The Third Avenue PlayWorks of today and the theater company of three years ago seem like two very different entities. That’s courtesy of the pandemic, which shut down the theater – known as TAP to most – and forced its leaders to reassess their goals. Artistic director Jacob Janssen said that reassessment led to a complete style overhaul, including a renovated building, new leadership and a different name.
Author: Lisa Adams (Lisa Adams)
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Warren Gerds/Review: ‘Birds of North America’
Many birds of North America are present, though only in their calls for the audience. Two birders in the story see the birds… and hear them. Please, use the term “birder,” not “bird watcher. Huh, sniff, “bird watcher” lacks the qualities of precision, perfection, passion, purity, purpose, profundity and power of “birder.” Now you have an inkling of what one of the two characters in the play “Birds of North America” is like on the wings of words.
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PODCAST: Connecting Community to Theater with Jacob Janssen
By Door County Pulse, October 7th, 2022 Andrew Kleidon is joined by Third Avenue PlayWorks artistic director Jacob Janssen to talk about his return to Door County, his first season at TAP, the importance of bringing a community together through theater, and TAP’s upcoming Play Reading Club.
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A New Name In Wisconsin Theater
Wisconsin born Jacob Janssen went out of state to get advanced degrees in theater and had a busy career on the East Coast directing, producing and facilitating young playwrights. He decided to chuck all this and bought a house in Door County and lives there with his wife – who works remotely for a social agency in Washington, D.C. – and their young son, with another child on the way.
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Warren Gerds/Review: ‘The Last Five Years’ poignant
Jazz by a combo bustles along as background sound. On stage are invitations to explore. White parallel bands at an angle on the floor cross over brown parallel bands at a right angle to the eye. At the rear, white parallel bands seem to step their way up the backdrop, with the top band angling off. At the very top are wooden ceiling beams. Or so it seems. The beams are part of the magic of artistic perspective. The eye looks and looks and looks until what seems like a room of sorts is finally deciphered: Something flat is 3-D.
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TAP’s Book Club Play: Reading between the Lines
I’m not sure whether Third Avenue PlayWorks’ (TAP) production of The Book Club Play has convinced me that I need to join a book club or avoid them at all costs. What I am sure of, though, is that The Book Club Play is a must-see for lovers of books.
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Warren Gerds/Review: ‘The Book Club Play’ sparkles
The catalyst for adventure in live professional theater: An international true-life documentary filmmaker is recording meetings of a book club. That sounds innocuous. But soon excitable folks are letting fly warts and all. “This book club is like ‘Lord of the Flies’ with wine and dip,” one fellow observes. Opinions clash, personalities crash and friendships tumble.
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Warren Gerds/Review: ‘Slow Food’ top-flight nutty
Showy acting. That’s on the menu of “Slow Food,” a major tease of fine dining gone kaflooey. The joke is… just about everything. The fun is… watching kaflooeyness unfold through expert acting and directing.