Theatrics Part Deux

Went to Stage Left Theater for Leapfest and have a report on the 3 staged readings I saw. The readings come from Stage Left's program to develop playwrights and their plays. Whether or not they will actually be produced is another question altogether.

Day of Knowledge - David Alan Moore.
Based on the Chechen attack on the Russian grammar school, this play is about the grief and pain from horrific loss, and the resulting survivor's guilt. Marina and Alexei lose their son in the event, and take in a nameless orphan who seems to have no family. Their lives are complicated by Seraphima, a teacher who lives with them and has sunk into the delusion that her daughter is alive though missing, even when the authorities gather enough DNA to conclude the girl is dead. Anna, Alexei's sister-in-law and a teacher, survived the attack but carries a bullet in her back and the memory of watching Alexei's son get killed. Borik, her 'almost a detective' husband helps his brother Alexei smuggle Irina into the country. Irina turns out to be the boy's aunt, although she hasn't seen him in 7 years. Her story of the horror surrounding his birth, and the life she has led under repression and war are as terrible as the assault on the school. The interconnections between the boy's parents, his aunt, the terrorists (called 'bandits'), Borik's smuggling, and Alexei's murderous act at the school remind us that nothing is as simple as it seems. The cycle of violence seems unable to end and the mistrust we carry of the 'other' may as well be mistrust of ourselves, if we look hard into the mirror. A searing story and the best of the three I saw.

Endangered - Derrell Capes.
The play is about a public defender, Mike Patterson, who is ready to hang up his own shingle and leave the P.D office behind. He is always tired, and he has lost his edge. The young man who arrived 20 years ago ready to set the court on fire, and acquiring the respect of the D.A.'s office along the way, is sick of the job. He no longer has the energy to take on a system that actually is built on "percentages." His newest case, DeShawn, a gangbanger accused of capital murder, seems unlikely to help Patterson get his groove back. Along the way we meet Mike's boss, a lesbian who doesn't want to lose him, Carrie the legal grad who is working off her debt and worships the attorney he was, a former P.D. who badgers Mike to join his firm, and, finally, Mike's ex, Linda. She's a $250/hr PhD psychologist who reminds him that he married her "expecting Angela Davis and woke up one day next to Condoleeza Rice." She is going to remarry, and while we don't know anything about "Richard", it is clear that Mike is feeling the loss of yet another touchpoint in his life. Mike's relationship with Linda is never used to justify Mike and his views. How many of us have used the phrase - I have xxx friends, how could I be yyyy? The scenes between Deshawn and Mike ring as true as any I have ever seen. Deshawn wants to be taken seriously and believed when he says he is innocent. He acknowledges his drug addicted mother, foster home escapades, juvenile arrests, and "questionable acquaintances", but the H.S. dropout and former b-ball star points out that he has no adult infractions, and he "didn't kill that boy." When the cops come to Deshawn with an offer of manslaughter if he turns evidence against another suspect, Deshawn wants to reject it and he needs to know Mike will stand with him in court. This sets the stage for a showdown and Mike confronting the reasons he is in a rut. I came away wanting a cliched ending that had Mike and Deshawn in court. I didn't get it, not that I am entitled to it. Osiris Khepera has long, braided hair, and I couldn't help but feel that this is a kid who could get pulled over just "because", if you get my drift. I wonder what would happen if we could get this play produced NOH for viewing by the locals? For the record, the playwright is on the faculty of the New York Defenders Association, which is involved in the training of public defenders in New York State.

Grayville - Keith Tadrowski
A dramedy, not really a comedy although it claims to be one. The play tells the story of the Brick family, founders and current leaders of a tiny burg named Grayville in Illinois. It's exact location is not divulged, although we learn it is in the vicinity of Mt. Vernon, Il. The play is a series of vignettes that open with Town Hall meetings led by Wally Brick, the mayor, and including his wife Margie, the treasurer and sons Arnie and Mark. Death, via violent means, abounds in Grayville, starting with Mark Brick, and circulating through others as Margie, their daughter Sandie, and son Arnie alternately take revenge on others, including family members, and claiming each time that they are the "real victim." There are several hilarious moments, two of which involve a character named "Bacteria", who declares that she is an "Aquarius" and then proceeds to discuss her preferred living quarters. Just what you want to here after dinner. In her own way she is a metaphor for the poison that seeps through the Brick family. Wally is particularly proud of scoring the Olive Garden restaurant at the interchange, seeing this as the opportunity to grow Grayville. Many of the scenes take place there and one is particularly memorable. I enjoyed this play, although it was technically beyond my comprehension. Little did I know that it had "nihilist" elements (according to another audience member), not to mention absurdist and cartoonish. On reflection I can see those last two. But I had good time anyway.