Whether you’re a writer, an actor, or a director, timed challenges in theatre can often be wildly crazy and highly energizing for all of the artists involved. For the audience members who are lucky enough to be around for the final result, it often leads to some of the most strangely entertaining nights of live theatre that you’re bound to enjoy. If there’s ever been such an excellent example I’ve seen recently of that, it’s the recent “All-Stars” round of the Rule of 7x7 series that runs throughout the year at The Tank.

When it comes to conceptual dance and performance pieces, I am always a fan of work that adapts poetry. When it’s done right, it often can feel like some of the most incredibly beautiful works of performance that there is. So when I was invited to review Natalia Roberts’s dance show inspired by Shel Silverstein’s “The Bridge”, I was certainly intrigued. When I got to the theater, however, I quickly realized that the show wasn’t necessarily an adaptation, so much as it was a response.

The feeling of betrayal is always one of the most sickening and disturbing feelings that someone can have. It’s only even worse, when it comes as a result of losing trust – as a result of learning facts about them not previously known – in a close mentor or teacher whom you once admired and thought you could look up to. It is exactly this type of relationship that is explored, in a very modern and relevant context, in Ben Gassman’s brilliant new play entitled Independent Study.