Cast for The Tempest Announced

Iowa City - For the past two years, Fourth Room Theatre has produced a free outdoor Shakespeare show. Hopefully, you had the chance to catch Cymbeline in 2013 and Much Ado About Nothing in 2014. The annual event has quickly become one of the go-to theatre events of the summer. This year, they will present The Tempest. The cast is listed below. Most notably, director Rachel Howell has cast the male role of Prospero with a female, Theatre Cedar Rapids' artistic director, Leslie Charipar.

4th Room Offers Shakespeare Workshop

Coralville - Fourth Room Theatre is pleased to announce a workshop for youth aged 15-21, to be held March 21, 2014 at 1 p.m. in the Schwab Auditorium of the Coralville Public Library. Led by local theatre educator James E. Trainor III, this class will explore the text and performance of Shakespeare for young actors. Students will analyze and perform scenes, gaining a deeper understanding of the language and imagery. This workshop is offered FREE to the public. Space is limited, so please register via email to genevieve@fourthroomtheatre.com.

Workshop leader James E. Trainor III has been teaching theatre to young actors since 2006. He has a Bachelor of Special Studies in Playwriting from Cornell College. He helped develop the Just Right for Me program at TCR, which is designed specifically for actors on the autism spectrum. During the week he works as a Special Education Associate for the Iowa City Community School District. He will be assisted by Rachel Korach Howell, Fourth Room founding member and director of this summer's Free Classics production.

WHAT: Youth Shakespeare Workshop
WHEN: March 21, 2014, 1-4 p.m.
WHERE: Coralville Public Library
COST: FREE

Red Is a Work of Art

By James E. Trainor III
Photo courtesy Fourth Room Theatre

L-R: Richard Glockner, Matthew James

Cedar Rapids - There's a small print of an old Rothko hanging near the circulation desk in the library at West High. Whenever I walk past it, I find myself trying to imagine what the students think of it. Do they feel drawn in, madly curious about who the man was and what he meant by this? Or do they merely give it a cursory glance while Facebook loads, and then go back to their phones? To me, the carefully arranged rectangles of color seem out of place, archaic, desperately alone, in need of perhaps a paragraph of text off to the side explaining, giving them context. I often feel this way with the Abstract Expressionists: I feel left out, like I missed the joke, like I'm not smart or sensitive enough to "get" it. It makes me wonder: are we losing something irreplaceable when a great master dies and his work begins to fade? Or are the next Rothkos wandering the halls of our high schools this very moment, thinking in movements and forms we can't even dream of?

In John Logan's Red, which deals with the death and birth of art movements, we have Rothko resurrected to explain his work to us. In Fourth Room's production, directed by Angie Toomsen, Rothko (Richard Glockner) sets his assistant Ken (Matthew James) center stage and explains to him how the paintings work. It's through James' character work that we see the effect of Rothko's paintings and his pontifications; Ken, bored and irritated at the onset, grows first tense, then excited, then chatty and enthusiastic as the master describes his masterpiece. Through Glockner's work we see that Rothko is equally excited; as he ages and watches the world outgrow him, he desperately needs someone to understand why art matters. This theme of the passing of the torch, and the push and pull of different generations, is very prevalent in Red, and some careful relationship work from Glockner and James makes it effective here.

Red Opens November 13

Waterloo/Cedar Rapids - Fourth Room Theatre, in collaboration with Waterloo Community Playhouse, Theatre UNI and UNI Department of Art, presents Red, John Logan’s Tony Award-winning drama about the legendary painter, Mark Rothko.

UNI Acting Professor Richard Glockner portrays Rothko
Matthew James is his assistant, Ken
Angie Toomsen directs with scenic design by Scott Olinger

Much Ado About This

By Meghan D'Souza
Photo by Len Struttman

Hannah Spina, Rachel Korach Howell, and Genevieve Heinrich

Iowa City - With the end of summer nearing, I've found myself looking for more reasons to spend the evenings outside. Those final hours of a summer night, when the sweet-scented humid air cools down as the sun kisses the horizon goodnight has always been a favorite of mine. Toss in a picnic and a beautifully executed classic play performed under the umbrella of aging trees, and I'm in heaven. Fourth Room Theatre offered such an experience with their performance of Much Ado About Nothing on the lawn of a gorgeous brick home, the front porch serving as the backdrop to the play.

