REBELLION AND RIBALDRY REIGN AT THE KATE

An unlikely subject for a broad based comedy might well be the seriously rebellious historical figure Karl Heinrich Marx, yet that is who the creative team of Richard Bean and Clive Coleman have fixated on for their latest production.  The year is 1850 and we find the 32 year old revolutionary, deemed Europe's number one terrorist, hiding in the soho section of London on the brink of despair and brilliance.

With Rory Kenner as Marx and Oliver Chris as his adopted best friend Friedrich Engels, the National Theatre Live will present "Young Marx" for your enlightened edification at the Katharine Hepburn Cultural Arts Center tonight, January 11, at 7 p.m.

We first meet Karl as he is hounded by creditors and in fear of having his wife Jenny flee from his side.  He is constantly ill, with continual debts and apparent poverty not improving his outlook.  Are you in hysterics yet?  To add to the pathos, one of his children is close to an unhappy ending.  No wonder Marx has taken to hiding in the cupboard whenever there's a banging on his door.

Have no fear, the gag lines are soon falling over themselves like an Abbott and Costello routine and the apparent despair of the setting is no longer helpless. Soon you are marveling at Marx's genius as he philosophizes about the changes in economics he hopes to promote, to save the working class from the cruelty of the capitalists and effect changes, especially in child labor laws.  Quickly the seriousness is pushed aside as the comic soap opera tone returns with a vengeance for a brief encounter with Charles Darwin and a fight at the stately British Museum library.

For all his bright ideas, Marx is portrayed as a boozer and womanizer, an angry young man who spouts ideas as the spirit moves him. This new work is the opening salvo to introduce London's newest theatrical home The Bridge to audiences, a $16 million space overlooking the Tower Bridge, the first all-new commercial theater to be built in London in eight decades.  Nicholas Hytner, artistic director of the National Theatre, is at the helm.

For tickets ($20), call The Kate, 300 Main Street, Old Saybrook at 877-503-1286 or online at www.katharinehepburntheatre.org for this National Theatre Live in HD production.  Come back the next night, Friday, January 12 at 8 p.m. for the tantalizing sounds of a talented quintet of female singer-songwriters who carry the sparkling torch of the Lilith Fair tour for the twentieth year.  Hear the finale of this celebratory tour that features former Connecticut State Troubadour Lara Herscovitch, Sharon Goldman, Sloan Wainwright, Trina Hamlin and Connecticut Folk Songwriting Contest winner Amy Soucy, accompanied by guitarist Stephen Murphy.  The show entitled "Steady On" features a sisterhood of songs created over the last two decades.

For tickets ($26-28), call The Kate at 877-503-1286 or online at www.thekate.org.

Whether you are in the mood for hysterical historical comedy or sensational singing, look to The Kate to satisfy your entertainment desires.  Check their calendar  for dozens of  exciting offerings every month of the year.