What little promise we had of winter has faded, and cherry blossoms are bursting through the dull branches that line the streets of our humble ‘ville; yet it’s still not warm enough to leave the safety of indoors completely, so why not take shelter in a familiar pub with a familiar drink? And while you’re there, why not take in what is arguably a standby Charlottesville tradition?
Barhoppers, produced by Offstage Theatre, has been taking over local watering holes for roughly over twenty years. The format is simple: all plays take place in a bar and are written, directed, and acted out by locals, and best of all, performed in a bar (Miller’s and Rapture this year).
The plays are short (5-10 minutes each) and easily digestible, so you don’t need to be a theatre buff to be entertained. This year’s lineup is no exception: Barhoppers 2009 features revelry from foul-mouthed sots, fetishist phlebotomists, and as always, beleaguered bartenders. Between each play, desperate singles offer bizarre monologues based on real classified ads from local alternative weeklies.
There are a few exceptionally well-written and acted plays this year that demand special attention. “Immodest Proposal” by Robert Wray (prize-winning playwright and co-founder of cakes’n’ale theatre) is a gentle reprieve from the profanity and innuendo that permeates the first half of the show. “The Taste of Cotton” by Matthew Marcus (of about a gazillion UVA productions and a feature-length film he wrote and in which he stars called The Artist) is clever and very funny – and it doesn’t hurt that Mark Valahovic, a local acting/directing stud of sorts and Live Arts standby (acting creds include Rocky Horror Picture Show, A Streetcar Named Desire, and even High School Musical!), brings one of the three characters to life. “Stuffed” by Libby Majette (anyone know the skinny on this one?) is strong on the witty back-and-forth dialogue that is so hard for some to master; throw in some killer southern accents and an unlikely love triangle, and you have a slam dunk finish to this year’s show.
You still have two weeks to catch Barhoppers 2009! Deets below:
Rapture
Sunday, March 22nd – NON-SMOKING NIGHT
Monday, March 23rd
Tuesday, March 24th
Rapture
Sunday, March 29th – NON-SMOKING NIGHT
Monday, March 30th
Tuesday, March 31st
All shows at 7:30 pm, all tickets are $7 (NEW RECESSION PRICING) at the door, all butts in seats well in advance ’cause you know how it fills up. Check out the semi-new OFFSTAGE website at http://www.offstagetheatre.org/.
[pic from ch1mp]
Related posts:
- Like Grasshoppers, but in a play…in a bar…and not a bug
- 2009 Best/Worst For CVILLE’S MUSIC SCENE
- 24/7 at Live Arts
I would ordinarily attend this, but I hear bars these days are just full to the rafters of cold hearted women hell bent on destroying the emotional landscapes of fragile young men like myself. Its almost as if someone posted a “how to” on the internet or something…
@1 Don’t worry…I already went and probably won’t go back, so you’re safe!
I saw Barhoppers ‘09 on the premier night and I completely agree with the review – those were the best plays and the best parts of the show!
I saw Monday’s performance at Miller’s and it was brilliant. A very pleasant treat, indeed.
i was completely blown away by Phil Green’s performance, though a small part—what’s the deal with that kid—he must be about 18 or something. like a re-issue of benjones, or an edgier revision of the great Joel Jones (onstage, not writing). He was in last year’s barhoppers too, and then i think LA swagged him for a Mamet full-length as a main part—where does barhoppers frind these ur-talented kids, and why doesn’t live arts find them first?—is offstage a sort of feeder program for live-arts, i mean does la just steal the best actors from offstage by lavishing them in promises of women and alcohol etc?
barhoppers is always awesome, and moreso for their shoestring budgets and borrowed venues.
Pfffttt…
@6 Phil is awesome. He was in American Buffalo at LA…not sure what else, though. I also hear tell that he wrote a book…when he was like 15.
I was sad that the Jones bros were not involved in this year’s production…legends, I tell you. What is Jones-the-younger up to these days theatrewise? Still laboring away on Jigsaw mania?
Speaking of barhopping (wheretf is the FFA?)… Echo’s farewell party at SS tonight.
Barhoppers is extending its run for three additional nights in the Upstage Theatre at Live Arts:
Sunday, April 5th – NON-SMOKING NIGHT
Monday, April 6th – NON-SMOKING NIGHT
Tuesday, April 7th – NON-SMOKING NIGHT
NON-SMOKING NIGHT
No need to shout about it.
haha. Sorry! I cut-and-pasted from an email and was too lazy to turn my internet volume down.