It's Cutting Ball, Ya'll

Cutting Ball Theater - Risk is this...

How cool is that tag line?!

Cutting Ball came to my attention (though not for the first time) via the Squidlist, which listed a reading they were doing of Pirandello's It is so (if you think so).

First off, I love Pirandello. Even though I've not actually finished a book of his, he is one of my favorite writers. Come to find out, he won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1934. How about that!

In any event, a performance of his work is indeed a rarity, so I jumped at the chance to see a reading.

Now readings can be dull things. I mean, it's a bunch of people READING. But this group was a stellar collection of actors - I'd love to know where these people come from, because I don't see their ilk on the main stages in this city - where I would expect to see talent like this. So that's encouraging to me because it means we have an artistic director (in Mr. Rob Melrose) who can choose both exciting, high quality material as well as skilled performers who can bring that material to life.

Their current production is Woyzeck, in a new translation by Rob Melrose. They will also continue their Hidden Classics Reading Series (in its second year) at Modern Times Bookstore in the Mission. The Readings are FREE.