Category: Off-Off Broadway Reviews

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Burnt-Out Wife (Dixon Place)

“I wanna get married/ Yes, I need a spouse.”  A recording is played.  A woman sings those song lyrics without irony.  Sara Juli is flitting about in her bathroom.  She is briefly jarred back to reality when she notices the toilet seat is up.  This Burnt-Out Wife puts the seat down.  The song continues.  “I wanna get married/ That’s why I was born.”

When Ms. Juli announces “let’s do some more heteronormative bullshit,” you would be advised to put your slippers on and join her in this sanctuary.  Described as a “pepto-bismol-pink” bathroom, all the usual fixtures are represented.  A bathtub in which to relax with candles.  A toilet, a shower and a clothing rack.  A couple of dolls left on the floor.  Obviously the children were here earlier.

The wife looks in the mirror to perform some heteronormative tasks.  She begins plucking her eyebrows.  Then she notices hairs in other places, remarking, “that’s unexpected but you’ve gotta do some maintenance.”  Further inspection will elicit a “WTF!”  From the start, Sara Juli is on edge.  This Burnt-Out Wife is going through the motions but there is a lot on her mind.

How does one feel after seventeen years of marriage?  A few thoughts emerge such as bored, lonely, questioning and curious.  Things do get very serious in between the jesting about her life.  “What if I told you I didn’t want to be with you anymore?”  That zinger portends the depths of analysis which will follow.  No topic about the current state of affairs with her husband is off-limits.  The show is real, raw, funny, provocative and, despite the comedic shield, introspective and genuine.

The bridal dream of walking down the aisle is invoked.  The bouquet is a plunger.  This fantasy is soon replaced when reality hits.  She tells the story of receiving a text from her husband.  “We need more toilet paper.”  Her response back?  “We need more post-coital cuddling.”

This pink bathroom becomes her fantasy showcase in which to ponder the state of her life, perform comic monologues with a hairbrush and use dance movements to illustrate her feelings.  Behind the safety of an imagined locked bathroom door, this burnt-out wife is brutally honest with herself and her audience.  Her defenses are fortified but vulnerability is always apparent.

Since there is a real audience rather than just an imaginary one in the mirror, Ms. Juli is able to engage in some dialogue with them.  A question and answer section is used to debunk the childhood fairy tales of happily ever after.  One man is asked if separate floors would be a better living arrangement if they were married.  “Definitely” was his response.

“What if…” is a game which can be played in everyone’s mind.  In her show, Sara Juli directly addresses those thought bubbles which usually remain unspoken.  “What if we could have a one night stand while married to other people?”  A man answers, “I’d do it but I’d be a little troubled.”  She smiles and comments that, regardless of being troubled, he would do it anyway.  Funny.  Then the big ad lib lands.  “Let’s talk after.”

This one hour show is a delightful blend of comedy and serious without ever dipping into negativity.  The performance and the script stay focused on laughs despite the realness of the subject matter.  You could imagine a darker version.  The color pink, however, keeps the tone cotton candy sweet and playful.  That base allows the “wow” moments to stand out.

Sara Juli has been creating and performing comedic dance-theater for two decades.  Her ability to hold an audience’s attention with abrupt changes in style reflects that experience.  The creative elements around her are excellent.  Pamela Moulton’s set design would make the Pink Ladies from Grease swoon.  The costume designs by Carol Farrell are especially memorable.  Disposable razor blades as fringe feels fashion forward.  Never worry should you need a quick touch up.

A variety of enjoyments are scattered throughout this piece of performance art.  My favorite section came toward the end.  Ms. Juli seemed to be holding herself together.  A dance begins.  This is what the little girl wants.  This is what the mature woman needs.  Her deliberate and repetitive movements tell the story of the passage of time and life’s changes in direction.  This burnt-out wife is paying attention to her cravings.  Amidst all the zaniness the message was loud and clear.

Burnt-Out Wife is playing over two weekends at Dixon Place through February 28, 2020.  Sara will be touring with this show into 2021 and those locations are listed on her website.

www.dixonplace.org

www.sarajuli.com

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Birthday in the Bronx (The Tank)

Raquel has a rough life.  In Birthday in the Bronx, her character name is Rocky.  She’s a bruiser of a field hockey player having collected broken bones and bloody scars.  Two noxious sportscasters comment about the atrocious playing conditions.  “I understand funding is tight” but the field is all muddy.  Earlier in the day, girls from a “better school” looked like goddesses.

Rocky’s talent is noticed and she receives an offer to play at a rich school near Boston.  That school is so white.  How white is it?  The hockey stick is even white.  The first student we meet is named Pretty White Girl.  In her opening lines she blurts “audits and yachts” followed by “inheritance offshore” and “tennis camp au pair escrow.”  The language is exaggerated gobbledygook but somehow the laughs do not land.

