By D. A. Blackburn
Thoughts of romantic dinners rarely include a menu of pizza, but for an American professor on fellowship in Copenhagen, the familiar flavor proves thoroughly heartwarming in the Purple Rose Theatre Company's latest world premiere. Deborah Brevoort's "The Poetry of Pizza" is a smart and seductive comedy, but moreover, it is a thoughtful story about love transcending cultural lines.
At the center of Brevoort's tale is American poetry professor Sarah Middleton (Michelle Mountain), middle-aged author of pedantic academic works and recipient of a year-long fellowship abroad. She is immediately greeted, in Copenhagen, by a sex-crazed colleague, Heino Anderson (Grant R. Krause) and an agoraphobic and nosey landlady named Olga Ouland (Sarah Benoit). In attempting to avoid both she finds her way into a local pizzeria, where she catches the eye of Soran Saleen (Qarie Marshall), a Kurdish immigrant and pizza cook. He is immediately taken with the girl, and presents her a pizza that she deems too beautiful to eat. In the weeks, and pizzas that follow, the two forge a love which forces both to confront their cultural and intellectual differences.
In the hands of a very talented cast, including a host of Purple Rose veterans, Brevoort's story takes shape with well-developed personalities and dialects. Characters like pizzeria owner Rebar Frie (Hugh Maguire), Sarah's American confidant Pam Adams (Sandra Birch) and love-struck neighbor Ule Enevold (David Daoust) and his – also agoraphobic – wife Inga add zesty flavor to the pizza, topping it with ample handfuls of humor.
The work also benefits greatly from sure-handed direction by Guy Sanville. It is well-paced, and creatively blocked with overlapping scenes set against a simple, yet elegant, backdrop of sky and foliage. On the whole, the show's designers have done an excellent job, allowing the performers, and Brevoort's clever dialogue, to shine.
'The Poetry of Pizza'
Purple Rose Theatre, 137 Park St., Chelsea. Wed.-Sun., through Dec. 22. Tickets: $25-$38. For information: 734-433-7673 or http://www.purplerosetheatre.org
