F. William Oakes

BREAKFAST AT TIFFANY'S is a literary and movie classic that always charms, and 2nd Story Theatre's production captures the setting and characters perfectly.  If you haven't been to 2nd Story lately, it's worth a visit just to see all of the changes.  The sets for this production, by Max Ponticelli, take the previous stadium seating configuration into a theatre in the round with brownstone facades, cobbled stones and a lovely balcony perfect for singing Moon River.  Every aspect of this production is so well thought out that you immediately feel like you've slipped into 1940's New York City the second you sit down.  There are a couple aspects of this production that dull the magic slightly, but overall, this is charming summer theatre that will also tugs at heartstrings.

With PRELUDE TO A KISS, the current offering at 2nd Story Theatre in Warren, RI, playwright Craig Lucas came up with a realistically magical take on the Hollywood formula, boy-meets-girl, boy-loses-girl, boy-gets-girl back. Apparently this theme predates even Hollywood: on the way home from the theater I listened to Monteverdi's seventeenth century opera, L'Orfeo, based on the even older story of Orpheus, in which boy-meets-girl, boy-loses-girl, but oops. In this PRELUDE TO A KISS, which 2nd Story bills as a modern day fairy tale, elderly 'wedding crasher' (F. William Oakes) kisses the bride, Rita, (Lara Hakeem) and their souls exchange, which turns a perfect wedding into a white-knuckled flight of doubt and regret. All this leaves the brave but bewildered groom, Peter, (David Sackel) to reverse the curse armed only with the power of love and, eventually, the assistance of the persona-switched bride and crasher. Got all that?

Willie Clark and Al Lewis were once a successful vaudevillian team.  After eleven years of not speaking they are reunited to perform a once-famous sketch for a television comedy retrospective. Their resentful, rollicking reunion brings a flood of memories, miseries and laughs as they seize an opportunity neither can afford to miss.

In keeping with Artistic Director Ed Shea's avowed goal of staging less cynical plays, 2nd Story Theatre in Warren is offering the stage version of the 1971 cult film classic HAROLD AND MAUDE by Colin Higgins, who wrote both the screenplay and this stage version, If you have never seen the film version, which starred Ruth Gordon and Bud Cort, you should get yourself over to Warren; if you have seen the film, you might want to go by a ticket to see what director Kevin Broccoli hath wrought. This production features some fine performances, a couple of almost magical special effects, and a story that is so dated it's current again. As Maude, charmingly played by Isabel O'Donnell, explains to Evan Kinnane's Harold in the second act, 'A cliche today is a profound truth tomorrow, and vice versa.' Somebody say, 'Amen.'

Your intrepid correspondent saw two plays this weekend, Andrew Case's THE RANT at the Gamm Theatre in Pawtucket and NEIGHBORHOOD WATCH by Alan Ayckbourn Upstage at 2nd Story Theatre in Warren. Each of these plays dealt a violent death at the hands of the police. THE RANT is a powerful, drama about the dark recesses of murder and unknowability, while NEIGHBORHOOD WATCH is a light-hearted romp through the dark recesses of middle-class paranoia. I enjoyed them both very much, but then I'm middle-class with dark recesses of my own.

According to Artistic Director Ed Shea, the two most frequently produced playwrights at 2nd Story Theatre are Moliere and Charles Busch: apparently these people like to laugh. The current offering from Busch is the outrageous DIE, MOMMIE, DIE, which is running in rep with I HATE HAMLET thru August 28. Charles Busch is shameless enough to write plays in which he can play the leading lady. He does not hold back-this is campy, frankly sexual, insightful, absurd and hilarious.

We've all heard 'You can't go home again.' Or how about 'Home is where the heart is'? At this time of year, it's 'Home for the Holidays.' The idea of home, what and where it is, is a powerful theme throughout all types of artistic expression, from paintings to books to stage plays. It's a universal theme that anyone can understand and relate to. And it's at the center of 2nd Story Theatre's holiday season production of Horton Foote's The Trip to Bountiful.

If there was an award for Rhode Island's current busiest man in show business, one of the nominees would absolutely have to be 2nd Story Theatre's Ed Shea. The company's Artistic Director is currently performing in the Downstage production of Freud's Last Session. Last night, in the Upstage space, he made an appearance and gave the curtain speech for Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None, which he directed. During his visit upstairs, Shea spoke about summer stock theaters and how they once dotted the landscape in these parts. No longer as much of a presence as they once were, they featured a certain kind of theater experience, something lighter, more whimsical and fun than the weighty, thought-provoking works seen throughout the winter months. That sense of offering something entertaining and fun permeates his entire production of Christie's play, a perfect summertime treat of mystery and murder, tempered with the right amount of wit and whimsy.

The two shows currently playing at 2nd Story Theater in Warren, RI were not originally scheduled as part of this year's season. They are both replacement shows, chosen by Artistic Director Ed Shea, who is quoted as saying that he wanted audiences to "have fun" and leave the theater "feeling joyful." Though I haven't seen the show playing in the DownStage space, Shea has certainly achieved that goal with the UpStage production, Becky's New Car, a play that, regardless of some faults, provides an evening of undeniable entertainment.

The 2nd Story company very ably presents this character-driven, dialogue-heavy piece, and under the smart direction of Mark Peckham, 'Dancing at Lughnasa' unfolds plainly and naturally.

Typically, summer theater is a place for big, bright, fluffy musicals. Most summer stock theater companies fill their seasons with bright, cheerful musical theater extravaganzas, which is not a bad thing, not at all. Musicals can be a perfect lighter, summertime entertainment. On the other hand, it's also nice that some theaters provide an alternative to the typical summer theatrical fare. One such theater is 2nd Story Theatre in Warren, which is offering a unique pairing of shows. 2nd Story's 'Murder in Rep,' features not one but two murder mystery plays. But like any good murder mystery, there's a twist. The first show is Mousetrap, an Agatha Christie mystery which is also the longest running play in history. The second show, The Murder Room, is actually a spoof of thrillers just like the one it's sharing the stage with.

Although we might like to believe that things are black or white, one or the other, they almost never are. There are many shades of gray and variations in between. And it can be a blurry distance between two extremes. A fine line between, for example, sane and insane. Who's to say what its crazy and what isn't? And who gets to decide what to do about people deemed to be at the wrong end of the spectrum? Few plays examine these issues with such depth, pathos and clarity as Dale Wasserman's One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, adapted from the novel by Ken Kesey. The play, originally performed in 1963, received Tony awards when it was revived in 2001. It also spawned a movie version in 1975, famously starring Jack Nicholson, which won multiple Academy Awards, including Best Picture.

Daphne du Maurier's classic, haunting novel Rebecca is an ambitious project to recreate on stage, but 2nd Story Theatre does the tale justice with a smart, well-paced and engaging production.

2nd Story Theatre's performance space has been transformed into Manderley, an isolated mansion on the windswept Cornish Coast, for its production of Rebecca, the stage adaptation of Daphne Du Maurier's famous novel, set for tonight, July 6 through July 29, 2012. Get a first look at the production in the photos below!

Louise was trying to get a glimpse of the King as he passed in a parade when a loose knot and gravity conspired to drop her undergarments to the ground.

Director Ed Shea keeps the authors' light touch on heavy issues in this comedy that plays at the Warren, RI theater through February 15th

The Warren, RI theater finishes up it summer with a light, breezy comedy

David Lindsay-Abaire's madcap comedy plays at the Warren, RI theater through June 8th

Moieses Kaufman's Gross Indecency: The Three Trials of Oscar Wilde will be presented at the Bristol Statehouse through October 28th.