"Dialogue is spare here, and plot even more so. Ms. Clarke’s choreography takes precedence, along with traditional Shaker songs, sung a cappella...There is transparent beauty to the choreography...It’s hard to overstate the importance of design in this production, where Christopher Akerlind’s clear, soft lighting does some of the work of exaltation...It’s the twinning of euphoria and anguish that makes 'Angel Reapers' quietly glorious."
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"Martha Clarke's movement-theater portrait of 18th-century Shakers arrives in a storm of stamping dances and lovely a cappella song...Clarke seems a strange match for the puritanical Shakers, but the sect's celibacy actually stokes her flames...The ecstatic dancing turns, in her hands, into repression-mad frenzy...This physical conviction utterly overwhelms storytelling and even history... We leave 'Angel Reapers' sure that the underlying impulse was somehow erotic."
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"Experimental choreographer Martha Clarke and Southern playwright Alfred Uhry may sound like an unlikely pair of collaborators, but Clarke's eye for abstract movement blended with Uhry's sense of Americana well suits their hybrid piece 'Angel Reapers'...More an atmospheric piece than a plot-driven play, it can be fatiguing in its most abstract moments...Clarke and Uhry have alighted on an interesting common space that holds a wealth of artistic potential."
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"At seventy minutes, 'Angel Reapers' is light on drama and conflict, save for making the point that the separation of the genders works against the natural urges some would consider another gift. Clarke's mix of contemporary dance with traditional Shaker movement is finely showcased, but while the piece may strike curiosity about the sect, it's hardly a satisfying exploration."
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"The company goes about its choreographed movements with a sense of pounding rhythm and untrammeled joy, often accompanied by a couple of dozen Shaker hymns...'Angel Reapers' blends words, songs, and movement in a way that allows us to get close to a vision that will seem staggeringly foreign to many, if not all, audience members...The entire company performs with admirable conviction."
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"A rich but flawed dance-theatre piece...Murphy's portrayal [of Mother Ann Lee] you won't soon be able to forget. Unfortunately, 'Angel Reapers' loses a great deal of this sharpness when it's exploring her ten acolytes. They integrate, gorgeously and hauntingly, into the dances, but they're less people than they are points to make...Clarke and Uhry have guided 'Angel Reapers' to take many good steps, but it stops just short of the brilliance for which they yearn."
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"The other performers come from the dance world. All are engaging and often mesmerizing to watch...The cast also does well singing the Shaker songs that are skillfully arranged...However, it takes a true hymn enthusiast to not tire of 70 minutes of this a cappella music...The nude scene that vivifies the struggle with lust seems Ms. Clarke's acknowledgement that all that stomping and gesturing will eventually feel too repetitive without something drastically different."
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"'Angel Reapers' is a success on almost every level. These two award-winning artists have found a way to make their subject matter profoundly meaningful and ultimately heartbreaking...All the cast members were terrific, totally immersed in their characters through movement, acting and beautiful singing. Scenic design and costume design combined with lights to produce one perfect stage picture after another. Ms. Clarke directed with an eye for every telling detail."
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