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Showing posts from November, 2014
A Rave for HANDLE WITH CARE Arizona Daily Star Invisible Theatre has accomplished the seemingly impossible: Found a talented Hebrew-speaking actress in Tucson. Noga Panai spent the bulk of her time as Ayelet in IT’s current offering, “Handle With Care,” speaking Hebrew. It was a demand of the role that that be her first, and almost only, language. Really, now, how many actors can you point to here that could step into that role? And step into it well? While no one else on the stage understood her character (except her grandmother in the few scenes they had), and most of the audience wasn’t sure what she was saying, Panai made Ayelet, a young Israeli who has reluctantly accompanied her grandmother on a trip to the to states, full and recognizable. This Jason Odell Williams play about fate and a search for love and meaning is slight, and excessively contrived. But this cast of four, directed with a tender touch by Susan Claassen, made
Thank you Chuck Graham for this rave review!!! This year give the holidays an ecumenical lift by taking in an Invisible Theater performance of “Handle With Care,” a sweetly charming Jewish Christmas story about finding love in a provincia l Virginia motel the night of Dec. 24, as a gentle snow falls outside on the window sill. All the magic of the seasons – both Christian and Jewish – are sprinkled throughout the play by Jason Odell Williams. Lots of good humor and some tips on Jewish religious traditions fill the animated dialogue being tossed about by Ayelet (Israeli actress Noga Panai), Josh and Edna, played by local talents Luke S. Howell and Lois Lederman. On hand to be the Southern boy who only knows what he's learned in Sunday School is Terrence (Jesse Boone), the hapless DHL driver who had his delivery truck stolen with the body of Ayelet's grandmother inside. Terrence is also best buddies with Josh, whose mother is Jewish and father is Catholic.