Start by acknowledging that from its inception in 2011 few professional troupes in South Florida have taken or still take artistic risks with the courage, regularity, integrity and imagination that the well-named Outré Theatre Company invests in every production.
Sometimes the efforts work beautifully such as Back of the Throat, An Illiad and Thrill Me, sometimes not so well such as Bed and Sofa, and Othello.
Often, it’s both. The current world premiere of The Violet Hour, A Modern Medea falls in that category.
Oddly, the most un-credible aspect of the classic Medea myth – the immediate lead-up and subsequent murder of her son as revenge on her faithless husband – is the most believable facet of Outré’s reworking of the legend.
As Sabrina Lynn Gore’s betrayed wife moves closer and closer to stabbing her child, her outward steeliness and internal agony are perfectly plausible, as evidenced by the audience’s breathing becoming ever more shallow.
It’s the long build-up to the heavily foreshadowed inevitable that doesn’t land solidly in this ill-fitting mash-up of an elemental tale of feral vengeance transported to civilized modern times in which it seems too outsized to be credible.
Yes, we’ve all read horrifying headlines about parents who have killed their children and we’ve pondered what could press any sane person to such a point, even in the most extreme emotional distress. So the concept of local playwrights Shannon Ouelette and Skye Whitcomb was a stroke of brilliance.
[/vc_column_text][vc_btn title=”‘The Violent Hour’ review continues” style=”outline” color=”primary” size=”lg” align=”left” link=”url:http%3A%2F%2Fwww.floridatheateronstage.com%2Freviews%2Fperformances%2Foutres-the-violet-hour-is-a-daring-flawed-modern-medea%2F|title:’The%20Violent%20Hour’%20review%20continues|target:%20_blank”][vc_message message_box_style=”3d” message_box_color=”turquoise”]By Bill Hirschman, FloridaTheaterOnStage.com, for SouthFloridaReporter.com, Mar. 17, 2016
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