Thurs-Fri at 7:30 pm, Sat-Sun at 2 and 7:30 pm. Through Dec 12.
"The Lezara String Quartet has fired its inspired and erratically crazy violist Dorian (Todd Jefferson Moore) and replaced him with a young, nervous woman named Grace (Chelsey Rives). She has every right to her nervousness. A tetchy diva named Elliot (Allen Fitzpatrick) leads the quartet's other members—a schlumpy divorcée named Alan (Shawn Belyea) and a grumbling but good-hearted cellist named Carl (Charles Leggett)—and they all fight with each other. A lot. The rancor increases as the quartet prepares for a White House concert. Opus details the crucible of collaboration and all the hair-tearing and teeth-gnashing required to make something beautiful. (One hopes the actors were more cordial to each other than their characters.) Everyone turns in great performances. Moore is flighty, charming, and infuriating; Rives hides a few razors beneath her blushes; Fitzpatrick is fussy and driven; Belyea slouches and flirts with a rogue's charm; and Leggett is the play's basso profundo, giving Opus its ballast. In the beginning, he tells a joke. A string quartet, he says, is 'a good violinist, a bad violinist, a former violinist, and somebody who doesn't care about the violin.' The joke first seems like a light embellishment—but it's a leitmotif that comes to a shocking conclusion." (Brendan Kiley)
Opus
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