Category: Off-Broadway Reviews

The story of Florence Nightingale is well known.  She came to fame as a manager and trainer of nurses during the Crimean War.  At the same time in the same war, a British-Jamaican Creole woman named Mary Seacole wanted to join the ranks to nurse the wounded soldiers.  She was rejected.  Undaunted and persistent, she and a distant relative funded her journey to Crimea.  Her story was memorialized in her 1857 autobiographical novel “Wonderful Adventures of Mrs. Seacole in Many Lands.”  The immensely talented playwright Jackie Sibblies Drury tells this story in her new play Marys Seacole.

In the book, Mary recalls the rejection.  “Was it possible that American prejudices against colour had some root here?  Did these ladies shrink from accepting my aid because my blood flowed beneath a somewhat duskier skin than theirs?”  Race relations and prejudice are not new territory for Ms. Drury.  She floored me with the uniquely structured Fairview last year.  This play ups the ante for shifts in time, character, place and tone.  I cannot be sure I understood it all.  I am, however, resolute in my admiration of this incredibly inventive narrative.

Scene after scene challenges the viewer to travel a nonlinear path.  The play opens with Mary talking about her life.  The following scene is a hospital room with three generations of a white family.  One is elderly and very ill.  Mary is now a nurse today.  Apparently Ms. Drury is going to be drawing parallels across centuries.  She does but not in any way that could be predictable.

If Fairview was distinctive in its storytelling, Marys Seacole is even bolder in dramatizing its themes.  Suffice it to say that this one act phantasmagoria is filled with astonishing imagery and fascinating language.  Describing her father, Mary comments on his “doxologizing claptrap.”  A new word to me, doxology is a liturgical formula of praise to god.  Lileana Blain-Cruz (Pipeline, Red Speedo) has impressively directed this challenging and thought provoking work.  Individual moments are never less than interesting and occasionally are mind blowing.

Quincy Tyler Bernstine is a colossal Mary.  She is both a historical figure and a modern woman shaded by a world that is not color blind.  Will it ever be?  Like Mary Seacole, she perseveres.  Six actresses each have roles that range from complex emotions to kooky humor.  They are all excellent.  This play is for anyone who wants to go to the theater and see something extraordinarily original, a little perplexing, bizarrely hilarious and dense with ideas.

Our history books portray Florence Nightingale as angelic.  She reportedly wrote, “I had the greatest difficulty in repelling Mrs. Seacole’s advances, and in preventing association between her and my nurses (absolutely out of the question!)…Anyone who employs Mrs. Seacole will introduce much kindness – also much drunkenness and improper conduct!”  Wow!  Victorian shade!

Mary was voted “Greatest Black Briton” in a 2004 poll.  Why is she such an obscure figure here?  Why is her pioneering nursing work unknown to us?  She was the daughter of a Scottish soldier and a Creole woman.  Is that the reason she’s an untold story?  Playwright Jackie Sibblies Drury gives us many things to ponder after spending time with her work.

Fairview is returning to the New York stage in June at the Theater For a New Audience in Brooklyn.  Both plays are highly recommended.

www.lct.org

theaterreviewsfrommyseat/fairview

www.tfana.org

The Mint Theater can be consistently relied upon to present interesting, high quality rediscoveries of lost plays.  In 2010, they launched a multi-year series of plays by the forgotten Irish playwright Teresa Deevy.  With The Price of Thomas Scott, they are undertaking a project entitled Meet Miss Baker.  Both of these women were writing plays about the female experience and achieved success on the London stage in first half of the twentieth century.  In this particular play the author Elizabeth Baker muses “I wish I knew how far conscience ought to take us.”

Thomas Scott is a draper in London.  He is married and has two children.  The business is failing.  A devoutly religious man, his life is filled with churchgoing.  His wife is unhappy but supportive.  Daughter Annie is a talented hat designer who dreams of traveling to Paris and creatively expanding her craft.  Son Leonard yearns for schooling rather than following in his father’s footsteps.  There is no money to ensure either of these wishes come true.

