"This is no industry showcase unless, of course, these people are completely out of their minds."
Steven Leigh Morris on Brad Mays' acclaimed and controversial 1997 production of
Euripides' The Bacchae which was nominated for three LA Weekly Theatre Awards
including Best Director.
3 DEGREES OF CONNECTION
Lewes is the oldest town in Delaware established in 1631. It is a coastal rural community which has significantly evolved over the years. 3 Degrees of Connection is a feature documentary by director Brad Mays telling the story and history of Lewes through a series of interviews with residents engaged and involved in the changing face of the town. From a farming environment, to a fishing industry, a retirement community, and a growing tourist destination; this film addresses the changing population, landscape, economics, environmental issues and social impacts Lewes had and will continue to endure.
Gentrification is depicted as a once-populated black community is pushed out for new residential projects and commercial pursuits. Environmental concerns such as drainage, flooding, and preservation of wetlands are also addressed and discussed.
Stories from residents about music, sports, education, and racism convey their up-bringing and add a nostalgic touch and important conversations which must be preserved and remembered.
TWO TRENTONS
Two Trentons: An American City Speaks is a story of a changing East Coast City directed by Brad Mays. This feature film from the USA depicts the ups and downs of a city that has transformed despite its past and known reputation. From a small town, to a bustling city during the industrial revolution, to a modern-day decline – a renaissance of multiple community actors gravitate to rebuild and invigorate a city with culture and the arts.
Activists, musicians, artists, politicians, entrepreneurs, community members, and planners embark on a mission to uplift Trenton and create new opportunities for all residents. With a history of violence and criminal activity in the city, criminal justice reforms, rehabilitation of released felons, and assistance to the needy are incorporated in programs and projects to assist high-risk individuals. Collaboration and communication amongst the education system, religious groups, non-profit organizations, and government are supported and highlighted in multiple interviews from various sectors.
The irony of urban renewal is exposed as new buildings and institutions are built at the cost of previous behavior, displaced populations, and traditions such as music and jazz clubs. Advocates share the challenges and positive results of their work and efforts, as well as the need to stay focused and work together for a common goal.
Two Trentons: An American City Speaks is about hope, promise, and the rebirth of a community and her residents as they create a better future. Brad Mays is a very important director...I think Brad is one of the most important directors, especially for documentaries, working today.
(Will Espero, Global Nonviolent Film Festival
(Will Espero, Global Nonviolent Film Festival
TWO TRENTONS
(L.A. Parker, The Trentonian
Mays does an incredible job bringing the city to life, garnering interviews with over fifty people along the way as activists, artists, musicians, business people, politicians, homeowners and many others speak.
L.A. Parker
The Trentonian
TWO TRENTONS
"TWO TRENTONS FEATURES INSPIRING STORIES AND CHARACTERS"
Two Trentons – An American City Speaks begins with a gun shootout that took place at the annual Art all Night Festival on June 17, 2018. The night time chaos, police officers arresting people of color and the mayor trying to calm the city is all too familiar. Thus, the drama seems ready to reveal a city that could easily succumb without healing all the societal cracks below. So thinking a delve into the depths is about to begin, the film goes on the upswing with an introduction to the Trenton Arts Community ensues. Coffee shops and Cool jazz people, Trenton definitely has got a vibe.
The characters talk a good game and so does their sound. Mindy Thompson Fullilove is an author/psychiatrist who offers insight about a public policy that yielded cultural decimation. “In all the neighborhoods I visited that experienced urban renewal there were jazz clubs, and the jazz clubs for the most part were destroyed.” Affecting 995 cities across the nation, according to the good doctor, and of course, Trenton was one. Now, that stings, and so does the rap duo from, A Mankind Destination. “Trenton, that’s where all the violence was. It wasn’t until I became more socially aware that I was missing a way bigger picture. I came to that through the arts and grew as a person,” revealed the lead singer.
