** They say that the attention span of most theater audiences ( and possibly movie audiences as well) is about 110 minutes. Blue in the right way, a new theater company’s first production, a revised “Women Beware Women”, now playing at The Edge Theater ( on Broadway) has a first act that is almost two hours. The full production including one intermission came very close to three hours.

Thomas Middleton’s original play, written in 1657 has come a long way in this  adaptation by Kevin V. Smith ( who also directed the production) and Daiva Bhandari ( who also plays the female lead). They have brought it to our time and yet, have also reverted back to the time when written. They also take it to a play within a play during the second act, confusing the audience by starting the second act with current fashions rather than the costumes (Alaina Moore) of yore.

The set is somewhat simple. Curtains lining the rear and sides of the stage and a sheer front curtain that opens and closes for scenes and affects. The story is about Bianca (Christine Prince) who escapes from her home to elope with a pauper Leantio (Brandon Wiman) and his mother ( Lynn Baker). When he is away, Bianca meets the Duke ( Huy Nguyen) who woos her away from him. There are some other stories involved with other lovers. Livia ( well played by Daiva Bhandari) is a key player in making Leantio feel that he is loved, but later there is havoc when a jealous brother gets his story wrong.

The story is a tragedy with lots of bad things taking place and a very unhappy ending. In this production we move to more modern times as far as sexual norms. We have two transfemme narrators ( I think the players are Bree Perry and Kidany Camilo). They are a stitch for most of the production but in the second act they have a scene that goes on just a little bit longer than is comfortable. There is also some violence and full frontal nudity in a fight scene that is pretty scary ( the violence choreography is by  R & D Choreography and Daiva does the rest).

The other cast members are as follows: Ryan Wright Cassidy, John Zhou Duncan, Alex Amaya ( who does some very wild stuff as the Cardinal), Shail Modi, Johnny Moran, Keenan Odenkirk  and Mia Chase Van De Mark. They also assist with many set changes that are simple. There are many elements that one might not expect to see in a story like this. Drag performance and modern dance as well as some music ( (Emma Ladji). They also have the entire show on a screen above the stage where all English appears in Spanish and all Spanish appears in English. This makes the theater more accessible. I found it hard to work with as the two narrators switched back and forth and I felt as if I were at a tennis match.

Presented by Blue in the Right Way Company at The Edge Theater located at 5451 N. Broadway in Chicago

“Women Beware Women” will continue though May 12, with performances as follows: