The Forest

A contemporary of Tolstoy's, Alexander Ostrovsky has been described as "the king of 19th Century Russian theatre" (CSC Newsletter) and "the bridge" between Gogol and Chekhov (Pearl Playgoer's Supplement). In The Forest, Ostrovsky assembles a selfish widow, a slow-moving sardonic servant, poor relatives, star-crossed lovers, a wily merchant, and the widow's charismatic actor nephew and his comic friend. Hearts are broken and mended, a gun is brandished, parts of the forest are sold, promises go unkept, and the two itinerate performers provide high-falutin' speeches and low-falutin' humor. The characters and the story would seem to be rooted in Chekhov; however, chronologically speaking, Chekhov's work is actually rooted in Ostrovsky's. The first act drags; some of the plot devices creak; but overall The Forest is worthwhile both as a historical piece and in and of itself. John Douglas Thompson dazzles as the dramatic actor, and Tony Torn sharpens his excellent comic turn with a nice edge of anger. The usually wonderful Dianne Wiest isn't quite; her very contemporary voice works against her. Santo Loquasto's set design, while handsome and effective, includes stairs so steep that the performers seemed in danger. (Is this a theme this year? Sondheim on Sondheim also features stairs that justify hazard pay for the actors.)

Bass for Picasso

Photo: Carol Rosegg

The Theater Breaking Through Barriers production of Bass for Picasso makes surprising mistakes for a play written, directed, and performed by theatre professionals with extensive credits. Described in the press release as "an insanely funny, irreverent 90-minute look at gay and lesbian life in the new millennium," it is in reality a random and arbitrary array of extreme situations and rarely funny one-liners. Each character is assigned a grab bag of traits that don't quite cohere, and their actions reflect the author's attempts to be funny rather than human behavior. Similarly, the cast members play the jokes instead of the situations, italicizing every supposedly funny line (and killing the few that are genuinely funny). Bass for Picasso also strives for significance, touching on drug and alcohol addiction, child custody, and the perils of giving birth at 13--the last in a monologue that seems dropped in from another show. Finally, if you're going to play child abuse for laughs, it would help if the depiction were remotely funny.

The Really Big Once

There is a tremendous amount of talent and imagination on stage at The Really Big Once, but the whole may be somewhat less than the sum of its parts. A company-created piece from the Target Margin Theatre, The Really Big Once riffs on Tennessee Williams, Elia Kazan, and their experiences working together on Williams' magical but badly received experimental piece Camino Real. To the extent that the show focuses on what actually happened, utilizing letters, interviews, and other documentary material, The Really Big Once tells a fascinating story and provides interesting insights into both Williams and Kazan. But the members of the Target Margin Theatre are aiming at much more than passing on information; speaking simultaneously, taking turns playing Williams, dancing, using odd voices and repetitive phrases, they strive to create a fantasia of emotion and passion. The Really Big Once struck me as a jazz piece, with a bunch of talented people expressing their responses to a pre-existing piece of art. But, as can also happen with jazz, it doesn't work for everyone, and the people doing it may end up having more fun than the audience. The talented cast includes McKenna Kerrigan, John Kurzynowski, Maria-Christina Oliveras, Hubert Point-Du Jour, and Steven Rattazzi. Directed by David Herskovits.

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.