Mad Forest presented by Forum Theatre at Silver Spring Black Box Theater

Mad Forest

Silver Spring Black Box Theater
8641 Colesville Road Silver Spring

On the eve of the Romanian Revolution, and under the eternal watch of the secret police, two families (one poor and one wealthy) struggle to retain their friendship -- and to survive the winter. But once the violence has ceased and the euphoria has lifted, will anything have changed? A blend of journalism, fantasy, and harsh realism, Mad Forest delves into the madness and fervor of a society on the brink of upheaval.

Presented by Forum Theatre

Thru - Oct 15, 2011

Price: $25

Show Type: Drama

Running Time: 2 hrs, 45 minutes with 1 intermission

Buy Tickets

Mad Forest Reviews

Average Rating based on 4 reviews

Highly Recommended
Recommended
Somewhat Recommended
Not Recommended

Washington Post - Recommended

"... Director Michael Dove has shrewdly given an in-the-round staging to this 1990 work about the Romanian revolution, planting Churchill’s politically aware and sometimes phantasmagorical scenes in what appears to be an Eastern European square. Silver busts of Ceausescu, mounted on silver pedestals, stand around the square’s perimeter (amid audience seating), creating a look of gloomy Stalinist-style pomp — and, more important, a paranoid vibe. In this exposed, encircled environment, there is no privacy: Anything may be seen or overheard."

Read Full Review

- Celia Wren

WeLoveDC - Recommended

"... In the wake of the Arab Spring of 2011, Mad Forest finds new relevance with a new audience. In 1989 Romania the rallies weren’t started on Facebook or Twitter and media coverage wasn’t 24/7. All too many themes will sound oddly familiar in Mad Forest, most particularly a hospital scene where a paranoid, deranged patient is skeptical of the entire overthrow and execution of Ceaușescu. Questions like, "who fired the shot?" and "where are the bodies?" should sound all too familiar given recent events."

Read Full Review

- Patrick Pho

Washington City Paper - Somewhat Recommended

"... Paradoxically, Churchill’s diversions into surrealism, like a negotiation between a dog and a vampire (Ashley Ivey, bringing a menace equal to but different from his other roles as a priest and as spy-recruiter), are often clearer than the more naturalistic stretches, where even after nearly three hours, some relationships remain opaque. Dana Levanovsky and Mark Halpern manage to stand out as two onetime lovers whose long-term happiness isn’t in the cards. Director Michael Dove’s in-the-round staging gives the piece a more immersive and panoramic feeling than a more traditional stage-plot would offer, but also forces us to look at actors’ backs for much of the first act, muddying the basic arithmetic of who’s-who. You’re asking your audience to spend three humorless hours with you in Communist and post-Communist Romania. Maybe throw them a lifeline where you can?"

Read Full Review

- Chris Klimek

DCTheatreScene - Recommended

Mad Forest is a gripping, wide-lensed account of life before, during, and after the Romanian Revolution told from the perspective of citizens young and old, wealthy and working-class, Romanian, Hungarian, animal, spiritual, and even soulless.

Read Full Review

- Sarah Ameigh

Mad Forest Photo Gallery

Mad Forest presented by Forum Theatre at Silver Spring Black Box Theater

Mad Forest

Mad Forest Reviews

Washington Post - Recommended

WeLoveDC - Recommended

Washington City Paper - Somewhat Recommended

DCTheatreScene - Recommended

Mad Forest Photo Gallery

Explore More

Other Sites