Fullilove then ‘brings it back around’ and returns us to the South Bronx in the 70s. A NYC policy called “Planned Shrinkage” withdrew fire stations from black communities and neighborhoods literally burned out of existence. So the young people living this anguish found that rhythm and blues was inadequate to express their pain. “They invented a new art form. They invented rap,” Fullilove revealed. A mind-blowing tie in.
Still, the movie seems to get back on track as the inseparable issues of incarceration and mental illness are raised. Of course, the tandem goes hand in hand with racial injustice, and the tragic triumvirate is reiterated by the film. In turn, we are introduced to both victims and community initiatives that are making a difference. The players tell their stories, and while they are to be acknowledged and commended, the droning feels akin to an over indulgence.
The film reengages again with a discussion of the wealth gap and how the destruction of the middle class decimates across the board. The upper class expanding their political power base, according to Brandon Castro, Executive Director of the Work Environment Council, they avoid paying taxes, and the shrunken middle class cannot pick up the slack. “When this happens municipalities and states tend to go broke,” lamented Castro.
(Rich Monetti, Take2IndieReview
A CLOCKWORK ORANGE
(LA Production - 2003 - PICK OF THE WEEK) THEATRE
"What most distinguishes director Brad Mays' faithful production of Anthony Burgess'
stage adaptation of his own novel is Mays' casting of a female, V.C. Smith as Alex,
the juvenile delinquent narrator. By choosing an androgynous teenage-looking woman of
slight build to play the lead, Mays empahsizes the tender age of the 15-year-old
antagonist. Smith could be the bad-seed offspring of punk-rock goddess Patti Smith,
with her diminutive stature, intense glare and badass swagger. She's convincingly
pathological as the firecracker who goes absolutely berserk, beating up and inspiring
awe in guys much larger than himself. With a psychopathic army of "droogs" (Ricky
Coates, Michael Holmes, Sterling Wolfe), Alex orchestrates his "horror stories," which
include crippling a middle-aged writer (Pab Schwendimann) and brutally raping his wife
(Mary Elizabeth Barrett). Alex ends up in the slammer after murdering a fiesty old
woman (Dee Amerio Sudik), then undergoes thereputic treatment that will make him "good"
and buy him an early release. But in seeking freedom from imprisonment, Alex gives up
freedom of choice. Mays' visceral, fast-paced multimedia show brings into stark relief
the Freudian struggle between the primal self and the civilized self for domination over
the human spirit. The director deftly conveys the horror of violence by subjecting the
audience to an onslaught of images of war, torture and hardcore porn projected on seven
TV screens."
- LA Weekly
"In the Ark Theatre Company's multimedia production of Anthony Burgess's A CLOCKWORK
ORANGE...seven video screens spew a relentless montage of animated Japanese porn, violent
news clips, live-action porn, and archival footage as Alex and his droogs rape and
brutalize their way across the stage. Burgess's well-known tale of a 15-year-old
psychopath and the gang he holds in thrall is a kinetic meditation on sex, violence,
and free will. Imprisoned for murder, Alex submits to an experimental treatment to make
him physically ill at the thought of violence. In the meantime, the government enlists
Alex's old gang as especially brutal cops. Clearly, the state has uses for violence that
it can control. The exceptionally well-edited video clips induce a disorienting mixture
of disgust and arousal. As Alex, V.C. Smith is solid. The droogs are equally strong,
particularly Sterling Wolfe in a funny turn as Dim. Alex remains a monster at story's
end, but with the experiment a failure and his free will intact, he's a human one."
