←Recommendations of Chaplin & Keaton on the Set of Limelight

Two comic geniuses meet and find themselves embroiled in a debate about the nature of comedy and the role of art in the world. Their diametrically opposed positions emerge naturally from their creative collaboration. Chaplin's wife Oona is given her full due as well. The philosophies expounded come from real humans and the play brims over with humanity as well as philosophy.

Greg Lam's play about film legends Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton is a truly magical experience in the writing, the characterizations, the risks he takes with time and place and movement, and the depth of feeling one is left with for both of these men, genius's in their own right, yet so different in their approach to comedy. Beautifully done.

Absolute magic to think of two Hollywood legends, each with radically divergent views on the nature of art and the role of film in people's lives on the world stage, and how it resonates even louder today. Keaton's explanation of comedy gave me chills. Well done.

This play captures not just a moment in movie history and a meeting of two of the great artists of the last century, it also poses essential questions about the nature of the artistic impulse and the importance of art in the world. Is it imperative to do more than entertain, especially in the face of crisis and hatred? And where will fulfillment come from for an artist? Highly theatrical storytelling, with "silent" sequences that give us the creative world of these geniuses as they work through their differences. Compelling and remarkable.

Hollywood loves films about Hollywood, thinking that the rest of the world wants to see what they do. Sometimes these films are successful, sometimes they aren't. I think entertainers like to make entertainment about entertainers, much like chefs like to cook for other chefs. What sets Greg Lam's "Chaplin & Keaton on the set of Limelight" different is that it recognizes this tendency and pokes fun at it. This is a very funny and poignant play about funny people who either want to change the world or make them laugh. I laughed. I cried. I look at things differently. Bravo.

Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton were giants of the early cinema world. But it’s easy to forget that they were also human, both of whom had careers that ended tragically. In this thought-provoking play, the pair team up to work together on the set of Chaplin’s Limelight, and we see the human side of these artists. The audience is faced with a very difficult question: in times of political darkness and uncertainty, what is the job of artists? To simply entertain? Or to reach for something deeper, more profound? This is an important piece for today's political climate.