Even the teacher spouts gibberish meant to satirize the one percent.  She squawks “board of directors heirloom tomatoes” and “Downsize?  Ha!  Investor relations.”  Parts of Paul Hufker’s new play contain quirky satire.  In a world of woke, this story attempts to vilify the non-woke.

Teeth, another pretty white girl, cannot have Rocky’s birthday party at her house because mom said no.  Noam Chomsky might pop by.  Rocky doesn’t want anything for her big day except for her bones to heal.  The pretty white girls play nasty games like peeing in her bed.  The cake?  Rocky wants Fudgey the whale.  Lips insists on a real bakery cake “like the time when Arthur Miller came to my house.”  In a hyper-satirized environment, that joke might land.

Unfortunately for Rocky, home life does not seem significantly better.  Her positive exterior covers lots of brokenness.  Everyone seems to treat her badly regardless of race or relation.  The sting of what might be an edgy and purposefully uncomfortable comedy instead comes across as a disjointed Mean Girls.

The two men in the radio booth take a walk to Kayville Train Town where they let us know, in no uncertain terms, that they are racist.  Wife Nancy is going to make “pink border wall” for dinner.  The recipe?  “Cook green card, real low and slow… where are your papers until you gotta stab it with a fork!”  If anyone does get in over the border wall, “just kill em an grill em.”  That could be sickly funny.  That could also be inky dark.  In this production directed by Michaela Escarcega, the scene falls flat.

A lamb motif dominates this play.  Rocky finds one in a garbage can.  A sports announcer reads advertisements for the meat.  Rocky’s dream sequences feature a Bronx legislator who is represented as a lamb.  To be honest, I needed to consult the script to figure that detail out.  Another funny line appears:  “We don’t speak Spanish and we don’t speak rich, but we’re willing to learn rich.”

Is Rocky internalizing her own guilt about wanting to escape her roots and claw her way, sticks flying, to the greenfield pastures of the one percent?  Along the way encountering giant swaths of racism in the form of white America?  Her childhood roots cloud that potentially ripe target.  Everyone just seems so mean.  Birthday in the Bronx feels more like a tale of psychological abuse.  Her teammates taunt her shouting “rice and beans bitch” which says it all.

Sigrid Wise gamely portrays all the pretty white girls and, therefore, the group scene doesn’t have the impact as it does on the page.  Suzelle Palacios does a nice job traversing the many moods of Rocky.  She earns the necessary sympathy.  The finest moment of this production is the high strung closing speech delivered by Evans Formica, one of the heinous white men.

Sports metaphors, evil carnivores, societal injustice, sorority hazing, dysfunctional families, violence, racism and other assorted topics create a very crowded and confusing story.  Birthday in the Bronx has some ideas and demonstrated wit as read on the page.  This production is far too jumbled and unfocused, however, to make any sense out of this play.

www.thetank.org

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A Cocktail Party Social Experiment

The one page program announces A COCKTAIL IS A BEAUTIFUL THING in capital letters.  “It transcends its base ingredients to become something new and exciting.”  The theatrical event A Cocktail Party Social Experiment is also a beautiful thing.  The premise is simple:  invite some friends over, pour some drinks and play a game.  If the moon is aligned, meaningful conversations will emerge.  Happy people will return to their homes invigorated, refreshed and just a little bit more connected to their fellow Earthlings.

Based on a real game he co-created, Wil Petre hosts, essentially, the playing of a game on stage at the Chelsea Music Hall.  In his introduction he notes that all you need is a beautiful living room, delicious cocktails, a banging playlist, party guests and his Cocktail Party game.  The mission is to “create an analog experience.”  Phones down, all.  Fair disclosure:  we host game nights in our apartment so I’m on board immediately.

Nine chairs are placed on the stage.  Each is equipped with a microphone.  Our host explains the “procedure.”  Each round has a maître d and a guest of honor.  That person picks two cards which determine their conversational question.  After they finish, a toast.  Then that guest becomes the maître d and a new volunteer is selected from those wishing to participate.  Everyone else watches and sips away.  I enjoyed a drink called the Paper Plane.

Ricardo, the Negroni drinker, came first.  Mr. Petre superbly manages a positive tone throughout to foster a safe engagement for all participants.  He eases into each conversation lightly with a silly question.  Ricardo never eats pizza with a fork and knife.  After receiving his cocktail order, the real question is posed.  “What is a recent teachable moment you experienced?”  Ricardo was recently seeing someone who lived in a negative space and seemed to wallow in sadness by choice.  The man seemingly had “an addiction to sadness.”  Ricardo shared that he is “not a fixer.  I’m too irresponsible.”

Right out of the gate things were funny and lighthearted but also a tad serious yet effortlessly listenable.  A follow up question was then asked.  “What are you working on for yourself?”  Clarity was the answer.  The older Ricardo gets the more he wants to keep things simple.  “Clarity in speaking,” he adds so people cannot “superimpose unintended meanings to those words.”  A toast!  The doorbell rings.  Enter Beth Champagne.

