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<div class="gmail-article_header"><h1></h1><h1><span style="color:rgb(255,0,0)"><span style="font-family:tahoma,sans-serif"><span style="font-weight:normal"><i>The reviews are in. Don't miss final week of . . .</i></span></span></span><br></h1><h1>Schenectady Civic Players’ An Inspector Calls is a work of art <font size="2">(THE ALT)</font><br></h1>
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<span class="gmail-story_byline"><strong><a href="http://thealt.com/author/amy-durant/" title="Posts by Amy Durant" rel="author">A<span style="background-color:rgb(255,255,0)"><span style=""></span></span>my Durant</a></strong> | <strong>Monday, January 29 2018</strong></span>
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<p>For those who work in theater, one of the hardest decisions is
play selection. Theaters love to do new work, but many theatergoers are
more apt to attend a show with name recognition – either a show or a
playwright they know. Theaters need audiences, but get tired of doing
the same types of shows.</p>
<p><span style="font-weight:400">But what if you could take one of
these older works and completely transform it? Get the audience in the
door on name recognition, then give them the show they were planning to
see in a way they’ve never seen it (or even thought of it) before – but
without changing the script (which is a copyright issue, of course?)
You’ve got a happy audience, a happy theater company, and you’re not
just putting on a show. You’re making art.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight:400">Director Patrick White has created a work of art with his production of </span><i><span style="font-weight:400">An Inspector Calls</span></i><span style="font-weight:400"> at Schenectady Civic Players.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight:400">Framed as a theater group putting on a
show on an empty stage in 1945, an inspector (Angelique Powell) shows
up at Mr. and Mrs. Birling’s (Emmett Ferris, Kim Wafer) home on the day
they’re celebrating their daughter Sheila’s (Josie Smith) engagement to
Gerald (JR Richards.) The inspector tells them a young woman (Carmen
Lookshire) committed suicide, then through a pointed interrogation,
makes them realize they each had a connection with her – and that they
may be responsible for her death.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight:400">The empty stage, first, is a stroke
of genius. This is a drawing room mystery, right? Wrong. The show could
be anywhere, at any time. There are very few props or set pieces; the
actors – and the utterly lush and gorgeous period costumes by Beth Ruman
– are the centerpiece here, with no distractions. White’s stage
pictures, as always, are perfection – I’m always a fan, but I think this
is the first time they’ve taken my breath away. Additionally, the
flashback scenes are pure poetry.</span></p><div class="gmail-adcontainer">
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<p><span style="font-weight:400">White has put together a strong cast
for the piece, bringing together both new and familiar actors to the SCP
stage in nontraditional casting. Powell, whose strength on stage is
rivaled by few in the area, is inspired as the inspector; her fire and
passion to bring justice to the young victim seem as innate to her as
breathing. Wafer is chillingly cold and calculating as the matriarch of
the family; Marquis Heath, whose performances always bring me joy, is
perfect as the disaffected Birling son. Lookshire, whose role is largely
in flashbacks (and three beautiful songs – what a voice!) stole the
show without a single word of her own, haunting the shadows in her icy
blue dress, reminding the family of their misdeeds.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight:400">The question of how to keep theater
fresh in a world of diminishing audiences is a constant one. Go watch
this show for the answer. This is how to put on a performance that
everyone will want to see and everyone will be enriched having seen,
where the line between new and old play is so blurred it might as well
not be there.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight:400">“An Inspector Calls,” </span><i><span style="font-weight:400"><a href="https://www.civicplayers.org/an-inspector-calls">Schenectady Civic Players</a>,
12 South Church Street, Schenectady; through February 4; $20; Run time:
2 hours, 15 minutes with a 20-minute intermission; (518) 382-2081; </span></i><a href="https://civicplayers.org/"><span style="font-weight:400">civicplayers.org</span></a></p><p><a href="https://civicplayers.org/"><span style="font-weight:400">
</span></a></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 10pt;line-height:115%;font-size:11pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif""><a href="https://civicplayers.org/"><span style="background-color:rgb(255,255,0)"><span style="font-size:14pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Final
performances of<b><i> An Inspector Calls </i></b></span><span style="font-size:14pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">are Wednesday through Sunday (January 31 through February 4).<span> </span>Wednesday and Thursday curtains are at 7:30
pm., Friday and Saturday curtains are at 8 pm., and Sundays are matinees only
at 2:30 pm.<span> </span><span></span></span></span></a></p><a href="https://civicplayers.org/"><span style="background-color:rgb(255,255,0)">
<span style="font-size:14pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Tickets are $20.<span>
</span>Order on-line at </span><span style="font-size:11pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif""></span></span></a><a href="http://www.civicplayers.org" style="color:blue;text-decoration:underline"><span style="font-size:14pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">www.civicplayers.org</span></a><span style="font-size:14pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif""> </span><span style="font-size:14pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span> </span>Or call (518)
382-2081 .</span>
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