An intimate look at a historical figure we all know and love. This may be a two hander, but much like others I have recently read, it's more like a solo show that happens to have an assistant (which I adore). It is clear that Bender did her research when creating her version of the famed magician, emphasizing his troubled relationships with his family in a way that really highlighted the work's message. The parallels between Houdini's escapes and the audience/public's natural inclination towards escapism was especially gratifying. Well done.

A fascinating look into the life and psyche of a famous figure.

"Who's summoning who?" you might wonder as you slip into the sweetly intoxicating velvet envelope of this important play. Houdini as decoy, misdirection, or metaphysical wingman? Whatever the case, Bender leans in to the legendary magician's mystical aura to challenge beliefs ranging from "What is real?" to "What's next?" And in an era of am-I-enough's? and whose-side-are-you-on's?, Bender pulls off a Houdini-esque verbal sleight of hand that coaxes our most tightly-wound beliefs out of our subconsious and into a world where magic is real. And real is magic.