Review of "The Overcoat" at A.C.T. San Francisco

Review of "The Overcoat" at A.C.T. San Francisco

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A brief review of The Overcoat at ACT in San Francisco. We went to the preview last night; it opens some time in the coming week.

The play is based on a short story by Nikolai Gogol. It is wordless, presented in dance, to music by Dimitri Shostakovich. Sounds dreadful, nyet?

Nyet! Ochein horosho! The sets and the lighting were great. The dancing was energetic, no more narrative than it needed to be, and not at all prissy or humorless. The fact that there was no speaking was extra-great. This show had a lot of heart.

Here's what I thought:

• I want to shop at 19th-Century Gap
• Until the Purple Coat showed up, I couldn't understand why they didn't save some money & produce it in black & white
• Do blintzes come with that shake?
• Where can I get me one of them white-clad asylum boys?
  
• Did I doze off and miss something, or did this mid-19th-century Russian story lack a part where everything gets blamed on the Jews?
  

Two big thumbs up, people! Imaginative & entertaining.