Turns out Russian comedy isn’t an oxymoron after all.
At least, that’s what they’d have you believe at The Abreact Performance Space.
This weekend marks the opening of Burn the Red Banner: Or, Let the Rebels Have Their Fun. It's a collection of plays by Michigan playwright Franco Vitellla of Shelby Township that riff on the Russian comedy aesthetic. Excerpts from this play were presented at Magenta Giraffe Theatre Company's annual staged reading festival to general hilarity and overwhelming approval. And thus, a fully staged production was mandated.
The pieces that comprise Burn the Red Banner are performed by a small ensemble of actors who each portray several different parts in this potpourri of plays. Magenta Giraffe’s Frannie Shepherd-Bates directs this new comedy.
‘I’m incredibly excited for this play and I couldn’t ask for a better formula than Frannie Shepherd-Bates’ vision put on-stage at The Abreact to add to it,’ says playwright Franco Vitella. ‘The show finds deadpan humor in small incidences, both mundane and over the top, and I think people will find all its parts make for a sometimes disturbing and at moments awkward, but always hilarious and very much Russian experience.’
The cast includes Bonstelle alum Steve Xander Carson, Jonathan Davidson and Keith Kalinowski (who were so strong together in The Agony and The Agony) and Kirsten Knisely (La Ronde).
The Abreact Performance Space is located in Corktown – south of Michigan Ave and east of Trumbull between 8th St. & Brooklyn at 1301 W. Lafayette Ave., #113. Burn the Red Banner: Or, Let the Rebels Have Their Fun runs February 3-26, Friday and Saturday nights at 8:00 p.m. with one Sunday matinee on February 19th at 4:00 p.m. Admission is by donation. Tickets can be reserved by calling 313-285-0217 or at reservations@theabreact.com.
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