TWO ROOMS by Lee Blessing
As Lainie (in "Two Rooms"), Kara Whitney...draws a constantly shifting spectrum of emotions
from dispassionate functioning to the most anguished anger, fear and loss. What I especially appreciated was that this was
never a woman who let her most overpowering emotions control her. She was coldly objective when necessary, movingly affected
when it was called for, angry, bitter, outraged and resigned, but never to an extent that her emotions were in control of
her. It was a strength that ultimately convinced us that this woman would endure all of this and certainly be changed, but
never broken.
–Jerry Kraft, SeattleActor.com
ELEEMOSYNARY by Lee Blessing
The cast is uniformly excellent,
delivering sharply delineated characters whose thoughts, paradoxically, are far from the truth in their hearts.
–Tom Keogh, Seattle Times
THE GOD OF HELL by Sam Shepard
Whitney -- fresh off a captivating performance in New Space's "Two Rooms" -- pulls you further and further in as a trusting,
well-adjusted, Wisconsin farmer's wife and the last to know what is really going on. The shock she registers when she realizes
what's up is the shock Shepard would have his audiences register when it dawns on them what's up.
–Dale Burrows, Shoreline Enterprise Newspaper
The farm couple is very solid, with Kara Whitney creating an entirely consistent and believable character in the role of Emma.
She had just the right quality of plainness for a woman who has lived her entire life on a rural dairy farm, and “likes
it just fine.” More importantly, she always felt grounded and authentic, as naturally raised in this life as a stalk
of corn.
–Jerry Kraft, SeattleActor.com
THE BEAUX STRATAGEM by George Farquhar
Kara Whitney does amazing work as Foigard, a Catholic priest serving French officers who are apparently being held as prisoners
in the town. Foigard purports to be a Belgian but turns out to be an Irishman disguising himself, and Whitney's ability to
switch fluidly between thick accents in the scene where Archer and Aimwell discover him is a remarkable performance.
-Jeremy Barker, Seattlest.com
Director Steve Cooper...encourages his youthful cast to apply broad and brash strokes to their portrayals, which succeeds
in carrying the complex story along. Of particular note in this respect are Melissa Fenwick as the servant Scrub, and Kara
Whitney as the French army chaplain Foigard whose effete qualities fed the national prejudices of Farquhar's day.
--Gianne Truzzi, Seattle Post-Intelligencer
|