” The Band’s Visit”

***** Often I am asked, “What makes Writers Theatre so special?” I guess one of the best answers is that it is an intimate space with great sight lines. No matter where you sit, you will not find yourself bobbing between heads to see the action on the stage. For many that is the greatest part of theater- being able to see the entire stage area and all the action that the playwright and director want you to see. Writers has two stages and for the most part, they make sure that the patrons who come to their theater, see the show!

Currently, they are doing “The Band’s Visit” with a book by Itamar Moses and music and lyrics by David Yazbek. This play is based on the film by Eran Kolirin. I remember when this production toured and while I enjoyed it, I do not think that it was as strong as this particular production is. For those who are unfamiliar with the film, or the previous production or for that matter, the story, it is a story about a group of Egyptian Police musicians who have been asked to perform a concert in Israel. They find themselves in the wrong town, in fact, a small desert town that has very little ,if any, excitement. There is no hotel, no busses overnight, so they must remain in town and what takes place over this 24 hour experience is what “The Band’s Visit” is all about.

These “Music Men”, unlike Harold Hill, are truly good people who have been misplaced. The intermingling with these Israeli’s over this 90 minutes ( no intermission) changes everyone’s lives. It is a warm and fuzzy piece that some may call a “chamber piece” rather than a play with music. The performers are more than triple threats as they act, sing, dance, play a musical instrument of some type and several of them roller skate as well.

Smoothly directed by Zi Alikhan on an almost blank stage (Afsoon  Pajoufar has designed a simple but real set that allows the performers to also make the quick changes to keep the flow of the action on course. The lighting (Solomon Weisbard) and sound (Willow James) are right on target and the costumes (Raquel Adorno) create the effect desired. The choreography by Sebastian Romangnolo is very middle eastern and the projections (Smooch Medina) created the illusions that work. The musical director is Andrea Velis Simon who also programmed the keyboard ( where would we be without computer technology?)

What truly makes this musical play work is the cast. The ensemble of multi talented performers bring these characters to life and make what might seem implausible or an almost impossible situation, realistic and allow the characters to heal! Both the Egyptians and the Israelis!Rom Barkhordar is brilliant as Tewfiq, the maestro of the band. His three musicians, Armand Akbari, Adam Qutaishat and Jonathan Shaboo are his men. I believe I got them right.

The Israeli’s in this desert town are led by Dina ( the amazing Sophie Madorsky) who spends a great deal of time with Tewfiq as each reveals their lives and the ups and downs that has brought them to where they are today. This is a desert town with very little excitement. There is one character called “the telephone guy” (played by Harper Caruso)who waits for a call- will it come, or not? I won’t give it away!

The other characters are: Papi ( Sam Linda), Avrum (Michael Joseph Mitchell), Iris ( Dana Saleh Omar), Julia ( Becky Keeshin), Anna ( Marielle Iesa), Itzik ( Dave Honigman), Zeiger ( Jordan Golding), and Sammy ( Jacob Baim). There are also some real band members, offstage: Emily Beisel (reeds), Jocelyn Butler-Shoulders (cello), Lior Shragg (percussion) and Matt Ulery (bass).

“The Band’s Visit” will continue thru March 24th with performances as follows:

Wednesdays 3 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.

Thursdays    7:30 p.m.

Fridays         7:30 p.m.

Saturdays    3 p.m. and  7:30 p.m.

Sundays      2 p.m. and 6 p.m.

Tickets start at $35 and are available at the box office-call 847-242-6000 or online at www.writerstheatre.org

The theater is located in Glencoe at 325 Tudor Court with plenty of free parking, either on the street or in the train station lot just to the east of the theater.

To see what others are saying, visit www.theatreinchicago.com, go to Review Round-Up and click at “The Band’s Visit”.