Most often, theatre happens. Audiences take their seats, and the house lights go dark. A curtain may rise, or actors take the stage and tell a story. We watch as the story unfolds. But there are those all too rare instances where the storytelling involves the audience. The set design envelops the theater. The sound design, lighting design, and props are tactile. The performance becomes a sensory experience, and when it is done well it leaves a perceptible impression.
ERA’s new production of ROMANOV FAMILY YARD SALE is a spectacular multi-sensory theatrical experience. You are invited to shop the Romanov family’s trinkets, and everything must go! Director, set and sound designer Lucy Cashion, composer cinematographer, and sound designer Joe Taylor, lighting designer Denisse Chavez, Costume designer Marcy Wiegert, and the rest of the technical crew create a realistic intimacy between actors and audience. The audience meets the now irrelevant members of the Romanov family, up close and personal, while you shop the personal treasures of the former Tsar and Tsarina, their cousins who were executed by the Bolsheviks.
Courtney Bailey’s quirky script and the Romanov cousins are brought to delightful life by Lucy Cashion’s storytelling and magnificent direction. Working with an ensemble of actors who disappear into their roles long before the curtain rises, she tells of a family who aspires to the ideals of American capitalism and freedom. The oppressed Russian peasants dream of opportunity with skewed visions of capitalism, religious freedom, independence, life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Bailey’s script, Cashion’s direction, and the ensemble vanishing into their roles strikes chords of American patriotism between their fantasies and a quaint and very funny rendition of the “National Anthem.”
The acting troupe blends together deliciously like the ingredients of a sweet and delicate soufflé. Ashwini Aurora, Courtney Bailey, Maggie Conroy, Miranda Jagels Felix, Adam Flores, Cassidy Flynn, Celeste Gardner, Anthony Kramer, Alicen Moser, Ellie Schwetye, Kristen Strom, Joe Taylor, Rachel Tibbets, Chrissie Watkins, and John Wolbers create a very tasty ensemble that feeds the audience a daffy, decadent dessert of a tale. They splendidly create loveable characters while navigating Cashion’s intricate choreographed blocking. Credit the cast, accent and dialect coach Keating, costumer Marcy Wiegert, and composer/sound designer Joe Taylor for transporting the audience back to 1919 Russia.
When it comes to plot details this review is purposefully vague to avoid spoiling any of the “funny bits.” ROMANOV FAMILY YARD SALE has as many laughs as the stuff the family is trying to purge. While there is always “another funny bit,” the story works because the audiences’ hearts beat in unison with their new friends the Romanovs. It is an immersive theatrical experience that is oddly patriotic and filled with wit, charm, silliness, and a little melancholic bittersweetness. After visiting the ROMANOV FAMILY YARD SALE I want to grab my family and friends and drag them by the nape of their necks to meet the Romanovs and shop their treasures.
ROMANOV FAMILY YARD SALE continues at Kranzberg Black Box Theatre through July 20, 2024. Get there, meet the family, laugh with them, and shop. You never know what treasured tchotchke awaits that you just cannot pass up. Click the link below to purchase tickets.
PHOTO CREDIT: Jason Hackett
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