well worth the discomfort.
Talman is nothing short of amazing in telling her own tale and performing all 10 or so characters in the script. This is a master class in acting.
Capsule judgment: None Too Fragile starts off its tenure in its new Akron theatrical home with a must-see production.
For tickets for Woody’s Order! which runs through Sat 8/31, call 330-962-5547 or go to nonetoofragile.
[Written by Roy Berko, member, American Theatre Critics Association, Cleveland Critics Circle]
732 W Exchange St, Akron, OH 44302