The Two Noble Kinsmen (In Repertory) presented by Brave Spirits Theatre at Anacostia Arts Center

Washington City Paper - Recommended

"...In place of dramaturgical innovations, Kinsmen becomes an actors’ showcase. Mavricos and Willem Krumich, as the cousins Arcite and Palamon, form a terrific display of male bonding. Though the fact that they’re fighting over the hand of a woman neither has spoken to lends their quarrel a Midsummer-esque absurdity, there’s real emotion when Mavricos and Krumich suit each other up while preparing to duel: They’re tearing apart familial bonds that still matter to them. Better still is Jenna Berk, playing the jailer’s daughter, who frees Palamon out of love but is driven insane when he refuses to return her affections. Shakespeare and Fletcher declined to give this character a name, which only adds to the chilling nature of Berk’s performance: She cries and sings in her own universe, often abused by the other characters in her precarious state, lamenting how little her love—indeed, her very existence—seems to change the world around her."