- City Beat
MARAT/SADE
(LA Production - 2000) THEATRE
"For a small theatre company to undertake a full-bore production of THE PERSECUTION
AND ASSASSINATION OF JEAN-PAUL MARAT AS PERFORMED BY THE INMATES OF THE ASYLUM OF
CHARENTON UNDER THE DIRECTION OF THE MARQUIS DE SADE - at the height of the holiday
season, no less - takes considerable chutzpah. Jeoffery Skelton's English version of
(Peter) Weiss' play, featuring verse adaptation by Adrian Mitchell and Richard
Peaslee's magnificient music, received a famous staging by Peter Brook and the Royal
Shakespeare Company in 1964 and helped catapult Glenda Jackson to stardom. Many of the
pulses of Brad Mays' staging at Theatre Of NOTE echo Brook's legendary original. But
Mays' staging is very much his own, an organic ensemble effort in which each character,
right down to the non-speaking roles, has been intensively choreographed and molded to
the last nuance."
- LA Times
"Brad Mays' staging of Peter Weiss' 1964 political spectacle delivers the
intellectual goods. But Mays sacrifices some of the menace to the frivolity of
burlesque elements. Nevertheless, this is an engaging production with generally
superior ensemble work."
- LA Weekly
"THE PERSECUTION AND ASSASSINATION OF JEAN-PAUL MARAT AS PERFORMED BY THE INMATES
OF THE ASYLUM OF CHARENTON UNDER THE DIRECTION OF THE MARQUIS DE SADE - With a title
this long, it's got to be good. But memories of bad productions of this esoteric
event play linger long after the title has lost its bite. Adrian Mitchell's fully
restored verse translation of Peter Weiss' 1964 play, directed by Brad Mays, helps
restore faith in the existence of good theatre. It is well performed, superbly
directed, beautifully produced, and thoroughly engaging."
- Backstage West
THE TROJAN WOMEN
(LA Production - 2003) THEATRE
"Director Brad Mays precedes his production of Euripides' indictment of war and the
ravages it inflicts on women with a clever mock-CNN broadcast on "the war in Troy,"
detailing Greece's recent triumph with its latest stealth weapon, the Trojan Horse
(a.k.a. "the Mother of All Horses.") As Queen Hecuba (Willow Hale) and a chorus of
fellow Trojan widows await their fate (as spoils of war), they mourn their dead,
lament the gods' will and vow to uphold their slain spouses' honor. Aomawa Baker
does a heartbreaking turn as Hecuba's daughter-in-law, Andromache, whose young son
is executed lest he lead a rebellion when he matures."
- LA Weekly
THE BACCHAE
"Vigorous, erotic, and ultimately haunting production of Euripides' massive play.
As the audience is seated, a chorus of 19 lithesome young Maenads, dressed in spandex
dancewear, gathers on a Spartan, earth-tone set to warm up - stretching, humming in
unison, stripping out of their tights to don loose-fitting mock-Greco tunics. Written
near the end of Euripides' life, and performed only after his death, THE BACCHAE offers
a bitter warning to any culture (including that of fifth-century Athens) too enamored
of reason; beware of repressing the mystical, sexual forces that reside within us, or
they will spew out like a volcanic eruption, burying cities in their wake. "Acknowledge
Dionysus," counsels the Chorus.
That spry, androgynous god of fertility and wine (played with a winking panache and
an ever-twisting torso by the cherubic Richard Werner) is back in Thebes, disguised
as a mere mortal - a "little faggot," to quote his archrival, King Pentheus (T.J.
Ryan). Dionysus has a rather large chip on his shoulder, and understandably so: his
lineage has come into question, and people aren't taking him as seriously as befits
a meta-human.
So, to exact his revenge, Dionysus rouses - and arouses - his cult of women followers.
Euripides' chorus tells us of lesbian orgies transpiring in the hills, orgasmic
frenzies wherein the gals, endowed with super-human strength, rustle cattle and rip
them limb from limb, splattering bloodied bovine organs over their nude flesh.
Thoughout the empire, cities are burning.
