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Coastal Rep goes ‘Over the River’
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From left, Dominic Falletti, Dana Washington and John Martin appear in Coastal Rep’s “Over the River and Through the Woods.”
SAN FRANCISCO (Map, News) - Familiar words to anyone growing up in an Italian family. “Mangia! Mangia!” “Eat! Eat!” Members of a classic Italian family are the main characters in “Over the River and Through the Woods,” being presented by Coastal Repertory Theatre in Half Moon Bay from June 6 through June 28.
Written by Joe DiPietri, the delightful comedy premiered off-Broadway in 1998. While the author’s own grandparents are models for some of the show’s characters, the story is fictional.
The protagonist is 29-year-old Nick Christano, a single Italian-American guy from New Jersey who struggles over leaving his four grandparents to take a job promotion across the country. He asks himself, “How much do you owe those who care for you? How can you repay people for their devotion? Can it ever be enough?”
The older generation, Frank, Aida, Nunzio and Emma, isn’t shy with comments about his lifestyle, they set him up on dates and constantly beg him to eat. Still, he’s torn up about making a decision to leave.
Being of Italian descent, Dominic Falletti, who portrays Nick, feels the play has an eerie familiarity. He says, “I feel these emotions since I moved away from my family.”
He describes Nick as a very gentle person not wanting to hurt those close to him. As he learns more about his grandparents, their backgrounds, their emotions and feelings, “he realizes how much of each of these characters he has in himself,” Falletti says.
Gina Guistino, who has acted throughout the Bay Area, is playing Grandma Aida for the second time in this production.
She says, “I know this character, I grew up with these people in the Italian community in San Francisco, and I understand them totally. Grandma Aida reminds me of my grandmother and aunts. Their main focus in life is family and food. I also realize that there are people in every family like this character, regardless of their ethnicity or backgrounds. The audience will recognize these people in their own families.”
John Martin clearly identifies with Grandfather Frank, since he is also a grandparent and of Italian descent. He says, “Growing up in Brooklyn we had a very close family. My wife in the show (Aida) is exactly like my mother. Frank, who came here at age 14, is a hard-working man who considers family values the most important part of life.”
Director Paul Anable, who calls the play funny and moving, says, “I want to see it realistically performed so the audience will realize that they remember people like this family. Today we all experience our families being dispersed. They evolve, change and lead their own lives, often far away. This play is definitely contemporary, showing how the family must adjust to their situation.”
Performances are at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and 2 p.m. Sunday. Tickets are $15 to $30. The theater is at 1167 Main St. Call (650) 569-3266 or visit www.coastalrep.com.
Comments from Examiner Readers
12:06 AM MST on Mon., Oct. 6, 2008 re: "Wicked ‘Witches’"
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re: "A ‘Macbeth’ in the Macbuff"
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re: "A ‘Macbeth’ in the Macbuff"
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re: "A ‘Macbeth’ in the Macbuff"
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re: "Shakespeare’s bloodiest"
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Examiner Reader said:
GOOD
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Bessica said:
The government should get out of marriage entirely. Straight or gay, we need good family law to protect children, we need contracts for interdependent relationships. Marriage is an important institution. Rename the legal part something else for EVERYONE. Many GLBT on the site **bisexualmingle c o m** want the same-sex marriage.
8 agree | 8 disagree
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Examiner Reader said:
I thought it was a great production and both Alexa Ortega and Adam Barry were absolutely fantastic.
23 agree | 16 disagree
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Examiner Reader said:
The Government Inspector: Quite poorly done. Actors unprepared. Line delivery mishaps. Overpriced. Prop failure at the end. It reminded me of sequels such as Oceans v11 - v13, where a group of well known actors use their names to draw a crowd and sell tickets. Uk. The result is a mediocre performance, in part because of too many cooks -- and some of these cooks, e.g. Geoff Hoyle are really good. Hopefully this review will save someone else the time and money.
