Ensemble Theatre, October 2001 |
||
|
photography by Rique Winston |
||
 Betsy Hogg as “Rhoda” |
||
| Excerpts from the Cleveland Plain Dealer review
“It all pays off in a big way”
“genuinely creepy” “Director Fred Sternfeld delivers a chilling second act that contracts like a cold fist around your heart” “pulse-pounding dilemmas that Sternfeld’s production ultimately illuminates” “The chills….don’t stop even after the curtain falls” Linda Eisenstein, The Plain Dealer, 2001 |
||
 Cassandra Vincent as “Christine Penmark,” Catherine Albers as “Monica Breedlove” and Betsy Hogg as “Rhoda” |
 Betsy Hogg as “Rhoda” and Tim Coles as “Colonel Penmark” |
|
| Excerpts from The Free Times review
“Ensemble’s Bad Seed a guilty pleasure”
“Director Fred Sternfeld must have intuited that his production would be opening a few weeks after the death of irony, so he directs his performers, and orchestrates the technical elements, into two hours of slice-of-life psychodrama” “successfully evokes placid mid-’50’s suburbia” “charmingly retro” “fine performances and authentic design elements” “The secret to this production’s success is the cast’s commitment to the real drama and unfolding horror” “undeniably a wicked pleasure” Marie Andrusewicz, The Free Times, 2001 |
||
 Cassandra Vincent as “Christine Penmark” and Betsy Hogg as “Rhoda” |
||
|
Cast of Characters
|
||
|
Rhoda Penmark
Col. Penmark Christine Penmark Leroy Monica Breedlove Emory Wages Reginald Tasker Miss Fern Mrs. Daigle Mr. Daigle Richard Bravo |
Betsy Hogg
Tim Coles Cassandra Vincent Charles Kartali* Catherine Albers* Wayne Merholz Joe Kerata Jean Colerider Mary Faktor Michael Regnier Mitchell B. Fields* |
|
|
*Member of Actors’ Equity Association
|
||
| Excerpts from the Cleveland Scene review
“bold, well-etched performances”
“Director Fred Sternfeld bravely resists the obvious temptation to goose this quaint relic with fey overstatement. He works with integrity…” “He delivers up a compelling time capsule” “the evening abounds in 50’s ambiance” “Betsy Hogg … acts with a frightening, iron determination, making deliberate winsomeness horrific” “Cassandra Vincent commences with the perfectly coiffured placidity of one of those TV housewives perpetually hawking home appliances and ultimately ends with the tragic nobility of Oedipus’s Jocasta” “Mary Faktor has two poignant scenes as the desperate, alcoholic mother of the drowned schoolboy. She makes her whiskey-drenched, halting agony painfully tangible throughout the theatre” “Catherine Albers … luxuriously envelops all in her madcap psychobabble” “Charles Kartali … offers a dose of trailer-park sexuality” Keith Joseph, The Cleveland Scene, 2001 |
||
|
|
||
|
Excerpts from the Cleveland Jewish News review
“an enjoyable production ”
“sinister moments” “we … feel a tingle go down our spines” “…credit director Fred Sternfeld for keeping the choked sobs from getting out-of-hand. His production is smooth, like a well-crafted episode of ‘Alfred Hitchcock Presents,’ straight out of 1955. In fact, after the plot twist at the end, you almost expect Hitchcock or Rod Serling to step out from behind the curtain, deliver a stone-faced epilogue and bid you goodnight.” “the actors are very good” “Monica Breedlove…played wonderfully by the energetic Catherine Albers” “A touching performance comes from Mary Faktor as Mrs. Daigle” “Joe Kerata … and Mitchell Fields … craft a truly chilling scene when they debate whether we’re living in the age of murder or the golden age of democracy” Benjamin Gleisser, The Cleveland Jewish News, 2001 |
||
 Betsy Hogg as “Rhoda” and Tim Coles as “Colonel Penmark” |
 Betsy Hogg as “Rhoda” and Cassandra Vincent as “Christine Penmark” |
|
|
Production Staff
|
||
|
Producer
Director Set Designer Costume Designer Light Designer Sound Designer Dialect Coach PR & Marketing Director Administrative Assistant Bookholders |
Lucia Colombi Fred Sternfeld Calvin Knight Amy Matt Chris Leja Corby Grubb Charles Kartali Pat Mazzarino Jason Davis Ruthy Friedman, Kathy Hogg |
|
|
|
||
|
A special thank you to Michael & Juliette Regnier for allowing us to take these publicity pictures on location at their home.
|
||
