Cutting Ball Digs up the Bone to Pick
Paige Rogers as Ariadne in Diadem at Cutting Ball
Paige Rogers as Ria in Cutting Ball's Bone to Pick
Cutting Ball Theater brings Paige Rogers back to their stage with her critically acclaimed one-hander Bone to Pick. This re-imagining of the ancient Greek myth of Ariadne and the Minotaur takes place in a diner at the end of the world. Cutting Ball Playwright in Residence Eugenie Chan penned a special one-act companion piece Diadem about Ariadne’s early days. Together they tell a gripping love story and showcase Ms. Rogers’s remarkably diverse talents.
She wears a sinuous silvery gown as Princess Ariadne for the romantic Diadem. The script of this world premiere play is filled with lush and lyrical poetry. Ms. Rogers gives due diligence to her enunciation and delivery of the lines. She dramatically and decisively finds her character at the finale when she writhes on a box and expresses her longing for her husband.
Bone to Pick takes place on a mostly bare stage against a back drop of smoky mirror panels. Lighting instruments on poles reflect in the mirrors. With a longhorn steer skull, a worn plastic chair and a mechanical cash register on the deck, Ms. Rogers plays Ria, a soiled pink waitress with bare feet and a hick accent. With her only prop a coffee pot, she mimes interactions with other characters. She introduces Theo (Theseus the lover who left her in the original myth) to the sounds of processed audio echoes.
She laments that there will be no more rib eye and beans because of the fighting, no more “sody crackers.” Just as she praises beans as “earthquake food,” explosions sound and the lights make blinding, gradually fading glare across the mirrors.
Ms. Rogers is immensely skilled at her earnest inhabitation of differing characters. Her description of the half-man half-bull is intensely personal. The faraway look in her eyes tells a vivid story. When she explains to Theseus her plan to give him a long thread and a sewing needle so he can find his way out of the labyrinth after he kills her brother the Minotaur, she is solely involved in an imaginary character on stage with her, bringing to life a form not seen. Her projected sense of resignation at the end gives personal insight to her equating “my world” with “my desert.”
Ms. Rogers confidently occupies the entire stage at the EXIT on Taylor theater in these two short plays of classical young love and post-modern satire. She explores the character Ariadne, as well as the myth, with tender care. The program not only gives new insights to an aged story, but it also gives her the opportunity to exhibit her bravura acting skills.
Bone to Pick and the World Premiere of Diadem .play through February 13 at the Cutting Ball Theater in residence at EXIT on Taylor, 277 Taylor Street, San Francisco. Tickets ($15 to $50) are available at www.cuttingball.com or by phone at 800.838.3006.
For a fuller explanation please visit www.DoctorTheater.com.
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She wears a sinuous silvery gown as Princess Ariadne for the romantic Diadem. The script of this world premiere play is filled with lush and lyrical poetry. Ms. Rogers gives due diligence to her enunciation and delivery of the lines. She dramatically and decisively finds her character at the finale when she writhes on a box and expresses her longing for her husband.
Bone to Pick takes place on a mostly bare stage against a back drop of smoky mirror panels. Lighting instruments on poles reflect in the mirrors. With a longhorn steer skull, a worn plastic chair and a mechanical cash register on the deck, Ms. Rogers plays Ria, a soiled pink waitress with bare feet and a hick accent. With her only prop a coffee pot, she mimes interactions with other characters. She introduces Theo (Theseus the lover who left her in the original myth) to the sounds of processed audio echoes.
She laments that there will be no more rib eye and beans because of the fighting, no more “sody crackers.” Just as she praises beans as “earthquake food,” explosions sound and the lights make blinding, gradually fading glare across the mirrors.
Ms. Rogers is immensely skilled at her earnest inhabitation of differing characters. Her description of the half-man half-bull is intensely personal. The faraway look in her eyes tells a vivid story. When she explains to Theseus her plan to give him a long thread and a sewing needle so he can find his way out of the labyrinth after he kills her brother the Minotaur, she is solely involved in an imaginary character on stage with her, bringing to life a form not seen. Her projected sense of resignation at the end gives personal insight to her equating “my world” with “my desert.”
Ms. Rogers confidently occupies the entire stage at the EXIT on Taylor theater in these two short plays of classical young love and post-modern satire. She explores the character Ariadne, as well as the myth, with tender care. The program not only gives new insights to an aged story, but it also gives her the opportunity to exhibit her bravura acting skills.
Bone to Pick and the World Premiere of Diadem .play through February 13 at the Cutting Ball Theater in residence at EXIT on Taylor, 277 Taylor Street, San Francisco. Tickets ($15 to $50) are available at www.cuttingball.com or by phone at 800.838.3006.
For a fuller explanation please visit www.DoctorTheater.com.
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