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Mark Cofta’s theater picks: An ensemble anniversary and solo premieres

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3 minute read
Terry Brennan's 'School Play' explores why school isn't for everyone. (Photo by Nick Mazzuca.)
Terry Brennan's 'School Play' explores why school isn't for everyone. (Photo by Nick Mazzuca.)

I can’t say enough good things about Tongue & Groove. This month, Bobbi Block’s unique improvisational troupe celebrates 10 years of unscripted theater with three performances at its home base, the Playground at the Adrienne. First is Ten (June 9 at 8pm), which asks the audience, “What were you doing and who were you being 10 years ago?” A week later, the Founding Members Reunion Show (June 16 at 8pm) will feature T&G’s first format, In Bed, which asks “What was your favorite moment in a bed?” with all but one of the original cast. Afterward, they’re throwing a party featuring founding member and Food Network and FX Network personality Adam Gertler, plus the samba band Unidos da Filadelfia and refreshments.

T&G revives Secrets (June 17 at 5pm), asking “What is a secret that you’re keeping, for yourself or someone else?” In addition, all audience members for Ten and Secrets will be entered in a raffle; prizes include a private T&G living-room performance for a lucky patron and family and friends. With all but one founding member returning, three new performers joining the troupe, and musical accompaniment by Carol Moog, the shows should be especially fun.

When T&G performers ask the audience a question, they distribute index cards before the show so we can write anonymous answers. They’re collected in a basket and used by actors to initiate scenes and monologues. The anonymity, as well as the questions’ intimate subjects, lead to many surprises in an hourlong unscripted anthology which, often with humor but also grounded in real emotions and concerns, results in a beautiful one-of-a-kind, never-to-be-repeated performance. I wish I could conceive dramatic situations and genuine dialogue that’s a tenth as incisive and moving as a typical T&G show.

Going it alone

SoLow Fest (June 15 through 25) returns for what might be the biggest collection of small-venue, pay-what-you-can, do-it-yourself one-person performances yet, though we can’t know how many shows are included since submissions are accepted right up until it starts. This year, the current total of experimental original one-person shows has topped 40. (Check out the BSR preview here.)

Terry Brennan has turned Tribe of Fools into a must-see Fringe Festival company with physical-theater creations like Heavy Metal Dance Fag, Two Street, and Zombies... with Guns. His solo comedy School Play (June 9 through 25) recounts his experiences as a hyperactive lonely child with learning problems and explores why traditional schooling just doesn't work for some kids. It's directed by Jack Tamburri and performed in an actual elementary school.

Actor Dan Hodge achieved great success with his one-man interpretation of Shakespeare's epic poem The Rape of Lucrece, and returns to the solo stage with a special addition to the InterAct Theatre Company season, The Dogs of Rwanda (June 3 through 18). Sean Christopher Lewis's new drama, a National New Play Network Rolling World Premiere, concerns a young missionary's experiences in the Rwandan genocide. It only plays Saturdays, Sundays, and Mondays and shares not only a stage but also powerful thematic connections with InterAct's How to Use a Knife (through June 18).

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