Currents Spring 2020 (Vol. 36, No. 1) | Page 34

AWCH Group English Theater The AWCH English Theater Group gathers monthly to take in and appreciate the talented English-speaking theater pro- duction companies Hamburg has to offer. The English The- ater Group kicked off 2020 with the Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged), put on by the Hamburg Players, the city’s oldest English-speaking amateur theater group (founded in 1965). The farcical play loosely featured all 37 of the Bard’s plays performed hilariously by only three incredibly talented performers. In March, the English Theater group will enjoy the classic tale of Cyrano de Bergurac (and his nose) pursuing his love Roxane, performed at the West End London (James McAcoy!), but live streamed to the Savoy Theater. Upcoming events will include a backstage tour of the Lion King set in May and a showing of After the Revolution, performed by the Hamburg Players in June. by Andrea M. and photo THE ENGLISH THEATRE OF HAMBURG Welcome to a Momentously Revealing Birthday Party Apologia by Alexi Kaye Cambell at the English Theatre of Hamburg with Paul Glaser directing ap·o·lo·gi·a (ăp′ə-lō′jē-ə, -jə), noun: a defense or justification of one’s beliefs, attitudes, or actions. books, earning prominence. Sequentially, her memoir’s publishing coincides with a birthday prompting her to invite her two sons with girlfriends, plus gay friend Hugh for dinner. The elder, dapper Peter arrives early with Trudi—naïve American, cutesy name, and Christian to boot. Enthusiastic yet slightly [1775–85; < Late Latin < Greek] -thefreedictionary.com From waiting tables in New York City to over a decade of theater and television roles in London, the Greek born playwright’s characters exhibit his experiences. Alexi Kaye Cambell’s debut play, The Pride, merited the British Olivier award before crossing to New York’s Broadway. In Apologia, Cambell penned an acutely astute family drama brilliantly performed by the London dramatis personae. Versed in production intricacies as wide-ranging as Shakespeare, musicals, pantomime and comedies, plus film and television, the actors hold audiences spellbound during a momentously revealing birthday dinner. Not one to mince words, the 1960’s rebel Kristin advantageously turned her razor-sharp mind and clever tongue to writing Annelise Bianchini (Trudi), and Luke Jenkins (Peter / Simon) 34 In Hamburg