2011 Season
Hamlet: A Rock Experience
751 people turned out for Hamlet, A Rock Experience during its recent run (January 13-16, 2011) at Symphony Hall, and it was, "without question, an experience." As Kelly Huth of The Express-Times wrote, it was "unlike any other Shakespeare production I have seen. Strobe lights pulsated around the stage, the drama afoot made palpable by the blasts of Pink Floyd melodies." Morning Call critic Steve Siegel called it "first and foremost an engaging, contemporary staging of Shakespeare's play," in which "the dialogue of … Hamlet and the edgy music of … The Wall brilliantly merge[d] in a show that [was] part rock concert, part play and entirely Shakespeare."
Thank you to all who shared the experience, beginning with the audience who came to see our first main-stage production. We couldn't have done it without our hard-working board; additional volunteers helped with ushering, concessions and raffle sales. Thanks also to our host, Allentown Symphony Hall; our media sponsors, The Morning Call and WDIY, for advertising support; and to our sponsor, Allentown Neighborhood Development Alliance, funded by KNBT and PPL.
Most of all, kudos to artistic director Joshua Neth, who conceived and directed the show, and to our incredible cast, band and crew. You shared the vision and brought it to life on stage.
Thank you, everyone, for believing in this new company!
Blackbird by David Harrower
On March 18, 2011, Allentown Public Theatre opened the Lehigh Valley premiere of this Olivier Award-winner at America on Wheels Museum in Allentown. The provocative drama - featuring Laura Romano (as Una) and Robb Taylor (as Ray/Peter) and directed by Joshua Neth - raises questions yet provides no pat answers. Morning Call reviewer Kathy Lauer-Williams praised the production as "challenging and enlightening ...a fascinating study of the psyches of the two people involved."
The gripping story of their past relationship unfolds as Una confronts Ray in the break room at his job. Both actors, the reviewer raved, did "an amazing job capturing the intense and changing emotions" of their characters.
As Lauer-Williams noted, the post-show talkbacks with cast, director and experts on child abuse made this thought-provoking play "even more compelling," serving to encourage discussion, as one panelist put it, of an "uncomfortable topic no one wants to talk about." Just as sentences are left unfinished in the play like broken poetry, afterward viewers are left to to consider such matters as age of consent and the line between love and abuse.