Ruskin Group Theatre (Santa Monica, CA)
Ruskin Group Theatre presents Italian American Reconciliation. This sparkling, gritty romantic comedy is set against the backdrop of New York's Little Italy. Playwright John Patrick Shanley has won the Pulitzer Prize and the Academy and Tony Awards; his works include Doubt and Moonstruck.
Event summary prepared by the Goldstar Editorial Team.
I love the Ruskin, and love Shanley. Neither disappointed me in this production. John Collela was superb as usual, I saw him previously in Unfaithful, and his performance was exceptional. The rest of the actors were also well cast. Not a bad one in the bunch! You don't need to be Italian to understand this play, the feelings and emotions shown are universal. Highly recommend!!
This is a play written early in John Patrick Shanley's career. If you are a fan - as we are -of his work, the first act will be a fine example of his great talent as a dialogue writer. The second act is rather sophomoric, delivering its message in a heavy handed manner. In later work, as Shanley's writing matures, the complex morality lessons are presented in a more nuanced style. The acting is top notch and the venue could not be more cozy. We wondered how The Ruskin Theater had eluded us in the past and plan to attend more events there.
The play was fun and funny and well acted. The experience was flawed, though, by an ending that took too long to play out (following a couple scenes that felt so much like the end of the play that the audience vigorously applauded as the stage went dark for set change).
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The Ruskin School of Acting has created a non-profit theatre in the Santa Monica Airport. Actors, directors, writers, musicians, and other artists will gather to explore, perform, and celebrate contemporary plays, classic pieces and neglected works of the past in order to provide the community with world-class, ground breaking theatre.
The theater is an intimate 56 seat venue.
Website: http://ruskingrouptheatre.com/mainstage.html
Ruskin Group Theatre proudly presents a comedy that knows “the greatest, the only, success is to be able to love,” created by story teller John Patrick Shanley (whose work has garnered a Tony Award, an Academy Award, and the Pulitzer Prize). Huey and Aldo are two passionate men, who have been best friends their whole lives. Unwittingly, they set out to conquer love. It quickly becomes clear that they must first prove their manhood and reconcile with their past... through a “vampire vulture monster fiend” that Huey once married.