Judy Richter

By Judy Richter

Most Americans like to think of themselves as nonracist — at least in public — but the dirty little secret is that racism is still woven into the fabric of our society whether intentionally or not. Playwright David Mamet brings this issue to the forefront in “Race,” the 90-minute, one-act drama being staged by San Jose Stage Company. Sexism and ageism also figure into this provocative 2009 work.

The action takes place in the law office (set and lights by Michael Palumbo) of Jack Lawson (artistic director Randall King), who is white, and Henry Brown (L. Peter Callender), who is black. A wealthy, white, married man, Charles Strickland (David Arrow), comes to their office saying he has been falsely accused of rape and asking them to defend him. His alleged victim is a much younger black woman, who says the attack took place in a hotel room.

Although the attorneys aren’t necessarily interested in whether or not he’s guilty, they know that taking the case to a jury trial could be tricky because jurors will probably assume that he’s guilty, but they also don’t want to appear to be prejudiced against him. Also figuring into the attorneys’ discussions is their attractive, young, black associate, Susan (ZZ Moor). She has her own opinions about the case and about the ways black women view white men and vice versa.

Like so many of Mamet’s plays, such as “Oleanna,” “Speed-the-Plow,” the Pulitzer-winning “Glengarry Glen Ross” and others, there are no clear-cut answers or resolutions. Ambiguity and anger reign as the two partners and Susan explore the ramifications of race in their own situation as well as their client’s.

Director Tony Kelly keeps the action flowing smoothly. The costumes (kudos for Susan’s outfits) are by Jean Cardinale. The sound design by John Koss features songs played too loud before the play starts and between scenes.

All four actors handle their roles well in this tense, topical drama that gets the company’s 30th season off to a strong start.

“Race” will continue at San Jose Stage Company through Oct. 28. For tickets and information, call (408) 283-7142 or visit www.thestage.org.

By Judy Richter

One of the enduring mysteries of classical music is why the great Ludwig van Beethoven devoted so much time and energy into composing his “Diabelli Variations.” Playwright Moises Kaufman comes up with his own possible answer in “33 Variations” a two-act drama being given its regional premiere by TheatreWorks.

In the play, Kaufman has a prominent musicologist, Dr. Katherine Brandt (Rosina Reynolds), exploring the mystery by delving into original scores and other documents at the Beethoven archive in Bonn, Germany, where the composer was born in 1770. The play alternates between the present in Bonn and New York City and between the years 1819 and 1823 in Vienna, where he spent most of his 56 years. Despite deteriorating health, Katherine insists on going to Bonn for her research. While there, she becomes friends with the archivist, Dr. Gertrude Ladenburger (Marie Shell).

As Katherine’s condition worsens — she has amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease — her adult daughter, Clara (Jennifer Le Blanc), goes to Bonn to help her. Clara is accompanied by her boyfriend, Mike Clark (Chad Deverman), a nurse she had met during one of her mother’s medical appointments in New York.

These scenes are interspersed with 19th century events in Vienna, where a music publisher, Anton Diabelli (Michael Gene Sullivan), asked 50 composers to each create a variation on a short, apparently mediocre piano waltz he had written. Although denying the request at first, Beethoven (Howard Swain), took up the challenge and went on to compose 33 (including the original) over the course of several years.

Like Katherine, Beethoven had health problems, including his deafness. Also like Katherine, he was obsessed with his mission to the point where he sometimes was oblivious to other people’s feelings. In his case, the most immediate victim was his loyal aide, Anton Schindler (Jackson Davis), who became his biographer. In Katherine’s case, the victim was Clara, who felt that her mother was disappointed in the way she was living her life.

TheatreWorks artistic director Robert Kelley guides his talented cast through Kaufman’s shifting times and places and their characters’ emotional journeys with sensitivity. Andrea Bechert’s set, Fumiko Bielefeldt’s costumes, Steven B. Mannshardt’s lighting, Brendan Aanes’s sound and Jim Gross’s projections also help.

Onstage pianist William Liberatore plays all or parts of the variations, each of which requires virtuosity. The program gives special thanks to musical and medical experts from nearby universities, including Stanford and San Jose State, for what one would assume was valuable information and insights as the director and actors developed the characters.

