Sunday, October 14, 2007

My One Night Stand With Cancer - ACT Theatre

My One Night Stand With Cancer
ACT Theatre
October 11 - November 11, 2007
Tickets and Information

Tania Katan's brings her comedy My One Night Stand With Cancer - for the first time on stage - to the ACT Theatre. After the success of her award-winning book, the story comes to life in the theatre as Tania relives the highlights and low points of her life, battling and surviving breast cancer--twice--which leaves her with two mastectomies, but fails to dampen her sharp wit and sense of humor.

The one woman show stars Tania Katan playing herself: a young-lesbian-Jew from Brooklyn who exudes a naive innocence and sincerity in being exactly who she is, and makes no pretenses of being anything but. She does delightful impressions of the world and its inhabitants as seen through her eyes with a charming wit and a genuine smile.

Through her life and a structurally-sound script, Tania captures the human drama of smiling through a storm. The small, intimate arena theatre brings the audience to be very close to her, literally and figuratively, and compels us to accept her as she is. She welcomes the viewers with warm comfort that does away with those pesky social boundaries. Hearing the intimate details of her life and seeing her flat, scarred chest becomes absorbing rather than shocking. We are reminded of where true beauty lies.

The arena style theatre caused no trouble for Tania's performance; it simply was not an issue. The staging was simple but effective and the direction and lighting were ideally symbolic and enhanced the action. The sound effects, though almost overdone at times, fit well within Tania's world, and detracted nothing.

The play is altogether well done. Tania's performance was strong and engaging throughout, and the technical team did a fine job of keeping the show running smoothly. My One Night Stand With Cancer is a fun and inspirational show that is an hour and a half well-spent.

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