Beth prefers Seinfeld over Friends.  She’s not a bridge burner.  There’s a downside, she warns.  “People come in that should’ve been out.”  Her fellow bubbly enthusiast Erin Champagne from San Francisco pops the cork next.  She is asked to “Describe the Beginning.”  After gulping down her quaff of choice, thoughtful pearls of wisdom emerge.  Everyone came from the Earth to become millions of people.  Treat everyone like a friend of a friend.  “We all come from the same thing.”

The admittedly “very neurotic” Adam Cider arrives before intermission.  He tells a story about a co-worker.  “He’s a faucet.  I’m a sponge.”  A brief intermission to replenish cocktails is followed by the arrival of Ze “One Of The Bourbon Drinks.”  “Marriage is hard,” she muses.  Why is her current situation her most difficult relationship?  “All of the others I knew were not going to last.”

Duruk Tequila & Soda contemplates religion and the afterlife.  Olivia Whiskey Rocks discusses an unfortunate date at “The Box.”  A staff member of that nightclub happened to be in the audience.  A baby boomer squealed for information.  Erotica would be the gist.  Finally, last guest Aidan arrives and is asked, “What is your revolution?”  His answer was “Bernie.”

While that might seem to be an expected response, the fact that we are all listening rather than talking allows a person to add nuance and depth of meaning to the quick quip.  Think about this insight:  “A generation not talking about politics and religion has created a generation that does not know how to talk about politics and religion.”  Aidan believes in the “interchange of ideas; it’s called a society.”

The entire evening was fascinating to watch, endlessly interesting and always enjoyable.  How do you know if your cocktail party is successful?  When I was putting on my coat, all of the game participants were enthusiastically conversing on stage.  People in the audience were coming up to talk to them and with them.  The energy level was very high (and not simply fueled by excessive Monday night drinking I should add).

I expect A Cocktail Party Social Experiment will catch on big and fast.  The actual game is expected to be produced later this year.  In the meantime, grab a seat and volunteer to share.  Or, better still, listen.  Allow people to talk without constant interruption.  Theater should always be a place to share fascinating stories and different perspectives.  Nearly every person I know – and those from our game nights especially – would find this experience both intellectually stimulating and extremely entertaining.

A Cocktail Party Social Experiment is currently scheduled for two more performances at Chelsea Music Hall on March 16 and April 13, 2020.

www.acocktailpartysocialexperiment.com

www.chelseamusichall.com

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Taste the Clouds

New York City Children’s Theater commissioned Hit The Lights! Theater Company to create a production for young audiences. Taste the Clouds is a breezy thirty minute exploration of whimsical notions to trigger the imagination.  The story is based on Rita Marshall’s book of the same name.  The targeted age range is two to five years old.  The children in the audience ranged from fidgety but engaged to focused and riveted on the action.

In the lobby, cast members interact with the kids as they arrive.  “Make sure you get your imagination paintbrush over there.”  A “really cool” activity table is where the children decorate their paintbrushes with stickers.  The table is toddler height and portends the level of smart details which follow.

There are plenty of chairs for the adults in the theater.  Kids are encouraged to sit on the floor.  A sheet is the “magic canvas.”  Some children sat with their parents or on their laps.  Others plopped themselves front and center.  The first item on the agenda?  “Raise your hands if this is the first time you’ve ever been to a play; ever been to the theater before?”  The initial feel good vibe never wanes.

Hit The Lights uses shadow puppetry projected onto a screen in this show.  I saw their production of Dungeon at Ars Nova in 2018.  Similarly, action occurs on screen and in front with the actors.  Rain comes down in the form of musical notes.  A dog is outside looking up at the clouds.  Buddy appears in the form of a two piece animal.  His head is manipulated in one hand with his body in the other.  One child stood up and gently poked Buddy in the nose.  He sneezed.  The moment was adorable.

Buddy also provided some structure.  When one child left the magic canvas and joined the actors, Buddy pointed his nose back to the sitting area which seemed to do the trick.  After all, it was time to take the imaginary paintbrushes and touch the stars.  “We did it!”

Exploration is on the agenda in Taste the Clouds.  A girl rides an owl into the sky.  The projected puppetry shows the flight and then changes the perspective to a close up.  The zooming in from larger imagery to detailed visuals is effectively used throughout.  The puppet show is fun and appropriately simple.  The questions posed are more surreal.

“Do you believe I can listen to colors?”  The children are then asked, “What’s your favorite color?”  Pink is the first one yelled out.  Then a child adds “rainbow.”  One of the actors comments that rainbow is a “solid choice.”  Little imaginations are pressed into listening to the blue flower.  “Purple was tricky.”

