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Friday
July 22, 2005
SGN.org
Volume 33
Issue 29

Saturday, Jul 04, 2009 09:23

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A zippy, sly & dark play The Violet Hour totally entertains

A zippy, sly & dark play The Violet Hour totally entertains
by Rajkhet Dirzhud-Rashid - SGN A&E Writer The Violet Hour Directed by David Hsieh Starring Emjoy Gavino, Jeffrey Grimm, Andrew Peterson, Shawn J. West and Amber Wolfe Repertory Actors Theatre at Richard Hugo House Through August 7 The stage is filled with reams and reams of paper. Two men discuss the future of these papers within the walls of what turns out to be a publisher's office. One of the men is a publisher, only he hasn't yet published a manuscript, and now he's been presented with the dilemma of having two manuscripts that demand to be published. The two authors demand this vexed publisher to make their book the seminal work issued from this room of paper, and this is how the audience is brought into the witty and observant dark comedy The Violet Hour at Richard Hugo House, another gem mounted by Repertory Actors Theatre. The play, which stars Jeffrey Grimm as the publisher perplexed as to which manuscript to publish when both his "on the down low" lover (Amber Wolfe) and his best friend from college (Andrew Peterson) give him their new works, with hopes he'll publish them. The difficulty is that he can only publish one of them due to a lack of funds, and he wishes he knew what was to come so he'd pick the "right" one, a problem he and his assistant Gidger (Shawn J. West) discuss, until the appearance (though we, the audience never see it, we can hear it's gears going offstage) of a mysterious machine changes everything. Suddenly John, (Jeffrey Grimm) finds himself reading a "novel" that tells him exactly what's coming in the future, as well as the fates of his friends, and a few secrets about his "dusky love" (Wolfe, giving a shining performance) that he wishes he didn't know. As the paper continues to spew from this unseen machine, and reveal facts about what's coming, John finds himself with an even bigger dilemma, do nothing an let lives be ruined, or try and change the future, if that's even possible. All I can say is go see it for yourself, and see if you can answer my friend's question at the end of the play. Do things change, because one act by John's Black lover, Jessie (Wolfe), seems to snap time back to the beginning, before the machine gave John information he didn't ask for, or is time irreversible, no matter what happens? You be the judge, and enjoy the show. For information on tickets and times, call (206) 364-3283, or go online to either www.reacttheatre.org, or www.ticketwindowonline.com.