The Final Rose, by Stefanie Austin—10 Feb. 2024

The program of The Final Rose It’s always a treat seeing Sock & Buskin perform, since the company consistently produces high quality community theatre for central PA. Seeing their production of Stefanie Austin’s The Final Rose was particularly interesting for me, because—by way of full disclosure—I participated in a late stage readthrough of the script …

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Jay Hopkins and John Hunter’s The Iliad, The Odyssey, And All of Greek Mythology in 99 Minutes or Less—13 May 2023

Jay Hopkins and John Hunter’s The Iliad, The Odyssey, And All of Greek Mythology in 99 Minutes or Less (IOGM from here on out) has to be an incredibly taxing play to perform, as each of the five actors plays a multitude of roles, each demanding its own character. The actor with the fewest number …

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Moon Over Buffalo, by Ken Ludwig—29 Apr. 2023

The Sock & Buskin Theatre Company’s production of Ken Ludwig’s comedy Moon Over Buffalo was an enjoyable performance marked by excellent comic timing. Under the direction of Stefanie Austin—a co-founder of Sock & Buskin—the full force of the farce came to the fore through Ludwig’s trademark wit and series of happy accidents. Moon Over Buffalo …

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The Love List, by Norm Foster–9 Sept. 2018

The set of The Love List Norm Foster’s The Love List is a funny play about desire, perfection, and finding that special someone. Nittany Theatre at the Barn’s production, directed by Laura Ann Saxe, was an enjoyable show, though it sometimes lacked polish. The play opens with Bill—a single statistician in his 50s—and Leon—his unfaithfully …

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The Importance of Being Earnest, by Oscar Wilde, Adapted by Sterling Sax–2 July 2018

Few modern plays are more widely known, read, or performed than Oscar Wilde’s comedic masterpiece The Importance of Being Earnest. Premiering in 1895, I believe it was the most performed comedy of the 20th century. Given that repute, it is a daunting task to adapt the play, as Sterling Sax did for Nittany Theatre at …

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The Taming of the Shrew, by William Shakespeare–3 Dec. 2017

The American Shakespeare Center’s travelling troupe is consistently excellent, and their production of The Taming of the Shrew, directed by Jemma Alix Levy, lived up to that high standard. The ASC’s distinctive performance ethos is one of the major factors in their success. Their performance style is a blend of the modern and the Elizabethan, …

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