Reviews / past productions
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by William Shakespeare
A comedy about love, friendship, betrayal, and a dog
poor tom productions, the only all-male Shakespeare Company in America, puts the focus back on Shakespeare’s language, stories and characters. By making collaboration between the director and the actors the center of our endeavor, poor tom creates productions of coherence, simplicity, power and joy.
May 21 – 25, 2008 Wed–Sat 8 pm; Sat–Sun 2 pm
Urban Stages Theater
259 West 30th Street (between 7th and 8th Avenues)
Tickets: $15.00 Call SmartTix 212-868-4444
Artistic Director: Joe Plummer
Director: Moritz Von Stuelpnagel
Lights: Lauren Philips
Choreography: Susannah Millonzi
Production Manager: Therese Plummer
Press: The Markoff Group
Stage Manager: Kate August
With: Noel Joseph Allain, Eric Michael Anderson,* Jimmy Davis, Rightor Doyle, Greg Hildreth,* Danny Deferrari, Vayu O’Donnell,* Joe Plummer,* and
Philip Taratula
*Denotes member Actors’ Equity. This is an Equity Approved Showcase.
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AS YOU LIKE IT
Inaugural production, 2007
Backstage Feature click here for pdf
Downtown Express
"Moritz von Stuelpnagel is a fine shaper of Shakespeare, staging the work with a becoming simplicity and leading the cast into a quietly confident, comfortable playing style."
"Most productions get bogged down in the prestige and reputation of the Bard, and end up with stuffy plays that would only appeal to English professors. Production company poor tom, in its way, has put on one of the most respectful Shakespearean adaptations in recent memory - they aim to entertain. poortom is all-male, as Shakespearean productions orginally were, meaning that not only are we allowed to laugh at the dudes in dresses, we're supposed to."
–Ryan Vlastelica, L Magazine
“The clever staging choices and small venue make the whole production feel homey, almost participatory. As old as the play is, in poor tom's hands it's new, and it's easy to feel proud of them when it succeeds.”
–Sam Thielman, Backstage
"With its crowd-pleasing buoyancy, all will make you laugh. [As Rosalind], with a performance that explores all the joys, fears and foibles of love, Gratton's performance makes the heart leap."
–offoffonline.com