Big love, Southern Comfort and Superstar

By Kevin Carr
Contributing Writer
Columbus Post

OPENING THIS WEEK
As part of the continuing Columbus Fringe Festival, Jonathan Barnes will perform his one-man show “Get Off My Porch” Thursday and Friday at 8 p.m. at the Short Stop Youth Center, 1066 N. High Street. Acting and writing duo Kevin Cordi and Jennie Smith examine the Pandora myth with “Pandora Revisited: Hope in All of Us,” which plays Saturday and Sunday at 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. each day at the MadLab Theatre. Visit www.columbusfringefestival.com or call (614) 470-2333 for tickets.
The Curtain Players opens their new performance, “The Trip to Bountiful” this weekend. Performances run on Friday and Saturday nights at 8 p.m. at the Curtain Players Theatre, 5691 Harlem Rd. in Galena. Tickets cost $10 and $8, and the production runs through June 12. Call (614) 470-4809 or visit www.curtainplayers.com.
Shakespeare fans get their fix this weekend as the Actors’ Theatre begins their summer in the park series with “The Two Gentlemen of Verona.” Performances are held in Schiller Park in German Village Thursday through Sunday at 8 p.m., and they are free to the public. Call (614) 444-6888 or visit www.theactorstheatre.org.

CONTINUING THIS WEEK
Red Herring Theatre keeps dishing out “Big Love,” a modern retelling of Aeschylus’ Suppliant Maidens. “Big Love” plays Thursday through Sunday and runs through June 11. Call (614) 469-0939 or visit www.redherring.org for tickets and information.
The MadLab leg of the Columbus Fringe Festival continues with Theatre Roulette, a series of rotating plays on the themes of Larceny (Thursday), Love (Friday) and Loss (Saturday). Visit www.madlab.net or call (614) 470-2333 for more information.
2Co’s Cabaret continues to bring you “Southern Comfort” through July 16. This production features sketches, one-act plays and music bringing to live the heart and soul of the South. It plays Thursdays through Saturday nights. Shadowbox Cabaret’s “Dirty Little Secrets” continues through Sunday, June 11. For an abbreviated Shadowbox show, visit the cabaret for “The Lunch Box,” a mid-day sampling of sketches and music. Visit www.shadowboxcabaret.com or call (614) 265-ROCK .
The Mayhem & Mystery Dinner Theatre serves up “Curl up and Dye” on Tuesdays at the Spaghetti Warehouse. Performances run through June 28. Visit www.mayhemmystery.com or Call (614) 464-0143 for reservations.
Finally, the Cloak & Dagger Dinner Theatre keeps killing with “Murder at the High Noon Saloon.” Call (614) 842-2583 or visit www.cloakdagger.com.

CLOSING THIS WEEK
The theatre at Otterbein College ends its run of “Jesus Christ Superstar” this weekend. Performances are on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights.Visit www.otterbein.edu/dept/thr or call (614) 823-1209for more information.
A BIG LOOK AT “BIG LOVE”
Theatre isn’t always what it seems. That’s part of its charm. So when I looked at the title of the play “Big Love,” I knew there was a catch. This certainly wasn’t going to be a sweet love story of cookie-cutter characters.
This play is a caustic look at exaggerated emotions and extreme situations. Fifty Greek sisters are fleeing their wedding, in which they are being forced to marry their cousins, who have made a mint in America.
The fifty sisters are summed up with three characters – Lydia (Allyson Rosen), Olympia (Jessica Wright) and Thyona (Sue Wismer). Lydia is the rock between the two extremes. She’s the most grounded, but can’t help but be swayed at times by the others. Olympia is the impulsive one most prone to give into her desires, and the most easily manipulated. Thyona is the fiercely independent one, and in so being, the most dangerous.
“Big Love” is most interesting when it breaks the standard plot mold and jumps into surrealism with impromptu songs or symbolic scenes.
The actors throw a strong passion behind their performances. Each one serves a distinct purpose in their role. Sometimes over-the-top, but unquestionably devoted, they bring otherwise two-dimensional caricatures to life.
The biggest weight around the shoulders of “Big Love” is a tendency to not let go of a scene, concept or joke. The show runs more than 90 minutes without a break or intermission. To their credit, the cast keeps things interesting the entire time.
“Big Love” opens a Pandora’s box of questions regarding the nature of love, the freedom of choice and relative morality. At the very least, its complexity will spark some conversation.
For tickets and information on “Big Love,” call (614) 469-0939 or visit www.redherring.org