MARK SAVITT AND EVA HEINEMANN REVIEW THE SAVOIR

Irish Repertory Theatre Presents

Landmark Productions

Written by Deirdre Kinahan

Directed by Louise Lowe

Scenic and Lighting Design by Ciaran Bagnall

Costume Design by Joan O’Clery

Sound Design by Aoife Kavanagh

Marie Mullen as Maire

Jamie O’Neill as Mel

Featuring Voices of:

Belle Boss as Lucy

Alex Finucane as Sean

Jonathan White as Martin

MARK SAVITT:

In Deirdre Kinahan’s THE SAVIOUR, an elderly Irish woman, Maire (Marie Mullen) on her birthday, addresses a long monologue to Jesus. She informs Him that she has unexpectedly had great sex with Martin, a younger man she has met through her church affiliation. She had never had such exciting erotic moments with her deceased husband whom she loved and took care of. She seems revivified by her connection to this man who she feels is a good man who has repented his sins. 

Mel (Jamie O’Neill), one of her adult children, arrived that morning to deliver a birthday present and have a serious conversation with his mother. 

The present is a doll whose eyes open and close. It seems that he wishes to infantilize his mom and urge her to maintain a childish innocence. Maire feels that she has a right to present herself as a sexual adult woman in a relationship with a man. 

Mel confronts his mom with information gleaned from the internet that connects Martin with a sordid and criminal past. With good reason, he wishes to protect his siblings’ children, Maire’s grandchildren, from contact with Martin. 

Maire insists on seeing Martin as repentant and forgiven by Jesus while she condemns her son for his, as she perceives it, sinful lifestyle. 

Are there limits to what Jesus can forgive? Who, other than Jesus, is the savior. Is it Martin who resurrects Maire’s body and soul, or is it Mel, the son who wishes to save his mom and her family from harm? 

The play raises more questions than it can or should answer. The ending seems to propel Maire into a dark and loud challenge to her trust in Jesus. 

Marie Mullen delivers a tour de force performance and Jamie O’Neill creates a strong foil.

HAPPY FACE

EVA HEINEMANN:

This might be construed as a spoiler alert if you’ve seen me arguing with Mark in the past about this subject matter.But I just have to point out the discrepancy.

The argument before the Mom and son made me think of me arguing with Mark over “Downstate”. To me there are actions that are irredeemable and I have no sympathy for them. Surprisingly in this play and case Mark agrees with me but still maintains the question if there is a point of forgiveness or at least caution.

I admit I did have my suspicions of Martin as he took so long to make coffee. 

Mark got it all wrong about Mel infantilizing his mom.It was a truly thoughtful sentimental gift as it was a replacement for a doll she lost in her youth that she always longed for. That her son remembered this story and wanted to make her happy and close off a regret in her life is admirable. 

Deirdre Kinahan is a sly writer as she drops these throw away clues that go by so fast you almost miss them. They completely change your perception of the characters every time these tidbits are dropped.

The acting was monumental. Marie Mullen gets your attention immediately. I instantly fell in love with her character as she reminded me of Scarlett O’Hara after Rhett Butler had his way with her. 

Jamie O’Neill was amazing as he navigated between a dutiful son with a difficult mom.

I believe in The Savoir!

HAPPY FACE

END AUGUST 13TH

REMAINING PERFORMANCES:

Tuesday and Thursday at 7pm

Friday at 8pm

Wednesday & Saturday at 2 & 7pm

Sunday at 3pm

Irish Rep

132 West 22nd Street

https://irishrep.org/

ORPHEUS DESCENDING AT POLONSKY SHAKESPEARE CENTER

 ORPHEUS DESCENDING BY TENNESSEE WILLIAMS

Theater for a new audience's production at Polonsky Shakespeare Center of Tenessee Williams play, Orpheus Descending, is a treat in many ways because Tennessee is one of the most lyrical writer of our times  and this play is not produced often and that's the reason of the anticipation and the excitement of the wait before you rush to the theater to hear the great melodious poetry. The language and the poetry is very much there and it's a great joy to sit and watch this Southern Gothic tale  resembling a bit of a Greek tragedy, with many characters who are into Tennessee's lyrical language and express it very well.