The young individuals in this play discuss that the world seems to be changing all around them.  The latest craze involves dance halls.  As you might imagine, the religious folk see them as dens of iniquity.  Annie ponders whether dancing is really so bad as it’s “so easy to misunderstand when you don’t know.”  Religious prejudices uninformed by actual experience is the territory explored in this play.  Is her father’s view that dancing is a sin just another religious fad whose time will pass?

The most interesting angle in The Price of Thomas Scott is the ambiguity of the answer to that question.  Annie’s father receives a financially lucrative offer for his shop which could change their lives forever.  He wrestles with the dilemma of what the shop will become if he sells.  Successful businessman Wicksteed cannot understand Mr. Scott’s rigid morality.  Read your history, he notes, “how many martyrs were bigoted fools?”

Annie is the central focus of this good play.  Women are entering the workforce and considering a life that isn’t simply marriage.  She contrasts with her mother who follows her husband’s lead despite her true feelings.  Thomas Scott wrestles with his conscience as he considers societal progress.  Is progress the devil’s own argument in allowing evil to permeate the world?  It may seem ludicrous today to consider dancing a sin.  This play forces you to consider a world inhabited with conservative and restrictive values.

I know a very religious person who would not let their children read the Harry Potter series because it contained real magic spells.  In my view, such uninformed prejudices seem idiotic.  I find ignorance and religious fervor a scary partnership.  What I liked about this play is it’s consideration of that viewpoint from both sides.  Is a strong moral conviction not merely a prejudice but a belief system worth admiring?

The Mint usually mounts the highest quality off-Broadway productions and The Price of Thomas Scott is no exception.  Vicki R. Davis’ set design is a simple and beautiful rendering of a draper’s shop from long ago.  The actors do a nice job embodying these relatively simply drawn characters.  Donald Corren’s Thomas and Emma Geer’s Annie were nicely shaded characterizations which invited sympathetic respect for their positions.  Within this solid cast, Andrew Fallaize (as the Scott’s lodger and Annie’s hopeful suitor) and Mitch Greenberg (as Wicksteed the businessman) stood out for their realistically drawn men of the past.

“If a man can reconcile his actions with his conscience,” does anyone have a right to question him?  The Price of Thomas Scott is not a great play somehow rediscovered for the ages.  It is, however, a very thoughtful meditation which does not come across as preachy.  Instead, Elizabeth Baker wonders aloud and everyone’s point of view is respectfully considered.  I look forward to this series at the Mint Theater.  Her comedy Partnership and her first performed and perhaps best known play, Chains, will be upcoming productions.

www.minttheater.org

theaterreviewsfrommyseat/thesuitcaseunderthebed

When I heard Jake Gyllenhaal and Tom Sturridge were going to join forces and present two one act monologues, I had to go.  These famous actors have been exceptional on the New York stage in recent years.  Mr. Sturridge was nominated for a Tony for his work in Orphans and was phenomenal in the memorable 1984.  I was first impressed by Mr. Gyllenhaal in an off-Broadway production of If There Is I Haven’t Found It Yet.  His George Seurat in Sunday In the Park With George was excellent.  In Sea Wall/A Life, these actors tackle plays by two different authors but with linked themes.

Mr. Sturridge’s Sea Wall is first.  His young man seems casual and guarded but then settles in to talk about how his life came together.  Marriage and a child were revelations.  His family travels to France to vacation with her father, enjoying time by the sea.  At the beach he realizes that he is “the mathematical direct polar opposite of Daniel Craig.”  He is wry and endearing.  A tragedy occurs which shakes them all to their core.  The description of grieving and loss is understated and painful.  Simon Stephens, the author of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time and On the Shore of the Wide World, created a character who may never heal.  When he walks off stage, the sadness looms.

