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Theater in February makes for a perfect season

One way I like to judge the theater offerings of a specific month is to think of it as being a single season of work at a single location. If a company put the group of plays on their schedule, would I buy a subscription? 

I am happy to say yes. Indeed, February in the Capital District could be a template for any theater company in the country. 

It has a classic “Hamlet” at Home Made Theatre in Saratoga, a musical “Once On This Island,” by Black Theatre Troupe of Upstate NY in Albany and a two-person comedy about collecting garbage. “Garbologist” will be at Curtain Call Theatre in Latham. 

Adding to these are “Pillowman”, an intense drama at Albany Civic Theatre, and “Heathers” a dark comic-musical offered at Cohoes Music Hall produced by Playhouse Stage. 

Too, there is the visually splendid and sensitive, “The Life of Pi”. It’s a work that stimulates the imagination and touches the emotions by using giant puppets to represent a tiger, an orangutan and a hyena, all of whom talk and philosophize with the 16-year old Pi.

They are all trapped in a life boat in the Pacific Ocean trying to survive a shipwreck. 

Adding to this bounty, we have Theatre Voices offering a free staged reading of the 1978 Pulitzer Prize-winning “Gin Game” at Steamer No. 10 in Albany.

What intrigues me is that except for “Hamlet,” most of the titles are unfamiliar to many. And, even Hamlet at HMT, which plays February 27 to March 9, is taking a risk. It has 17 roles and they have cast boldly with a female actor playing the title role. 

On the topic of risk there is none larger than “ The Pillowman” at ACT. It’s one of my favorite plays but I worry about offering too many details. Describing some of the made-up fairytales discussed in the play is more gruesome than it is hearing them in the theater. Strangely, if done right, the play can be very funny.

It’s a thought provoking piece of theater that will stay in your head for a long, long time. It plays February 14-March 12. 

Maybe it has something to do with the time of year, but even the musical offerings are not frothy. The terrible trio in the satirical “Heathers” make the clique in “Mean Girls” look like Girl Scouts. 

Because it’s produced by Playhouse Stage I will bet on the quality and the organization’s respect for their audience that any cruel actions will be played with humor. It plays at Cohoes Music Hall February 21-March 9. 

“Once On This Island” is a colorful, vibrant production that is tender and sweet as it makes its points about class and race inequities. 

It’s also sad, as the island’s gods use a young woman to settle their argument as to which is more powerful - love or death. It opens at the Capital Rep main stage this Thursday February 6 thru the 26th. 

The most light-hearted work in the month is “Garbologist” at Curtain Call. It sounds like a usual fish-out-of- water buddy comedy, but it has something to say as well. 

The plot revolves about a longtime, gruff sanitation worker being assigned a partner fresh out of an Ivy League college.

As they take their 90-minute journey to friendship they make some personal discoveries. For instance, one man’s garbage can stimulate deep feelings for those who must trash memories. It opens February 27 and closes March 16. 

“Gin Game” is the ideal choice for Theatre Voices, an organization that has been offering staged readings for 40 years. It’s about two people in a nursing home who bond over playing gin rummy with each other.

He is a grump; she is a quiet person with strong opinions. He teaches her the card game, but as he fails to win a hand, the mood changes and the audience gets a deeper insight to the hows and whys of loneliness. 

When the play opened the characters were played by the legendary husband and wife team of Hume Cronin and Jessica Tandy. At Steamer No 10 they will be played by Eileen Schuyler and John Romeo. 

The two actors are not married in life, but have an onstage relationship that covers more than 40 years at local theaters. It will be presented free of charge at Steamer No. 10 in Albany for four performances this coming weekend February 7-9.

Enjoy February, there’s a lot of good stuff going on.

Bob Goepfert is theater reviewer for the Troy Record.

The views expressed by commentators are solely those of the authors. They do not necessarily reflect the views of this station or its management.

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