All of the actors are fine. However, Reynolds, who has a strong stage presence, is superb as Katherine loses muscular control, affecting her mobility and eventually her speech. Likewise, Swain is outstanding as the often capricious or eccentric Beethoven is enraptured with his musical challenge, which he calls “transfigurating.” Besides the “Diabelli Variations,” the totally deaf Beethoven composed his great Missa Solemnis and Ninth Symphony during the years covered by the play. Snatches of the Mass are played, and parts of its Kyrie movement are movingly sung by the cast.

Although a few scenes seem superfluous or too long, they can’t detract from the play’s inherent power and fascination intermingled with some humorous moments.

The play will continue through Oct. 28 at the Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts. For tickets and information, call (650) 463-1960 or visit www.theatreworks.org.

By Judy Richter

When the Marin Theatre Company production of Suzan-Lori Parks’ “Topdog/Underdog” reached its wrenching conclusion on opening night, it was greeted by a stunned silence before the applause and shouts of “Bravo” erupted. That sequence signaled that something really special had just happened onstage.

There is much that’s special about the play, for which Parks won the 2002 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, the first and so far only Pulitzer of its kind awarded to an African American woman. There’s also something special about the production of this two-hander so ably directed by Timothy Douglas.

For one thing, the two actors must take themselves and the audience through a roller coaster of emotions as an underlying struggle between the two characters sometimes changes the balance of power between them.

The two-act play is set in the here and now and focuses on black two brothers who are sharing a cramped one-room apartment with no running water and a community bathroom down the hall. Scenic designer Mikiko Uesugi sets the tone right away with the dingy apartment’s water-stained walls, a rumpled, unmade single bed with clothing strewn all around it, a beat-up reclining chair, a couple of straight-back chairs and not much else.

The brothers are named Booth (Biko Eisen-Martin) and Lincoln (Bowman Wright) — their father’s idea of a joke. Booth, the younger brother, had been living there alone until Lincoln’s wife kicked him out of their home. Booth gets the bed, Lincoln gets the recliner.

Booth is quite talented at shoplifting, a skill that provides the men with, among other things, a nice set of clothing. Booth also aspires to become an expert in three-card monte, a street gambling game that invariably soaks the poor sucker who succumbs to the lure of playing it, thus losing his money and enriching the con man manipulating the cards.

Lincoln was a master at the game until one of his colleagues was shot to death. He quit the con and got a legitimate job in a shabby arcade. He portrays President Abraham Lincoln on the night he was assassinated by John Wilkes Booth at the Ford Theatre in Washington. Arcade patrons pay to use a cap gun and pull the trigger while Lincoln, wearing white-face makeup, pretends to have been fatally shot. It’s hardly a great job, but it give Lincoln weekly pay that he and Booth use to pay the rent and other expenses.

For the most part, the brothers get along well. They often talk about their childhood and wonder why their philandering parents deserted them while they were still in school. Though emotionally scarred, the brothers managed to survive and to avoid social workers.
The tension rises, however, as Lincoln loses his job and Booth’s girlfriend dumps him. With no money coming in, Lincoln considers returning to the card scam during the long, well delivered monologue that ends Act 1.

The profanity-laden play is a searing examination of fraternal love and rivalry that inevitably leads to tragedy for both men. Wright and Eisen-Martin are both brilliant in their ability to reveal both the subtleties of their characters and their relationship. Wright’s Lincoln is the more low-key of the two, reflecting his greater maturity and life experience. Eisen-Martin’s Booth is far more volatile and impulsive.

The production benefits from Callie Floor’s costumes (such as the ragged black coat worn by Lincoln for his job), as well as Kurt Landisman’s lighting and Chris Houston’s music and sound. They make solid contributions to a provocative play that hasn’t a Bay Area professional production since the national touring production came to San Francisco in 2003. The Oregon Shakespeare Festival staged a memorable production of it in 2004. This Marin production surely will remain in its audience’s memory for a long time to come.

“Topdog/Underdog” will continue at Marin Theatre Company through Oct. 21. For tickets and information, call (415) 388-5208 or visit www.marintheatre.org.

By Judy Richter

It’s a tribute to the genius of the late Michael Bennett and his artistic colleagues that “A Chorus Line” is still impressive and relevant 37 years after it opened on Broadway. The latest evidence of its power is the Broadway By the Bay production now playing at the Fox Theatre in Redwood City.