24 agree | 17 disagree
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Parkside Poulegene said:
Re: High School Musical I just took my daughter Sharmuta to this show and we had to leave early! When we got home I took away all her "High School Musical" CD's and tee-shirts. If she even mentions the show again she's grounded for a month, and that goes for her other mother too. This show is really racist, homophobic and pro-Zionist and pro-Bush-Terror. There's too many white people in it. This show needs to be shut down and outlawed.
18 agree | 18 disagree
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Examiner Reader said:
Thank you for the first honest review that I have read on this production. The length of Act two was tortuous to sit through.
391 agree | 337 disagree
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Examiner Reader said:
I bet the scene where Macbeth and Macduff are branishing their CLAYMORES is a hoot!
306 agree | 320 disagree
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Examiner Reader said:
Playing naked? Not really - the main character's body is covered by fur! As the reader before wrote the actor playing Macbeth is extremely hairy. It is quite strange to see how hairy a mans body can be... His body hair was the most impressing thing of the whole play.
330 agree | 298 disagree
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Examiner Reader said:
Bloody, Bold, Resolute, and Naked - AND HAIRY!!! I read an article that all actors were not allowed to shave any body hair three months before the play started to look "naturally". So it is impressive how hairy the actor playing Macbeth is - he has a furry chest and even a quite hairy back and bushy pubic hairs. It is very unusual today to see such a hairy actor fully nude, because normally an actor shaves at least his back hairs doing a nude scene on stage or in a movie... So big compliments to Daniel Eichner for presenting us his great furry body fully nude!
359 agree | 314 disagree
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Examiner Reader said:
Good review... one of the few critics able to articulate some of the problems with this show. I left at intermission and the lighting was troublesome. sometimes I wonder what the other critics are thinking --- if you are still curious fgo on Saturday afternoons when the tickets are "pay what you can."
393 agree | 351 disagree
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Examiner Reader said:
Munch claims "there is no denying" that the nudity in WSC's "Macbeth" "does little to enhance or elevate Shakespeare’s Scottish play." Well, the critics at www.PotomacStages.com and www.DCTheatreScene.com have taken the opposite view. Potomac Stages, in fact, wrote: "in no uncertain terms that this is a quality production that presents "the Scottish play" in a new and very effective light (or is that a new and very effective darkness?)." DC Theatre Scene wrote: "The actors’ nudity provides an extra dimension to their presentations...By being physically naked, these actors become emotionally naked as well. This production of Macbeth is a great gift to those who have the will to receive it. We are unlikely to see anything like it in the foreseeable future." So it seems the only thing there is no denying is that Munch doesn't speak for everyone.
411 agree | 320 disagree
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Examiner Reader said:
Tonight's performance of "Macbeth" started at 8:05 pm and was done precisely at 10:30. I'm not the best at math, but that seems like under 2 and half hours...not over 3 hours, which the critic claims the play to be.
397 agree | 362 disagree
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JaimeK said:
Shame Fat Pig wasn't given an actual review on the acting. There were some pretty phenomenal performances. Especially Erin Riley as Helen and Courtney Ryan as Jeannie. Very VERY good show.
523 agree | 411 disagree
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Examiner Reader said:
Closes in 4 days
455 agree | 406 disagree
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Examiner Reader said:
Why review it a few days before it closes and not mention its closing in the review?
446 agree | 436 disagree
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EdnBetty said:
We just returned from Titus Andronicus, the play that Kenneth Tynan called "the worst play Marlowe ever wrote". We expected gore and got it! Tsoutsouvas was also great, but Valerie Leonard was vamping it over the top. And that voice set my teeth on edge!
751 agree | 486 disagree
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Reader said:
Yes, "She Stoops to Comedy" at Woolly Mammoth is a treat!
551 agree | 470 disagree
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Examiner Reader said:
Oh, we just a-DORed this show!
578 agree | 463 disagree
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