Reviews
Cupid and Psyche
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Pictured: James Parenti as Cupid and Erin Nelson as Psyche
Photo courtesy of Patricia Phelps (2014) |
The Other, Other Woman
When the rhyming couplets break apart into simple and honest speech, the audience takes a collective breath and holds it. The ache of love unexpressed and inexpressible. ~ A Work Unfinishing
Emily C. A. Snyder (Writer/Director) is obviously a genius. She has written a show with a large amount of characters all playing off of one another, and the weaving in and out of situations is handled with such aplomb that it's magic to watch. The script has incredibly complex-yet-wonderful structure, filled with great comedy, deep and meaningful drama, and a whole lot of heart. On top of which she has assembled an amazing cast who she's directed marvelously. Theater in the round is difficult, but the staging is engaging and the performances she's gotten ring true. ~ StageBuddy What a lovely, funny, and yet delicately punched-in-the-gut kind of evening, thanks to Turn to Flesh' s production of The Other, Other Woman, by the brilliant, prolific Emily C.A. Snyder. I couldn't stop thinking about it when I got home. While it sat very clearly and comfortably as French restoration comedy, and was created through a typical process you'd witness at the Globe - I was really struck by the intense, silent "negative space" between certain actors, which made it so much richer. Something different, even. So happy I caught this one...Brilliantly done. I hope this show gets another chance to live and breathe again sometime soon. ~ Megan Greener THE OTHER, OTHER WOMAN lives up to it's subtitle in every way: "An Emotional Horror Story Wrapped in a French Farce." The high paced antics of an entire town falling in and out of one another's beds is underscored by the unsettling choices the characters make in the name of duty and responsibility. Emily C. A. Snyder skillfully uses verse, rhyme, and rhetoric to give the script a richness which jumps off the page. This play is very playful, and it is exactly that element that heightens the devastating undertones of the script. Excellently done! ~ Monica Cross
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Pictured Clockwise from Top Left: Justy Kosek as LeBoeuf, Amanda Roberts as Madame Evolette, Joe Raik as Impetueux, and Chris Rivera as Dr. Nanti
Photo courtesy of Duncan Pflaster (2018) |
The Table Round & The Siege Perilous
As a fan of Arthurian legends, I went into The Table Round with high expectations. My expectations were not merely exceeded, they were shattered. This was a new way of looking at the legend: not glorifying the Knights of the Round Table but examining them as imperfect men who were tasked with heinous crimes against humanity. And more importantly focusing the story on the women that all get caught up in Merlin's schemes and the choices they make in order to regain a shred of agency in their lives. A magical blend of the romance and the political upheaval that Camelot represents. ~ Clinton Powell
I know the Arthur Legend, but this ain't your grandparents' version. It's something so much truer and richer and more representative of a 2019 audience. A beautiful and warm and diverse and dedicated cast of performers does an incredible job of bringing Emily C. A. Snyder's words to life. I can't even really say that they bring them "to life," because Emily's words have always had and will always have their own electricity and heartbeat. They are always gorgeous and brilliant. But in this case, there's something extra special and powerful and wonderfully, viscerally breathtaking about them. I was moved to tears by so many moments of this show, and that starts with Emily's words, and it flows through the direction (also Emily), and the wonderful performers she cast. ~ Cameron Cueva Clarke, Company of Fools
The Table Round is absolutely excellent. The cast is perfection. Emily C. A. Snyder has taken a dusty old legend and transformed it into an electric, gorgeous, and very human account of the Arthurian legend. Sex, lust for power, and dark magic all exist at the forefront of this retelling - many of its predecessors shrink away from the uncomfortable elements of the Arthurian legend. The way in which the characters in the Table Round grapple with their own darkness in the face of creating the utopic ideal that is Camelot is what makes this account so heartbreaking and so compelling. ~ Maura LeFevre
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Pictured from Left: Nick Ritacco as Lancelot, Jennifer Carter as Guinevere. Photo Courtesy of Lisa LaGrande (2019)
Pictured from Left: Chris Rivera as Tristan, Jeremy Lister as Gawain, Joe Raik as Kay. Photo Courtesy of Lisa LaGrande (2019)
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Juliet and Her Romeo
Written by Emily C. A. Snyder
Workshop directed by Lisa LaGrande Workshop Production by Turn to Flesh Productions (2019) Off-Broadway Production with Frigid New York (2020) Now, I will be the first to admit that Romeo & Juliet is probably among my least favorite of Shakespeare’s plays...Emily’s way with words is awe-inspiring. She has a way of hearing what her actors need from their characters, and putting those needs into beautiful verse that simply rolls off the tongue, and feels so truthful. And watching her explore a character from an actor’s perspective is so inspiring, because of the way I can see her fabulous mind at work. ~ Emily Rahm Witman