It’s relevant because — like the dancers auditioning for a Broadway show — most people still have to put themselves on the line to get a job, especially one in a profession they’re passionate about. It’s impressive because the story, characters, staging, music, choreography and sets all make for a classic of the American musical theater.

The setting (from Cabrillo Stage) is simple — a bare stage where more than 20 dancers, and then 17, are auditioning for eight chorus parts in the show. But for some of the featured numbers, the black back panels revolve to reveal full-length mirrors on the other side, allowing the auditioners to see themselves and allowing the audience to experience a heightened effect from dancers dancing in unison.

The crux of the story by James Kirkwood and Nicholas Dante, though, comes through the director, Zach (Tim Reynolds), who wants them to do more than sing and dance. He wants them to talk about themselves and how they came to be dancers. Thus the individual tales unfold, leading to such memorable songs as “At the Ballet,” “One” and “What I Did for Love” — all by Marvin Hamlisch with lyrics by Edward Kleban.

Although the performers in BBB’s non-Equity production seem to have been chosen more for their dancing than for their singing, a few stand out. Chief among them are Michelle Cabinian as Diana, who’s featured in “Nothing” and “What I Did for Love”; and Mary Theresa Capriles as Cassie, who sings and dances in the show-stopping “The Music and Mirror.” Brian Conway is touching as Paul, who got his start in show biz by performing in a drag show when he was 16. Mary Kalita’s Val is spunky in “…And…” and “Dance: 10; Looks: Three,” informally known as the T&A song.

Unlike the original production, which garnered multiple Tony Awards and a Pulitzer Prize, this one has an intermission. Otherwise, the set, costumes (from The Theatre Company) and lighting by Michael Ramsaur are based on the original. The sound design by Delicate is inconsistent, with some performers more audible and comprehensible than others. (Diction is part of this problem.)

Bennett conceived and originally directed and choreographed the show. BBB’s Robyn Tribuzi recreates his choreography, with some additional choreography by Alex Acevedo, who also plays Mike, for “I Can Do That.” Likewise Jeffrey Bracco’s direction is inspired by the original. Musical director Sean Kana directs the excellent orchestra.

BBB has made the Fox Theatre its home while its former venue, the San Mateo Performing Arts Center, is being renovated. The Fox is a vintage 1929 movie house right in the middle of downtown Redwood City. It had fallen on hard times in the past, but the new owners, Eric and Lori Lochtefeld, and BBB are making some welcome improvements, such as new seats in the lower balcony. More new seats are in the offing.

In the meantime, the BBB production of “A Chorus Line” is most enjoyable. It continues through Oct. 7. For tickets and information call (650) 369-7770 or visit www.broadwaybythebay.org.

By Judy Richter

The motto of California Shakespeare Theater is “Reimagining the classics.” With its production of “Hamlet,” however, director Liesl Tommy may be stretching the reimagination a bit too far with her concept. If one doesn’t read the program notes, one might not realize that she sees it as a memory play in which “the structure (Elsinore Castle) has outlived its inhabitants and is now a haunted place.”

Likewise, it might take a while for an observer to realize that the main part of the set by Clint Ramos (who also designed the modern-day costumes) is an empty swimming pool, strewn as it is with all sorts of clutter and set pieces. And as some directors are wont to do with William Shakespeare, Tommy eliminates characters — most notably Fortinbras — and rearranges scenes. Thus Hamlet’s “To be or not to be” soliloquy is not a soliloquy but rather a rumination as Ophelia lies in his arms.

The essence of the story is intact, however, as Hamlet (Leroy McClain) is horrified that just two months after the death of his father, king of Denmark, his mother, Gertrude (Julie Eccles), has married his father’s brother, Claudius (Adrian Roberts). In those days, such a marriage was considered incestuous, let alone unduly hasty. As if this weren’t enough, Hamlet encounters the ghost of his father (Roberts again), who says that Claudius murdered him and that Hamlet must avenge the death. Thus begins Hamlet’s equivocation.

