The politics of Ross's film, though scattershot and rhetorical, are near-radical, and a radical aesthetic looms beneath the movie's surface as well, whether a theatrical, Brechtian strain of teaching cinema or an extreme materialist historicism.
Steve Perry was its great theatrical tenor, hitting high notes with a likably strained, through-the-noise voice and Sam Cookembellishmentsshmembellishments
Disney held such hopes for "The Lone Ranger," whose weak theatrical performance could strain producer Jerry Bruckheimer's relationship with the studio.
Early on, however, the restaurant's service seemed strained, almost theatrical.
Here the model seems to be Pina Bausch, but Mr. Tynek's choreographic chess game of male-and-female relations strains for theatrical effect.
That's about as tense as their exchanges ever get, even if what's at stake is nothing less profound than the very nature of friendship and its effect on the perilous dictates of passion.The language strains for theatrical credibility, with phrases like "the hopeless longing for otherness" hanging, well, hopelessly in the air.
This British musical comedy star combines two distinct strains of British theatrical performance, one demure and semioperatic, the other fiercely zany; imagine Sarah Brightman crossed with Gertrude Lawrence.
A singer who interprets lyrics with a concentrated attention to detail, Ms. Friedman brings together two distinct strains of British theatrical performance -- one demure and semi-operatic, the other fiercely zany.
A well-known director and playwright in Buenos Aires, Mr. Veronese strains anyone's understanding of theatrical economy.
The protagonist's conclusive act of devotion has a rare, symphonic exaltation; a theatrical decrescendo that reunites the characters with a strain of bluff comedy raises the stuff of daily life to luminous glory.
