Photo by Michael Brosilow
Milwaukee Chamber Theatre "Indecent"
Elyse Edelman and Rachael Zientek in Milwaukee Chamber Theatre's "Indecent"
It was a simple romantic drama that happened to include love between two women. The fact that it debuted in Yiddish in 1906 was going to be a problem. The drama behind Sholem Asch’s The God of Vengeance powerfully resonates through Milwaukee Chamber Theatre’s production of Indecent. Playwright Paula Vogel swiftly glides through the life of a controversial drama and those lives it touched in a surprisingly nuanced production directed by Brent Hazelton. Key moments in the birth and development of Asch’s play shoot swiftly across the stage driven by some very talented and seasoned local actors.
Photo by Michael Brosilow
Milwaukee Chamber Theatre "Indecent"
Elyse Edelman and Rachael Zientek in Milwaukee Chamber Theatre's "Indecent"
Josh Krause has unwavering energy about him in the role of a young Sholem. An initial table read of the play is ridiculed by all but a humble outsider to the stage. James Ridge beams with earnest enthusiasm in a range of different moments as the outsider who is transformed by his love of the play. James Pickering summons considerable gravity to the stage in multiple roles including the overbearing father of The God of Vengeance. The play-within-the-play manifests onstage like a dream in romantic moments between Elyse Edelman and Rachel Zientek. The ensemble cascades through multiple roles as the story flits through the decades. Zientek is particularly mercurial, playing both an actress who has tremendous difficulty with English and the American actress who has been brought-in to replace her with depth and intricacy. Pickering closes. the story of the playwright on a heavy note as an aging Asch who is being contacted by a young director in the 1950s. The story of a single play’s journey through half-a-century hits some pretty bleak moments, but the love of two women keeps the drama gracefully gliding from beginning to end.
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Milwaukee Chamber Theatre’s production of Indecent runs through March 27 at the Broadway Theatre Center’s Cabot Theatre, 158 N. Broadway. For tickets and more, visit milwaukeechambertheatre.org or call (414) 291-7800.
Photo by Michael Brosilow
Milwaukee Chamber Theatre "Indecent"
Elyse Edelman, Angela Iannone, Josh Krause, James Pickering, James Ridge, Eric Damon Smith, and Rachael Zientek in Milwaukee Chamber Theatre's "Indecent"