In short order, he feigns madness, shuns Ophelia (Zainab Jah), accidentally murders Ophelia’s father, Polonius (Dan Hiatt), leading to Ophelia’s madness and another string of tragedies that leave the stage littered with bodies at the end. If this “Hamlet” is a memory play, then perhaps it plays out in the memories of Hamlet’s steadfast friend, Horatio (Nick Gabriel), who witnesses nearly every scene even when the script doesn’t require him to be onstage. He’s the only major character who survives.

Despite some questionable directoral choices, the cast is solid, especially Eccles, Gabriel, Hiatt and Nicholas Pelczar as Laertes. Ably filling lesser roles are Danny Scheie as Osric and the Player King, Mia Tagano as the Player Queen and a doctor, Jessica Kitchens as Rosencrantz, Brian Rivera as Guildenstern and others, and Joseph Salazar as Marcellus.

As for McClain as Hamlet, he is directed to become too emotional, while Roberts is a too monster-like as the ghost of Hamlet’s father. And Jah’s Ophelia goes way over the top in her insanity.

Peter West’s lighting is effective, as is Jake Rodriguez’s sound, which includes some hit tunes from the 1960s. Dave Maier is the fight director.

No doubt because “Hamlet” is one of Shakespeare’s greatest plays — the source of many familiar lines and expressions — it has been extended for a week due to strong demand for tickets. Audiences won’t exactly be disappointed, but they won’t be seeing the best example of this classic.

“Hamlet” continues through Oct. 21. For tickets and information, call (510) 548-9666 or visit www.calshakes.org.

By Judy Richter

Confident, well groomed and well spoken, an eminent research scientist is in the Virgin Islands lecturing a group doctors about a product she developed that could be a breakthrough in the treatment of dementia. Although the word “Alzheimer’s” is never used, it’s clearly a focus in “The Other Place,” the Sharr White drama receiving its West Coast premiere at San Francisco’s Magic Theatre.

The speaker is 52-year-old Juliana Smithton (Henny Russell), who finds herself more and more distracted by a young woman in a yellow bikini in the back row. From there the mystery heightens and the action shifts among several settings and time periods as well as between reality and Juliana’s imagination — or perhaps hallucinations. What she tells a neurobiologist, Dr. Cindy Teller (Carrie Paff, who’s listed as The Woman in the program), differs from what is said by her husband, Ian Smithton (Donald Sage Mackay), an oncologist.

Perhaps the problems started 10 years ago when Laurel (Paff), the 15-year-old daughter of Juliana and Ian, disappeared one night and never was seen again. She may or may not have run off with or been abducted by Richard Sillner (Patrick Russell, listed as The Man in the program), Juliana’s post-doc assistant at the time.

“The Other Place” may have two meanings. One is literal — the Smithtons’ cottage on Cape Cod. The other is figurative — wherever Juliana’s mind goes as some sort of dementia sets in. Juliana calls it “the great darkness.” White skillfully takes the audience between them as more truths emerge.

Director Loretta Greco, the Magic’s producing artistic director, and her talented cast carefully navigate this difficult emotional journey. Henny Russell is riveting as her Juliana tries to make sense of what’s happening and tries to convince others around her that her perceptions are real. She’s well balanced by Mackay as her supportive husband, Ian, who can be seen as the truth-teller. Paff makes Dr. Teller a competent professional. She’s also makes a convincing transition as a woman who’s outraged to find Juliana in the cottage but who soon perceives what might be happening and kindly appeases Juliana in the play’s most touching scene.

Although the set by Myung Hee Cho, who also designed the costumes, works for the first half of the intermissionless play, it has problems in the second half. That’s when a white screen across the stage opens to reveal the cottage. Unfortunately, though, the cottage’s side walls block the view of people seated on the right and left sides of the stage. Consequently, — unless they have access to the script — they have no idea what is happening in the very last scene. Otherwise, Eric Southern’s lighting, Brandon Wolcott’s sound and composition, and Hana Sooyeon Kim’s video design complement the production.

“The Other Place” is scheduled for a Broadway production by the Manhattan Theatre Club at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre in December. If the Magic production is any indication, it should be a success as it examines the toll of dementia as well as the mysteries of a decade-old family tragedy.

The Magic Theatre production will continue through Oct. 7. For tickets and information, call (415) 441-8822 or visit www.magictheatre.org.