Much Ado About Nothing Opens August 15

The Cast of Much Ado About Nothing
photo by Len Struttman

Iowa City - Fourth Room Theatre presents William Shakespeare’s romantic comedy, Much Ado About Nothing, at 901 Melrose Avenue, a beautiful, secluded outdoor space near Kinnick Stadium, on August 15-17 (Fri-Sun) & 21-23 (Thu-Sat) at 7:00 p.m. Tickets are FREE. Fourth Room Theatre requests you make a reservation by calling or texting 319-214-3375 or emailing info@fourthroomtheatre.com with your name, preferred date, the number in your group, and number of vehicles in your party.

Fundraiser for Fourth Room's Free Shakespeare Production

Iowa City - Last year, Fourth Room Theatre, with the help of our great volunteers and donors, mounted our first annual free outdoor classics production, William Shakespeare's Cymbeline. It was a success!

Cymbeline helped us bring new audience members to theater - many of whom went from seeing our show to seeing other shows in the area. Some even joined up and now volunteer themselves. We received wonderful feedback and praise that our show made Shakespeare fun and accessible to many people who hadn't ever enjoyed it before. And many lauded the whole experience - theater under the sun and stars - as magical.

Free classics make our vibrant cultural area even brighter!

This year, we plan to continue this community tradition with our second installment - Shakespeare's beloved romantic comedy, Much Ado About Nothing! With Much Ado, we hope to further grow our audience and support for this idea. A free production every year.

See the Indiegogo video here.

Auditions for Much Ado About Nothing

Iowa City - "Fourth Room Theatre will be producing William Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing for our Free Classics Production this summer!

Following the success of last summer's magical Cymbeline, Fourth Room will return to the same idyllic outdoor setting with Shakespeare's classic romcom, Much Ado About Nothing.

Auditions will take place:

Saturday MARCH 22 from 12pm-3pm
and
Sunday MARCH 23 from 12:30pm-3:30pm

in the Schwab auditorium at the Coralville Public Library.
So mark your calendars!!

Stop Kiss Delivers Electric Highs and Lows

by Genevieve Heinrich
Photos by Rob Merritt

Rachel Korach Howell as Callie (L); Brooke LeWarne as Sara

Coralville — The moment when friendship turns to courtship can be difficult to pinpoint. No matter how many significant glances you share, how many prolonged touches, you can never truly know the content of another's heart. The challenging solution: to love yourself enough to take the chance. Stop Kiss follows Callie (Rachel Korach Howell) as she finds that courage twice over.

It seems at the outset that the two interwoven narratives of past and present trace inverse arcs. Somehow, the elements of Fourth Room Theatre's production combine to draw them parallel. Though the end brushes against the beginning in terms of linear time, the plotting and pacing are elegant, and the single story, told by the company with commitment and joy, shoots like an arrow through the piece.

Stop Kiss at the CCPA

Coralville - Fourth Room Theatre presents Diana Son's Stop Kiss at the Coralville Center for the Performing Arts August 29th, 30th and September 5th through 7th. All shows begin at 8:00 PM.

Callie, a savvy New Yorker, and Sara, a recent Midwest transplant, find a new friendship quickly escalates into a scintillating and unexpected attraction. A hesitant first kiss unlocks deeper desires, but also triggers a violent attack and a sequence of events that changes their lives forever. A New York Times “Best of the Year” pick and winner of the GLAAD Media Award for Best New York Production, Stop Kiss is an evocative, funny play about personal discovery, vulnerability, and the perils of living a full life when personal truths challenge the fearful.