King Pentheus, dressed in leathers, reacts with a policy born of desperation and
insecurity, banning the orgies and ordering his soldiers to arrest as many
participants as they can track down. His arguments define the essence of
authoritarianism...militarism, actually, dressed in the mantle of reason, of
hostility to whatever cannot be logically proved or understood. Add to the mix
Pentheus' mother Agave (in a stoically dignified portrayal by Lynn Odell), who is
seriously toying with the idea of joining those sexy ceremonies in the hills.
Pentheus has Dionysus arrested and brought captive before him. The God plays along
for a while, enabling the two to engage in a little chat, with Pentheus perched on
an imposing, medieval-looking throne (designed and sculpted from metal by Michael
Russell. In this context, Dionysus - so gentle, even playful - seems positively
Christ-like, bound in chains yet speaking of the freedom that resides within. If
ever there was a precursor for the Biblical show-down between Jesus and Pontius
Pilate, this is it.
After magically breaking free from his shackles, Dionysus appeals to the King's
voyeuristic impulses, inviting him to see for himself what the lusty Maenads are up
to. In Euripides' play, the climactic scene is merely described, but Mays plays it
out on the stage with a bevy of nude nymphs - now including a crazed Agave, blinded
by her passion - seducing Pentheus, stripping him naked and wooing him into their
circle before literally tearing him to shreds with a horrific feamale shriek. Later,
Agave parades around the city clutching her son's detached head, believing she has
just participated in a lion hunt. Then, finally, tragically, she realizes what she
has done.
There is much to be said for this production, particularly as regards the unsullied
motives of his creation. This is no industry showcase (unless, of course, these
people are completely out of their minds). In the best tradition of ensemble work,
Mays and movement director Kim A. Weild have infused the company with an electrifying
vibrancy. Thanks to these lightning bolts, images from Mays' THE BACCHAE linger for
days in the imagination."
(LA Production - 1997) THEATRE
"Daring! An enthusiastic spectacle...rooted in a close reading of the ancient Greek's
timeless insights into repression and its consequences. Enya meets Roger Corman."
- LA Times
"An excellent update of Euripides' The Bacchae, directed by Brad Mays, offers a
wealth of theatrical virtues not often seen on stages around Los Angeles. Skillfully
incorporating ensemble movement, music and incense, it makes visceral and real the
need to give the god of lust his due."
- LA Reader
"Narrow-minded, smug, and overly prideful young Pentheus (T.J. Ryan), the king of
Thebes, learns a lesson he soon won't forget about disrespecting the god Dionysus
(Richard Werner). Dionysus lures the resolutely impious Pentheus to his doom by
playing on the youthful king's sexual curiosity - then letting him get torn to pieces
by his madly orgying young bevy of sultry Bacchettes. In his ambitious production of
Euripides' tragedy, director/adaptor Brad Mays opts for a highly stylized approach and
comes up with some colorful and arresting images. Kim A. Weild's graceful, ritualistic
choreography - which, along with touches like incense and Peter Girard's moody music -
sets an intensely evocative, almost religious mood. Richard Werner's lithe, loose turn
as Dionysus conveys both lasciviousness and danger, and Lynn Odell's performance as
Pentheus' mother Agave possesses both dignity and a sense of madness. Kudos are also
due to make-up designer Andrew Clement, who creates what is undeniably the most
unnervingly believable severed head of the year."
- Backstage West
STAGE FRIGHT
1989 FILM
"A roller coaster of a little film...pungent and absurdly funny in its broadly
satirized commentary of the late sixties."
- Winnifred Walsh, The Baltimore Sun
"A low-cost debut feature, "Stage Fright" concerns the backstage quarrels , love intrigues, and artistic frustrations among a hard-working acting troupe within an avant garde storefront theatre in Baltimore. Greg McClure as Broderick, the theatre director, has a certain flair. Susan Rome is Lori, the one character of spirit, who leaves Baltimore to follow her star and become one in Hollywood. Marcy Emmer as Frannie scores as an eccentric, hyperactive bisexual."
- Hitch, Variety
"The most authentic evocation of 1971 I have ever seen on film."