The location is a drygoods store in a Southern town run by an American Italian middle aged lady named

Lady Torrance (Maggie-Siff). She has a tragic past. Her father had been murdered in a fire while he was trying to save his wine garden and her husband is a redneck, violent brute and a bully. They live on top of the store and he is sick under the care of a nurse. LadyTorrance runs the store on her own.

There is also a drunk drifter, Carol (Julia Mcdermott). Though she is a free spirit but like many of Tennessee's character is totally lost. Her poetic expression is her only freedom but she is imprisoned as well like many others in this town full of bigots.

Another artistic soul who loves to paint is Vee -Talbot (Anna Reeder) married to a racist Sherrif, Talbot (Brian Keane) who detests her amaturish artistic bend and is a violent man.

And we can't forget Valentine Xavier (Pico-Alexander) The handsome young man, a drifter wearing a snake skin jacket who just turned thirty and is very proud of it and keep mentioning it often.

He wanders in the store with a guitar and ask lady Torrance for a job. She asks for references and he shows her one and the reference indicates that he is hard working, good guy, honest and all that but had been let go because he is a bit ,"Peculiar" a favorite word of Tennessee Williams. And that is the reason that Valentine was fired.

Lady Torrance gives him a job and is smitten by him because she has been very repressed sexually and oppressed by all the bullies of that town and is trapped in her extremely unhappy marrige.

Her husband who is sick upstairs but not sick enough to knock so loud on the floor of his room upstairs that it startles not only lady Torrance but scares the whole house. Thats an order for her to go upstairs.

But there is a problem in this play and that is the lack of burning chemistry of longing between the two lead charatcers.

The problem is  the lack of fire burning between lady Torrance and Valentine Xavier. There is very little magnatism and  danger of desire and sexuality though both characters try their best but the sparks have to fly from the moment Valentine Xavier enters that store but unfortunately the fire doesn't ignite. Also Maggie-Siff is too elegant and sophisticated for this role. Lady Torrance is a firy Italian with rough and tough edges and Xavier is very handsome but doesn't show the burning desire for the lady.

Because of this lack of sexual chemistry the production doesn't burn, it becomes a bit icy.

The set by Amy Rubin is good, serves the purpose of claustrophobia which is necessary but somehow doesn't serve some scenes especially the most intimate scene between Lady Torrance and xavier which is kind of lost on an over crowded set.

David Weiner's lights are pretty effective and creates an atmosphere of despair.

The play is directed by Erica Schmidt. She does her best but there are inherrent problems in the script

and the lead roles are miscast thogh they are brilliant actors but somehow lack that peculier energy.

But still I enjoyed the whole production and all the actors a great deal. I am a huge fan of Tennessee Williams like the whole world and I try never to miss any of his plays and I am always ready to have a great time and I did. There is no poet playwright like him and there is no poetry anywhere which touches the depth of your soul like his language full of lyricism and sadness. With all the little unfortunate hiccups this play is very well worth attending.

REVIEWED

by

BINA SHARIF

ATCA

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THE COMEUPPANCE ATSignatureTheatre

 THE COMEUPPANCE

By

Branden Jacobs- Jenkins

Directed by Eric Ting.

THE COMEUPPANCE is a play about a group of old high school friends who gather together to pregame before their 20th reunion. The setting is a suburban porch of the house of Ursula (Brittany Bradford) who has lived there all her life with her grand mother who recently passed away and Ursula herself is not very well with a patch on one of her eye because of the loss of her vision. She suffers from Diabetes.

The first person to arrive is Emilio (Caleb Eberhardt) a successful artis who has moved to Berlin and is back not only for the high school reunion but for the Biennial at the Whitney museum. Ursula and Emilio get a bit high drinking Jungle juice. The next friend to arrive at the scene is Caitlin (Susannah Flood ) who married a man much older than herself, we are told trhat he was present at the 6th January protest in Washington DC. Then comes Kristina accompined by her cousin Francisco (Bobby Moreno) who dated Caitlin in school and then joined millatry service to become a marine. He suffers from post traumatic syndrom and trauma. Kristin is a doctor and has five children and is over worked from the year of Pandemic which is having a toll on her. Emilo somehow is very angry at all of them in an arrogant manner. He pokes and make abusive remarks towards all of them for making the wrong choices in their lives. He doesn't spare any one of them. He comes across as the most unfulfilled person even when he is supposedly the most productive and successful. His bitterness is poisonous.