Directed by Kehry Anson Lane, Stop Kiss includes Rachel Howell and Brooke LeWarne as Callie and Sara and rounds out the cast with Rip Russell, Katia Maxey, Rob Merritt, and Eric Burchett.

Tickets are $15 and $12 for students and seniors. Tickets are available at the door. Purchase tickets online or call the Coralville Center for the Performing Arts at (319) 248-9370.

(Source: Fourth Room Newsletter)

Staged Reading of Stop Kiss

Iowa City - "FOURTH ROOM THEATRE PRESENTS A FULLY STAGED READING OF AWARD-WINNING STOP KISS BY DIANA SON, Sunday, July 7th at 2:00 p.m. in the downstairs common room at Old Brick (26 E Market St., Iowa City - at the corner of Market and Clinton).

Just two blocks from the Pentacrest, STOP KISS is a chance to add a little stirring and provocative theater (and air conditioning!) to your Iowa City Jazz Fest weekend!

A GOOD BYE TO OTTAVIA!

STOP KISS also marks the final Iowa City production for Fourth Room core and founding member, Ottavia De Luca. Please come help Fourth Room see her off to new adventures, including refreshments after the show! (We’ll supply the tissues! Sniff!)

ABOUT THE PLAY

Callie, a savvy New Yorker, and Sara, a recent Midwest transplant, find a new friendship quickly escalates into a scintillating and unexpected attraction. A hesitant first kiss unlocks deeper desires, but also triggers a violent attack and a sequence of events that changes their lives forever. A New York Times “Best of the Year” pick and winner of the GLAAD Media Award for Best New York Production, STOP KISS is an evocative, funny play about personal discovery, vulnerability and the perils of living a full life when personal truths challenge the fearful.

"There's so much that is vital and exciting about STOP KISS…you want to embrace this author and cheer her on to other works." —NY Daily News

“A thoroughly modern story that uses a gay romance to point out the unexpected places that love can take us.” —Curtainup

“Manhattan growls like an underfed pit bull in Stop Kiss, a sweet, sad and enchantingly sincere play . . . Falling in love with New York or in New York is risky. Only the brave need apply.” — Ben Brantley New York Times

Directed by Kehry Anson Lane, STOP KISS features Rachel Korach Howell and Ottavia De Luca as Callie and Sara, joined by a cast of area talent.

Tickets are free, but donations accepted. Donations will help fund a future fully mounted production of STOP KISS."

(Source: Fourth Room Newsletter)

Cymbeline Soars

Kelly Garrett as an Apparition

By K. Lindsay Eaves

Photos by Rob Merritt

Iowa City -- Just across the street from the sporting arena of Kinnick Stadium, audiences are invited to journey away with Fourth Room Theatre to a simpler, more intimate time. Hidden amongst the trees in a sequestered portion of Melrose Avenue, Cymbeline unfolds in a secluded outdoor kingdom where modern mysticism reigns.

Conversation With: Fourth Room Theatre

Iowa City - Fourth Room Theatre is opening the rarely-produced Shakespeare play Cymbeline this weekend, and they're bringing it to Corridor theatre-goers for free! (See more on the production in this post.) Fourth Room is a relatively new addition to Corridor theatre; in the past couple of years, they have produced Closer and Parallel Lives, both of which met with success. Recently, Iowa Theatre Blog took a moment to find out more about their current ambitious project and the company behind it. We spoke with Fourth Room core members Matthew James and K. Michael Moore, who can be seen as Iachimo and Posthumus, respectively, in Cymbeline.

Cymbeline Opens May 24

Iowa City — "Fourth Room Theatre presents William Shakespeare’s supernatural fairy tale, Cymbeline, at a beautiful outdoor estate (901 Melrose Ave.) on May 24, 25, 26, 30, 31 and June 1 at 7:00 p.m. Tickets are FREE.