Fruits will be added to a cauldron.  Our heroine dons a scuba mask and she and Buddy dive in.  Swirling inside is a psychedelic soup.  “All that smelling and swimming made me hungry.”  The story quickly moves on and the children seemed attentive as a result.  Their was a nice balance of watching and participating which kept interest high.

When the children paint the sky, a slice of pizza is seen floating.  There will be dumplings and donuts.  Buddy excitedly eats everything and then turns into an exaggeratedly bloated dog.  This warning about overeating is very funny.  By the show’s end, you will believe it is possible to smell a rainbow, taste the clouds, see the music and listen to the moon.

Exiting  the theater, the cast is available for photos.  The five performers, both in front of and behind the curtain, strike a nice tone to engage the children without using baby talk.  At the end, the children are told “we are honored for this being your first play.”  Taste the Clouds is a sunny introduction to the world of magical invention in the theater and in the mind.  The kids looked like they had a fun time.  From their seat, the clouds were very tasty.

Taste the Clouds is performed on Sundays at the Flea Theater through April 26, 2020.

www.theflea.org

www.hitthelights.org

www.nycchildrenstheater.org

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Packrat (Dixon Place)

Concrete Temple Theater is a multi-disciplinary company committed to creating compelling new theatrical works.  Begun in 2004, they incorporate drama, dance, puppetry, music and visual arts.  In their mission statement, they focus on presenting works that address real issues within communities such as grief, family relationships and environmental stewardship.  Packrat falls into the latter category.

Bud is the title character and he, like all of this cast, are puppets of various styles.  He is a packrat.  Bud collects human “treasures” found on the desert floor.  Humans know them better as litter or forgotten items casually tossed aside.  A silver spoon and an opened bag of marshmallows play important roles in the story.

A faceless cowboy exuberantly drives through these creatures’ homeland in his car.  This puppet is very amusing.  He is built larger than life as would be the size view from an animal’s perspective.  He dons an enormous cowboy hat and a lit cigar.  An ash falls into the dry grasses and sets the land ablaze.  Puppet animals start to scatter amidst the devastation.

Judgmental squirrels believe Bud’s hoarding of human treasures is the cause of the fire. Such activity is illegal, they remind.  The humans are obviously mad.  The squirrels want Bud banned.  Their leader is a jack rabbit named Firestone who is Bud’s friend.  He sleeps to think of a solution.  One is revealed through a dream.

Firestone tells Bud that he needs to search for Artemisia, a land of big sagebrush.  This is the place where there will be no humans.  It must be found for the benefit of all.  Bud attempts to take all of his belongings on this journey but there are too many trinkets to carry.  He has to narrow it down to the most important treasure.  Oh, the choices!  The relocation adventure begins.

Renee Philippi is the writer and director of Packrat.  The story is a simple one exposing the harm caused by humans unconcerned and unconnected with their impact on the environment.  This tale is obviously a microcosm of larger issues concerning environmental damage and blatant disregard for nature.  The focus here on the act of one person’s carelessness stresses the point of each and everyone’s responsibility to the land and its inhabitants.

The story of Packrat is simple and sweet.  Three of us attended this production together and we all found some moments oddly confusing.  Determining which rat puppet was the main character was not always crystal clear.

The puppets themselves are an interesting visual blend of styles.  Carlo Adinolfi designed the puppetry, projections and set.  Some animals appear as suggested forms with exposed rib cages.  When burrowing owls run across the floor, their feet rapidly tap on the floor.  The moment is delightful and just makes you smile.  Another style uses outlines to suggest dreamlike forms and reminded me of dried palm fronds.

The set  is composed of curved sculptures which function as blades of grass.  They are moved around as location changes require.  The puppeteers are visible but clad in black clothing.  They add vocals to the soothing voice over narration by Vera Beren.

Packrat is an enjoyable little tale probably best suited to children given the simplistic themes and good-natured vibe.  The creative elements, however, do provide some whimsical moments that will appeal to anyone who admires artistic inventiveness.

Packrat will be performed at Dixon Place through February 15th.  The show is traveling to the Flint Repertory Theater in Michigan for the weekend of February 21 – 23, 2020.

www.dixonplace.org

www.concretetempletheatre.com

www.flintrep.org

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Brocade (Theater for the New City)

In the early 17th Century, Venice was an international hub of commerce, finance and legalized prostitution.  Brocade takes place in this hedonistic world.  Prostitution was legal as an undesirable but preferred alternative to the rampant homosexuality at the time.  City leaders believed the sight of women’s breasts would convert the men.  In the red light district, whores were allowed and even encouraged to bare their bosoms.  This action took place at the now infamous Ponte delle Tette (“Bridge of Tits”).

In his new play, Robert E. DiNardo uses this promising period to amuse and titillate (pun unavoidable).  Countess Felicita Bonini (Carla Lewis) runs an orphanage which has a cupboard on the outside.  A new novice (Sarah Kebede-Fiedler) is told to check it every half hour so the babies don’t die there.  This location is where the prostitutes drop off their unwanted offspring.  Yes, this is a comedy.