Actually he is angry at everyone of them and esecially at life itself and blame them for choosing wrong poartners and making unhealthy choices. There is lot of mention of death and not only death is being reffered to but actually present.  Death has occupied everyone's soul and speaks to the audience directly one by one starting with Emilo first. He faces the audience and become death. His voice changes echoed by sound effects which makes the words some how inaudible. In the beginning I didn't get it. I thought he was doing a soliloquie in a different tone of voice but got it eventually since all the characters at times became death one by one. Also there is a of mention of death in the play. 20 years ago when they were students, they experience the trauma of Columbine, the Sept 11, now Pandemic, Even Trump is mentioned. I guess Trump is also one of the major trauma of Millennials The play is very much about the angst, trauma,  and all the dreams of a grand life promised in high school has been turned into nightmarish halluciations of death. 

The play is very long and the topic of death is persistent. It becomes a bit tiring and disappointingly repititious.  The one of the best performance is goiven by Caleb Eberhardt who is exteremly bold and un-inhibited in his horrendous sarcasm. Brittany Bradford is also solid in her frequent silences. Shannon Tyo is a bit over the top.  Bobby Moreno has the toughest role and he delivers. The last scene between Emilio and Ursula is very poignant. Extremely intelligent writing.

REVIEW 

By 

BINA SHARIF

ATCA

Editor/Publisher of artsinternational.blogspot.com

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WET BRAIN, A CO-PRODUCTION OF PLAYWRIGHTS HORIZON AND MCC THEATER

 WET BRAIN By John J. Caswell, Jr

Directed by Dustin Wills

WET BRAIN is a play about addiction and a dysfunctional family.

The father Joe ( Julio Monge) is at the verge of death, poisoned by alcohol, incapacitated, stumbles and has lost the power of speech. He vomits everywhere and uses a few corners in the main room to urinate. He is perhaps an alien too, not so clear though but his children have a vague memory of him  taking them to the roof and looking for a star or want to be aducted by aliens.

He has three grown up children, daughter Angelina ( Ceci Fernandez)  son,  Ron (Frankie J. Alvarez) and Ricky ( Arturo Luis, Soria) Ricky is gay and Ron is an awful homophobe. Ricky has left this horror house to escape to NY and after six years of absence has returned to the family home in Arizona where the sister Angelina is the one who takes care of the father while studying to be a nurse. Ron helps the father more than any one else and is very angry about it and takes it out on Ricky. They are all very abusive towards each other and use extremely vulgar and horrific language. Angelina wants to move out and want Ricky or Ron to be the care takers of the very sick father. Ricky is not ready for that and there is a reference of him being abused  the most by his father who was also a homophobe.a homophobe.

They have lost  their mother Mona (Florencia Lozano) also.  In a brilliantly designed scene in the middle of the play Mona is alive and she and Joe can talk and the siblings confront them. 

The play is quite confusing sometime especially about the Aliens coming in and abducting the father, it's all metaphorical perhaps but not very clear. Some funny lines make people laugh but it's more like a horror show with the most tragically dysfunctional family. The siblings also suffer from addictions of various kinds. It's very bold of the playwright to write this play admitting in a note that his family have the histoiry of addiction.

The play is competently directed by Dustin Wills.  The set by Kate Noll,  sound by Tei Blow and John Gasper and lights by Cha See are most effective. The play is quite disturbing. No one wants to have a family like this one but maybe it's a stark lesson to avoid all kinds of addictions.

REVIEW BY

BINA SHARIF

ATCA

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"DIMANCHE" at BAM Fisher Hall

      "DIMANCHE" at BAM    From left: Sicaire Durieux and Sandrine Heyraud

The most fantastic and magical spectacle at BAM regarding the devestation of climate crisis.

Written and directed by Sicaire Durieux, Sandrine Heyraud and Julie Tenret. Trust me, there is no actor or performer in town right now who can match these artist's talent. This brilliantly theaterical show is by the superb Belgian company, CieFocus & ChaLiwate'.

