'Brief Encounter' is Spectacular!

Well, what can we say? The Great Plotnik and The Great Ducknik have seen several spectacular shows at A.C.T. (as well as not just a few flatulent dogs), but Plotnik cannot remember anything as good as "Brief Encounter." You've only got one month to see this show -- please do it. Spend as top dollar as you can afford and get great seats. The cast is in and out of the front of the audience, especially on the right side, so close-in and low makes it that much better. You can read Plotnik's enthusiastic review of "Brief Encounter" here, and Hanky Girl and Mush will need approximately one and a half hankies.

A.C.T. is our only theater that can put on performances like these. To be sure, there is the "Best of Broadway" series where you get to see road performances of top Broadway hits, but as good as those generally are they are never as innovative as A.C.T., and you never quite forget that merchandising and franchising is their purpose. You may love the shows -- Jersey Boys is the fabulous example -- but you may also ho and hum.

As far as Saint Plotniko theater companies go, A.C.T.'s budget and reputation allow their staging and sets to be far more elaborate and adventurous than at other companies -- not that this always means the best theater. SF Playhouse, Berkeley Rep, the Aurora, The Marsh and others consistently do fabulous shows, and let's not forget that A.C.T. occasionally tosses out great looking bombs, and when we say bombs, we mean craters, holes in the ground spewing effluvia. Does anyone remember Ann Rice's 'Lestat?' Oi, mama. How do you ask for your money back when you've been given free tickets?

But when A.C.T. does it right it is uplifting on every level. Acting, staging, direction, mixed media, story, music, costumes. Plotnik knows he is not supposed to rave like this. He takes it back. He must be mistaken. It must have been the music. It must have been the mistletoe. He will wake up tomorrow, but right now he is going to lean back in his chair.