Review: In Rehearsal

Critic's Pick

Alison Vodnoy, senior at CCM, is one multi-talented young woman. For In Rehearsal she pulls out all her talents — unless she still has magic tricks or opera riffs up her sleeve. Vodnoy wrote this, performs it and uses her dancer’s body to do fabulous things in telling the story.

Coming onstage burdened with clothing, wearing everything she will later use for various characterizations, she proceeds to do something of a strip tease in the abstract. Cap and jacket and shirt and so forth, including a large men’s watch, are distributed on a generous coat rack, and in leotard and tights Vodnoy gets down to business.

She is Akiva, whose love affairs go wrong with regularity and whose sessions with her shrink (which we sit in on) might give him a case history to remember. Or not. If Akiva is a sort of "everywoman," shrinks must hear this every day.

We learn that true love seemed in the offing with The Drunken Director, The Repressed Republican, The Wine Connoisseur, The Married Man, even The Nice Jewish Girl. Vodnoy’s neat twist is that we not only hear Akiva’s side of the story but we also find out what the guys (and the gal) have to say.

With the aid of the props and garments from the coat rack, she takes on each character and rounds out the romantic vignettes we’ve been privy to via Akiva’s telling. These love affairs went off track for predictable reasons but are saved from being commonplace by Vodnoy’s witty take on the matters. I confess to being over-tired of the quest for perfect mate, since what one offers is not perfection in itself. Come on, girl: Nobody’s perfect. Not even your charming character who carries the show.

In common with all these searchers, Akiva wants someone to accept her as she is but doesn’t seem to extend that courtesy to the lover. She is, however, very funny in her search.

I hope this is a work in progress, because its bones are excellent. A little trimming, sharpening, paring down — especially in the appearances of the lovers — will make it a truly polished show.

— Jane Durrell

Comments

[A New Alison Fan]

I disagree with the Citybeat reviewer who said that "In Rehearsal" is a work in progress with excellent bones. This show is BRILLIANT, and I have already recommended it to several of my friends.

We agree that Alison is a highly talented actress, but the reviewer sells her writing short. Akiva is a fascinating character because she is NOT perfect; in fact, she blows it with the one guy who truly loved her, and gave him the same disregard she complains about with her other romantic interests.

Alison's writing is insightful and humorous. In a world where love goes wrong because people don't really understand human nature, she shows us that she not only understands it, but can portray it to us with compassion for her flawed charactes, and the zeal that make truly great theatre.

Brava, Alison!

[GeorgeSapio]

Quite a show. I enjoyed Alison's story and performance very much; she is a very animated and engaging actor with a sharp sense of humor and a spot-on delivery. One could easily sympathize with Akiva's journey; her longings bring her to places both absurd and dangerous, as with the married man, but I'm guessing many of us have been there...perfection only works as an ideal, and only experience/age truly reveals this. Her take on the various types of men that Akiva dated and sought perfection from could work against itself, as "types" tend to not have individual depth; I may have been more emotionally engaged if I had seen more character work in these characters.

[An Already Existing Alison Fan]

Ms. Vodnoy was completely in her element as a writer and performer. I was truly inspired as another Fringe artist and thrilled at the depth she provided for each character (yes, I'm contradicting the above comment). It was so evident that Alison was completely playing against type particularly in her Republican character. She humanized such a negative person so flawlessly that made me think "Yeah, Republicans might have hearts too." Love this girl!