 It is an extreme joy to watch so much brightness of talent about a devastatingly bleak subject matter such as the havoc on earth created by the climate disater.

From the beginning to the the very end of this surreal and fascinating fast paced, 75 minute long show, you will be riveted to the fact and amazement that so much ability of all kinds, movement, acting, puppeteering, writing, directing is embeded in these blessed bodies and minds.

Dimanche consists of different vignettes. Three reporters in a van trying to document the wild life near the snow clad glaciers, perhaps at the Arctic Circle. It's as physical as it can get. One of the greatest Puppet of a polar bear on a glacier and the Cub coming out and going right back in and finally lost at the ocean when the iceberg separate and finally breaks losing the Cub for ever. We watch in awe of the puppeteers ability.

Next vignette takes place in a dining room of a house. An old lady, (the greatest puppet ever made, coming downstairs in a mechanical chair, which stops and begins again and she is exhausted and have a little stroke, finally sits and rests on a chair. The room is so hot that multiple fans absolutely are of no use. Everything is flying off with the sudden gush of awful wind, the whole dinner including the plates and utensils fly away, the chairs melt, rain pours, everything is flooded, inhabitants of that room hang on to whatever they can for their lives but to no avail. There are storms, floods, howling wind, great flamingo puppet torn into pieces, a sad and devastating picture of precarious conditions because of the traged of climate change everywhere. I have never seen a stunningly beautiful performance,  at times hilarious about such a sad and tragic subject. If you have the chance to catch only one show in your life, run to Bam to see Dimanche. This great experience will stay with you for a long time.

                                           Flamingo Puppet from "DIMANCHE"

Reviewed by Bina Sharif

ATCA (Member of American theater critic's association)Editor/publisher:artsinternational.blogspot.com. Email:binashariff@gmail.com

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"LETTERS FROM MAX, A RITUAL" AT SIGNATURE THEATER

"LETTERS FROM MAX," A RITUAL," AT SIGNATURE THEATER

By Sarah Ruhl

Directed by: Kate Whoriskey

The play is based on orrepondence between the playwright Sarah Ruhl and his brilliant young student Max Ritvo who died of cancer at the age of 25, and the book of letters between the playwright and Max, "Letters From Max." which was published posthumously. This epistolary play is the letters they exchanged for almost four years. Max Ritvo was a brilliant poet and there is amazing amount of beautifully sensitive poetry, dialogue and songs in those letters. Since the play is based on a real tragedy, an early death of a wonderful talent and we are always aware that this young poet who has already published a few books and have a great future ahead of him will not survive,  still the play is a happy play, not all along but there is plenty of humor and vitality in it though the underlying sadness is palpitable and that's where the brilliance of the playwright, the director and the actress (Jessica Hecht ) lies.  Jessica Hecht who play the role of Sarah Ruhl, the Yale drama teacher is very tender, soft, funny and extremely caring.  Her compassion comes through all along and that adds to the softness of the grief. Actual the play is done not about grief  so much but about the celebration of Max's young life and his potential.

Max is being played by two actors, Zane Pais and Ben Edelman. I saw Zane Pais in the role the night I saw the play and Zane Pais was amazingly energetic and full of enthusiasm and very funny. He has great stage presence and Charisma and even when we know that he is terminally ill, we want to postpone that feeling and enjoy his vitality and his poetry.

Jessica Hecht as Sarah is beguiling, she breaks the fourth wall and talks directly to the audience involving us in the feeling of the ultimate loss of her friendship she is going through but hiding it with great un-hidden pain with her humerous remarks.

Some time the play does feel like a long poetry reading with music (Ben Edelman on piano) but that's ok because the play is about a poet and his work and the work is very impressive. Any one who loves the spoken word won't be disappointed. Max Ritvo was twenty years old when he started studying with Sarah Ruhl and for the remaining five years they wrote letters to each other about morality, philosophy, after life and the joys of poetry.

The set by Marsha Ginsberg is exciting and original. There is a round cube like structure upstage center and once in a while the front wall/doors open up and that area serves as a room in the hospital with Max lying there for one of the many tests he had to go through. Finally he moves to California to be his mother and the letters between the two of them continues. Finally he dies and the sadness engulf us, that sadness all of us have been avoiding for two hours.