- Wendy Lidell, International Film Circuit
"This is a good film...a necessary peek into what went wrong with the 60's
generation. Well written, fine acting, very believable."
- Baltimore Film Forum
"If a cat may look at a king, then surely a playwright may make yet another stab at the beckoning, incredible story of the wondrous adventures, accomplishments, character and tragedy of Joan Of Arc, Maid of Orleans, no matter how many and how prestigious are the plays, playwrights and actresses who have gone before, Shakespeare himself referred, scurrilously, to the French saint and national heroine as a wicked perpetrator of witchcraft and sorcery. Shaw made up for that with his deeply appealing and moving rendition enshrining Joan and humanizing her at the same time. There's always a play or a one-woman portrayal of St. Joan going on somewhere.
Now in its world premiere we have Linda Chambers' ambitious, intense and literate play at the Shakesperare Society's Globe Playhouse. It stars Rain Pryor, who is known to countless television fans across the nation for her offbeat portrayal of a non-conformist student in the TV series HEAD OF THE CLASS - and who happens to be comedian Richard Pryor's daughter, which has nothing to with the case but is the kind of thing people want to know.
Chambers and Pryor deserve credit for worthy and courageous attempts. Both are following in intimidating footsteps. Katherine Cornell and Ingrid Bergman are only two of the superstars among memorable Joans. It can't be said that either play or player sheds new light on the fascinating subject but, like the play, Pryor's Joan is clear, forthright, intelligent and distinct.
Staged by director Brad Mays, this JOAN offers an interestingly color-blind casting that is oddly effective. Phillip C. Curry stands out with contrasting portrayals, first as Baudricourt, who comes onto Joan with sexual harrasment and then some jivy lingo - "Lighten up!" and "Be my guest."He is especially impressive and well-spoken as the French prosecutor. David Raynr is contemporary and anachronistic as Joan's jealous brother; as the frivilous, childish Dauphin, he is arrestingly quirky, much like Mozart in AMADEUS, and an unlikely prospect for the French throne. Joan insists he must, and he does, become France's Charles VII.
Steve Welles is wonderfully grim and goulish as the Inquisitor. William Monaghan speaks with admirable clarity as the Church. Allan Kolman acquits himself well as the English Warick, rational man among fanatics. Robin Skye, Zoe Trilling and Tyrone Granderson Jones are Saints Catherine, Margaret and Michael, embodying Joan's angel voices. No longer the angel, red-haired pre-Raphaelite looking Skye opens Act Two with a rousingly passionate rendition of the "Farmgirl's Lament," a song by Christine Humphries and very well sung. Kathleen Pierson's electronic score is a definate asset throughout."
- Polly Warfield, Dramalogue
DRAGON SLAYERS
(LA Production 1990) THEATRE
"Human, Gothic melodrama...outrageously soap-operatic"
- LA Weekly
"A murderous cult of insane, fish-breeding puppeteers living in Berkeley? Whew!
Enchanting...not since the Three Stooges has a group of adults hit and kissed each
other so much."
- LA Reader
"The most stylish production of the season."
- Hollywood Reporter
THE WATER HEN
"This superb production of Polish playwright Stanislaw Ignacy Witkiewicz's THE
WATER HEN (Theatre Off Park, 28 East Park Avenue, 679-6283) marks the first time in
several weeks that an evening off-Broadway hasn't left me angry, bored or indifferent.
Witkiewicz, who committed suicide on September 1, 1939, as the Russians invaded
Poland, uses absurd conventions to enact a tragic universe. Man is a puppet unable to
affect his destiny. Essential human relationships are put into question, beginning
with those in the family.
In the opening scene, the protagonist is discovered pointing a rifle at his wife,
who begs him to shoot her and prove his manhood. Afraid of being alone, he hesitates
to pull the trigger but finally accedes, This murder begins the cycle of the play,
which ends with another gunshot. What happens between the bullets is an eloquent
examination of life, art and destruction, in which characters die and are revivified,
knowledge is attained and lost, and everything is in constant motion.