Nick Payne wrote Constellations which starred Mr. Gyllenhaal and Ruth Wilson on Broadway.  That play featured quick changes in time and story as is the case with A Life.  Like Sea Wall, this story also features a young man who is facing a marriage and fatherhood but also dealing with an elderly parent.  Bouncing back and forth between storylines, Mr. Gyllenhaal’s delivery was casual and relaxed.  He stands in a spotlight as if he were performing a routine.  The setting seemed odd given the moody lighting and expansive use of the two tier stage in Sea Wall.  Sadness was conceptual here rather than fully realized.

For theatergoers looking to watch fine actors take on serious and depressing fare, there are rewards in Sea Wall/A Life.  If both parts were equal in quality, I would recommend giving this a try.  There were quite a few people seated near us who came to see stars.  They were clearly not connected to the material.  After the play ended, the guy in front of me apologized to his friends for buying tickets.  I appreciated the opportunity to let these stories wash over me.  I just wished I had been less disappointed.  The two plays work well together thematically.  One is just far more riveting.

www.publictheater.org

theaterreviewsfrommyseat/1984

theaterreviewsfrommyseat/ontheshoreofthewideworld

Feeling neglected, Dionysus is looking for a little love.  Or at the very least some worshippers.  The greek god of the grape harvest and wine has been spending time in a lesbian commune in Vermont.  Our god is now a goddess and a very butch one at that.  Hurricane Diane hatches a plan to start recruiting acolytes in Monmouth County, New Jersey.  Carol Fleischer (perfectly embodied by Mia Barron) has been carefully clipping pretty photos of her dream garden from HGTV magazine.  Landscaper Diane (Becca Blackwell) listens intently but has no intention of designing a yard with curb appeal.  Ever hear of permaculture, she asks.  A grassless yard with bugs?  Carol scoffs and does not hire Diane to do the work.

Recounting this story to three neighbors from the cul-de-sac, Carol lets them know that Diane made a pass at her.  Are you sure?  The “girls” dissect for clues.  Beth (Kate Wetherhead) is the quieter one whose husband has recently left her.  Her front lawn hasn’t been mowed in months.  Renee (Michelle Beck) is now a successful businesswoman and works for the gardening magazine.  She knows about permaculture and thinks the idea would make a great feature article.  The fourth member of this team is purebred New Jersey Italian palazzo-loving Pam Annunziata (Danielle Skraastad).  She’s loud, wears big heels and is a superbly realized caricature.

All of these woman are stereotypes with familiar stories and worries.  This group is gossipy, supportive, judgmental and a great deal of fun to watch.  Playwright Madeleine George is clearly comfortable writing hilarious zingers.  Hurricane Diane is certainly a comedy.  When the play is over, you realize that you’ve just sat through the most entertaining lecture on climate change ever.  The play is smart, clever and over-the-top ridiculous.  The pawpaw tree gets multiple jokes.

Why does Diane travel to a beach community in New Jersey?  One which has recovered from the devastation wreaked by a hurricane named Sandy in 2012?  The answer is completely selfish.  If humans wipe themselves off the planet with continually rising temperatures leading to massive starvation, who will be left to worship the gods?  Shouldn’t these ladies be especially amenable to doing their part to restore the earth to a healthier place?

Director Leigh Silverman expertly weaves this swirling plot from a coffee clatch to a religious epiphany only to return to the cul-de-sac for a little more gossip and truth-telling.  This is the kind of play when certain combinations of characters reappear you feel excited to see what’s next.  A co-production between the New York Theatre Workshop and WP (Women’s Project) Theater, I highly recommend this crafty ecomanifesto.  Acting, costumes, set, lighting and music were top notch.

Carol knows exactly the type of garden she wants in her patch of the world.  Carol is living the life she ardently believes is best with all her heart and soul.  Carol’s monologue near the end of the play is monstrously effective.  In it, I heard the stubbornness of the human race.   I saw scientific evidence about climate change falling on deaf ears.  I felt this playwright hitting the bullseye.  That speech should have been the end of the play.  The tacked on coda deflated what soared so high just moments before.

