Photo by: Angie Kane Ferrante
Kirsten Knisely (left) of Dearborn is part of the talented ensemble in “Raise the Red Banner: Or, Let the Rebels Have Their Fun” at the Abreact Performance Space in Detroit. Steve Xander Carson (second from left) of Detroit and Jonathan Davidson (right) of Ferndale are also in the cast. For more information call (313) 454-1542 or go to www.theabreact.com.
By SUE SUCHYTA
Dearborn actress Kirsten Knisely shines in the side-splitting satirical comedy “Burn the Red Banner: Or, Let the Rebels Have Their Fun” by Michigan playwright Franco Vitella at the Abreact Performance Space at 1301 W. Lafayette in Detroit.
FAST COMEDY WITH A COLD WAR TWIST
The show is a rapid-paced, physical comedy with a Cold War twist that also features the talents of Steve Xander Carson of Detroit, Jonathan Davidson of Ferndale and Keith Kalinowski of Ann Arbor.
SNL MEETS THE IRON CURTAIN
The show is directed by the talented Frannie Shepherd-Bates, who is also the artistic director of the Magenta Giraffe Theatre Company. The performance runs without intermission and contains about 45 fast-paced scenes, which mix the physical and satirical comedy of shows like “Saturday Night Live” with Soviet bloc cold war fatalistic satirical humor.
COMRADE COMEDY
The talented ensemble brings the show to life, and will have you grinning and laughing throughout the show. It’s one of those things that you just have to experience to appreciate, because you are up close to the actors in the small performance space where much of the laughter is generated by their physical antics, expressiveness and company chemistry.
PERSISTENT PLUMBER, COSMONAUT
Imagine a suicidal man interrupted by a persistent plumber, or a comrade bartering for toilet paper in a dry goods store. Another scene features a stubborn man trying to stare down a cat, followed shortly by a pair of cosmonauts mimicking the G-forces of a space launch. The humor is visual and dark, but not too serious – the Soviets are fatalists but not to the point of extinction.
MASHA, MASHA, MASHA
Chekhov is an odd but endearing reoccurring theme – substitute Masha for the Brady Bunch’s Marcia and you get the idea of just one of the many threads they tug to tickle your funny bone.
CUBISM
The cast uses flexible wooden cubes (like giant building blocks) and a side table of props to move rapidly from one scene to another, adding hats and scarves and the occasional odd items, noises and lighting.
NOW HEAR THIS
Clever sound efforts add to the imagination the actors so ably employ.
The comedy is both sophisticated and down-to-earth; it moves quickly, and relies on wit as much as physicality. It is very funny, and it is like nothing I’ve ever seen before.
CAST CATS
Two cast cats also move randomly throughout the audience, oblivious to the noise on stage and amenable to petting, so if you are allergic to cats be forewarned. They are friendly, though: one rubbed up against my pant legs enough to make my own cat smell enough of a foreign feline on me to make her act as though I had been cheating on her.
RAISE THE RED BANNER…
The remaining performances of “Raise the Red Banner” are at 8 p.m. on Feb. 17, 18, 24 and 25, with a 4 p.m. Feb. 19 matinee.
… OR LET THE REBELS HAVE THEIR FUN
The Abreact Performance Space’s mission is to be a platform for up and coming Detroit area actors, directors and designers, and offers “an off-Broadway approach to contemporary theater.”
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