items tagged with Greg Goetz

On Thursday, I attended the Timber Lake Playhouse musical The Spitfire Grill, and caught another presentation of the piece – this time at the Richmond Hill Barn Theatre – the very next night. I’m actually somewhat disappointed that no additional area venues staged the show over the weekend, because even after two outstanding Spitfire Grills in a row, I would’ve happily made time for more.

The Playcrafters Barn Theatre’s take on the classic Robert Louis Stevenson adventure novel Treasure Island – adapted for the stage by Ken Ludwig – certainly kicks off with a dynamic start. Director, lighting director, and set designer Jennifer Kingry’s impressive recreation of a lightning storm is ominous and tense, as is the first scene aboard a pirate ship, and if the play’s pirates portray any sense of threat, it is in these opening minutes, as they snarl at and descend upon a perceived traitor and treasure-map thief. The storm ends, however, as does the scene, and the rest of the play lacks the excitement set up at the start.