De Novo

photo: Alyssa Ringler

The message is blunt and the conclusion is forgone, but the 70-minute documentary drama De Novo is nonetheless absorbing and effective. The show, part of the Americas Off Broadway festival at 59e59, is scripted entirely from court transcripts, letters and interviews concerning the judicial treatment of a Guatemalan teenager who fled his country once marked for death (at the age of 14) by street gangs. Both a bracing glimpse into the life of an undocumented immigrant minor, and a maddening look at the tragic consequences of our immigration laws, the play is purposeful and unblinking. Despite its exclusive use of found texts, it's brought to life with just enough theatricality to involve as drama rather than simply as an informative, well-meaning lesson. The budget is modest but the choices are rich - boxes of government files upstage, and clotheslines clipped with court papers on each side of space, make us always aware that this story is, unfortunately, not unique. Even more effective is the use of Donna DeCesare's graphic images of gang culture, which vividly remind us what is at stake.

Fences

Reviewed for Theater News Online.

Jacob's House

Photo: J. Hoch.

In Jacob's House, the impressively talented and prolific August Schulenburg uses the biblical story of Jacob wrestling an angel as a springboard for a realistic yet mythical drama that plumbs the meaning of faith, destiny, and family. Schulenburg writes with intelligence and humor (even throwing in a bit of slapstick), and the result is an unusual drama that is both thought-provoking and entertaining. The show begins right after Jacob's funeral, as his children Dinah and Joe and daughter-in-law Tamar argue about exactly who Jacob was and which one of them gets to keep the house. As they discuss the past, it comes to life before us, and our first clue that this is not an ordinary family drama occurs when we realize that the father of these contemporary adults was alive during the American Revolution. The characters are complex, the story is compelling, and the language ranges from good to gorgeous. The play is a remarkable achievement, made more so by the fact that Schulenburg wrote the first draft in a weekend and quickly wrote only two more drafts, keeping much material from the first. The excellent cast comprises Johnna Adams, Jessica Angleskhan, Matthew Archambault, Zack Calhoon, Tiffany Clementi, Kelli Dawn Holsopple, Biana LaVerne Jones, Isaiah Tanenbaum, Jane Lincoln Taylor, and Anthony Wills, Jr. The assured direction is by Kelly O'Donnell and the evocative and attractive set design is by Jason Paradine.

Next Fall

Photo: Carol Rosegg

I wish we had more plays like Geoffrey Nauffts's flawed but solid Next Fall: thoughtful, well-developed, largely aware of and sympathetic to its characters' faults and strengths, well-directed (by Sheryl Kaller), and well-acted (particularly by Cotter Smith, who fully inhabits his character in a way the others don't achieve). The story of a gay couple, one a religious Christian who believes that gay sex is a sin, the other an atheist who cannot accept his lover's beliefs, Next Fall explores the meaning of love, faith, and family in a funny, touching, and heart-breaking manner. The show is a tad doctrinaire on second viewing and some of the characters could be more three-dimensional, but it is a solid B+ evening in the theatre. I do wish, however, that Next Fall had been able to have a successful run Off-Broadway, where it felt more at home: small cast, no stars, solid but not great writing. This is in no way an insult--I consider the withering away of for-profit Off-Broadway to be a tremendous loss to New York City.

Alan Cumming at Feinstein's

Ten Things I Learned at Alan Cumming's Cabaret Show at Feinstein's

1. "Taylor, The Latte Boy" (what, you don't know it?) works just as well sung by a man as by a woman. At least if the man is Alan Cumming.

2. He's not just a good actor. The star of stage (Cabaret), movies (X-Men United, GoldenEye) and TV (Tin Man, The Good Wife) is quite charming, engaging, and funny as just himself...

Read the rest at Blogcritics.org

Enron

Enron is a tale told by intelligent people, full of sound and fury, and signifying not as much as it should. A somewhat-interesting rehash of the rise and fall of the energy company Enron, the show fails to find an unusual or particularly insightful point of view, nor does it plumb the psychology of the people involved or say anything new about their hubris. What Enron does have is shtick: colored lights, chorus numbers, flashing video, and guys with dinosaur masks. The shtick is entertaining, although it does not disguise the thinness of the play itself. The cast strives valiantly, and successfully, to put on a good show; Norbert Leo Butz is particularly good as Jeffrey Skilling. Marin Mazzie is sinfully underutilized.