Costumes are by: Anita Yavich, lighting by Amith Chandrashhaker and projection and video by S Katy Tucker.

Ben Edelman and Zane Pais composed original music created with sound designer, Sinan Refik Zafar and the beautiful song at the end of the play was composed by Max Ritvo.

REVIEWED

By Bina Sharif

ATCA

Editor/Publisher: artsinternational.blogspot.com

Co-host: HI DRAMA

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Des Moines at Polonsky Shakespeare Center: Brooklyn

"Des Moines" at the Polonsky Shakespeare Center by Denis Johnson                                             Presented by Theater for a New Audience with Evanstar Films.

 Directed by Arin Arbus

"Des Moines" is the final play of the late Denis Johnson, who was also an esteemed novelist and a short story writer. This play have had many workshops and perhaps many things were cleared up but some of them still retain it's mystery, mostly confusion about its construction. Having said that, the play does hold it's intrigue for us. We are keen to know where it is leading us because the characters are very interesting and surreal.

There is a husband, Dan (Arliss Howard ) his wife, Marta (Johanna Day) having breakfast in their kitchen. Dan is a taxi driver who gave a ride to someone who died in a tragic plane crash and he is extremely traumatized by it and keep trying to remember what were the last words spoken by that un-fortunate man. Dan, actually has nightmares about it and keeps shouting during his sleep. Marta,  his  wife is eager and nervous to reveal some important news to her husband but doesn't have enough courage because the news is also tragic. So, she avoids the issue and they both end up talking about mundane things such as butter and margerine. Dan prefers butter. Dan has a friend who is a pastor, father Michael (Michael Shannon) who wears heavy face make up including bright lipstick and was seen by Dan outside a gay bar at the time of bar's closing.

Michael Shannon who is a brilliant actor (great performance by him in the play Killer at the same theater) is kind of wasted here. There is the couple's grand daughter Jimmy (Hari Nef ) a trans woman who's gender affirming surgery went bad and she ended up in a wheel chair. Set designer, Riccardo Hernandez created majestic French doors in the middle of the kitchen and when they open, Jimmy, whom we have not met yet appears in a wheel chair.  Her  rooms is beautifully lit byScott Zielinski giving us a colorful early Christmas like atmosphere. A pleasantly glamorous surprise.

The wedding ring of the person who died in the crash was given to Father Micheal and Dan is waiting for the pastor to bring it to his house because the deceased's widow, Mrs. Drink water has been visiting  Dan to get her ring back.

After Pastor shows up, Dan gets the ring and Mrs. Drink Water arrives shortly after that and then the play assumes a dream like shape. I personally thought that the play was Dan's dream but I dismissed the idea soon after.

They all start to drink, and I mean some serious drinking goes on for a long while. A drink called depth charger is consumed by all. Depth charger is a drink consisting of beer mixed with a shot of strong whisky.  All of them drinkk lots of depth chargers and Mrs. Drink Water (Heather Alicia Simms) even stand up on the kitchen table and sings and do dance like movements.

  I was so afraid that she might hurt herself because she was so drunk like the rest of them but she was a pro and thus kept her balance.

 Mind you it's not a realistic play though the beginning of the play and it's kitchen set is pretty realistic. At the end every one is smashed and  they make a real mess.  Then, they abruptly leave. Jimmy goes back to her make believe early arrival of bright Christmas lights, and Father Micheal also decides to call it a night.

 Next morning Marta clean up the mess as she wakes up from a very strange night. In between all the confusion, there is talk of morality, the belief in life and doubts about the purpose of our existence by Father Micheal without a clear promise or hope of any kind of comforting spirtuality for our troubled souls.

It still held my interest in a an absurd way because the play is kind of absurd which is fine with me.  Actors are pretty good and work very well throughout but can't solve the confusion inherent in the script.

While we were leaving some one in the elevator asked, "What was this play about?" And a wise woman answered, " Everyone was trying to get away from their pain."

BINA SHARIF

ATCA

Editor/publisher: artsinternational.blogspot.com

Email: binashariff@gmail.com

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