Weekly Margin 2018, W33: Collective Rage: A Play in 5 Betties

8/17/18: Collective Rage: A Play in 5 Betties
What: The play's full title, per the poster and playbill, is Collective Rage: A Play in 5 Betties; In essence, a queer and occasionally hazardous exploration; do you remember when you were in middle school and you read about Shackleton and how he explored the Antarctic?; imagine the Antarctic as a pussy and it's sort of like that. This long conversational title is a good clue to the additive and irreverent storytelling style of Jen Silverman's play. Five women, all named Betty, and connected daisy-chain style to each other, come together to create a devised theater piece inspired by the Pyramus and Thisbe play-within-a-play of A Midsummer Night's Dream, and discover themselves in the process.
And? I don't quite know how to talk about this show but I will say that I was delighted. I'll also say that while what I wrote above could technically be the plot, it's not really what the show is about. It eschews traditionally plot beats, but gives instead a collection of scenes, strange and earnest, silly and absurd, of the Betties interacting, discovering themselves. I think if you're a big theater nerd like me, you'll adore this, too. Protip: above the playing space are projected the scene title names, which stack their clauses until they're as long as the play's full title. Sitting in the second row, I had difficulty tipping my head up and catching everything, so I'd recommend sitting a bit farther back.

Weekly Margin 2018, W31: Surfacing

8/03/18: Surfacing
What: Part of the Planet Connections Theatre Festivity, Surfacing is about surviving damage, whether inwardly or outwardly inflicted, and the connections made and broken on that journey. Marissa may have survived her suicide attempt, but with a metal rod holding her hip together and a sense of humor so dark she can't see a helping hand in front of her face, she's got a long road ahead of her before happiness is a possibility. When her sister, who's come to live with her through her recovery, convinces her to give Tinder a try, they both find some unexpected results.
And? Having worked with both playwright Mike Poblete and director Daniella Caggiano before, I was psyched to get to see their collaboration, and I was not disappointed. Poblete's writing is full of so many surprises, both hilarious and poignant (Marissa, a painter, talks about the pain of being able to see forever but not being able to be in it). Caggiano directs the performers with a sure but delicate hand, letting the quiet moments breathe, and not backing down from the intensity of confrontation. All four actors are wonderful, and the show is performed well within the limitations of a festival setting (I believe they had less than half an hour to transition from the show prior): I can only imagine how much richer this will be with full production.

Joey Donnelly, Suzannah Herschkowitz, Montana Lampert Hoover,
and Jak Watson as Atticus, Marissa, Chelsea, and Jed. Photo by Mike Poblete.

Weekly Margin 2018, W30: Don't Bother Me, I Can't Cope, Gettin' the Band Back Together

7/25/18: Don't Bother Me, I Can't Cope
What: New York City Center's Encores! Off-Center summer series concludes with Micki Grant and Vinnette Carroll's Don't Bother Me, I Can't Cope, an ecclectic revue from the early 1970s covering a wide spectrum of experience within the Black community in the States.
And? Helmed by Savion Glover as both director and choreographer, and with a few pointedly updated references mixed in, Don't Bother Me is at times joyous, at times defiant, playful, contemplative, but always full-throated and dynamically staged. Particularly memorable were the strident "They Keep Coming," the proud "My Name is Man," and the titular finale.

Wayne Pretlow and the company. Photo by Joan Marcus.

7/26/18: Gettin' the Band Back Together
What: A new musical by Ken Davenport and The Grundleshotz (a group of performers and writers) about an unemployed stockbroker who returns to his mother's house in Sayreville, New Jersey and is goaded by his old nemesis and current slumlord into getting his old high school band back together to challenge him in the Battle of the Bands.
And? Two perspectives: one, the crowd around me laughed and gave an almost immediate standing ovation during curtain call; two, I mostly didn't care. The story was too derivative, which could be fine if the jokes were more surprising. As the villain Tygen Billows, Brandon Williams is very funny, and I think if the show were a bit better written, he could really make something memorable out of it. I try not to get too snarky here (except if I'm trashing Annie or Eugene O'Neill, but both of them are old as velociraptors, and they can take it), so I'll just say that during the bulk of the show I remained indifferent, which is a pity.

Manu Narayan, Jay Klatitz, Paul Whitty, Sawyer Nunes, and Mitchell Jarvis
as Rummesh "Robbie" Patel, Bart Vickers, Sully Sullivan, Ricky Bling,
and Mitch Papadopoulos. Photo by Joan Marcus.