Orazio (Bennett Saltzman) grew up in this orphanage and took a keen interest in sewing.  His abilities had to be improved over time.  He cut himself so often that the nuns began calling him “little stigmata.”  Older now, Orazio works with the Countess’ sister Bianca making dresses for the whores.  The clientele is huge and his work is considered the best.

As you may surmise, Orazio is far from closeted in this Venice and openly wears his creations.  When he was young he wore the nun’s habits in order to break them in.  The plot machinations get underway when an eighty-five year old matriarch from the royal society asks him to design her a dress.  Should he walk away from the enormous market and design for the cheapskate rich folk?

He considers these alternatives while in bed with his lover, Mustat, an older man.  In the play’s finest acting scene, the two discuss the drama after an obvious interlude.  Mustat is a black man from Africa who was brought to Venice.  His backstory is beautifully detailed making this character the richest and most complex.  Jacob Silburn is excellent in the role of this intelligent and accomplished survivor.

Bianca desperately wants to work on the royal outfit.  She “deserves a little thrill” as she is now an elderly virgin.  Her sister runs the highly regarded convent.  She turned its misfortunes around.  The Franciscan friar in charge previously was burned at the stake.  Twelve nuns gave birth within one year thanks to the randy priest.  Apparently that was too much intrigue for a city with over 11,000 whores!

Enter Agostino Amadi, the stud.  Or, rather, the used-to-be stud who has aged considerably since his widely known exploits with females all over Europe.  He now has secretive business dealings with the powerful of Venice.  He even had a fling with our convent innkeeper back in the day.  With a nosy novice skulking through the nunnery, you have all the makings for a delightful screwball comedy.

Under the direction of Shela Xoregos, the play suffers from bad pacing and some performances which do not reach broadly enough.  The entire scenario is hilarious and the story’s twists and turns are very enjoyable.  It seems impossible to be bored with an enticing combination of gays, whores, nuns and a gigolo.  If truth be told, boredom sets in frequently.

The opening of the second act is a noticeable example of a funny scene which isn’t staged fast enough.  There are two separate conversations happening.  Pauses between them sap all momentum.  In addition, one character has witty asides and makes comments to the audience.  Everything falls flat despite the good set-up.

As the has-been Agostino, Gene Santarelli comes very close to creating the buffoon.  It’s a performance laced with an excess of twinkletoe-isms so believing he was the virile stud is a tad difficult.  Therefore, when he dons a dress, it’s less humorous than it could be.  He was amusing overall, though, and the performance style of hammy thespian was a solid choice.  Ethelyn Friend was also quite enjoyable as the virginal Bianca and her myriad of facial expressions were fun to watch.

The play felt too long but, admittedly, this endurance test was made more difficult than necessary.  The laughs were there in the script.  The story was a good one.  I loved the upward and downward juxtaposition of women’s roles.  Brocade considers how one might think in order to manage their life at this particular time.

Unfortunately, the audience was in a coma for the majority of the performance.  I might be able to recommend the play Brocade but definitely not this production.

Brocade will be performed at the Theater for the New City until February 16, 2020.

www.theaterforthenewcity.com

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Really Really Gorgeous (The Tank)

The time is soon.  The atmosphere is dystopian.  Two young ladies, obviously a romantic couple, are huddled on the couch in their sloppy shack.  Canned goods and other junk are strewn all over the floor.  Nothing visual suggests things are Really Really Gorgeous.  A television announcer claims otherwise.

She is emotional about the incredible sunset today.  America has been underwater for five years and 114 days.  Before she gets to the news, a moment of silence.  “We lost Portland, Maine.  Think about that.”  Then she reels of a list of lost American cities and states.  Finally, she adds, “The Pacific Time Zone.  Think about that.”  But, she implores, look at the new world which has been created.  A world which is “really, really, really.  Beautiful.”

The announcer lives in complete contradiction to the environment Mar and Pen are enduring.  There is a reluctance to open the door and go outside.  They are sick and tired of eating rations of Spaghetti-O’s.  Whirlpools are sucking more people in to their deaths.  In Nick Mecikalski’s vividly imagined play, climate change is really, really real.  And really, really bad.

This announcer has big news.  The President of the United States wants to hear from her citizens.  A contest is planned where two winners will be chosen.  “Singing, dancing, poetry, music, sports, singing, dancing – any talent you can dream of” should be submitted by midnight.  Both ladies are writers and plan to enter the contest.  The grand prize?  An invitation to live in America’s new capital city, Cleveland, Ohio.