The event takes place on a spacious tree-enclosed lawn near Kinnick Stadium and audiences are encouraged to bring blankets, chairs and picnics/small coolers to enjoy the experience. To help us handle parking and to adequately prepare and keep you informed of changes/rain cancellations, please make a reservation by calling 319-541-0038 or by email at info@fourthroomtheatre.com stating your preferred date, number in your group and number of vehicles in your party.

Indiegogo Campaign for Free Shakespeare Production

Iowa City - Fourth Room Theatre has announced a campaign to raise money to allow audiences to see Shakespeare's Cymbeline for free. From Fourth Room Member K. Michael Moore:

"Hello friends!

Fourth Room Theatre has embarked on a new and exciting challenge. We're doing Shakespeare's Cymbeline in the last two weeks of May! A lot of people don't know this play: it's a fun fairy tale that pulls from the Bard's other masterpieces and weaves them together in a brand new, magical way. Gods, fighting, love, evil potions, identity switches, a complex plot filled with some of Shakespeare's most beautiful (and least known) language.

Even more exciting than that, we have decided to try something new to the Eastern Iowa Area - we're going to try to put this production together totally free to the audience!

Parallel Lives Packs a Universe Into One Evening

By James E. Trainor III

Photos by Rob Merritt

Fourth Room - There's a new theatre company in the Corridor, which is always an exciting time for me. It's fun to anticipate what they'll produce, what the focus will be, to see the evolution from the beginning. The energy and passion that's needed to get such a project off the ground is infectious, and it's invigorating just to be a fly on the wall.

There are some familiar faces listed as the core company of Fourth Room Theatre - you've probably seen Bryant Duffy, Ottavia De Luca, Rachel Howell, Matthew James, Kehry Anson Lane, K. Michael Moore, Kate Thompson, and Angie Toomsen in a number of productions in the area - and a common thread that seems to unite the names listed is the sheer level of skill and commitment that goes into everything they do. Kehry Anson Lane describes the company's focus as "project-driven work;" instead of announcing a full season we'll see individual, unique productions, so keep checking back for updates on what's coming next.

It's an exciting time to be a theatregoer, yes -- but the play's the thing, so let's move on to the group's second production, the follow-up to last year's Closer: Ottavia De Luca and Rachel Korach Howell in Parallel Lives

The conceit of Parallel Lives, written by Kathy Najimy and Mo Gaffney, is to explore the lives of a number of characters in a variety of (mostly) comic situations. It's a taxing two-hander, with a lot of back-and-forth and a script that flows seamlessly from laugh-out-loud comedy to thoughtful reverie.

Fourth Room chose a space in Sycamore Mall to perform this piece (right next to Shield's Sewing). The room is large and flexible while still being intimate. A few acting blocks and some simple props create a whole world for the actors to play in, and Dylan Wheeler's simple lighting rig adds just the right amount of texture.

It's always a delight to see De Luca or Howell perform, and Parallel Lives is no exception. They work extremely well together, feeding off of each other and creating bubbles of comic energy that suddenly burst into showers of despair and sadness. Their interactions, even when silly, are crushingly honest, and it's rare to see two performers listen to each other so carefully. The timing is impeccable, whether the rhythmic frenzy of the beginning of "God," or the steady mock reverence of the hilarious performance art parody "Sister Woman Sister."

Ottavia De Luca's accent work is polished and believable -- an important detail, because Parallel Lives stretches across several ethnicities and age groups. Her physical choices are extremely specific and read well not only in the way they flesh out a character but in the way she responds to Howell; the quality of her attention to her scene partner speaks volumes, and the smallest gesture goes a long way in the storytelling. In "Kris and Jeff," the dance of college courtship is quite clear in the way De Luca's frat boy watches and responds to Howell's manic sorority girl. In "God," the young girl watches very carefully to gauge the effect of her fire-and-brimstone fantasy on her audience. Finally, her skill at pantomime is astounding, and "Silent Torture" wraps a woman's entire life into an excruciatingly dull and often painful morning ritual, without using a single prop or speaking a single word.