As Edgar Valpor, the man in search of a new life, James Curran is a powerful,
pathetic hero. Betty LaRoe's portrayal of the sirenic Water Hen is smooth and
elusive - even better for the actress' unusual, husky voice. Tobias Haller is
remarkably agile and charming as the boy who calls himself Edgar's son, James
Fleming is good as the crotch-patting, would-be intellectual Baron
DekorBova-Korbovsky, and as the object of his affections, Linda Chambers oozes
seedy pulchritude. The supporting cast - especially Richard Ladd, who makes the
most of a tiny part - play with consistent, stylish precision.
The technical staff are no less to be praised than those on stage. Mina Albergo's
graphic design, consisting of pastoral photographs and geometric drawings, provide
strong background visuals. The lighting by Pat Dignan frames the moments beautifully,
creating tableaux of memorable dramatic value. A. Christina Giannini has costumed the
cast well, particularly the Albino servants. Finally, Brad Mays holds it all together
with masterful comic direction. The messages of THE WATER HEN are many and
controversial. What Witkiewicz says about women, Jews, family and the future of the
world may rankle you, but two things are certain: You won't go away without thinking,
and you won't go away without laughing. Camus said that all great deeds have a
ridiculous beginning. The deed, for Wikiewicz, is examing our folly."
(NYC Production - 1983)
"A sensuous, mocking look at relationships...arresting. It is a testament to the director that it comes off as well as it does." - Soho News
REQUIEM
(New York Production - 1984) THEATRE
"The poignant drama of a young Irish hunger striker...Linda Chambers' dialogue,
filled with the rhythms and idiom of Irish speech is teasing, warm, natural. The
realistic and philosophic implications of the hunger striker's death are brought home
to us in this simple and well-constructed play, which is well-handled by director Brad
Mays. This timely production is a sober way to anticipated St. Patrick's Day."
- The Soho News
AMADEUS
(Baltimore Production 1985)
"Mays pulls it off...a souped-up production...commanding. The cast is tuned like a
small chamber orchestra."
- The Critic's Place PBS
"Tightly directed (with) impressive fluidity. This one will surprise you.
- J. Rynn Rousuck, The Baltimore Sun
HOWARD STERN'S NEGLIGEE AND UNDERPANTS PARTY
(1988 Pay-Per View Television Special)
"Two segments were professionally done: a film short called 'The Gay Untouchables'
by Brad Mays and a videotaped seg...in which a homeless man is given his 1st
Pay-Per-View a haircut, a shave, a bath, new suit and eventually lands a job...
genuinely funny."
- Variety
"Unlike anything you've seen on television. A (segment) called
'The Gay Untouchables' is great. Believe me."
- N.Y. Daily News
THE BACCHAE
(Baltimore Production - 1980)
"A Euripidean dream come true! Brad Mays dreamed of staging THE BACCHAE for at
least two years. Now this classic Greek drama has become reality under his direction
at the Baltimore Theatre Company. The production retains much of the excitement,
tension and passion the Ancient Greeks must have felt more than two millenia ago
during this remarkable evocation of Dionysus. Mays has combined sensitive
choreography, rock music, nudity and erotic suggestion into a stimulating production,
which lives up to the promise of this theatre founded by Steve Yeager last year. The
entire enterprise radiates a conscientious devotion to theatre which can only benefit
the community. THE BACCHAE is a profound, ritualistic work with themes which are
particularly relevant to the modern age. The focus on dance and body movement serves
this particular production well. Any serious theatregoer should find the play
worthwhile"
- Earl Arnett, The Baltimore Sun
"The most successful production of Greek Theatre I have ever seen...sensuous.
It brought Euripides to life."
- City Paper
EQUUS
"You will find no place more earnest about theatre than Lovegrove Alley Theatre.