Streets are dry and the SKY IS HIGH in Cleveland.  They even have restaurants there like Applebee’s!  What a dream it will be to win a spot to change your life.  How bad is it in America now?  The women are watching an episode of American Idol.  A singer is cut down for being awful.  The announcer promises another try, advising, “just fix your lungs, okay?”  Horrendous looking algae sucking then occurs.  The women hate this part.  It’s disgusting but supposed to be good for you.

This play sets itself up quickly and firmly to create a comedic take on a future world ruined by rising waters.  It is indeed hilarious to read about the Army Corps of Engineers designing a sea wall for New York City while many in Washington and in the media deny climate change is real.  (That’s not in the play but in our news.)  It is indeed hilarious to read that Texas and Florida have submitted proposals for federal grants to combat rising sea levels without referring to the cause.  In this bizarre time, Mr. Mecikalski wants to make us laugh.  We need it.

Our outrage over the imbecilic denial of scientists’ learned reasoning, however, makes us mad.  This playwright has not simply created a comedy no matter how much we snicker at the exaggerated – and believable – antics in his wild story.  There is a potent criticism of our society’s embrace of celebrity and failure of government which drives the plot.  As written, the play could be even better but it is never uninteresting.

The announcer is portrayed by Giselle LeBleu Gant as a recognizable loud-mouthed Oprah Winfrey.  The mania of her speech and her self-absorption are skewered mercilessly in a delicious performance.  This Oprah even gets to use the F-word.  She hilariously proclaims her “burden of infinite wisdom.”  Like our real-life version, she wields tremendous power and uses it like all domineering puppeteers do.  The announcer rants, “Can you SEE this with your EYES, you MYOPIC IDIOTS!!”  Ms. Gant is perfection in the role.

In a three character play which includes a contest on page one, there is no surprise when the winner is chosen.  How else would you be able to get past the walls which now surround Cleveland to keep the undesirables out?  The plot, however, cleverly swirls as the government and the media begin the spin cycle.  Mr. Mecikalski has a dim view of America.  Or, better said, he views Americans as dim-witted.  With that approach, he has conceived a play to make us laugh at ourselves and our basest instincts of self-survival and self-promotion.

Sophie Becker and Amber Jaunai are effective in the roles of Pen and Mar.  Their chemistry is evident.  Both are devious in their own way.  The character of Mar could probably use a little more edge considering the road she will travel.  Pen’s road, on the other hand, is a farcical dream.

Kudos to Alice Tavener who designed the memorable costumes.  What will we be wearing post-apocalyptic flood?  If our billionaire manages to survive the flood, I’m sure we will read about that in O magazine.  Nick Mecikalski’s new play has some dry patches and is not perfect.  This playwright, though, has a really, really gorgeous imagination and his ideas have been nicely staged by Director Miranda Haymon.  Recommended for fans of topical fun.

Really Really Gorgeous is running at The Tank through February 9, 2020.

www.thetanknyc.org

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Thunder Rock (Metropolitan Playhouse)

“I’m sick of reading the newspaper.  I’m tired of problems.”  How many times have we heard those thoughts in recent years?  In 1939, Robert Ardrey wrote those lines in his stimulating play, Thunder Rock.  Hitler and Mussolini are in power.  It is a time of dictators and police states.  “What’s next?” his characters wonder.  “How is everything going to come out?”  We ask those same questions today.

Thunder Rock is a fictional remote lighthouse in Lake Michigan located fifty miles from landfall.  David Charleston (a very fine Jed Peterson) lives a solitary existence there.  Once per month, his personal friend Streeter (Jamahl Garrison-Lowe) pilots the plane which brings an Inspector (Kelly Dean Cooper) and supplies.  On this late afternoon day in August during the last summer before the Second World War, a radio is included in the delivery.

“Why would I want to be in touch?” asks Charleston.  He’s an ex-journalist who covered the Spanish Civil War.  This lighthouse gig is an escape from civilization.  Streeter has come to tell his friend that he is moving headfirst into taking a better job in China.  He’ll be flying planes for them in the war against Japan.  He wants Charleston to join him and be a gunner.  “Why get involved?” he remarks.  In one of a long list of memorable lines, Mr. Ardrey writes, “society’s got no worse enemy than a cynic.”

Charleston has decided to create a more hopeful world in his head.  There is a plaque in the lighthouse noting a nearby shipwreck from 1849.  This lighthouse was dedicated to the sailing ship Land O’ Lakes. All hands were lost including sixty immigrants.  Charleston ‘s retreat from humanity is a committed one.  “I want a decent world to live in even if I have to make it up.”

The first act of this play is interesting and establishes the structure of the next two acts.  The acting is unfortunately uneven in the early going but that is easily remedied by a beautifully cast ensemble when the second act explodes wide open.  When this play takes off, it soars with huge themes as big as the fate of mankind itself.

This fascinating meditation makes us consider progress and remission, forward-thinking and retreat.  How does 1849 look to someone in 1939?  I loved the additional layer of considering this work from the perspective of our current surreal and seismically unstable world in 2020.