Does our goddess succeed in her quest?  This highly memorable god versus mortal battle is very amusing as the New Jersey suburbanite can be a most vexing creature.  Hurricane Diane, the play, is unquestionably a winner.  Hurry to see it before biblical floods wipe out the East Village.

www.nytw.org

www.wptheater.org

In 1968, nine people walked into the draft board in Catonsville, Maryland and took 378 files of young men.  These records were incinerated in the parking lot with homemade napalm, the incendiary used extensively by the United States military in Vietnam.  These nine Catholic priests and nuns felt their Christian morals required them to act on what they believed regardless of the personal cost.  They were arrested.  The Trial of the Catonsville Nine is a 1971 play by Daniel Berrigan, one of the participants in this historic act of civil disobedience.

After this incident, the Catonsville Nine issued a statement:  “We confront the Roman Catholic Church, other Christian bodies, and the synagogues of America with their silence and cowardice in the face of our country’s crimes.  We are convinced that the religious bureaucracy in this country is racist, is an accomplice in this war, and is hostile to the poor.”  The significance of this event helped shape the opposition to the Vietnam War away from street protests to repeated acts of disobedience.  Father Berrigan and his brother Philip were later featured on the cover of Time Magazine.

The transcripts of the trial are the basis for this work.  These activists were protesting the war’s legality, the forced shipment of thousands of young Americans to their deaths and the slaughtering of innocent people.  Is the burning of paper a crime but not the burning of children with these horrible weapons of mass destruction?  Saving lives may have been their primary motivation.  Criticizing a society’s complicity was the big target.  Were all of these people in Vietnam villages communists?  Why is America helping to overthrow governments in Asia, Africa and Latin America?  At what point might this aggressive foreign policy become our domestic policy?

Adapted and directed by Jack Cummings III, this play is brimming with thoughtful discussions about morality and government.  Was this war genocide?  Do we use military strength solely to further our economic and business interests?  Should lawyers and judges have a moral compass while interpreting the law?  Why were privileged young men given deferments disproportionally to the poorer and less advantaged?   

In this staging, the play has been modified from an eleven person cast to just three who share all the roles.  This production is performed onstage with the audience sitting in pews on four sides.  Period memorabilia is scattered on the desks.  When the three Asian actors enter and begin looking at newspaper clippings, we join them in our reconsideration of history.  The Trial of the Catonsville Nine is now a memory play at a time of potentially catastrophic moral ambivalence in America.

David Huynh, Mia Katigbak and Eunice Wong keep us riveted to the words and thoughts of this time, effortlessly switching from judge to defendant.  As can be expected in a production by the Transport Group, the creative team (Peiyi Wong, R. Lee Kennedy and Fan Zhang) has beautifully designed this environment to let the uneasy mood linger as the dramatic story soars.  The recurring superlative quality and artistic variety produced by this theater company is peerless on any New York stage right now.  Feel free to attend, even if your bone spur is acting up.

www.transportgroup.org

theaterreviewsfrommyseat/renascence/transportgroup

The Convent ends with an oddly tacked on yet stirring coda.  Until that moment, this play takes place in a medieval convent in the south of France.  The time is the present.  This location is home to a spiritual retreat for women.  They come to heal, to learn and even to ingest a hallucinogenic to facilitate discovery and sharing.  When the ladies arrive, they pick a card in order to choose a nomen.  Historical female medieval figures such as Claire of Assisi and Teresa of Avila will be their personalized guides on this journey.

Mother Abbess encourages her crusaders to let their selected spiritual leaders teach them how to repair their lives.  Over meals these women share their thoughts and aspirations.  There are games intended to help them find a way to heal or to grow.  More than one of the women have unresolved traumas involving their mother.  The convent is designed to be a safe space for diving deeply into oneself in order to emerge rehabilitated.  While religion and medieval cloisters are clearly this retreat’s physical inspiration, the contemplative mysticism is the central driving force.