Tucked in a Baltimore alleyway near Charles and Preston Streets, it is a tidy and
appealing space. And dead serious about theatre. Here you will find young men and
women trying out their visions. They throw themselves into productions with unchecked
intensity. They mean to be very good at what they do. They are blissing out on the
process itself. They are testing themselves, proving themselves. This month, Brad Mays
is testing and proving himself as the director and co-star of Peter Shaffer's play,
EQUUS. If you have not yet seen the stage version, you should see it at Lovegrove.
The staging is very effective.
Since I hadn't known his work, Brad Mays was not the drawing card for me. It was
Charles S. Dutton, who starred last year in Paul Berman's production of THE GREAT
WHITE HOPE at Towson State University. Dutton struck me then as a profoundly
talented actor, the kind you don't expect to see hanging around locally for long.
But he is still hanging around, and starring in Brad Mays' production of EQUUS.
Mays too is very talented. Onstage his delivery is very natural and varied. He must
be an enthusiastic director too, or the pacing wouldn't be so tight. The pacing - that
all-important element - is professional.
In EQUUS, the pantomimed horses are one of the most beautiful elements of its
theatre. You won't be able to take your eyes off Charles Leon Croxton's
self-contained grace. Effortlessly, he suggests the lythe nervousness of a leggy
colt, clomping his big hooves, arching his neck, tossing his own head on which he
wears the gilded tracery of a stallion's head."
(Baltimore Production - 1979)
"The production is as carefully crafted as Shaffer's script. The set makes marvelous
use of the theatre's minimal space and evokes an ampitheatre, a wrestling ring, and a
merry-go-round all at once. Brad Mays has directed the action so that it is brisk
without seeming rushed. He also does well as Alan Strang (an eleventh-hour
disappearence by his lead actor forced him to take on the role). Charles S. Dutton
plays Dysart with a fine balance of primness and subsurface hysteria. And, silly as
it sounds in print, Bill Fink is quite impressive as Prince Nugget, Alan's favorite
horse."
- John Strausbaugh, City Paper
THE DEVILS OF LOUDUN
(Baltimore Production - 1976)
"Corner Theatre on North Howard Street is presenting THE DEVILS OF LOUDUN, a play
adapted, directged and designed by a 19 year-old director named Brad Mays from a novel
by Alduous Huxley. I have rarely seen such ambition. Mays' production has a cast of
22 and is set in the 17th century. The hero is Father Urbain Grandier (played by
David Keltz), a randy priest who actually lived in old-time France. As Grandier
plucks his way through the garden of French maidenhood, the infamous Cardinal
Richelieu plots against him. A group of nuns manuever to get the priest alone in a
dark cloister, and young girls come to confession frequently in his moist church.
Finally, history has its way and Grandier is burned at the stake before your very
eyes. Our film clip is taken from a quiet scene in which the inquisition breaks
Grandier's knees with a sledgehammer. (Film Clip) THE DEVILS OF LOUDUN has too much in
it, but it's a real historical romance. I enjoyed it in a perverse sort of way, and it
will stay at Corner Theatre throughout the month."
- The Critics' Place, PBS
LOVERS
(Baltimore Production - 1975)
"Corner Theatre in Baltimore has an excellent production called LOVERS by Brian Friel.
LOVERS has two acts, the first about an ecstatic young couple about to be married, the
second about a frustrated husband and wife. The play moves from pastoral mood to broad
burlesque, taking satirical swipes at marriage and the Catholic church. With only a
shoestring budget, Corner Theatre director Brad Mays has successfully revised and
restructured the script. The cast is very good, very genuine in their roles. For
instance, Sharon Kerin plays the lyrical young girl. I believed her performace, the
kind rarely given in local theatre. Corner Theatre is an experimental theatre.
Experiments fail far more frequently than not, so they are all the more lustrous when
they succeed. LOVERS succeeds on all levels."
- The Critics' Place, PBS
