BETWEEN RIVERSIDE AND CRAZY
Park Square Theater

"Director Stephen DiMenna's staging meets the poetry of Guirgis' potent script with punchiness of its own. Taking place in three chockablock rooms of a New York apartment designed by Benjamin Olsen, Crazy is expertly acted with keening performances that match the emotional pitch of Fred Kennedy's gutbucket soul score."

 

Rohan Preston, Minnesota Star Tribune

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"The other star of the show is the set by Benjamin Olsen, it’s a very realistic recreation of Pop’s apartment with a living room, kitchen, and even fire escape. The set is rich with details like the unwashed windows and ceiling light fixtures..."

 

Rob Dunkelberger, Stages of MN

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"That apartment is rendered in a fantastic set design by Benjamin Olsen that shows in cutaway the kitchen, living room, and a fire-escape that serves as a kind of outdoor confessional booth. The place shows evidence of having been an elegant, old-school Manhattan apartment, with touches such as its built-in bookcases, chandeliers, and once-fine–though now beaten to an inch of its life–flooring. You can see that, with enough spit and polish, the place could shine once again."

 

Arthur Dorman, Talkin' Broadway

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"The design elements contribute to the realistic feel of the play. There is so much detail in this set that it's impossible to take it all in. We see the living room on one side and kitchen/dining room on the other, with two levels of fire escapes. It very much looks like a home that someone has lived in for decades, with worn mismatched furniture, a decaying Christmas tree, and books and boxes and paper towel rolls and more stuffed into the sky-high shelves."

 

Jill Schafer, Cherry and Spoon

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"The apartment…was cleverly designed to evoke both comfort and neglect..."

 

Christine Sarkes, Aisle Say - Twin Cities

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"If you want to experience an exquisite intersection of marvelous writing and excellent acting, I recommend Park Square Theatre’s season-closing production of Between Riverside and Crazy."

 

Rob Hubbard, Saint Paul Pioneer Press