Weekly Margin 2018, W29: The Boys in the Band, On A Clear Day You Can See Forever, As You Like It, The Damned

7/16/18: The Boys in the Band
What: Fifty years after its Off-Broadway premiere, Mart Crowley's groundbreaking play about the homosexual lifestyle in the 1960s makes its Broadway debut. Michael and his friends throw a birthday party for Michael's frenemy, Harold, but the party is crashed by Michael's straight and conservative college roommate, Alan. Alcohol flows freely, and resentments and jealousies rise to the surface.
And? At the time of its initial production, this play went a long way toward building empathy for the gay community from the larger heteronormative world. Today, it is more of a time capsule, especially when we consider just how much this lifestyle was demolished by the AIDS crisis less than twenty years later (five the original cast members, as well as the director and one of the producers, died during the crisis). The cast is excellent, with Robin de Jesus as a particular standout (when isn't he?), and the humor is biting and funny, but it's also got a caustic and unpleasant edge to it, and it's very hard to get past some of the slurs the characters toss off carelessly. I get it, and I know people talked (and still talk) this way, but it's hard for me to maintain empathy for someone who calls his friend the N word multiple times.

Robin de Jesus, Michael Benjamin Washington, Andrew Rannells, and
Jim Parsons as Emory, Bernard, Larry, and Michael. Photo by Joan Marcus.

7/18/18: On A Clear Day You Can See Forever
What: Irish Repertory's revival of Burton Lane and Alan Jay Lerner's 1966 musical about Daisy, a young woman with a slight case of ESP who, under hypnosis, becomes Melinda, an elegant and romantic woman in 18th century England. Dr. Bruckner, her psychiatrist/hypnotist becomes infatuated with Melinda, while Daisy develops a crush of her own.
And? Talk about a show not aging well. The romance in this story, such as it is, is unpleasant, unearned, and ethically gross. And because it's an Alan Jay Lerner show, the male lead has a monologue bemoaning the irrationality of women. I have to wonder how palatable this was in the 60s, because it sure wasn't palatable to me when I saw it, lovely music or no. I read online that there was a revised production seven years back, which I missed, that split Daisy/Melinda into David and Melinda (casting a man as David, a woman as Melinda). This sounds interesting, and perhaps a cool touch to add the queer bent to it, though it means losing the virtuosity of the Daisy/Melinda doubling, which I imagine was the primary charm of the original production, with Barbara Harris in the role. As for Daisy/Melinda, Melissa Errico is delightful, on another level from the rest of the company. There's a definite pleasure in hearing the cast sing the score sans mic (and they sound terrific), but the acting is inconsistent otherwise.

Stephen Bogardus and Melissa Errico as Dr. Mark Bruckner and Daisy
Gamble. Photo by Carol Rosegg.

Margin Notes: As You Like It

As You Like It

Lily Waldron and Caroline Aimetti
as Phebe and Celia. Photo by
Andy Ingalls.

Seen on: Saturday, 7/21/18.
My grade:  A+

Plot and Background

Rosalind and Celia are close as two cousins can be, even though Celia's usurping Duke father sent Rosalind's usurped Duke father into exile in the Forest of Arden. However, Duke Frederick is temperamental and banishes Rosalind soon after, as well as a young man named Orlando. Luckily for all of us, Orlando and Rosalind have recently fallen in love with each other, so when they meet again in the forest (she now in disguise as young man), she tutors him in the proper ways of wooing. And that's just the A plot. Hamlet Isn't Dead presents As You Like It as part of its ongoing mission to present the entire Shakespeare canon in chronological order.

What I Knew Beforehand

As we all know, I am a habitual and enthusiastic audience member/reviewer for Hamlet Isn't Dead's playful and music-filled productions. I've seen a few productions of this play, so had an idea of what to expect.

Thoughts:

Play: Another tight, terrific, and tuneful comedy from the Hamlet Isn't Dead crew. Director David Andrew Laws stages the show in the round, with twinkle lights strung overhead and a squishy moss floor below, and keeps the pace swift and free-wheeling, as characters cross - and skirt - paths throughout the forest while accompanied by live music (courtesy of Anna Stacy's Amiens and others). He achieves a sweet and joyful condensing of the comedy (the most significant cut, for any purists, is anything involving Touchstone and Audrey; and the biggest shuffle is a reordering of much of Jaques's material to allow him to be our shepherd through the show), keeping Rosalind at the center as the unassuming mastermind of much of the goings on in a place she barely knows.