Shaking the Tree Theatre

H

6 months ago

Dancing on the Sabbath has some truly moving and beautifully staged moments—especially in the second half, which finally brings the story to life. But getting there is rough. The first half drags under the weight of a long, repetitive prayer sequence that doesn’t seem to build or reveal much. It ends up stalling the momentum and testing the audience’s patience. Tightening that section would make a huge difference; there’s a great show buried under the slow pacing. Also, for wheelchair users, sightlines in the smaller rooms are limited since the windows are pretty high. With some serious trimming, this could go from frustrating to five-star.

M

6 months ago

Top tip: If you like sitting down and not being physically assaulted, don't go to this theatre. We went to "Dancing on the Sabbath" not aware that this was a theater without chairs. We also didn't know there would be no kind of announcement at the beginning of the show to tell us where to stand to get out of the performers way. We saw a guy come in, in black, behind us and then he bodychecked my partner, whose shoulder is still hurting. Apparently he was one of the performers, even though the performers were in white victorian outfits and he was wearing black kevlar body armor. He didn't bodycheck anyone else who was in his way, just moved around them. There was just silence and chimes and the vibe was BAD. We left and we're not coming back. If i could give this zero stars i would.

JB

a year ago

This is a review of one particular show not the theater as a whole: I just saw The Brother and The Bird and it made me want to run out of the theater half way through it was that bad. They have the audience sit at a very long rectangular dinner table instead of traditional seating so you have to constantly twist your neck to see what's going on around you. The play involved a stream of consciousness gone awry. The entire play involved only two actors and virtually no plot. There's only so much smoke and mirrors you can deploy (half the play is back-lit and silhouetted behind cloth walls. At a certain point a play has to have substance (i.e. dialogue, character arc, proper motivations, a plot, a resolution) to keep the audiences attention and this play had very little. There is no dialogue at all - its basically one hour long monologue. The space is beautiful but I think Shaking The Tree tries a little too hard to be different and it ends up losing the audience. Great actors, however. Sammy Rios was very good.

Jesse O'Brien

3 years ago

I went with my Theatre Class. I saw Forbidden Fruit. This is the most amazing play I have ever seen in my entire life. I felt every emotion there was to feel. Folks were split up into groups of 6. They rotated clockwise for a different experience in each room. I don't even have words to speak. It was that good.

Jan Kaplan

10 years ago

Saw Passion Play Part 3 last night at Shaking the Tree. Our first time there. The performance was extraordinary. The company consisted of extremely talented actors both individually and as an ensemble. The breadth of emotion was broad throughout the show. I don't cry often but I was moved to tears several times and found myself literally stunned and breathless at the ending. The theater itself was very comfortable and all seats had perfect views. We will go back there again.