The Overwhelming

The Overwhelming
By J.T. Rogers
Produced at the Contemporary American Theater Festival
Directed by Ed Herendeen
Reviewed by Tim Treanor

“When, in the history of the world,” the cynical American bureaucrat Woolsey (Michael Goodwin) asks Professor Exley, (Lee Sellars), new to Rwanda, “has there been a country with a foreign policy based on ‘It’s the right thing to do?’”

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A View of the Harbor

A View of the Harbor
By Richard Dresser
Directed by Charles Towers
Produced by the Contemporary American Theater Festival
Reviewed by Tim Treanor

“The rich are different from you and me,” F. Scott Fitzgerald once told Ernest Hemingway. “Yes,” Hemingway growled back. “They have more money.”

Stick Fly

Stick Fly
By Lydia R. Diamond
Directed by Liesl Tommy
Produced at the Contemporary American Theater Festival
Reviewed by Tim Treanor

Atop a stack of books in the summer home living room of the übersuccessful Levay family is The Audacity of Hope by Sen. Barak Obama (D. Ill.) The choice is significant:

Wrecks

Wrecks
By Neil LaBute
Directed by Ed Herendeen
Produced by the Contemporary American Theater Festival
Reviewed by Tim Treanor

Edward Carr (Kurt Zische) is a Chicago businessman who has lost his wife. Wrecks is Carr’s preparation for the eulogy he will utter for his beloved Mary Jo, who rests in the featureless wooden casket behind him.

Pig Farm

Pig Farm
By Greg Kotis
Directed by Ed Herendeen
Produced at the Contemporary American Theater Festival
Reviewed by Tim Treanor

 Ultimately, I guess, this is a comedy. I can tell from the death scene. Pig Farm, though, looks for all the world like a modern Steinbeck story.