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Nov 01 2013
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THE PIANIST OF WILLESDEN LANE earns a standing ovation at Berkeley Rep

By Kedar K. Adour

In her one-woman show The Pianist of Willesden Lane, piano virtuoso Mona Golabek chronicles her mother’s escape from the Holocaust. Photo courtesy of mellopix.com

THE PIANIST OF WILLESDEN LANE: Solo Performance.  Based on the book “The Children of Willesden Lane” by Mona Golabek and Lee Cohen. Directed and adapted by Hershey Felder. Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Thrust Theatre, 2015 Addison Street @ Shattuck, Berkeley, CA 94704. (510) 647-2949 or  www.berkeleyrep.org. EXTENDED THROUGH January 5, 2014

THE PIANIST OF WILLESDEN LANE earns a standing ovation at Berkeley Rep

 [rating:5] (5/5 stars)

Just four months ago Berkeley Rep mounted a highly successful and critically acclaimed solo performance of George Gershwin Alone written and performed by the author who has set his sights on demonstrating that music can and does sooth the savage beast. This time around he has directed and adapted a true story based on the book The Children of Willesden Lane by Mona Golabek & Lee Cohn proving “music has the power to help us survive.”

 The primary survivor in the book is 14 year old Lisa Jura a fledging pianist studying with a master teacher in 1938 Vienna. When the Nazis issued laws preventing her teacher from giving Jews lessons her dreams of a concert debut of Grieg’s Piano Concerto in Vienna are dashed but not crushed and her resiliency is dramatized in words, projections and stunning piano music.

Mona Golabek, an accomplished pianist is the daughter of Lisa Jura and she gives a heart wrenching performance without histrionics often allowing the piano music do the speaking. Grieg’s haunting A Minor concerto frequently weaves in and out of the narrative reminding the audience of Lisa’s heartbreak.

After the devastating crystelnach (the night of the broken glass) seats on the kindertransport train were in great demand as families were vying for passage to a safe haven in England for their children. The one ticket available to the Jura family was given to the middle daughter Lisa because of her potential as a classical pianist.

After being unable to live with a relative she was assigned to a beautiful county estate called Peacock Manor where she was assigned household chores. When she was denied the privilege of playing the piano and told that the piano was for show and not to be played, she returned alone to London alone and assigned to the house on Willesden Lane packed with children. A piano became her salvation and that of the adults as well as the children.

During the Blitzkrieg the museums were stripped of their art and the famous pianist Myra Hess convinced the authorities to allow her and fellow musicians to use the museums as concert halls. Every week a single masterpiece painting was hung in the hall. The music continued even during the Blitz.

Lisa’s talent was recognized and she was given an audition for a scholarship to the Royal Academy of Music. Golabek gives a charming description of that audition both in words and brief cords of classical music with snippets from Bach, Beethoven and Chopin.

Mona Golabek is a master at the piano both in interpretation and body language. All the interludes are played without sheet music and include Beethoven, Debussy, Chopin, Grieg, Bach Rachmaninoff and Gershwin.

Mona Golabek as Lisa Jura

Her brilliant piano interludes and quiet dialog are enriched with slide and video projections on four gilt edged frames hung above the lone piano elevated on center stage.  Lisa Jura’s resiliency, bravery and the power of music played dazzlingly by her daughter Mona Golabek is an evening not to be missed.  Just when you thought the show was over and applause erupted from the appreciative audience, many with tears in their eyes, Lisa Jura returned to the stage to give her much delayed concert debut with Grieg’s Piano Concerto in A Minor, opus 18; third movement.

Running time an unforgettable 90 minutes without intermission.

Kedar K. Adour, MD

Courtesy of www.theatreworldinternetmagazine.com

 

Oct 31 2013
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UNDERNEATH THE LINTEL an intellectual bemusement at A.C.T.

By Kedar K. Adour

UNDERNEATH THE LINTEL: Solo Drama by Glen Berger. Performed by David Strathairn. Directed by Carey Perloff.  American Conservatory Theater (ACT), 415 Geary St., San Francisco, CA. (415) 749-2228 or www.act-sf.org. October 23 – November 17, 2013.

UNDERNEATH THE LINTEL an intellectual bemusement at A.C.T. [rating:3](5/5stars)

With a title of Underneath the Lintel one might expect that a “Lintel” is a tree and we may be in for an evening of romantic endeavor or pithy philosophizing. We do get a bit of unrequited romance and some mundane philosophy before the stage lights black out, but it seems to be an afterthought in Glen Berger’s solo drama that began as a one night theatrical piece performed by the author in 1999 at the Yale Cabaret.  There have been many revisions since the first professional performances began in 2001. Since then it has been staged throughout the world with the first local production at the Live Oak Theater in Berkeley in July 2013. It received good reviews.

Those good reviews may be related to the production being mounted in a 99 seat theater with minimal props and a fine local non-equity actor (Mike Mize) giving a big performance to a small intellectual bemusement. However, as often happens at A.C.T, one of the premiere acting companies in the nation, there has been a propensity to over-produce a less worthy script. So it is again with Under the Lintel pretentiously subtitled An Impressive Presentation of Lovely Evidences.