As usual, the small theatrical space at the Metropolitan Playhouse has been nicely designed (sets, lighting, costumes and sound) to evoke the lighthouse and these people.  Simple directorial decisions by the company’s Artistic Director Alex Roe firmly establish remoteness, both physically and mentally.  This production is immensely enjoyable and thought provoking.

In addition to Mr. Peterson’s central performance, there are many wonderful characterizations brought to life on this stage.  David Murray Jaffe could hardly be more ideal in his portrait of Captain Joshua Stuart.  The device Mr. Ardrey uses to conjure his dialogue with Charleston seems as if it might have been wholly original at the time it was written.

As the Kurtz family, Howard Pinhasik, Susanna Frazer and Hannah Sharafian nail their complicated immigrant story with heart, realism and, ultimately, hope.  Teresa Kelsey doesn’t simply portray Miss Kirby.  Instead, she completely embodies the woman’s individual existence while simultaneously representing her gender in the middle of great societal changes in 1939.  As Cassidy, Thomas Vorsteg reminds us that Charleston’s plight is not unique.

Thunder Rock considers how soon or how long it will take for the human race to cease the cycle of wars and hardships.  The cry for leadership is still strong eighty years later after this play’s first production.  In his pointed ruminations on that topic, Robert Ardrey warns us all to look inward to find the answers as we do not know from who or when they will materialize.  Sooner is better than later which is preferable to never.  A speck of optimism is, therefore, better than none at all.

Thunder Rock is being performed at the Metropolitan Playhouse through February 9. 2020.

www.metropolitanplayhouse.org

Bonus Fact:  Thunder Rock was a 1947 Radio Play

CBS Radio was trying to figure out how to compete with the two top rated shows at the time, Fibber & Molly and Bob Hope, on Tuesday evenings.  They landed on a sixty minute dramatic series.  Thunder Rock was one of the works chosen to be rewritten and condensed for broadcast.  For radio buffs and the curious, here is a link to a site where you can go back in time when television was in its infancy.  As rewritten, the story looks back eight years to 1939 from the later perspective of David Charleston.

ThunderRockonStudioOne

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America Dreaming: lovelust + disasterdrag

Two different solo performance pieces make up the double bill under the caption America Dreaming:  lovelust + disasterdrag.  The connective tissue between both acts is “overlapping themes of outrageous physical bravado and risqué showmanship celebrating individuality, resilience and the art-of-the-bathtub.”  That description is accurate.  Before dipping your toe in the water, understand that the temperature will vary from scalding to frigid.

As Long As It Lasts

Two chalkboards contain one hundred phrases written out.  They are enticing not unlike the smells from a great kitchen.  You want to try #64, “How My Shrink Terminated Therapy.”  #69 seems very important too.  It is simply called “Restraining Order.”  On the lighter side (or perhaps not) is #65, “Miserable Trash Bags.”

Eileen Kelly created and performs As Long As It Lasts.  Her recollections are “stories about me” with their “random meant-to-be-ness.”  Eric Borsuk will be the caller.  The bingo card in your program is meant to be played.  The timer is set for one hour.  The numbers called will provide the evening’s chosen material.  The concept is strong, the performance is often completely engaging and the bathtub on stage is dutifully employed.

Don’t worry about her bathtub antics, Ms. Kelly advises, “I’m just like a circus performer.”  Her balance skill are certainly impressive.  The stories, however, are the guts of this production.  Some are funny and some are sad.  Some are five minutes long and others much shorter.  “Married Man,” (#60) is about a Tinder date.  She admits, “I don’t have a moral compass.”

When things get serious, she offers a “privacy minute” in case someone from the audience would like to take a break rather than sit through a potentially triggering story.  That particular segment is memorably done.  She reflects on the #metoo movement noting, “I didn’t think it applied to myself.  It was all buried so deep inside.”

There is a casualness to this presentation which makes her one hundred story marathon giddy fun.  When Mr. Borsuk calls #18, she exclaims “Yay!”  Her energy is infective.  One of my favorite stories was #31, “Feeding the Pigeons.”  The description created a strong visualization and the punchline was excellent.

Occasionally, Ms. Kelly will artfully dance to tuneful songs written by her friend, Mike Errico.  The whole show is indulgent and clever in both design and execution.  One of her titles is “Post Menopausal Women Have Their Benefits.”  This kooky show is certainly one of them.

MUST GO ON

How to review a show where the performer stops to do so during the piece?  Garish is a word tossed out of the bathtub.  That adjective is defined as “obtrusively bright and showy, lurid.”  The choice is not incorrect.  Patrick Quinn created, directed  and stars in the mania MUST GO ON. Capital letters are essential here.

