TIM COLLINS

Tim Collins performs excerpts of his award-winning solo show A FIRE AS BRIGHT AS HEAVEN this Monday at the McGinn/Cazale Theatre-- from www.nytheatre-i.com Monday, February 2: I'll chat with Boo Killebrew about her play They're Just Like Us. Boo is an award-winning actor, playwright, and choreographer. Our discussion will follow a staged reading of the play by No. 11 Productions. In addition, I'll introduce special guest Tim Collins, who will perform a brief excerpt from his play A Fire as Bright as Heaven, which is being published in Plays and Playwrights 2009. This event is at 7:30pm at the McGinn/Cazale Theatre. This event is FREE! --Tim will be back in NYC to perform more of his solo show on March 12th at the Drama Book Shop-- check www.timcollinsonline.com for more information! Find out more at: www.timcollinsonline.com

PLAYS AND PLAYWRIGHTS 2009!

The Review is in!

A FIRE AS BRIGHT AS HEAVEN

In London, we meet a professor whose American students feel misunderstood in the wake of the tragedy of 9/11, and an expatriate counselor whose postmodern deconstruction of the attacks on the World Trade Center is almost surreal in its detachment. Collins acts all of these characters himself, physically moving to each one's position in the scene and adding accessories (eyeglasses, jackets, that sort of thing) to help us "see" these distinct people. His characterizations are detailed and remarkable in their depth, considering how quickly some of them pass by. One of the singular aspects of his approach is to allow breathing room between characters, so that we can see each one react to the others.

From London the story moves to a remote New England town in 2003, where Collins is working in an educational toy store, fending off requests for plastic F-16 planes and G.I. Joe dolls—for the present war in Iraq has just begun. Next, we find him in the Boston area in 2005, interviewing random people about their attitudes toward terrorism; and then, in 2007 in St. Louis at a convention of the National Rifle Association. The final segment takes place now, anywhere in America, and features Collins going door-to-door, canvassing, perhaps, for Obama. He meets a very tired, very typical young man who, overloaded on too much news and finding too few ways to actually act on all that information, seems to have reached the end of his rope. Of all the characters Collins introduces us to in A Fire as Bright as Heaven, this nameless fellow is the one that resonated most deeply for me. I do not think I was alone in this.

The script is topical and overtly political and maintains an interesting balance despite (or perhaps because of) Collins's obvious humanist leanings. A young Republican explains why he's happy and liberals aren't with almost frightening clarity; but the scariest thing about him, for me, is his constant reassurance "I'm just playing with ya!" Others whom we encounter on Collins's trip through our recent collective past include a marketing manager for the NRA Store, a mother trying to make sense of the then-recent invasion of Iraq, and a young American woman organizing a candlelight vigil for the victims of 9/11. All ring startlingly true.

Collins is a writer and actor of enormous intelligence, range, and sensitivity. His ability to crystallize much of what's ailing the American psyche just now is both uncanny and invaluable. I cannot recommend this piece too highly; and I look forward to whatever he brings to audiences next.

A FIRE AS BRIGHT AS HEAVEN Noted in The New York Sun

http://www.nysun.com/arts/navigating-fringe-nyc-a-users-guide/82699/

THE SHOWS

A FIRE AS BRIGHT AS HEAVEN-- This epic one-man tour de force spans the past seven years of American politics and opinion, from the Iraq War, to the NRA National Convention, to the looming 2008 elections. Fast-paced, over 40 characters.

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