Categories
Arts & Entertainment News

Know Theatre’s ‘Skin Tight’ offers passionate look at love

Know Theater Skin Tight Cincinnati’s best off-off-Broadway playhouse, the Know Theatre, opens its 13th season with the intimate, advant-garde play, Skin Tight. Written by New Zealand playwright Gary Henderson and directed by Drew Fracher, the show runs through October 30, 2010.

Skin Tight tells the story of a rural New Zealand couple, Tom and Elizabeth, who relive their love story on stage. From its opening moments, Skin Tight grabs the audience and leads them through a frenzied, passionate dance that refuses to let go. The performance is a heady mix of touching, romantic prose spoken by the duo, coupled with bouts of physical activity: fighting, wrestling, dancing, and loving gestures. The show toes the line between the reality of the couple’s situation and the way they see and view each other.

Director Drew Fracher says, “A friend gave me Skin Tight, knowing my penchant for action and stage combat and suggest that I might like the play. I felt that the Know was the only place in town that fit the style and content best. Thankfully, producing artistic director Eric [Vosmeier] felt the same way. I’m thrilled to have an opportunity to work on such an amazing, theatrical piece.”

Veteran Equity actor Jens Rasmussen (Tom) and local theatre starlet Beth Harris (Elizabeth) commandeer their audience’s attention from the get go. With believable accents and even more convincing love and care for each other, these two actors reveal the inner workings of a relationship that has stood the test of time. From juvenile taunts to real fears and honest wounds, the chemistry between the two on stage draws the viewer in and invites them to experience the same feelings. Their raw, emotional portrayal of a very real, intimate relationship – the combination of trust, pain, passion, laughter, anger, fear, hope – reduced many in the audience to tears by the end of the show.

The sets and lighting, designed by Andrew Hungerford, are simple yet effective, drawing the viewer into rural farmland without distracting from the action. Sound design by Doug Borntrager helps to illustrate the emotions being played out on stage.

This is not an easy show to attend. There is nudity, there is fighting, and it moves at a jarringly quick pace. Basic plot and character development unfolds very slowly, and even at the end the audience may have questions that were not answered.

The experience of this show, however, is completely worth every question and plot twist. In the end, love is a confusing and tricky thing. The heart and soul of Skin Tight is the bond between two ordinary people…people with just enough detail left out to be any one of us.

Let go of your expectations and come along for the ride. Experience the realities of a life well lived and fiercely loved.

Skin Tight plays at the Know Theatre (map) now through October 30.  All tickets can be purchased online, at the Know Theater box office, or by calling (513) 300-5669 for $12 in advance and $15 the week of the performance.  Flexible subscriptions are also available for $48.

Skin Tight Production Dates:
8pm performances: October 9, 14-16, 21- 23, 28-30
3pm performances: October 24 & 30

Categories
Arts & Entertainment News

OTR Urban Kickball League kicks off tonight at Cutter Playground

The inaugural season of the Over-the-Rhine Urban Kickball League will kick-off tonight at  5:30pm.  Response to the league’s formation has been overwhelming.  In just under two weeks, approximately 150 people signed-up to participate, while three businesses signed on to support the league financially.

The OTR Urban Kickball League includes 12 teams that will take part in a round robin league lasting six weeks.  The champion will be determined by the highest point total (three points per win, one point per tie) at the end of the season in mid-November.  Each team is comprised of an approximately 50/50 breakdown between men and women.

Jennifer Kessler, UrbanCincy writer and creator of the league, says that the purpose of the league is two-fold.

“The kickball league is going to be a fun social activity, and it will also bring people out to an under-utilized part of the neighborhood, putting eyes on the street and integrating with the community,” she explained.

The games will be held on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays at 5:30pm and 6:30pm at Cutter Playground at 14th and Sycamore Street.  The public is welcome to attend and watch the games which are expected to last less than an hour.  Kessler notes that following each game many of the league participants will be meeting to socialize at Neons Unplugged – one of the league’s sponsors.

“The OTR Kickball League gives Neons the opportunity to demonstrate our philosophy that a neighborhood bar can have a positive affect on the neighborhood as a whole even outside the confines of its own four walls,” explained Neons owner Michael Redmond.

In addition to Neon’s, the first-ever OTR Urban Kickball League was made possible through the support from Hoist and Hudepohl Amber Lager which will both be available for purchase at Neons throughout the season and beyond.

Redmond concluded by saying, “We hope that other bars, businesses and individuals will follow in supporting more grassroots neighborhood efforts like this one to help show that Over-the-Rhine is more than just viable, but even a desirable place to live, work and play.”

Categories
Arts & Entertainment Business News

2010 Cincinnati Film Festival continues this week throughout city

The 2010 Cincinnati Film Festival got started this past weekend in multiple venues around the Cincinnati region. The festival originally started as the Oxford International Film Festival in 2007 with 530 entries from 41 different countries.  The remodeled 2010 version is showcasing more than 100 films from 14 different countries at 11 venues throughout the city.

