Samantha Cormier

To his credit, Klugheit sees the controversy as a chance to engage an otherwise piercing inquiry into our cultural obsession with physical beauty. REASONS TO BE PRETTY paints an unflinching portrait of seemingly reasonable Americans in emotional crisis -- socially well-adjusted folks who suffer from profound insecurity and power struggles. 

Subversive and riveting, David Ives's clever adaptation of Leopold von Sacher-Masoch's novella titillates and shocks, delving into mythology while blurring the line between the divine and the pedestrian. In channeling Leopold von Sacher-Masoch, Ives's stab at foreplay is piquant and dangerous. Should the playwright continue to craft erotic content, he could secure a place among the genre-defining authors alongside Henry Miller and Anaïs Nin.

So here we are with a loud reminder of our mortal limits - not to mention the 'acceptable' limits of a public joke and a brazen sexual encounter - as Ms. Feiffer regards our presumed taboos with a shrewd riposte. I'm reminded of H.G. Wells' famous denouncement of the 'irreverent laugh,' man's presumed default from the paucity of insight into the natural order of things. Yet, in the playwright's judgment, irreverence is a natural byproduct of bottled outrage. There's no place in a sane world to land a good joke about terminal cancer - but now and then, wisdom takes the form of a middle finger, and with that comes a wink of personal advantage. Halley Feiffer attempts to reveal the unpredictable guffaw on the other side of grief; you have to face the uglies head-on, is all.

Even so, what sets her apart from fellow actors is the catalog of engagements she drums up away from the spotlight. Sam (as locals fondly call her) is a gifted, do-it-all thespian: a scenic designer who thinks like a director, a choreographer who innovates posthaste, and a handywoman with a soft spot for power tools. That's not all. A buoyant charm that conspires with a quicksilver pace makes Samantha Cormier the quintessential youth leader of many a theater camp, a role she relishes during the off-season. I'm not sure there's someone more absorbed in various aspects of the theater year-round.

It begins as a strained interplay between a fretful playwright/director and a high-strung, vulgar actress desperate for an audition. No sooner had they acknowledged their unsuitable chemistry than they found themselves enmeshed in a clever pas de deux that blurs our sense of reality. It’s an intellectual dance that unearths a primal game of sexual submission and domination, echoing what happens in the novel. A compelling point of reference: “Masochism” is a word inspired by the author’s surname.

Some folks can be ostensibly sanguine in the face of disquieting global crises. Take Mark Klugheit, for instance, who is certainly attuned to the tumult of the news cycle, but whose singular antidote to the world's chaos and gloom keeps him in sober perspective: his love for the theater.

Invisible Theatre's Managing Artistic Director, Susan Claassen, announced the re-opening of Tucson, Arizona's Invisible Theatre with the official approval to reopen granted by The Arizona Department of Health Services!

Invisible Theatre is presenting the play 'Filming O'Keeffe' beginning this week.

It's been a big year for theatre in Tuscon and tuscon.com has announced its list of this year's Mac Award nominees and winners. Check out the full list below!

Arizona Onstage Productions' FOREVER PLAID is a magical, delicious pastiche, a banana split with extra hot fudge, nuts and cherries on top. It is a thinly-plotted revue of songs from the day when men's four part harmony ruled the airwaves and halls from grange to Carnegie.

Beowulf Alley Theatre's Old Time Radio Theatre Company will present classic productions and reproductions from the golden days of radio at the theatre, 11 South 6th Avenue (Downtown between Broadway and Congress). Performances in September will be Tuesdays at 7 p.m. on September 6 and September 20. Tickets purchased online at www.beowulfalley.org at least the day before a performance are $8.00. On the day of performance, tickets by phone or at the door are $10. Children 12 years and under are free. The box office phone number is (520) 882-0555.

Beowulf Alley Theatre's Old Time Radio Theatre Company will present classic productions and reproductions from the golden days of radio at the theatre, 11 South 6th Avenue (Downtown between Broadway and Congress).

On Tuesday, October 5, 2010 at 7:00 p.m., Beowulf Alley Theatre's Old Time Radio Theatre Company will present a classic production from the golden days of radio, as well as an original radio play written for us by a member of Old Pueblo Playwrights.

On Tuesday, October 5, 2010 at 7:00 p.m., Beowulf Alley Theatre's Old Time Radio Theatre Company will present a classic production from the golden days of radio, as well as an original radio play written for us by a member of Old Pueblo Playwrights.

Beowulf Alley Theatre's Old Time Radio Theatre Company will present two classic productions from the golden days of radio on Tuesday, September 21 at the theatre. Beowulf Alley Theatre is located at 11 South 6th Avenue (Downtown between Broadway and Congress). The first show is one of radio's favorite, long-running series, 'Maxwell House Coffee Time (Burns and Allen).' This episode, 'The Sam Spade Episode,' was first presented on February 10, 1949, followed by Dashiell Hammett's famous detective, Sam Spade and The Flopsy, Mopsy and Cottontail Episode, first presented August 28, 1949.

Beowulf Alley Theatre's Old Time Radio Theatre Company will present two classic productions from the golden days of radio on Tuesday, September 21 at the theatre. Beowulf Alley Theatre is located at 11 South 6th Avenue (Downtown between Broadway and Congress). The first show is one of radio's favorite, long-running series, 'Maxwell House Coffee Time (Burns and Allen).' This episode, 'The Sam Spade Episode,' was first presented on February 10, 1949, followed by Dashiell Hammett's famous detective, Sam Spade and The Flopsy, Mopsy and Cottontail Episode, first presented August 28, 1949.

As a follow up to the April production of LAST OF THE BOYS, this Memorial Day, Beowulf Alley Theatre will continue its recognition of our American soldiers' families for their shared sacrifice. Join us for a three-week run of A PIECE OF MY HEART by Shirley Lauro, adapted from the Keith Walker book of the same name. Whitney Morton will direct this poignant chronicle of the women of the Vietnam War. The cast includes Janet Bruce, Samantha Cormier, Catherine Killough, T Loving, Steve McKee, Jennifer Roberts and Maria Rallings. Recommended for ages 13 and older.

As a follow up to the April production of LAST OF THE BOYS, this Memorial Day, Beowulf Alley Theatre will continue its recognition of our American soldiers' families for their shared sacrifice. Join us for a three-week run of A PIECE OF MY HEART by Shirley Lauro, adapted from the Keith Walker book of the same name. Whitney Morton will direct this poignant chronicle of the women of the Vietnam War. The cast includes Janet Bruce, Samantha Cormier, Catherine Killough, T Loving, Steve McKee, Jennifer Roberts and Maria Rallings. Recommended for ages 13 and older.