Counting The Ways at the San Francisco Fringe Festival 2000

		`Counting The Ways Edward Albee; San Francisco, Play-Comedy, Over 16;` `Mature Content`
		SAN FRANCISCO FRINGE FESTIVAL 2000 AUDIENCE REVIEWS
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Ten That Dorothy Parker Theatre/Plague Thicker Than Water Tim's Magic Lantern Show Tragical History Of Dr. Faustus Trailer Trash Tabloid! Treachery Withering Glances Woven Zewski's Folly		1play = Counting the Ways 2name = June Stoddart 3email = Mjoons@aol.com 4rating = 4 Stars 5review = A rare theatre event in the Fringe - and in the Bay Area - a superior script, well and conservatively acted, evenly directed, satisfying and illuminating to its audience.Among a wide selection of "sexpliciter than thou" plays, it is delicious. Should have been Best of Fringe.Albee's script is both wonderfully absurd and strangely true . Danielle Thys' comic delivery reveals unusual appeal, and Leo Lawthorne is a model of fine "less is more" acting. The entire production reflects a balanced, thoughtful approach by director Mike Ward. 1play = Counting The Ways 2name = Thomas Murphy 3email = tbm2k@yahoo.com 4rating = 5 Stars 5review = Excellent interpretation of a seldom performed play. The two sparked a feeling chemistry on-stage, and created a prescence of sincerity, humor, mortality, morality, love, and perseverance. 1play = Counting The Ways 2name = Alicia 3email = abjamn@mindspring.com 4rating = 5 Stars 5review = Leo Lawhorn and Danielle Thys were stupendous. A simply awesome play and performance. 1play = Counting The Ways 2name = Cathy 3email = chatticat@mindspring.com 4rating = 5 Stars 5review = This was a great play,very well done. Danielle Thys and Leo Lawhorn were well suited to the parts, both talented performers. Smooth and very good under the direction of Michael Ward. A 5 star performance! 01name = Jim Peterson 08email = jpeters24@aol.com comments = Counting The Ways was a tremendous treat. I was surprised at how enjoyable I found it to be. Cleverly written, well directed, superb-ly performed and nicely staged. It is one of those rare performances which I enjoyed at many levels and will continue to enjoy for some time to come while reliving it. Thank you for including it in the Fringe 1play = Counting the Ways 2name = BlueDevilSF 3email = BlueDevilSF@aol.com 4rating = 4 Stars 5review = I thought the performances were very tight and dead-on...wonderful pacing. I'm not sure I quite "got it" tho...not yet, anyway, because this is a play that demands a certain amount of thought and consideration from the viewer and it stays with one afterward. It's been 8 hours since I've seen it, and I'm still ruminating on what I viewed. I think multiple viewings are a great idea! 1play = counting the ways 2name = cameron galloway 3email = camiegal@slip.net 4rating = None 5review = Most interesting directing choices which mirrored the sadness and lonliness of Albee - polish - even to the point of a certain "stiffness" - which played off of the text to effect the real sad lonliness of Albee. yes the play is funny and the actor were most effective, but I was so pleased that the humor didn't undercut the real point - that coupling is a sad sad thing in this dumb world of appearances and fear. It was a pleasure to be taken to this lonley place. 1play = Counting The Ways 2name = Ben 3email = 4rating = 5 Stars 5review = This was a great play! I came all the way from Utah to see it...and besides teh fact that my dad is in it (which he played a wonderful part), I would recommend this play (a vaudeville) to everyone! Danielle was amazing as well. A wonderful actress. But I obviously can't say enough about my Dad. But even if I didn't know either of the actors, I still would've loved this play, and I still say "IT WAS GREAT". Wonderful job. Play the loves ME!!! 01name = Barbara Tierney 08email = bjtierney@aol.com comments = Counting the Ways....and it would take years to count the ways I enjoyed this play.Expertly directed by Michael Ward,professionally acted by leo Lawhorn (He), and exceptional performance by Danielle Thys (She) who brought just the correct amount of humor,pathos,sardonic dialoque etc. to her role....A rare treat to see and reminiscent of Private Lives with a contemporary beat. Excellent...Five stars and more!!!! Wonderful theater!!! 1play = counting the ways 2name = bennett 3email = jbj3@yahoo.com 4rating = 5 Stars 5review = Superb performances and excellent direction brought this excellent play to life as vital entertainment. Engaging, subtle and nuanced. 