"...the best surprise of this production is George Drance's performance as Julian-partner at Anticline Capital, the company running the Act I retreat and the company all the young interns hope to land powerful jobs in ... Julian, a Jack Donaghy-type but, funnier and scarier, elegantly weaves on stage and off and masters the nuanced, complicated script by Cory Finley (a playwright to definitely keep an eye open for). What makes a great performance by an actor is when the actor is able to surprise. The actions make the character, but the actions don't need to and, probably should not be repeated or rather, be predictable. Julian continues to surprise and make us laugh-cringe in both acts. What's best about it though, is not just that we have the privilege of seeing an actor successfully craft a character but that we can witness the joy and fun in acting."
From Shari Perkins theatreonline review of Ellen Stewart’s “Asclepius” at the La MaMa
"Drance oozes credibility as Asclepius, making his text seem natural and believable."
Fragments of a Greek Trilogy
'Communications From a Cockroach': that typing
cockroach strikes again, poetically
By ANITA GATES
"Communications From a Cockroach," ... is original, laugh-provoking and charming to a fault. Four actors, a dozen or so puppets, the appropriately off-kilter set and an enthusiasm for treating grown-up subjects playfully make this modest one-act production a pleasure.
The show's success is also a tribute to Ralph Lee, the show's director and designer, who founded the Greenwich Village Halloween Parade and ran it in the good old days. Interpretation of this source material was probably tricky.
This adaptation by Mr. Lee and Scott Cargle ... is brought to life by a smart, skillful cast. Tom Marion operates and speaks for Archy (who can't be said to be cute, but he's not repulsive either). Margi Sharp's main character is Mehitabel. Sam Zuckerman's is Freddy the Rat. George Drance is a standout, especially as a tarantula (the multilegged stranger mentioned above) and as a cricket who drives Archy insane by constantly repeating "Cheer up, cheer up."
In a series of short sketches, Archy also witnesses a fight to the death, terrifies a sleeping couple on Long Island and visits an Egyptian pharaoh at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. In one sketch, all the puppets are beds, including a young slumber couch who won't reveal the paternity of her little crib to her father, the four-poster.
COMMUNICATIONS FROM A COCKROACH
Archy and the Underside
Based on the sketches of Don Marquis; adapted by Ralph Lee with Scott Cargle; directed and designed by Mr. Lee; producer, Mr. Cargle; associate producer, Susan Hoff. Stage manager, Walter Pagan; lighting operator, David Logan Rankin. Research by Casey Compton and Mr. Rankin; puppets and masks by Mr. Lee; costumes by Ms. Compton; music composed by Neal Kirkwood; lighting by Richard Maldonado. Presented by Here Arts Center, Mettawee River Theater Company and the Shakespeare Project.
WITH: George Drance, Tom Marion, Margi Sharp and Sam Zuckerman.
Show Business Weekly ---Review by Patrick Gallagher
The Last Two Jews of Kabul is legitimately transporting. It creates the feeling of an entire city, riddled with bullets and fear, spreading out in all directions from the tiny, crumbling synagogue set. While the turns it takes later make the characters more like specific people and less like broad abstractions
Two Jews manages to transcend the obviousness of its themes thanks to the conviction and strength of Drance and Matzs performances. Drance invests Wolf with enough wild-eyed mania to make his behavior toward the end of the play plausible and Matz convincingly portrays a humble man who is close to death and yet a remains a paragon of strength. In the first act, the play develops real momentum as the characters reveal themselves and the situation develops.
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nytheatre.com review
by Martin Denton · March 2, 2003
...What I admire most about The Last Two Jews of Kabul is its urgency; when you see it, you'll understand that Greenfield clearly felt compelled to write it. That sense of mission keeps us riveted. The production at La MaMa is spare but effective. It's directed by George Ferencz on a terrifically evocative set designed by Tom Lee. George Drance (Wolf) and Jerry Matz (Abram) do outstanding work as the title characters.
if you read romanian, this is a commentary from Peatra Neamtz, Romania about Ionesco's "The Lesson."
If you read chinese, this is from "The Trojan Women" in Taiwan