TV on the Stage + a Personal Note

I am of the generation that "grew up" with television, among the millions transfixed by images as disparate as the Kennedy/Nixon Debates, The Beatles on "The Ed Sullivan Show", the Vietnam War, the 1968 Democratic Convention in Chicago, the Watergate Hearings, the "First Man to Walk on the Moon", the Super Bowl, and so on.

Curious as I was about the world, I (and most of my friends) took the television for granted.  As far as I could tell, it had always stood in the corner of the living room (oddly enough, our large 1940s vintage radio was in the dining room) and, with the exception of the occasional power outage, always when you turned it on.

"The Farnsworth Invention", a play by Aaron Sorkin ("West Wing", "The American President") is currently onstage at Oddfellows Playhouse (through May 6.)  Witty, scientific, poignant, brash, and sporting an excellent "set" (created by David Schulz), the cast of 11 members of the OP's Teen Repertory Company (directed by Marcy Arlin) make this piece come alive.  The story, narrated by both Philo T. Farnsworth and David Sarnoff, is about the birth of television with the former being a self-trained scientist who grew up on a farm in Idaho who created the first workable idea for the distribution and capturing of images and the latter the founder of RCA and NBC and fervent believer in the power of the media as a tool for education and the betterment of society.  The playwright creates a scenario that clearly states Sarnoff won the battle of the "patent" and went on to become an even bigger player in media.  We are led to believe (by the playwright) that Farnsworth "disappeared into the bottle" but he had quite a productive life as a scientist and visionary (click here to read more.)

I would recommend you go see "The Farnsworth Invention" for any number of reasons, not the least of which it is a compelling production.  As one has learned to expect from Sorkin, the repartee is intelligent and profane while the story draws you in.  Kudos to the cast and technical staff for making an evening of magic.

Performances are this Saturday (4/30) at 7:30 p.m. and next Friday and Saturday at the same time.  Not recommended for children under 13, call 860-347-6143 for reservations. 

In other Oddfellows news, Producing Artistic Director Jeffery Allen is leaving Middletown for Bloomington, Indiana, to create new opportunities in the arts for people of all ages. During his 6+ years in Middletown, he worked tirelessly to raise the already high bar for creativity and community involvement that Oddfellows Playhouse is known for.  And, he succeeded mainly because he did not look at the work he was doing as "children's theater" but as "theater", as the opportunity to educate young people in the power of creativity and interaction, in community and sharing, and in how to "lose" and also "find" your self through the creative process.  And, just as important, to have fun!

On a personal level, working with Jeff, Jerry Winters, Carolyn Kirsch, Rob Resnikoff (whose daughter, incidentally, is assistant director of "The Farnsworth Invention"), Jackie Coleman and the rest of the cast of "Hamlet" is one of the highlights of my life (and not just my life onstage.)  Oddfellows Playhouse will survive and thrive as will Middletown but Jeff Allen's vision and desire will be sorely missed.