Squeeze Box

I think in order to feel better in these troubled times one has to go more often to see shows, opera, etc. I did go to the Marsh and what a wonderful performance I saw - The Squeeze Box. Ann Randolph was so funny and warm, really great.

With pathos and humor, Randolph skillfully weaves together stories about working in a women's homeless shelter and the pursuit of true love। Her painfully funny portraits of the shelter's residents, and hilarious account of her hiking trip with Harold, the accordionist of her dreams, are beautifully drawn in this poignant tale about finding dignity and grace in unusual places.

Randolph, who has been compared to the late Gilda Radner, uses her elastic face, acrobatic voice, and attuned body language to play male and female, young and old characters. With just a chair, banjo, guitar and lights, she brings to immediate, pulsing life her tragicomic journey of discovery and self-acceptance with remarkable freshness and vibrancy.

Randolph wrote Squeeze Box while working the graveyard shift at a homeless shelter for mentally ill women where she's worked for the past ten years. She recently performed excerpts from "Squeeze Box" on National Public Radio's new program Public Radio Weekend and on PBS. Randolph began working with the chronic mentally ill while attending college, where she received room and board from a state mental hospital in exchange for writing original comedies with schizophrenics.