1play = Counting the Ways 2name = Joe B 3email = joebrown@sfsu.edu 4rating = 5 Stars 5review = What fun! Can't wait to see again. Both Leo Lawhorn and Danielle Thys nailed their performances as "He" and "She." Did'nt occur to me until after I left the theater: The play did not drag anywhere. The timing was so on. Oh, I did not expect to laugh so much either. 1play = "Counting the Ways" 2name = Jay F. 3email = 4rating = 5 Stars 5review = Having never seen a Fringe Festival play, I was pleasantly surprised at how good this production was. It was very assured and really delivered on the promise of Albee's play, which the other plays I've seen by him, are absurdist but at the same time show a very warm sense of empathy for the characters and, by extension, for the human condition. The actors were both excellent and fun to watch; the play went by very fast, it seemed even shorter than it was. I agree with many of the postings here, I would not mind seeing this production a second time. 1play = Counting the Ways 2name = Jean Mazzei 3email = jean@jeanmazzei.com 4rating = 5 Stars 5review = Counting the Ways by Edward Albee, under the direction of Michael Ward, was a delight from start to finish. The simple symmetry of the set, designed by Dan Vojir, was the perfect backdrop for Danielle Thys and Leo Lawthorn, as they examined relationship, marriage, and the time honored question "do you love me?" The "vaudevillian" tone was immediately invoked as Mozarts' "Eine Kleine Nachtmusik" tickled our ears. Ward used the breaking of the fourth wall effectively, in a way that added to the intimacy of the show. As an audience member, I really believed that the couple was surprised when they noticed the audience, and when they addressed us, I felt they were including me in some personal secrets. I felt like I was a part of the show in a sublte, important way. A witness, if you will, to a highly personal discovery process as the actors talked about love. The show went a step further. They not only TALKED about love, I could FEEL their relationship, a long one, at times tired, boring, comfortable, safe, and yet even when they asked each other "Do you love me?", I could feel them searching for the answer. In the hands of lesser direction, the show could have been a tiresome evening of angry, irritated quips, watching a couple nit pick each other. Instead, I felt warmth and truth. What more could I ask for? Bravo! 1play = Counting the Ways 2name = J. Brian Washman 3email = GR8PIPES@ballads.com 4rating = 5 Stars 5review = What a pleasure! I honestly LOVED this show! It was perfectly cast, masterfully directed, and charmingly acted. Danielle Thys and Leo Lawhorn are wonderful! They were so comfortable in their roles that I felt that I was in their home secretly listening in on private conversations. It’s rare, indeed, that we get a chance to see a work like this that seems to be so without flaw. From the moment the characters opened their mouths I was drawn to them. I was very pleasantly surprised to find it amusing, charming, and heart-warming. Mike Ward’s direction was a perfect interpretation without too much fuss so to interfere with the great script. The set was well-designed and completely appropriate for the story. All in all, this was a splendid blending of grand talents coming together to deliver an exceptionally enjoyable experience. I heartily recommend that it not be missed. Bravo! 1play = "Counting the Ways" 2name = Fred F. 3email = fab5freddy94102@yahoo.com 4rating = 5 Stars 5review = After reading the reviews of "Counting the Ways", I thought I'd see if it was all that. It is and more. The actors were really on and seemed to really have a tight connection. Danielle Thys, playing "She" was so on. Really excellent. And the guy playing "He" Leo Lawhorn was good too. The design was sharp. The actors looked fine. The last moment was on. Very tight. Great script. Very tight, as was the entire show. This was as absurd as some of the others in the Fringe that aren't as well put together. Probably the best play I've seen this year. Definitely the best at the Fringe. Everyone was blown away and talking about how on and tight it was after it and in the lobby. Still time to catch their last show. See it. 1play = Counting the Ways (a Vaudeville) 2name = Vince Vitale 3email = WorldGazer@aol.com 4rating = 4 Stars 5review = Counting the Ways This Edward Albee play is a Fringe exception, not being written, directed and produced by the same person or group. Which leaves this being on the border of the Fringe and "straight" theater, as it were. Counting the Ways (A Vaudeville) is a dialogue between husband and wife about love, marriage, love, roses, love, separate beds, love, and did I mention love? Both Danielle Thys and Leo Lawhorn, who play the couple, create believable characters. I'm partial to Ms. Thys' debutantish portrayal of the wife. Simple and elegant, Counting the Ways is a good piece of traditional theater. 