Rachel Korach Howell's accent work is equally well-executed, and her character choices are big, bold, and lots of fun. Howell's acting style is characterized by an abundance of courage; she throws her entire physical and emotional being into a character, a bit, or a comic overstatement. It's extremely successful in Parallel Lives, a roller coaster of a show with a variety of very colorful characters. Kris' mile-a-minute motormouth is as entertaining as Hank's drunken, repetitive country drawl, and all of it is very closely engaged with her scene partner; DeLuca is afforded plenty of opportunities for comic reactions to Howell's outrageous antics.

At the same time, everything comes from a real place of gut honesty, exaggerations or no. When Madeline -- an older woman who is discovering women's studies, organic food and performance art for the first time -- is left alone on stage to give a monologue about accepting her gay nephew, the broad character choices that made us guffaw remain, but the story suddenly gets a great deal more real. Howell has found, in this cartoon of a woman, a real person with sincere struggles, and above all a very human drive to be decent. So it is with Kris, who dares to stand up for a drag queen at Denny's... and with the pro-life woman who alternates between coming up with hateful rhetoric and wondering if her own abortion was maybe the right path after all.

For all the fun and silliness, the stakes are pretty big.

Parallel Lives is one of those pieces that draws us in with laughter, like a kid at a candy store, then sits us down in a grown-up chair and asks us hard questions. One of those questions is, "what does it mean to be women in the modern age?" It's answered in a lot of ways, from the brash swagger that shrugs off shame and bashfulness in "Period Piece" to the befuddled exploration of freedom and feminist rhetoric in "Las Hermanas," to the fatigued resignation that accompanies the grotesque grooming in "Silent Torture."

Questions of destiny and purpose are explored in "God" as characters struggle with the role of religion in their lives. The girls and women in the piece explore the idea of sin, confessing to their priests and to each other, and try to understand how the rules of the Catholic Church apply to their everyday lives. They're not sure what all this religious baggage does for them, but at the same time, they're not ready to shed it -- especially in moments of crisis. This is juxtaposed with a comic creationism in "Supreme Beings," as a couple of creative angels give us insight into why white people are so uptight and how pregnancy was invented.

Finally, the intricacies of human relationships are examined, as we see how people can provide moral support, as Gina attempts to do for her abused and neglected friend in "Annette and Gina," or how we can complete fail a person and tar a relationship, as in "Hank and Karen Sue," where a bit of playful flirting becomes something a bit more intense, a bit more scary, and a lot more sad.

None of these issues are easy, and Parallel Lives doesn't have easy answers. That's fine; part of its staying power is that it isn't polemic, and it isn't the job of art to give us answers. It's the job of art to show us -- in an entertaining way -- just how complex the questions are. This script does that extremely well, and De Luca and Howell perform it with tireless energy, serious skill, and above all the playful sense of exploration that is the driving force behind any dedicated theatre artist.

If you see only one show this weekend, make it Parallel Lives. It's everything that's right with local theatre.

Parallel Lives plays May 18 - 20 (7:30 Friday & Saturday, 2:00 Sunday) at the Sycamore Mall in Iowa City. Tickets are $12.

Parallel Lives Opens May 18

Fourth Room - Parallel Lives is a two-woman show by Mo Gaffney and Kathy Najimy, based on their "Kathy and Mo Show". Fourth Room's production, starring Ottavia De Luca and Rachel Korach Howell, opens this weekend at the Sycamore Mall in Coralville.

This is the young company's second production, following a successful run of Patrick Marber's Closer in December. Parallel Lives is a clever, fast-paced comedy that will also make you think.

From the press release:

De Luca and Howell play nearly 25 characters in this "dramatic, comedic and romantic romp [that] will leave the audience bending-over laughing and shoulder-shaking crying. The characters in the scenes range from Jersey teenagers to country western barflies to celestial beings postulating whether the man or woman should be lucky enough to give birth."