By Judy Richter
When Larry Kramer’s “The Normal Heart” opened in New York in 1985, knowledge about AIDS was growing but still sadly lacking. Today, even though drugs have been found to control it, there still is no real cure, nor is there a vaccine to prevent it. In the meantime, the worldwide death toll has grown to more than 30 million, and an estimated 33.3 million people, including 1.3 million Americans, are living with HIV/AIDS. Hence the 2011 Tony-winning revival seems necessary and timely, as evidenced by the Arena Stage production that has come to San Francisco’s American Conservatory Theater.

Taking place between July 1981 and May 1984 in New York City, the plot focuses on a gay writer, Ned Weeks (Patrick Breen), who has become aware of a mysterious illness that is claiming the lives of gay men. When he talks with a doctor, Emma Brookner (Jordan Baker), who has been treating men with the illness, she has no answers. She doesn’t know what causes it, let alone how to treat it, cure it or prevent it. However, she suspects that gay men’s sexual activities play a large role in its spread. She tells Ned (a stand-in for the playwright) to tell gay men to stop having sex.

She might as well advise telling them to stop breathing. Sexual freedom has become a way of life, indeed a part of their identity. Still, Ned looks for ways to help. He and some other gay men form a group intended to provide support and resources for their afflicted brothers. However, their efforts are thwarted in several ways.

One is that government officials, the public health establishment and the mainstream press are virtually ignoring the epidemic. Ned believes they do so because gay men are not readily acceptable. He believes that if a similar crisis were confronting straight people, all sorts of resources would be unleashed.

Another problem is that most of the other men in his group are closeted. They fear losing their jobs if it were known that they’re gay. Then there’s Ned himself. He’s outspoken, abrasive, confrontational, leading to conflict within the group and alienating those who could exert some influence to help.

In the meantime, more men are becoming ill, including Ned’s lover, Felix Turner (Matt McGrath), a fashion writer for the New York Times. Some of Ned’s colleagues relate wrenching stories about the fate of their friends and loved ones.

When Berkeley Repertory Theatre presented “The Normal Heart” in June 1986, the San Francisco Bay Area was still reeling from the crisis. Leaning on canes or a friend, frail-looking young men with purple lesions (Kaposi’s sarcoma) on their skin could be seen at various public events like plays and the opera. Today, the revival of that play evokes sad memories of that tragic time. My review of that production concluded: ” ‘The Normal Heart’ isn’t an easy play to watch. Nevertheless, it’s an important play, one that moves its audience and provokes deep, disturbing thought about a social climate and crisis that could remain in the forefront for a long time.”

Now, 26 years later, the social climate is gradually changing for gays, but AIDS still remains a significant public health challenge, especially given the high expense of the drugs used to treat it. Gay marriage, depicted in the play, is still outlawed in most areas.

This revival, directed by George C. Wolfe, features a standout cast, led by Breen as the angry Ned Weeks and featuring Baker as Emma Brookner, the wheelchair-using physician who contracted polio three months before the introduction of the Salk vaccine. Besides McGrath as Felix, the cast also features Michael Berresse as Mickey Marcus, Nick Mennell as Bruce Niles, Bruce Altman as Ben Weeks (Ned’s straight brother), Sean Dugan as Tommy Boatwright, and Tom Berklund, Patrick Alparone and Jon Levenson in various minor roles.

The set is by David Rockwell with costumes by the late Martin Pakledinaz, lighting by David Weiner, music and sound by David Van Tieghem and projections by Batwin + Robin Productions. Leah C. Gardiner is the restaging director.

More than history, “The Normal Heart” is a cogent reminder of the need for people to be aware of how AIDS is transmitted and to try to prevent contracting it or spreading it. In a letter given to theatergoers after the play and in ACT’s “Words on Plays” publication, the still-crusading, still-angry Kramer has this to say, among other things: “Please know that all efforts at prevention and education continue their unending record of abject failure. … Please know that this is a plague that need not have happened. Please know that this is a plague that has been allowed to happen.”

“The Normal Heart” continues through Oct. 7. For tickets and information call (415) 749-2228 or visit www.act-sf.org.

Traumatized by losing several loved ones over the years and by seeing people leap from the Twin Towers on 9/11, a brilliant young novelist has retreated to the perceived safety of his New York apartment for the past two years.