The festival will continue throughout the week with a closing reception scheduled for the evening of Saturday, October 16.  A day-by-day schedule is available on the festival’s website with about eight different showings each day this week.

The festival is based at the Esquire Theatre, a classic movie theater in the heart of Clifton’s Gaslight District, with a lot of showings at UC’s Main Street Cinema also located Uptown.  One special night at the Main Street Cinema will be Tuesday as Watch This host’s a free showing of the 1974 classic Chinatown as part of their project to watch the AFI Top 100 this year.

Many of the featured films opened over the weekend, but most have one or two showings each during the week. The full list can be found online and includes many films making their regional, U.S., or even world premier. Tickets can be purchased online on a film-by-film basis or by purchasing daily passes for $20 each.

Categories
Arts & Entertainment Business News

Hops on the Ohio to offer nation’s first two-state beer festival this weekend

A truly unique craft beer experience is on tap this Saturday from 12pm to 12am, and it is being put on by the same group that organized the wildly successful Cincy Winter Beerfest. The old L&N bridge, now known as the Purple People Bridge, will be the stage for the novel Hops On The Ohio concept, which offers beer lovers the nation’s first-ever two-state festival.

Over 200 different craft brews, including many special releases will be spanning the Ohio and Kentucky border from river bank to river bank, and attendees will have the rare opportunity to taste this wide selection in essentially one location. Most breweries and beers are only distributed in certain states and many of the beers at the festival may only be available in either Kentucky or Ohio, but not necessarily both, so here is your chance to have both state’s portfolios at your disposal.

That being said, there is one catch, legally the beer cannot cross state lines, or in this case the imaginary line on the bridge, and there will be “crossing guards” in place to kindly remind people of this fact.

All tickets are available for purchase online.  General admission tickets cost $35 in advance and $45 at the gate. This will get participants a five ounce tasting cup, 25 beer sample tickets, and exclusive access to the bridge, as the structure will be closed to the general public. There will be designated driver tickets for $10 that include two tickets for non-alcoholic beverages.

Additional ticket options include the “Hophead Combo” for $45 in advance ($60 at the gate) and in addition to regular ticket privileges, Hopheads get bumped to the front of the line for the exclusive release of Stone’s 10.10.10 Vertical Epic, as well as beer samples and entry to the Schlafly Beer Sellar-Bration, where there will be 47 different beers on tap from the St. Louis brewery. Schlafly Beer-Sellar-Bration tickets are also available individually for $15.

All proceeds, from the festival, will benefit the Big Joe Duskin Music Foundation and its mission to bring local professional musicians into area schools to perform and lead presentations about the impact and enjoyment of playing music. Organizers say that there food and live music will be available.

Hops on the Ohio will take place on Saturday, October 9 from noon until midnight on the Purple People Bridge (map).  Automobile parking will be available on both sides of the river.  Those unable to secure a designated driver are encouraged to take advantage of nearby taxi stands or utilize Metro bus service (plan your trip).

Categories
Arts & Entertainment News

Cincinnati Reds to rally on Fountain Square Monday afternoon

The 2010 National League Central Division champion Cincinnati Reds will take to Fountain Square tomorrow afternoon to celebrate the club’s 91-71, and its first playoff appearance since 1995.

The Reds Rally on the Square will take place from 2pm to 6pm and include the entire team and coaching staff, legendary broadcaster Marty Brennaman, President and CEO Bob Castellini, General Manager Walt Jocketty, Hall of Famer Joe Morgan, and more.

Reds officials say that the team will appear on Fountain Square around 3:30pm before they depart for Philadelphia for the National League Division Series. Many of the players and team leaders will give brief speeches to the crowd.  Event organizers also say that food and drink will be available, and that live music will be provided by Funky G and the Groove Machine. Gapper, Mr. Redlegs, Rosie Red, and the Reds Rally Pack will also be on-hand to entertain the crowd.

“This is a unique opportunity for Reds fans to send off their team as we take the first step in the 2010 Postseason,” Bob Castellini said following the Reds final victory of the season Sunday afternoon. “It’s sure to be an exciting experience for our fans, and we want to show our players, coaches and staff that all of Reds Country is behind them as they begin their playoff run.”

Reds fans first gathered on Fountain Square immediately following the teams division-clinching performance against the Houston Astros on Tuesday, September 28. Following that game hundreds of fans gathered on Cincinnati’s central gathering space to celebrate the big win and meet several players who celebrated at Mynt Martini later that night.

The Reds (91-71) will face the Philadelphia Phillies (97-65) in the first-round of the playoffs. Philadelphia will hold home field advantage, and host the Reds on Wednesday, October 6 at 5:07pm and Friday, October 8 at 6:07pm.  The Reds are scheduled to host the Phillies on Sunday, October 10 in game three of the NLDS.