Parallel Lives runs May 18 - 20 (7:30 Friday & Saturday, 2:00 Sunday) at the Sycamore Mall in Coralville. Tickets are $12; pick them up at the door or email info@fourthroomtheatre.com for reservations.

What Are You Doing This Weekend?

There's a wide variety of theatre in the Corridor this weekend, from old classics to brand-new works, with a little holiday (or rather, anti-holiday) flavor thrown in as well.

Here's the rundown:

@Riverside
Guys on Ice continues its run at Riverside. It's an ice-fishing musical about two pals trying to land a cable fishing show. The show starts at 7:30 (2 on Sunday); tickets Here.

@The Ox Yoke Inn
Murder Rides again is Old Creamery's whodunnit with food, held at the Ox Yoke Inn. The show begins at 6; call the Ox Yoke at 1.800.233.3441 for tickets.

@TCR
Theatre Cedar Rapids continues with the hilarious Oscar Wilde play The Importance of Being Earnest on the mainstage, while down in the basement, Gross Indecency: The Three Trials of Oscar Wilde tells a darker tale of Oscar Wilde's persecution by a court that was highly suspicious of his work and his lifestyle. Earnest is on the mainstage Thursday through Saturday at 7:30 (Sunday at 2:30); Gross Indecency is in the Grandon at 7:30 Friday & Saturday. Tickets here.

@PS1
3 Brothers' Men Misbehaving is a series of bad-boy monologues that is stomping up the Corridor from Cedar Rapids to Iowa City this weekend. They'll be at Public Space One (129 E. Washington St) at 7:30 (2 on Sunday); call 319.621.0024 for tickets.

Also in Public Space on this weekend is Mud, a University of Iowa Theatre Honors Project. The play is written by Maria Irene Fornes and directed by Maria Vorhis. From the Facebook page:

"Mae is learning to read. When not at school, she irons all day and takes care of Lloyd. Mae meets Henry, and desiring his brilliant mind, invites him to live with them. Tensions in the house grow and Mae must choose between the world she inhabits and the world she craves."

The cost is free, and the time is 8 starting Thursday (tonight), and Friday. For Saturday and Sunday, the show will move to the University of Iowa Theatre Building, room 172.

@UI
While you're in the Theatre Building to see Mud, why not pop into the Next Room? Yes, the University is doing Sarah Ruhl's hit adult comedy In the Next Room or The Vibrator Play. It's an examination of the history of the vibrator, which was originally invented by Victorian doctors to cure "hysteria" in women. Ruhl's play is a bold and funny look at the sexual politics of the Victorian Age and the fear of feminine sexuality. It's at 8pm Friday and Saturday (no Sunday) in E. C. Mabie Theatre. Tickets through Hancher.

@Gilbert St. Piano Lounge
The sexy and funny In the Next Room must be the perfect show for Valentine's Day. But what if you can't stand Valentine's Day? Well, the perfect show for you might be Fourth Room's Anti-Valentine's Day Cabaret, F*CK LOVE!!! From Fourth Room's press release:

"Fourth Room Theatre presents an evening of piano and song dedicated to the misery, insanity, heartbreak, betrayal, boredom, loss, grief, unrequited passion, obsession, creepiness and sadism that comprise the dark side of Hallmark's favorite holiday.

F*ck Love features songs by C.Lo Green, George Michael, Stephen Sondheim, Adele, Dolly Parton, Willie Nelson, Burt Bacharach, Weird All Yankovic, Leonard Cohen, Chess the Musical and many others."

The show begins at 8pm. Cost is a $5 donation at the door, which goes to help fund Fourth Room's next season.

@The UU
Dreamwell continues its "Here I Stand" season with Sans Merci by Joanna Adams. It's the story of a staunchly conservative woman's encounter with her daughter's lesbian lover. The girl has recently died tragically, and as the details unfold, the two very different survivors must find some common ground. Plays Friday & Saturday at 7:30 at the Unitarian Universalist Society. Tickets here.

