'Night, Mother at Ankeny Community Theatre

Review: BORROWED BEATS at Ankeny Community Theatre: A World Premiere Takes the Stage

WEvery so often, a partnership in theatre can produce some fantastic results. One of those partnerships can be seen between Ankeny Community Theatre and playwright Tommy Lee Johnston. Last season they included two of his shows, 'Geezers' and 'Aura.' Over the season, Tommy Lee Johnston came to see both plays they produced. This led to something theatre companies and those involved dream about, the opportunity to produce a world premiere play. This last weekend Ankeny Community Theatre produced the World Premiere of Tommy Lee Johnston's new play 'Borrowed Beats.'

BWW Review: 'NIGHT, MOTHER at Ankeny Community Theatre: Tackling a Difficult Topic

Suicide and mental illness are issues that people have a hard time discussing. When theatres take on one of these subjects, they have to ride a very thin line about how far they can push the subject and still be excepted by their audience. Each person's reaction can be very different. Ankeny Community Theatre (ACT) is taking that risk with their production of a?oe 'Night, Mothera?? which opened on October 31. Because the topic of suicide can have different implications for each person that sees the show, I'm not going say if I felt the play tackles that subject successfully or not, but I'm going to focus on what Ankeny is doing successfully with this show.

BWW Review: KISS ME, KATE at Ankeny Community Theatre: This Production is 'Too Darn Hot'!

Over the weekend, I had the opportunity to see Ankeny Community Theatre's sizzling production of Cole Porter's "Kiss Me, Kate." Ankeny has done a great job getting the word out about this production. The tickets are hot and sold out for both the performance I was at on Saturday as well the matinee on Sunday. Not only is this production one of the hottest tickets in town, it also has amazing performances that transcend the material.