highlights from local critics reviews - (click link at bottom of each review to read complete review)
Click here for more information on this production that runs through March 4th.
"...Thomas Gibbons' Permanent Collection is a provocative play that focuses on racial issues, art, and the difficulty some people have when confronted with change. It is incredibly well written and balanced and never truly takes sides...iTheatre Collaborative's smartly directed production features an exceptional cast who deliver refined performances....Gibbons' script is rich with detail, full of fiery dialogue, and ripe with realistic situations that show there are, as one of his characters states, "two sides to the race card." ...The plot plays out with plenty of twists and a lot of nuance that will make you constantly question if, in fact, any of the characters are actually "right" in their views as accusations of racism, lawsuits, and heated confrontations fill the air. Director Charles St. Clair has assembled a talented cast led by T.A. Burrows and Bill Chameides who are superb...Burrows' passionate delivery... and his assured take on North, firmly puts us on his side. Yet Chameides' soft spoken portrayal...and the sheer love he evokes in Barrow's devotion for the foundation and the artwork also make us believe his views and beliefs are valid. How can we side with both of these men and their divergent beliefs? ...Mitch Etter is wonderful as the rich, eccentric Morris...As the two women caught between North and Barrow, Carrie Ellen Jones and Ryan L. Jenkins are both smart and savvy in their portrayals of, respectively, the reporter who prods and provokes the two leads and fans the flames of racism and North's dutiful young assistant who feels that she is being played by both sides....Chris W. Haines' clean set design poses five large blank walls which are transformed by Hussein Mohamed's lighting and Elle Broeder's media design into a swirling whirlwind of art. The costumes by Rosemary Close perfectly evoke the characteristics of the individuals. Just as any great piece of art can make you see things differently, Thomas Gibbons' Permanent Collection may make you question your beliefs as it challenges your perceptions on race, ambition, control and revenge. " -Gil Benbrook, Talkin' Broadway (click here to read the complete review)
"...Artistic discrimination is the metaphor for racial discrimination in Thomas Gibbons' hard-hitting Permanent Collection... now on stage at iTheatre Collaborative. ....Charles St. Clair wields his directorial brush with an acute sense of the layers of meaning in Gibbons' script and the tempo required to draw out the colors and textures of each character's emotions. His actors follow suit with the requisite shades of mood and intensity. Christopher Haines's replication of a stark and neutral gallery is the perfect canvas on which to contrast the alarming perspectives on race and tastes.
Gibbons is a righteous provocateur. He leaves unanswered the question of who among the protagonists owns the truth. He discloses, however, the logic and intractability of their positions by granting each act-opening monologues that are explosive, revelatory, and chilling reminders of the forces that perpetuate the racial divide.... " - Herbert Paine, Broadway World (click here to read the complete review)
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