The second entry into WP Theater’s Pipeline Festival is The Review or How To Eat Your Opposition by Donnetta Lavinia Grays. From the program notes, this play was written back in 2011 and has been now reworked during this collaborative developmental process. While four actors performed with scripts in hand, the piece was given a solid staging so the author and director could assess their work in front of a live audience.
An known artist (January LaVoy) has done an installation in a football stadium which is described briefly. The seats are covered with beer cans that have all the labels facing forward. There are female blow up dolls in the aisles. On the television screens, hardcore pornography is playing which is interspersed with Hooters ads. At the beginning of this play, a blogger (Chalia La Tour) is typing up her negative review while her wife (Tia James) watches her beloved Giants on the television. The review gets read by the artist. When she and the blogger finally meet, sparks fly.
Revenge as a dish best served cold is the backbone of this play but this work is multi-limbed. Relationships and betrayals percolate. This playwright dives into many issues ranging from 9/11 to football/violence/war to the objectification of women to love, deceit and money in the art world. All four actresses did a nice job delivering this material. Tia James’ performance as the football-watching wife was particularly memorable. Overall, there may be too many topical themes and plot advances covered by this earnest effort. A little more backstory might help to flesh out these characters and their motivations to pull us in even more.
One Reply to “The Review or How To Eat Your Opposition (WP Theater)”