OUT OF STERNO
"A play that is almost impossible not to like, combining qualities of a fairy tale and tall tale with those of a wacky comic strip adventure. ...wickedly funny yet touching script."
"….zippy, playful, savvy, and even, at times, delightfully lewd."
"A sneakily substantial piece of eye-candy."
"A play that is almost impossible not to like, combining qualities of a fairy tale and tall tale with those of a wacky comic strip adventure. ...wickedly funny yet touching script."
"….zippy, playful, savvy, and even, at times, delightfully lewd."
"A sneakily substantial piece of eye-candy."
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Dotty’s life in Sterno with her husband Hamel is absolutely perfect! It’s a fairy tale, it really is. True, in their seven years of marriage Hamel has forbidden her to leave their tiny apartment or speak to anyone, but Dotty is so very happy to spend her days watching video re-enactments of the day they first met.
When a phone call from a mysterious woman threatens to tear her world asunder, Dotty must venture out into the vast city of Sterno, and try to discover what it is to be a “real” woman. Cast: DOTTY: 23. Childlike and loving and hopeful, bursting with intense enthusiasm for everything. She refuses to think ill of anyone. HAMEL: 30′s-40’s. Dotty’s thuggish husband. Very very very not smart. Loves his wife but is led by other credos and urges. ZENA: 30′s.-40’s. The proprietress of Zena’s Beauty Emporium. Miss Tri-boro Area for two years running. Tough as nails. DAN: Magically transforms himself into every other character in the play, including: Delivery Man, Taxi Driver, Waiter, Mrs. Cuthbert Mrs. Peabody, Barb, Sallie Mae, Man the Bus 20Production History:
Cherry Lane Alternative New York, NY Portland Stage Company Portland, ME South Bend Civic Theatre South Bend, IN Charleston Acting Studio Charleston, SC Fremont Community Theater Fremont, OH Carpenter Square Theatre Oklahoma City, OK Rover Dramawerks Plano, TX (Inaurural production!) Burien Actor's Theatre Burien, WA 9/2014 Gloucester Stage Company Gloucester, MA Garage Theatre Group Teaneck, NJ No Strings Theatre Co. Las Cruces, NM, (2/2017) Restless Artists' Theatre Sparks, NV 11/2017 CVCCA Hickory, NC 12/2017 Siren Theatre Portland, OR 7/2018 Mariemont Players Cincinnati, OH 5/2019 Restless Artists Theatre Co. Sparks, NV 7/2024 |
Some reviews:
"You can enjoy Out of Sterno for its cheerfully non-doctrinaire tale of feminist awakening. You can also enjoy the show for its Crayola/Hello Kitty/Maira Kalman cartoon exuberance. But, like Dotty, you don’t have to accept any false choices — you can enjoy it for both." "A sneakily substantial piece of eye-candy." — Jason Wilkins http://thebollard.com/2009/03/12/out-of-sterno/ "Despite (or perhaps because of ) the show's heavy subject matter — oppressed woman forced into self-realization — Out of Sterno is zippy, playful, savvy, and even, at times, delightfully lewd." http://portland.thephoenix.com/arts/78012-breaking-away/#ixzz34pICypo3 “Out of Sterno,” a play that is almost impossible not to like, combining qualities of a fairy tale and tall tale with those of a wacky comic strip adventure. The wickedly funny yet touching script by Deborah Zoe Laufer http://newsok.com/theater-review-out-of-sterno/article/3859480 “Wickedly funny, absurdist tale on modern life” --TheColumnAwards.org |