Articles by Davina Grace Hill

Article - Theatre Reviews; by Davina Grace Hill - 3/29/12

Colonial Players’ The Spitfire Grill

Slow change and a bit of redemption in Gilead, Wisconsin

The Spitfire Grill is a musical about redemption that isn’t preachy. Written by James Valcq (book and music) and Fred Alley (book and lyrics) it is a musical with only one dance number, albeit a very effective one. It has a comedic touch yet only a few laugh-out-loud lines. It has one powerful song about frustration, made so by the actor who sings it. Its storyline and ending are a bit contrived, yet there is charm in setting and characters. What to make of this play? ...

Article - Theatre Reviews; by Davina Grace Hill - 3/1/12

2nd Star Productions’ The Lion in Winter

Think your family is dysfunctional? You’ve not seen The Lion in Winter.

The Lion in Winter, now playing at 2nd Star Productions, is a masterful, gleeful verbal chess game. The players are intense because the fate of a nation and a family dynasty are at stake in this game of ever-changing checkmates. It is Christmas 1183 at King Henry II’s castle in Chignon, France. To celebrate the occasion, Henry has released his imprisoned wife, Eleanor of Aquitaine, for the holidays. Their three sons — Richard, Geoffrey and John — all want...

Article - Theatre Reviews; by Davina Grace Hill - 2/16/12

Colonial Players’ Chapter 2

Starting over can be very funny

Chapter 2, now at Colonial Players of Annapolis, is Neil Simon’s comedy about the blossoming of a new relationship in middle age, when starting over means stepping away from your past. Since it is Neil Simon, it is very, very funny. Simon can condense a reaction or thought into an unexpected but perfect line in a way few other authors can. Add actors and directors who bring great timing to those lines, and the audience gets a crackling good night. ...

Article - Theatre Reviews; by Davina Grace Hill - 1/5/12

Bay Theatre Company’s Becky’s New Car

A new approach to winter cheer

The writing in Becky’s New Car is very funny, the Bay Theatre actors very talented. Still, it’s all in service of making adultery funny and survivable with no damage done. Becky — wife, mother and car dealership office manager — juggles work, family, a college son still at home. She’s content except for wondering if there’s more to life. One late night at the dealership Walter enters her life. He buys nine cars on the spot, assumes Becky...

Article - Theatre Reviews; by Davina Grace Hill - 11/24/11

2nd Star Productions’ Pippin

You’ve two more weekends to grab this corner of the sky.

Pippin, a deceptively complex and challenging musical, gets a strong interpretation by 2nd Star Productions. With music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz (Godspell) and lyrics by Roger O. Hinson, it recounts a fantastical tale that ultimately comes home to rooted values. Pippin considers himself extraordinary and recoils from mundane tasks. Thus the son of Charlemagne is like many young people as he sets off to seek extraordinary accomplishments. He goes to war, enjoys...

Article - Theatre Reviews; by Davina Grace Hill - 11/10/11

The Theatre at AACC’s Cyrano

An ode to panache*

Cyrano, an original adaptation of Edmond Rostand’s 1897 classic, is given a new staging by the Theatre at AACC. The set, costumes, incidental music and minimalist staging all covey timelessness to the well-known story. Guest director Patrick Elkins-Zeglarski adds strong moments and concepts. Cyrano is a gifted poet, musician and swordsman. His brash confidence is overshadowed only by his large nose, which causes him to lose all confidence when it comes to expressing...

Article - Theatre Reviews; by Davina Grace Hill - 10/20/11

Grace and Glorie

A clichéd pairing of opposites turns dying into a Hallmark production in this Bowie Community Theatre effort

Dying is one drama we all star in. This makes it an irresistible subject for playwrights, actors and directors. Grace and Glorie, now playing at Bowie Community Theatre, has death and dying as its focus and personal relationships as its theme. Grace is a dying woman who left hospice to return to her rural home to die alone. Glorie is a hospice volunteer who followed Grace to bring her the pain medications she had left behind. As the play progresses, you learn that Glorie is...

Article - Theatre Reviews; by Davina Grace Hill - 10/6/11

Bay Theatre Company’s Wit

Two hours to ponder the bearings on which a life rests

In Wit, Bay Theatre Company tackles a heartfelt and erudite play about a woman coming to terms with cancer. As a professor of John Donne’s literature, Dr. Vivian Bearing — superbly rendered by Rena Cherry Brown — has lived her life immersed in the minute distinctions of words and punctuation. Scholarship and inquiry have ruled her life. Now she approaches death while studying her own life and analyzing the medical profession that, in turn, is analyzing and...

Article - Theatre Reviews; by Davina Grace Hill - 7/28/11

Bowie Community Theatre’s Language of Angels

You may be done with the past, but the past is never done with you. —Magnolia (1999)

That aphorism sums up the point and the effect of Bowie Community Theatre’s ambitious Language of Angels. Whether they are angels, ghosts or memories, voices from our past accompany, haunt and speak to us throughout our lives. They rarely speak in a linear or logical way, and often we aren’t sure of their message. Playwright Naomi Iizuka sets Language of Angels in a string of North Carolina caves frequented by teens. Tragedies have happened...

Article - Theatre Reviews; by Davina Grace Hill - 7/14/11

Summer Garden Theatre’s The Marvelous Wonderettes

Songs from the ’50s and ’60s are the stars of this refreshing show

Annapolis Summer Garden Theatre’s The Marvelous Wonderettes is frothy, refreshing and a complete contrast to its most recent production, Chicago. The all-black set has given way to pastels, and the jailhouse trollops are replaced by 1950s’ suburban teenagers. The Marvelous Wonderettes are a singing quartet performing at their 1958 senior prom. In the second act, they appear 10 years later at their class reunion. That premise is the hook for a night of vintage and...