Metropolitan Playhouse
Virtual Playhouse
Presents
A Screened Reading
of

BERTHA, THE SEWING MACHINE GIRL
(PART TWO)

Written by CHARLES FOSTER
Directed by ALEX ROE

Featuring
BECCA BALLENGER, CRAIG ANTHONY BANNISTER, JOHN BLAYLOCK, DIEGO CARVAJAL, MARGARET CATOV, LINUS GELBER, TYLER KENT, PETER LOUREIRO, BEETHOVAN ODEN, MADELYNN POULSON, DAVID LOGAN RANKIN, JAY ROMERO, HANNAH SHARAFIAN, & TOM STAGGS

Graphic Art by MEDUSA STUDIO

Talkback follows with Michelle Granshaw, PhD, Associate Professor of Theater Arts & Director of Graduate Studies at the University of Pittsburgh

www.metropolitanplayhose.org/virtualplayhouse
Metropolitan Playhouse at YouTube.com

April 24, 2021 8 p.m.
Part Two plays through 10 p.m. April 28, 2021

JEALOUSY! BETRAYAL! ANGST! SHENNANIGANS! SALVATION!
When last we met, poor hardworking honest Bertha was behind bars, unjustly convicted of theft. Villains worked against her. Friends tried to help her. She prayed. A lot.

In Part Two we find out why these evil-doers are so intent on ruining her. We discover lost family members, a couple of dead people come back to life, covered-up crimes are revealed, unpunished crimes turn out to not have been crimes at all. You know, the usual soap opera convolutions. It is melodrama indeed. As presented on stage back in late 1890s, there would surely have been bosom-clutching, hand-wringing, sigh-heaving, and mustache-twirling. BTW, it was a massive hit back then and for decades afterward. Massive.

The Metropolitan Playhouse played it in a more modern style. Evil stares and sneers, yes, but emoting…not so much. The dialogue is still the dialogue, though, and the plot is still the plot. To call it Byzantine is an understatement. Just try to follow along and see where it leads. Don’t think too much, just dab your eyes with your lace handkerchief.

MADELYNN POULSON did a standout job as the beleaguered Bertha. Her first lead role at The Metropolitan Playhouse! She admitted at the Talkback that when she read the script, she thought, in essence, “No way!” No way that she, Madelynn, would simply be praying. She would kick into action and take no prisoners. She had to turn herself around and work against type, and she did it well.

Cheers to director ALEX ROE for pulling this all together. Umpteen characters and scene changes. MEDUSA STUDIO did wonders with the graphics. To all the cast: hip-hip-hooray and lots of applause.

-Karen D’Onofrio-