BOY SMALL
by MT Cozzola
Fresh Ink staged reading with The Fine Print Theatre Company
(Director)
Production with The Fine Print Theatre Company (Assistant Director)
Taryn Wood and Stephen Cefalu in BOY SMALL staged reading
Heather Bodie and Taryn Wood in BOY SMALL staged reading
Heather Bodie and Dave Belden in BOY SMALL staged reading
Dave Belden and Stephen Cefalu in BOY SMALL staged reading
Stephen Cefalu in BOY SMALL, photo by Gretchen Kelly
Stephen Cefalu and Dave Belden in BOY SMALL, photo by Gretchen Kelly
Stephen Cefalu and Taryn Wood in BOY SMALL, photo by Gretchen Kelly
Stephen Cefalu in BOY SMALL, photo by Gretchen Kelly
The Fine Print Theatre Company
October 15 & 16, 2012
Staged Reading at the Athenaeum Theatre
2936 N. Southport Ave., Chicago, IL 60657
Directed by Emmi Hilger
Featuring Stephen Cefalu, Taryn Wood, Dave Belden, Heather Bodie, and Deanna Moffitt
The Fine Print Theatre Company
August 23 - September 22, 2012
Red Tape Theater
621 W. Belmont
Directed by Patrick Kenney
Assistant directed by Emmi Hilger
Featuring Stephen Cefalu, Taryn Wood, Dave Belden, Cat Dean, and Deanna Moffitt
October 15 & 16, 2012
Staged Reading at the Athenaeum Theatre
2936 N. Southport Ave., Chicago, IL 60657
Directed by Emmi Hilger
Featuring Stephen Cefalu, Taryn Wood, Dave Belden, Heather Bodie, and Deanna Moffitt
The Fine Print Theatre Company
August 23 - September 22, 2012
Red Tape Theater
621 W. Belmont
Directed by Patrick Kenney
Assistant directed by Emmi Hilger
Featuring Stephen Cefalu, Taryn Wood, Dave Belden, Cat Dean, and Deanna Moffitt
REVIEW ROUNDUP
“The heart of the story is with the Boy’s sister, appropriately named Sissy and played by Taryn Wood. The play takes place in close quarters and Wood’s portrayal of a scared but loving young woman who is left very little choices in life is seamless… Boy Small is a very engrossing telling of a true tragedy...”
-Clare Kosinski, Chicago Theatre Review
“What makes this production so refreshing is its attention to both realistic emotion and theatrical physical exploration. [Stephen] Cefalu wears his suffering on his body. The rocket pace of his mind, revealed in his Hamlet-like soliloquies, clashes with his increasingly animalistic physicality.
… Sissy, initially the Boy’s access to knowledge and love, becomes twisted by her father, who decides to teach her his ways. The way this gradually alters the relationship between Sissy and Boy is heartbreaking, and [Taryn] Wood and Cefalu pull it off beautifully.”
-Aeneas Sagar Hemphill, Timeout Chicago
“What works best in MT Cozzola’s script is her ear for dialog: she has a fundamental understanding of how people talk to one another and how certain kinds of talk lead to other kinds of talk. … The choice of venue is disturbingly appropriate. The performance space at Red Tape Theatre, set up as a small theatre-in-the-round, is claustrophobic: the audience is right on top of the actors… Boy Small is an ugly show, as the subject matter absolutely demands.”
-J. Scott Hill, Chicago Stage Review
“We see how little choice the kid had to save himself… The only freedom this boy can hope for is the release of death.”
-Lawrence Bommer, Chicago Theater Beat
“The heart of the story is with the Boy’s sister, appropriately named Sissy and played by Taryn Wood. The play takes place in close quarters and Wood’s portrayal of a scared but loving young woman who is left very little choices in life is seamless… Boy Small is a very engrossing telling of a true tragedy...”
-Clare Kosinski, Chicago Theatre Review
“What makes this production so refreshing is its attention to both realistic emotion and theatrical physical exploration. [Stephen] Cefalu wears his suffering on his body. The rocket pace of his mind, revealed in his Hamlet-like soliloquies, clashes with his increasingly animalistic physicality.
… Sissy, initially the Boy’s access to knowledge and love, becomes twisted by her father, who decides to teach her his ways. The way this gradually alters the relationship between Sissy and Boy is heartbreaking, and [Taryn] Wood and Cefalu pull it off beautifully.”
-Aeneas Sagar Hemphill, Timeout Chicago
“What works best in MT Cozzola’s script is her ear for dialog: she has a fundamental understanding of how people talk to one another and how certain kinds of talk lead to other kinds of talk. … The choice of venue is disturbingly appropriate. The performance space at Red Tape Theatre, set up as a small theatre-in-the-round, is claustrophobic: the audience is right on top of the actors… Boy Small is an ugly show, as the subject matter absolutely demands.”
-J. Scott Hill, Chicago Stage Review
“We see how little choice the kid had to save himself… The only freedom this boy can hope for is the release of death.”
-Lawrence Bommer, Chicago Theater Beat