Chicken and Biscuits Written by Douglas Lyons Directed by Zhailon Livingston Circle in the Square October 16, 2021 Production website 💉💉 out of 5.
I love a good silly comedy but I just didn’t love this play. Ala a Tyler Perry movie, there is a funeral of the family patriarch and everyone is drawn home for the service. This, of course, sets out an avalanche of family dysfunctions and dancing skeletons in the closet. Sounds familiar doesn’t it? It was all so forced and so predictable. The acting was so big and so forced that they missed many moments that could have used some subtlety. Michael Uhrie as the token white guy in the play was truly hilarours. His timing was perfect and he could make the most out of the smallest of moments. He was almost worth the price of admission. The rest of the cast seemed to depend on attitudes in place of character development and stereotypes at the cost of originality. I do have a problem with stage plays that would have made a better TV show. I am not sure what Chicken and Biscuits had that demanded live theatre.
Dana H Written by Lucas Hnayh Directed by Les Waters Lyceum Theatre October 15, 2021 Production website 💉💉💉💉💉 out of 5.
This play took me on an amazing journey. On its surface, it is a true-life experience of a woman from Florida who works as a chaplain for a hospice. One day she is asked to tend to a prisoner who has tried multiple times to kill himself. As she visits him, she is drawn into his web of charm and threats – – so much so that he is soon able to abduct her and take her on the road with him traveling throughout Florida and neighboring states on a rampage of killings, bombings and fights. And, as member of the Arian Nation there is no shortage of evil to be done. Throughout the story the audience asks how is this man able to keep the woman from escaping. She tries but is often denied protection from police.
Caroline, or Change Book and Lyrics by Tony Kushner Music by Jeanine Tesori Choreographed by Ann Yee Directed by Michael Longhurst Roundabout Theatre Company Studios 54 October 13, 2021 Production website 💉💉💉💉 out of 5.
Admittedly, I am not trained or pretend to be a qualified musical theatre practitioner but I do love the art form. I write this as an audience member totally mystified at the art of musicals. The first thing I noticed was how this musical spoke for this very unique time in Broadway history when almost every venue was working on plays exploring Black Americans and struggles they face every day. The statue of the Confederate soldier that holds fort in the center of the stage and the center of the story of Caroline or Change became the perfect lightning rod for this “change” in how post-COVID theatre is being practiced. Artists are certainly exploring change in all arenas.
Morning Sun Written by Simon Stephens Directed by Lila Neugebauer Manhattan Theatre Club October 12, 2021 Production website ☠️ out of 5 – TOTAL POISON
In decades of theatre going under my belt, this has to be THE WORST PRODUCTION of arguable the WORST SCRIPT I have ever seen. I am serious. Now of course I saw the production on the first preview, but since they were charging just as much as a regular production, I didn’t feel that I needed to cut them any slack. To begin the set was just a bland, drab expanse of stage that was very wide and very shallow. Nothing about the set gave me a sense of where we were at. All the furniture faced front and there was large gaps of carpet until the next illogical piece of furniture. Interesting stage pictures were not going to be possible. I cut the show some slack thinking that later in the night this drab expanse of a set was going to make some magical sense, but no.
Letters of Suresh Written by Rajiv Joseph Directed by May Adrales Second Stage Theatre October 10, 2021 Production website 💉💉💉💉 out of 5
With this play I did something I have never done in all of my years of theatre-going. I just looked at my watch and found that I could make an evening show if I wanted. I hadn’t planned on this – didn’t do any research. I just went to Playbill on-line and picked one not too far away that I hadn’t seen – – thus Letters of Suresh. Luckily it paid off and the play was the perfect choice for the evening.
Essentially Letters of Suresh is a series of letters that were found in the meager estate of a dead priest in Hiroshima. Over the years he had corresponded to Suresh about life and love. These letters where found and through a third party they are read and passed on to another reader. Essentially the correspondence of one pair of penpals grew into a small group of people that were transformed by the beauty and honesty of the writing. Each person that read the letters was driven to become a writer and the art of letter writing blossomed.
