End Days Reviews

Here are some I was able to find just tonight:

TheaterMania
"Lisa Peterson's tightly directed production is perfectly calibrated to mine the play's humor without losing sight of the complex family dynamics in Laufer's script . . . She's aided by an excellent ensemble cast. . . Tolson -- who also doubles as Rachel's drug-induced hallucination of theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking -- strikes comic gold in both of his parts."


Variety
"Two acts are too short a time to spend with Deborah Zoe Laufer's lovable characters in "End Days." The sweet-spirited script . . . brings out the best in all five performers, especially a daring Dane DeHaan. His portrayal of Nelson, a doggedly happy bullied teenager, gives the play its heart and soul. While a snide Stephen Hawking and an uncommunicative Jesus vie for the minds and hearts of the traumatized Stein family, Nelson miraculously represents the reconciliation of faith and reason."


Backstage
"Director Lisa Peterson gets smart performances from an outstanding cast and tightly shapes the play. Friedman's performance particularly shines -- his Art is sad, funny, and dynamic. Tolson's double turn as Jesus and Stephen Hawking -- who becomes Rachel's invisible pal after she reads his book -- is impressively funny. Ephraim's angry, sweet teen, O'Connell's desperate mom, and DeHaan's simple optimist are all expertly portrayed."

****

Waited a long time for these to come out, and they're good, too. I know I've been having an absolute blast working on this. Just doing my part to get the word out.

End Days at Ensemble Studio Theatre

So there hasn't been a post here in two months mostly because I have been busy working three jobs and resting in between each of them in a regenerative haze.  Soul Samurai was one of the most amazing experiences of my theatrical life, and I just wanted to shout out to everyone who was involved that we did some amazing shit together, all of us.  It was like sitting on top of a rocket.

While we were performing nights at HERE, I was shuttling back and forth during the day to Ensemble Studio Theatre where I was rehearsing Deb Laufer's amazing play End Days.  It was a series of firsts for me including working on a Sloan play (plays that get grants for productions that bring science and scientists to the mainstream), working with surgical-precision director Lisa Peterson, and operating an electric wheelchair.  Oh yeah.  

(These past months have also seen another first: me getting cut in the head with a samurai sword.  I'm totally fine, but it was a big eye-opener.  Suzette, Abby and Qui all get huge thanks for making sure everything went down smoothly.  I actually had an amazing run of luck following that incident--including booking End Days--and Kate likes to attribute it to all the attention I got from them :-)    For those of you with an aversion to stitches, humans can apparently be stuck back together with super glue.  Oh yeah.

So End Days is in previews for the next two weeks and then we open on the 30th.  I'm playing Jesus and Stephen Hawking in an inspired dual role, and the show features great actors who have done very significant work.  Just Google any of the following names and you'll find some credits that will make your jaw drop: Peter Friedman, Didi O'Connell, Dane DeHaan and Molly Ephraim.  These peeps are kicking ass and taking names.  It's an honor sharing the stage with such theatre royalty.

We run until April 19th, evening shows are at 7pm, people!

Get tickets here!