items tagged with Kimberly Furness

The Reader's chief theatre reviewer, Thom White, saw and wrote about 52 area stage productions in 2011. I saw 39 and reviewed 12. Obviously, during our second-annual breakfast chat on the Year in Theatre, there was a bit to talk about.

Before November 26, I didn’t know much about Junie B. Jones beyond her being the main character in a popular children’s book series by Barbara Park. With that in mind, I felt I needed to enlist the help of my family’s resident Junie B. expert, eight-year-old Madison, to adequately review the Circa ’21 Dinner Playhouse’s production of Junie B. in Jingle Bells, Batman Smells. (Madison is, after all, the show’s target audience, as opposed to this 37-year-old, balding male.) I suspected that if she was pleased with the play, I would be, too.

I quite appreciate the way Kimberly Furness and Eddie Staver III work with tension, using silence, emotional distance, anger, and passionate desire, among other acting tools, to portray the intensity (or lack thereof) in their onstage relationships. Their violent, sometimes stunted, oftentimes broken, yet undeniably sensual connection in both the Curtainbox Theatre Company’s Danny & the Deep Blue Sea in 2008 and Fool for Love in 2010 was breathtaking to watch. And while their current efforts in Time Stands Still are much more subtle, they’re no less dramatic. Instead of their stunning physical work in the previous two shows, Furness’ and Staver’s performances here rely on the verbal and emotional aspects of their relationship, one superbly crafted by these gifted actors.

What happens if you give a mouse a cookie? Nothing good, if you’re the cookie giver. If, however, you’re watching what unfolds by way of the Circa ’21 Dinner Playhouse’s current youth-theatre offering, If You Give a Mouse a Cookie, it’s a delightful experience.

Erin Churchill is the reason to see the Curtainbox Theatre Company’s current production, Speed-the-Plow. Actually, that’s a bit deceptive, as it implies that she’s the only reason to see the show. Curtainbox founder Kimberly Furness’ directorial debut with her company is applause-worthy, as are the stellar performances of the play’s other cast members, Mike Schulz (a Reader employee) and Daniel M. Hernandez. However, it was Churchill’s sincerity, earnestness, and diversity that closed the deal for me, leaving me in utter awe during Saturday night’s performance.