Jack Holloway is one of the best actors in the Tampa Bay area, a remarkably versatile performer who was as convincing as a sociopath in When You Comin’ Back, Red Ryder as he was as a Jewish gentleman in Talley’s Folly. But when Hat Trick Theatre offered Molière’s Scapin last season, audiences learned something more about Holloway: This guy can direct. Where so many past Hat Trick shows were sloppy and short on detail, Scapin was clean and deliberate to the nth degree. Watching Scapin, you couldn’t help but notice how much work had gone into the spectacle in front of you, into the sight gags, the stage combat, the choreography, the heads popping in and out of windows, the bodies rushing in and out of doors. If Holloway can handle 17th-century farce so adroitly, what else might he be capable of? Area producers: Answer this question.
This article appears in Sep 12-18, 2007.