@Coe College
Last but not least, the Acting Company is bringing a production of Shakespeare's Comedy of Errors to Coe College. The production, directed by Ian Belknap, is a ridiculous romp playing off confusion and mistaken identity, centered around two pairs of long-lost twins. Plays Sunday at 3pm; call Coe's box office at 319.399.8600 for tickets.

So what are you waiting for? Plenty of options this weekend, so you've got no excuse. Grab your date, your twin, your imaginary brother, or your anti-Valentine's-Day anger, and get out to the theatre!

Fourth Room Theatre Breaks Into the Iowa City Scene with Closer

by Sarah Jarmon

Iowa City - I have spent the majority of my adult life dealing with relationships; my own, those that have sprung up and fallen around me, those that ought to have crumbled long before they did, and those that seem as though they will last forever. As members of the Disney generation, my fellow twenty somethings and I have been set up to fail at love from birth. Fooled by the lie of “happily ever after,” we have been particularly bruised by our own romantic ineptitude.

Fourth Room Theatre's production of Closer is like a salve to sooth those wounds. Not because it makes you feel good, this isn’t a feel good play, but because it allows you to feel as though finally someone’s willing to tell it like it is. As Larry, one of the plays two men puts it, “Thank God life ends—we'd never survive it. From Big Bang to weary shag, the history of the world. Our flesh is ferocious...our bodies will kill us...our bones will outlive us.”

This play is one of the only honest dialogues I have ever been privy to on the subject of romantic love, and as devastating as it is, one cannot help but breathe a sigh of relief that “Oh, it’s not just me. Love punishes everyone.” Director Angie Toomsen guides us through this conversation without kid gloves making neither more, nor less, of the script than it offers, letting the audience make of it what they will.

A clean stage with minimalistic set pieces and props allows us to focus on the actors who are unfailingly exquisite in their depiction of human selfishness, loveliness, and passion. The structural backdrop is the perfect scenery for this play, artfully becoming a hospital, an aquarium, a photography studio, and two different peoples’ bedrooms simultaneously through the careful placement of plain white boxes.

The shortcoming of being staged in Chait Galleries is the lack of technical flexibility. Scenes changed with an audible click when the light switch was flipped. This was slightly distracting, though happily these moments book-ended scenes, so the action flowed uninterrupted.

One scene, easily the filthiest and funniest scene in the play, was lost to some viewers on the far right side of the audience because of the technical difficulties inherent in staging an online conversation. Posts from a chat room were projected in the only viable position in the space, but nevertheless were invisible to the unfortunate few out of the line of sight. The actors in this scene were more than equal to that unfortunate situation however, upon realizing the problem they immediately began vocalizing their posts, so as not to leave anyone out of the joke.

The actors were able to do that because they were tuned in, at every moment, to what was happening around them. This is freaking breathtaking when it happens, and it almost never does. This is especially important when dealing with the kind of material this play offers.

This script, often funny, often heartbreaking, is artfully written in such a ways as to sound completely natural…if your actors are up to the task. The fact is, if put in the wrong hands this play would be plodding, painful, and slow. The characters would come off as complete jerks who don’t care about anyone but themselves. Which to some extent, they are, but only to the extent that most people are.

In the hands of this capable company, nuances were delicately realized and though the plot jumps large gaps of time between scenes, we always know where the characters are. More importantly we are able to see these people for what they are, confused, careless slaves to both their passions and the information they are given. And while it is easy to blame them for their indiscretions, it is easy to sympathize with them as well.

Ottavia De Luca is, as described, disarming as Alice, an on-again, off-again stripper with a guarded past and a cheeky disposition. It is easy to love her, this girl who scoffs at the notion of falling in love. “That's the most stupid expression in the world. 'I fell in love'—as if you had no choice. There's a moment, there's always a moment; I can do this, I can give in to this or I can resist it. I don't know when your moment was but I bet there was one.” Sexy, saucy, and determined to get what she wants, she embodies the desperate nature of young love and the incomprehensible ache of its loss.

