The Professor’s Corner
by Mary Jo Caruso, Manhattanville College
Two weeks may have passed since I’ve seen All Through the Night, but details from the performance still echo in my mind, and it’s a must-see for anyone with a passion for breathtaking theatre. The director, Christopher Romero Wilson, has shaped a production that balances the shock of war with the resilience of the human race.
I had last seen CityShow actress Melissa Patterson frolic around the stage as Cecily in The Importance of Being Earnest, so you can imagine my surprise when she emerged onstage in All Through the Night as Ludmilla, the storytelling heartbeat of the war-themed production. Shirley Lauro’s script calls for Ludmilla to address the audience, and Patterson knows exactly how to do so – welcoming us into her story and weaving in her fellow women’s tragedies and triumphs.
Kathleen Boddington’s embodiment of horrific Nazi leadership is so convincing that I cringed in my seat, grateful to look to Patterson, who portrays every nuanced emotion Lauro’s text calls for.
Countering the intensity of what’s happening live onstage, Wilson imparts actual video footage from the Nazi regime. All in all, the production blends fact and fiction with a finesse and shows how fragile the human race is amidst a world of evil, but ultimately, as Ludmilla’s earnest spirit reminds us, goodness will somehow prevail.
Purchase Tickets for “Rogues Amidst the Fatherland” featuring “All Through the Night” by Shirley Lauro, and “Baal” by Bertolt Brecht..
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About CityShow
CityShow is a New York City-based entertainment production company whose mission it is to bring first-rate quality live entertainment to the multitude of intimate performance venues of the metropolitan area.