1play = Counting the Ways (A Vaudeville) 2name = brewster 3email = brewster_david@hotmail.com 4rating = 5 Stars 5review = Well-done, smooth show. I enjoyed the two actors, the script, and especially the blackouts which sometimes made points, and sometimes were just silly. "An earlier, absurd Edward Albee script" promised the program. I enjoyed this more than some absurd plays I've read, and I just enjoyed seeing the couple quibbling over a couple of roses, and other trivial matters. And some of the monologues and scenes were very intriguing and hilarious: "Protocol" and "the two beds" A few reviewers of various shows comment on enjoying a show and wanting it to be longer. Not me! I'm delighted that these shows are so short. Sitting through 3 hours of theater is an ordeal, even if it's good. (And it must be no walk in the park for the cast and crew). I like to be able to see an entire show in an hour, and be energized to go do something else. Thank you for bringing this short, 49 minute play to us in a crisp, artful production. 1play = Counting the ways 2name = Trevor Allen 3email = info@blackboxtheatre.com 5review = It was great to see an Albee play among the list of shows this year, especially one that I'd never even heard of. The he/she deconstruction of their love life is a joy of verbal craftsmnaship. Full marks to Mike Ward's directorship for bringing this darkly comic vaudeville to the fringe. A must for Albee fans and foes alike. 1play = Counting the Ways 2name = Steve Cummings 3email = bozobasher@ihateclowns.com 4rating = 5 Stars 5review = excellent play, very good acting (could be a little louder in some places), and one of the better ive seen at the fringe. see it. 1play = Counting the Ways 2name = Joe Besecker 3email = weazer3@AOL 4rating = 5 Stars 5review = Anyone interested in Albee as he should be done and well-acted theatre should catch this one. Overtly a Vaudeville in 21 very funny scenes, Albee manages to delve further into the unifying theme of his work: Loss. As the scenes quickly pass by and we laugh at He and SHE's absurd interrogation of one another about the possibility of putting into words their love for one another, we sadly learn the sugar on the creme brulee has burned because they haver not been attentive. Hence: separate buds. And all the further loss that follows. Danielle Thys captures the veneer of SHE with such a nuanced performance that the frailties and regrets of lost opportunities of her character are also glimmered thru the veneer. This play is seldom done and never received the respect it deserves. Albee's rhtyms and music are realized in this production. A very funny, important and well directed show. DON'T MISS IT!!! 1play = Counting the Ways 2name = Virgin Fringer 3email = 4rating = 4 Stars 5review = It's my first year going to the Fringe. Very cool! I went to see this play because I love Albee's plays. It was their first night and I wasn't disappointed. Very funny, but sort of dark. I think I need to see it again. There are some things still bouncing in my head. Both the actors were well directed and very good, especially the woman playing "She". Wait to you hear her give her fat and flabby speech! There were a few rough edges, but I bet they will work out. The Fringe is way cool. I can't wait to see more. 1play = COUNTING THE WAYS 2name = Absurd Lover 3email = 4rating = 5 Stars 5review = Honestly, I was pleasantly surprised. This is not a play of Edward Albee's that I personally was aware of and I don't think too many people really are. It is most definitely the more absurd and humourous side of Mr. Albee. For their first night, they did a commendable job. Aside from a small piece of trim on the set that came down (which has happened at past Fringe shows I've attended),the show flowed nicely. The actors had a nice repoire. The costumes and look of the show were in a nice colour pallate and very sharp. It was crisply directed. And of course, it is the writing of one of our greatest playwrights. Who could ask for anything more? I plan to return either on Monday, September 11 or on Wednesday, September 13. It definitely warrants a second viewing.
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