The more mature but no less foolish Anna shows us that even once you have been burned you are no less at the mercy of your own passions. But Anna, stoically portrayed by Rachel Korach Howell, seems to be already defeated at the outset. She is strong but soft, proclaiming resistance but giving in to temptation repeatedly. When confronted she fights, but when reasoned with she relents. Howell navigates this difficult terrain with a quiet fire behind her beautiful eyes and we long for her to find what she is looking for.

The two men, Dan, played by K. Michael Moore, and Larry, delivered by Matthew James, are equally careless and tragic. Dan is, on the surface, a man who wants what he can’t have and once he gets it no longer wants it. But in reality he simply longs for perfection, a crime none of us is innocent of committing. And though his actions are often deplorable, his confliction and affection is no less evident. And when he eventually loses Alice for good, his grief is so racking that tears flowed freely from a large majority of the audience.

Larry, Anna’s husband, could be portrayed many ways, none of them flattering, but Matthew James manages to capture the redeemable pieces of this man magnificently. He is a pitiably obsessed fool who is incapable of thinking outside of himself. And yet…you want him to improve. You want him to better himself. He’s like the lecherous friend that all of your other friends hate, but you understand him, and you can’t help but want to help him.

This play is long, but well worth the twelve dollar admission. If you enjoy character driven plays with a mix of disturbing drama and wicked humor, you will love Closer. The show continues December 15, 16, 17 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $12. Seating is intimate and limited so please reserve your tickets by calling/texting 319-541-0038 or email fourthroomtheatre@gmail.com.

Fourth Room Theatre debuts with Closer

Iowa City — Fourth Room Theatre presents Closer by Patrick Marber at the beautiful Chait Galleries (218 E. Washington Street) on December 8, 9, 10 and 15, 16, 17 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $12. Seating is intimate and limited so please reserve your tickets by calling/texting 319-541-0038 or emailing fourthroomtheatre@gmail.com.

The cast includes Ottavia DeLuca (Alice), Rachel Korach Howell (Anna), Matthew James (Larry) and K. Michael Moore (Dan). Angie Toomsen directs.

Closer examines piercing ironies around truth, sexual passion, romance and the power—or lack thereof—they have to create true emotional intimacy.

Four London strangers meet by chance and become ensnared in a tangle of love, desire and brutal deceit. Alice, a beautiful erotic dancer, falls in love with Dan, an aspiring author and obituarist. Dan becomes obsessed with Anna, a photographer who takes his portrait for a book cover. Anna is involved with Larry, a dermatologist who becomes painfully—and sometimes comically—linked to Alice and Dan.

Closer is written with precision and a sort of structured elegance, but inside that structure is an explosive, sometimes beautiful, often very ugly collision of passion, emotion and jaw-dropping emotional cruelty.

“I have always felt Closer is a huge challenge for actors because the character work is all about locating humanizing and relatable territory inside things we hope we never do to each other,” says Toomsen. “The cast is approaching the piece with sensitivity and without judgment, which, I think, makes it absorbingly uncomfortable and darkly funny.”

Closer has been compared to Noel Coward's Private Lives, Pinter's Betrayal and even Les Liaisons Dangereuses. Time Magazine calls it “A bruising dissection of modern relationships” and Charles Isherwood (Daily Variety) calls it “brilliant and bracing…both bruising and beautiful, shatteringly funny and devastatingly sad.”

Closer contains adult language and situations and is not recommended for young viewers.

Closer is the inaugural project for Fourth Room Theatre, a new ensemble in the Iowa City/Coralville Area. Fourth Room's mission is to challenge, inspire and enlighten their audiences through committed and respectful collaboration in the Iowa City Area. The core company includes: Bryant Duffy, Ottavia DeLuca, Rachel Howell, Matthew James, Kehry Anson Lane, K. Michael Moore, Kate Thompson and Angie Toomsen. More information, website, and ways to get involved to come.