Reviews: Summer Shorts 5, Series A at 59 E 59th

08/11/2011 Summer Shorts 5, Festival of New American Plays – Series A By: Victor Gluck

…the character of the alcoholic and promiscuous Maggie, played to the hilt by Maryann Towne...

http://anothereyeopens.com
Alexander Dinelaris’s “In This, Our Time” is the most ambitious play on the program,. I found Towne’s performance almost frightening in its quiet blank fury, and I was tremendously moved…”

http://www.theepochtimes.com/n2/arts-entertainment/theater-review-summer-s-5-sershorties-a-60329.html
Maggie is the most complex character in the piece. Towne does a wonderful job presenting her as an abuse victim who begs to be reminded how worthless she is, as long as she can set the parameters for such an encounter. Yet Maggie is also able to transform herself into a woman of steel when things get too tough personally.

 Finely Staged Macbeth is Full of Sound and Fury

“But it was Maryann Towne, as Lady Macbeth, who shone brightest, balancing strength with vulnerability as the wife who urges killing the king but lives to regret it.

Towne elevates and illuminates Shakespearean dialogue, and her descent into madness is both ephemeral and electric. With an arched brow, a sideways glance, or a carefully nuanced phrase. Towne exudes power and presence all night long.”

 

Omaha World Herald, June 30th 2009 Omaha.com

   

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