dance of the holy ghosts: a play on memory at Baltimore Center Stage

dance of the holy ghosts: a play on memory

Baltimore Center Stage
700 North Calvert Street Baltimore

Oscar Clifton is a blues man living through his memories of the past, until his estranged grandson Marcus pays a visit. Together, they confront a history of loves, regrets, and missed opportunities. This acclaimed play by Marcus Gardley is a poetic family drama set in the key of blues—a memory-scape skipping seamlessly across the decades.

Thru - Nov 17, 2013

Price: $10 - $59

Show Type: Drama

Box Office: 410-332-0033

Running Time: 2 hours, with 1 intermission

www.centerstage.org

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dance of the holy ghosts: a play on memory Reviews

Average Rating based on 6 reviews

Highly Recommended
Recommended
Somewhat Recommended
Not Recommended

Washington Post - Somewhat Recommended

"...With nowhere new to go, Gardley labors to create an original voice. (Gardley’s preoccupation with fancy language similarly hobbled his “every tongue confess” a few seasons ago at Arena Stage.) The conflict is carried almost entirely within Oscar, and Michael Genet’s colorful, defiant performance is compelling enough to make you believe something is happening, even when almost nothing is. Genet is a solid presence — feet planted, voice lifted — and his earthiness and core conviction almost establish a firewall protecting against preposterous prose."

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- Nelson Pressley

DC Theater Arts - Highly Recommended

"...Their memories will be in your eyes. It’s a fickle thing, memory; the way it flits in and out of our minds, sometimes so clear it cuts like a knife and other times just a wisp of blurred images or sounds. To write a play on memory and have it executed as successfully as CENTERSTAGE produces Marcus Gardley’s dance of the holy ghosts: a play on memory, is a divine thing. Directed by Kwame Kwei-Armah, this visually stunning and emotionally stirring piece of theatre is a retrospective glance at the life of one man through his memories and the memories of others that shaped him. Heavily influenced by blues music, the soul of the piece shines through in the brilliantly captured essence of memory throughout the production."

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- Amanda Gunther

Baltimore Sun - Somewhat Recommended

"...There is meaty stuff in all of this, but a fair amount of fat, too, which weighs down “dance of the holy ghosts” without really adding much scope to the principal characters. Some revelations along the way seem forced or lack emotional pull; not all of the secondary characters or incidents seem crucial (a scene involving a harried priest dealing with unruly kids is especially clunky)."

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- Tim Smith

Washington Times - Highly Recommended

"...“Dance of the Holy Ghosts” explores the fragmented family memories of the burned out Oscar (Michael Genet) and the collateral damage that his selfish dreams have left scattered behind, particularly for family members who have endured the disruption of their own lives."

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- Malcolm Lewis Barnes

MD Theatre Guide - Highly Recommended

"...The experience of Dance of the Holy Ghosts, both its script and performance, is not to be missed. Certainly there were elements of both that could stand to be revisited, but in the end, those kinds of quirks are precisely – or rather, imprecisely – what makes blues music what it is."

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- Brandon Ambrosino

DCTheatreScene - Recommended

Marcus Gardley’s semiautobiographical play dance of the holy ghosts is drenched in the ache of Blues music and the family stories that plague us and take us home. With its rich, rustic poetry and swaying, rootsy rhythms, Mr. Gardley’s style reminds you of August Wilson’s mingling of the spiritual, historical and melodic realms in his 10-play epic cycle.

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- Jayne Blanchard

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dance of the holy ghosts: a play on memory at Baltimore Center Stage