Seeing Juliet and Her Romeo at The Kraine, I was blown away by the performances and the writing and this incredible new piece. It definitely keeps some of the best bits of the original, while guiding the audience to new exciting revelations about the relationships we took for granted in Verona. Emily C. A. Snyder we all know is an absolute genius, but this is the first time I've had the joy to watch her light up the stage with her heart and her truth as Juliet. ~ Tessa Flannery
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Pictured: Ari Dalbert as Romeo, Emily C. A. Snyder as Juliet
Photo courtesy of Lisa LaGrande (2019) |
Richard II
"From the first line of the play, director Snyder makes her vision clear... This is a world of prisons where each character is his own jailer. Richard's coffin [is] present onstage from the first - sometimes serving as a platform, a bench, a chest of jewels, a grassy hillock - but always a reminder of where this is heading. The other principal set piece is Richard's throne - a spindly-legged gilt affair, a signal of how weak his hold on power is, even from the first. Snyder understands this acutely and crafts her production - staged in the challenging alley formation - cleanly and with little ornament, relying on the words and the people speaking them to convey the narrative." ~ A Work Unfinishing, Zelda Knapp
"Simplicity. Sometimes it's all you need to tell a story. In an age of an overabundant amount of Shakespeare companies, sticking out can be hard. But when the focus is on the text rather than the reimagining, that may be all you need to stick out. In Hamlet Isn't Dead's stripped down production of Richard II, the focus is on the language and the struggles of power. Given a modern look with a gender, age, and ethnically fluid lens, this Richard II is an examination of character. Director Emily C.A. Snyder takes the game of power to the ultimate." ~ Theater in the Now, Michael Block |
Pictured: Morgan Hooper as Richard II (Front) & Kitty Mortland as Aumerle (Back)
Photo courtesy of John Robert Hoffman (2015) |
May Violets Spring: A New Story for a New Ophelia
By James Parenti, with text from William Shakespeare
Emily C. A. Snyder: Director (2016), Verse Coach (2014) Produced by Turn to Flesh Productions (2016), Dare Lab (2014) "As I now take for granted at an Emily C. A. Snyder-helmed production, the cast is fluidly agile and completely comfortable in the world of verse, to the degree that I'd forgotten until writing this that I was taking it for granted. " ~ A Work Unfinishing, Zelda Knapp (2016)
"A gorgeous production! This is a fantastic script beautifully realized by the cast. They clearly all had such a strong command of the language and I imagine that a great deal of that is due to Snyder's work with them on telling the story. Also -- it always makes me very glad to see terrific race- and gender-blind casting for the sake of having the best people fill the roles." ~ Amanda Sayle Rinzel, Dramaturg "The direction of May Violets Spring is terrific...I was swept up in the language, the characters and plot, and found it deeply engaging, the movement graceful, the acting impassioned...[I]t was a joy being reacquainted with these characters and for dear Ophelia to have the last word for a change!" ~ Fengar Gael, Playwright "[M]any of the lines usually given to Guildenstern and Rosencrantz are here given to Ophelia and Horatio...leading to some charming early scenes with the three buddies which almost play like John Hughes (kudos to Emily C. A. Snyder as Verse Coach)." ~ BroadwayWorld.com, Duncan Pflaster (2014) |
Pictured: Sandra Williams as Gertrude (Left) and Cristina Madero as Ophelia (Right)
Photo courtesy of John Robert Hoffman (2016) |
King Lear
By William Shakespeare
Directed by Emily C. A. Snyder Produced by What Dreams May Co. and Queens Shakespeare (2016) "[T]hough King Lear is full of battle and bombast, this production finds its strength as its characters approach closer to their quiet, inner humanity." ~ A Work Unfinishing, Zelda Knapp
"It amazes me how much shifting just a few characters to female, making the cast about evenly split between men and women, changed the feel of the play! Lear cursing Goneril with infertility was especially poignant in this way, as was having Lear's fool played by Cordelia's actor." ~ ShowScore, Claire Gilligan "[This] production, set in the wintry twilight of Imperial Russia, features a female Lear, who recalls not only Catherine the Great but also some of Shakespeare's own ferocious female rulers like Queen Margaret. The power of the text is preserved, and particular themes strike the ear anew, as in Lear's excruciating curse on Goneril’s womb: “Hear, nature, hear; dear goddess, hear!/ Suspend thy purpose, if thou didst intend/ To make this creature fruitful!/ Into her womb convey sterility!” This is hard to hear in any production of Lear, but when Lear is Goneril’s mother it makes me think more of the family tree Lear is stunting by cursing away her potential grandchildren." ~ First Things, Alexi Sargeant |
Pictured: Kitty Mortland as Lear and Samantha Leigh as Cordelia
Pictures courtesy of Ryan Smith (2016) |
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"While this may have only been a reading and not a fully staged production, it was so freaking polished, bursting with talent, and utterly hilarious - I was crying from laughter at one point. Playwright Emily C. A. Snyder presented a sister play to Shakespeare's The Comedy of Errors, one with two pairs of unbeknownst sister twins running around parallel to the shenanigans of Shakespeare's comedy, and pursued by a disgraced Malvolio who's now turned detective after his last spate with twins. This was a delightful romp that absolutely deserves a fully staged rendering." ~ Zelda Knapp, A Work Unfinishing
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