The show promises “a death defying 100 costume change blitz in 60 minutes.”  A silly concept is made leaden by the non-stop putting on and taking off clothes.  In this case, watching a sweaty, heaving, exhausted performer putting on multiple layers and then taking them off is incredibly boring time after time.

MUST GO ON features a “wild, off-duty drag queen fighting to survive a dance theater obstacle course of his own manic invention.”  Set to snippets of largely recognizable songs, I saw a crazed teenager playacting in their bedroom in front of a mirror.  He/she is not talented but driven.  Compelled to the spotlight.  Ingeniously, Mr. Quinn has a sidekick (Jeremiah Oliver) who dutifully does the hard work of supporting the bossy, egocentric star.

Our self-anointed diva dances, runs around, repeatedly flops on the floor, eats cantaloupe, does splits, changes costumes then rips them and makes a cupcake.  The effect is like watching an excessively emotive teenager on speed with no creative focus.  An inability to edit because every idea is seemingly a great one.  Interestingly, the sidekick emerges as a focal point.  I zeroed in on the making of the show and the herculean effort of keeping the train on the tracks.

There are moments that shine such as a blissfully lit dance pause on the bathtub.  The blindfolded, seemingly dangerous high heeled section is punctuated with a hilarious comment: “it’s a METAPHOR!”  At one point, Mr. Quinn writes a To Do list on the chalkboard.  “Slow Down Music” and “Fix Pants” are the first two.  It’s hard to disagree.  The third task is “Eat the Rich.”  Huh?  Nothing comes before or after which puts that phrase into any context whatsoever.

MUST GO ON is so completely frenetic that it pushed this viewer away.  Admittedly, that may be an intentionally aggressive choice.  The show is described as dealing with queer hate crimes using slapstick-misadventure as a “testament to queer resilience.”  Instead, I saw an individual’s neuroses which was the intellectually absorbing part of this exercise in whirling dervish lunacy.

The performance must physically hurt.  A lot.  A little less effort maniacally racing to the next blundered costume reveal and just a little more time getting deeper into Mr. Quinn’s brain would be welcome.  But that would cut down on the floor flopping, I guess.

As Long As It Lasts and MUST GO ON are separate shows being performed in repertory at the Cherry Lane Theatre through February 8, 2020.

www.cherrylanetheatre.org

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Assemble

Some people feel adventurous when they go to TKTS and choose a play rather than a musical.  Others venture off-Broadway.  Fewer make the time for developmental fare at smaller venues like the Tank and Dixon Place.  I have climbed stairs in Chinatown to see artists stage experimental works.  I will travel to Warsaw and see a British sex farce performed in Polish.  Truly adventurous New York theatergoers might Assemble in the hinterlands of Red Hook, Brooklyn to see something new.

Buying a ticket to this immersive and unique event requires trust.  The specific location is not identified until the day before the performance.  That is mysterious.  You also receive instructions to download an app and bring headphones to the venue.  After arriving, a secret code will unlock your journey.  Sit down and listen to instructions but keep your coat on.  Go outside and follow the story.  A warning informs there is “a little risk.”

I was fully engaged to see what Talya Chalef conceived.  Assemble invites you to join Jane as she considers life at the age of forty.  The app provides the direction and the voices will tell the story.  Billed as a “guerilla, choose-your-own adventure performance,” there are indeed certain choices you are asked to make.  Which way to go?  The choices should not be fretted over, however, as the story is generally the same for everyone.

A store will be visited.  You will be asked to interact with the environment.  At the beginning, Jane will ask “are you generation X, Y or Z?”  I am none of those but that is presumably the target audience.  In one vignette, I was asked to open something and I heard glass breaking.  A vacuum is turned on.  The spoken sentence, “I’m leaving.”

When the storytelling is sketchy and puzzling, Assemble is at it highest level of quirky fun.  Sometimes, however, you are asked to stare at a picture for minutes.  A train is rumbling.  Away?  Those slow moments can get tedious. Your guide will tell you to follow an arrow.  Then she’ll briefly become your therapist.  “What is the arrow for in your own life.”

A great deal of delightful humor peppers this experience.  One section is called “Tone it down and live it up.”  Here, your group gathers to decant whiskey and talk liberal politics.  Living and surviving in New York is a part of this journey.  Assemble will consider “life, death, babies, new cities” and then deadpan “so many choices.”  Many moments that Jane will have experienced by age forty will be pumped into your head.  Some are interesting, some are dull and one or two are, I believe, meant to be funny but come across as slightly offensive.

David Blackman developed the app for this experience and the technology works very well.  The voice over acting is very good (especially the fabulously droll sarcasm of the guide).  The idea for this theatrical adventure is certainly intriguing.  As I walked through this journey, however, my mind wandered and my focus waned.  There probably is less interactivity than needed which makes the promise of a “choose your own adventure” fall short.

Assemble has scheduled performance times through February 2, 2020.

www.assemble.brownpapertickets.com