?We all know someone who had one big thing happen in their lives long ago, and for whom that thing ? scoring a crucial touchdown, winning a beauty pageant ? becomes the defining event of their existence. They get stuck on faded glory. ..So it is with Breda (Melissa Hart) and Clara (Katherine Ferrand) in Enda Walsh?s ?The New Electric Ballroom,? which opened over the weekend under Wendy Knox?s enthralling direction at the New Century Theatre in Minneapolis? The combo of Walsh and Knox was responsible for ?Misterman,? one of last year?s most engaging theater productions. ?Like that dark drama, ?The New Electric Ballroom? is strangely engrossing.? –StarTribune, http://www.startribune.com/entertainment/stageandarts/275197531.html
?Enda Walsh seems to be a perfect match for Frank Theatre. ?This four-person cast could not be better, nor could Wendy Knox’s direction. Each actor is so immersed in their character, and each character is more than she or he seems. Katherine Ferrand is a thing of fragile and disturbed beauty as the childlike Clara. Melissa Hart is also excellent as the somewhat stronger and more together sister Breda. Virginia Burke is the sane center of this family as Ada, until we learn that she has her issues too. Irishman Patrick Bailey .. is a delight to listen to as he tells the sisters his stories, and later reveals a deeper and darker side to Patsy? get there soon if you like complex, layered, disturbing, engrossing, tragic, beautifully performed theater.? —http://www.broadwayworld.com/minneapolis/article/BWW-Reviews-THE-NEW-ELECTRIC-BALLROOM-Offers-a-Complex-Disturbing-and-Completely-Engrossing-Enda-Walsh-Play-20140917?PageSpeed=noscript
?The material is tough, but it provides a meaty meal for director Wendy Knox and the quartet of actors. Knox has spent 25 years delving into works like this via Frank Theatre, and there is no fear in the approach here. The directing balances Walsh’s thick and heavy script to find the humor, honesty, and drama of the piece. A veteran cast leads us through the twists and turns of the plot, providing a light for us to follow. Virginia Burke gives a tremendously nuanced performance as younger sister Ada, who is at turns steely and tender with her older siblings, and completely vulnerable with Patsy. Patrick Bailey slowly transforms that character from an odd man arriving with bundles of fish to someone with a heart as rich as the rest of the company.? –http://blogs.citypages.com/dressingroom/2014/09/the_new_electric_ballroom.php