The plot revolves around six women, some of whom have been here before.  Archetypes are standard such as the bad girl and the shy one.  Relationships form.  Tensions emerge between characters.  Mother Abbess pushes them hard to find their individuality within their own souls, not using anyone else’s definition.  This play does not unfold organically and the plot twists seemed slightly overwrought in order to create a major story arc.  Frankly, I often disengaged from this material but then found myself pulled in and continually intrigued by this production.

In Raul Abrego’s excellent set design, stone walls had gothic windows on both ends of the stage.  In the center, the space easily morphed from an outside garden to a dining hall.  Katherine Freer’s multi-layered projection design added both symbolic religious imagery and vast landscapes signifying remoteness.  Directed by Daniel Talbott, this so-so play has been presented in an exceptionally fine and fluid production.  Every actress was memorable.

As spiritual guru Mother Abbess, Wendy vanden Heuvel weaves a fascinating combination of ferocious feminist and spectral goddess.  Patti was the character I most identified with as the aggressively cynical nonbeliever.  Samantha Soule’s performance beautifully balances complicated and unresolved external and internal conflicts as The Convent reached its coda.  What is the job of a woman?  In a breathtaking final monologue, a modern day mystic in a New York City subway station answers that question.  I imagine playwright Jessica Dickey hopes women will hear her plea loud and clear.

www.rattlestick.org

I walked into the Stage 2 space of the Atlantic Theater Company to see the world premiere production of Eddie and Dave not knowing what the play was about.  The music playing was Van Halen’s classic “Running With the Devil.”  The walls were plastered with rock and roll memorabilia.  I saw a Whisky A Go Go flyer advertising Blondie on February 3, 1977.  The Plasmatics were represented and I recalled the chainsaw flailing of “Butcher Baby” in my mind.  I squinted to see which band was marketed as “Cooler Than Fuck!!!!”  I got up out of my seat to see the ad closer.  I had never heard of Big Bang Babies, a 90’s glam metal act.  As a college radio disc jockey from that period, I am clearly in the theatrical bullseye for this material.

You may already have guessed that the title of this play references Eddie Van Halen and David Lee Roth.  If these two rock stars are foreign to you – or perhaps an obscure reference from the past like Dinah Shore might be to a millennial – then find something else to do.  Playwright Amy Staats admits in the program: “The only thing real about this play is the author’s love for a certain band.”  As the MTV VJ narrator, a funny Vanessa Aspillaga further informs that Eddie and Dave is a “memory play; brightly lit, sentimental and not at all realistic.”  As a blogger, I’d add: “and not at all good.”

In 1996, Van Halen is presenting an award at the VMAs.  Dave had not been on stage with his bandmates in over a decade.  Shenanigans ensued, depicted as an on-stage fight.  Our VJ guiltily lights a cigarette stating, “such as dirty habit…. nostalgia.”  The laughs seem promising right from the start.  What follows is a tongue-in-cheek biography of the band from their youth to the VMA reunion.  While the description of the play might suggest a fictional story, the tedious detail of their history is far from imaginary.

Over ninety minutes, this amateurishly presented skit covers everything from groupies (“like fruitflies to a ripe banana”) to Eddie’s marriage to Valerie Bertinelli, amusing embodied and roasted by Omer Abbas Salem.  Eddie and Dave are played by Ms. Staats and Megan Hill.  They capture some of the caricaturized essence of these people but there is not enough variation to sustain a whole play.  If you don’t know them beforehand, I presume the mugging will be meaningless.

This production was cast with opposite genders – the women play the men and Mr. Salem is Val – but that potential is not really developed.  There are indeed some funny lines early on but the crickets grew in volume and for long stretches as the play progressed.  Fun could potentially be had if this cartoonish sketch was staged in a bar with musical interludes and cocktails.  As it stands now, dozens more (non-repeated) jokes are desperately needed.  More characters from the period would also help as the two non-band members produce the best and funniest moments.

Toward the end, our VJ tells us that if you “see an aging rock star, remember all things great are inherently ridiculous.”  Eddie and Dave is definitely ridiculous but, unfortunately, not inherently so.

www.atlantictheater.org