Director Carey Peroff has wisely selected award winning/nominated David Strathairn to play the of an obscure, introverted yet obsessive librarian to deliver Glen Berger’s well researched, sometimes obtuse and other times imaginative lines. However, the play is not the thing but Strathairn’s acting carries the evening as he rambles around on Nina Ball’s cluttered set.

That set is integral to the story. Strathairn, playing the unnamed Dutch librarian, has rented a second-rate music hall theatre to deliver a lecture to a small audience about his “evidences” proving a certain biblical myth is an actuality.  On stage right there is a large chalk board that is used to aid in listing “his evidences” that he produces one by one, appropriately tagged and numbered, from his non-descript suitcase. That suitcase has been with him on a world-wide quest as he finds “evidences” that have convinced him that the myth of the Wandering Jew is reality. To illustrate his “evidences’ he also uses a slide projector and a tape player.

Although the story of the Wandering Jew has numerous variations, depending on the country or the era in which it is told, Berger elected to use the storyline of a Jewish shoemaker whose shop was along the route Jesus was forced to take to the site of His crucifixion. The shoemaker while standing “underneath the lintel” (the supporting beam of his window) refused to offer Jesus assistance when He collapsed on the doorstep. Jesus was said to say, “I will see you again when I return.” That return is the second coming of Christ and is yet to happen and the Jew is forced to live in perpetuity and never resting.

The Librarian’s quest began with his fascination and obsession with the late return of a dog-eared Baedeker’s Travel Guide. That book is 113 YEARS late and there are notations in the margins as well as a claim check for cleaning a pair of trousers. The cleaning establishment is still operating in London no less. Our intrepid Librarian heads off to London. Thus the journey begins. With each “evidence” uncovered another is found, has been duly numbered and presented to the audience as proof of his theorem. 

His has been fired from his job (without a pension) and is now free to roam. One wonders where he got the money for travel but remembering this is a mythical tale . . . maybe, we must suspend disbelief.  He travels, in order of his “evidences’ from: 1. Hoofddorp, Netherlands,  2. London, England, 3. Bonn, Germany, 4. Derby, England, 5. Dingtao, China, 6. New York City, New York, 7. Brisbane, Australia, 8. Acropolis, Greece, 9. Paris, France, 10. The coast of Norway, 11. Juneau, Alaska, 2.Uxmal, Mexico, 13.Stamford, Connecticut, 14. Easter Island.

David Strathairn as The Librarian showing the map of his travels

His journey is liberally illustrated with his slides and Perloff moves him about in a hectic manner probably conveying his restlessness. Near the end of his lecture, the librarian frantically shows photos of inscriptions “I was here” to prove his points and even invokes the memory of the ubiquitous “Kilroy was here!” Yes there is humor but the stretches between laughs are a bit tedious.  Running time 90 minutes without intermission.

Creative Team: Nina Ball (scenic design), Jessie Amoroso (costume design), Alexander V. Nichols (lighting design), and Jake Rodriguez (sound design).

Kedar K. Adour, MD

Courtesy of www.theatreworlditernetmagazine.com

Oct 28 2013
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Opposites attract in ‘Next Fall’

By Judy Richter

Despite some significant obstacles, two gay men fall in love and manage to stay together for some five years before a crisis intervenes.

In Geoffrey Nauffts’ “Next Fall,” presented by San Jose Repertory Theatre, one obstacle is that the 40ish Adam (Danny Scheie) is about 20 years older than Luke (Adam Shonkwiler). A greater obstacle is that Adam is a nonbeliever while Luke is a fundamentalist Christian. The age difference results mainly in lighthearted teasing, but the religious difference is tougher.

And there’s one more problem: Luke hasn’t come out to his divorced parents. Therefore, when Luke is hit by a taxi and hospitalized, they can’t understand why Adam is so insistent on seeing Luke.

It may be that Luke’s fundamentalist, bigoted father, Butch (James Carpenter), could have an inkling that Luke is gay, but he won’t acknowledge it, not even to himself. Having been a free spirit in her younger days, Luke’s mother, Arlene (Rachel Harker), probably would be more accepting if she knew.

The action shifts between the present in the hospital and the past, starting with the night that Luke and Adam met and continuing at various times in their relationship. One constant in their lives is Holly, a straight friend who owns the candle shop where they have worked. As portrayed by Lindsey Gates, Holly is funny, supportive and straightforward, a kind of rock for them.

The play’s sixth character is Brandon (Ryan Tasker), Luke’s Christian friend who’s even less accepting of his own homosexuality.

Director Kirsten Brandt guides the talented cast with a sensitive hand, allowing the humor to come through and stressing poignancy rather than pathos. Playing Adam, Scheie, a veteran Bay Area actor who often plays over-the-top characters, shows deeper emotions here while allowing some of his comedic skills to come through.

Shonkwiler’s Luke is a fun guy most of the time, but as a believer in heaven and hell, he’s worried about Adam’s fate. He’s also worried about coming out to his father. When Butch says he’s coming toNew York from his Florida home, Luke tries to “de-gay” the apartment he shares with Adam and asks Adam to leave for a few hours. This leads to one of the play’s best scenes when Luke goes out on an errand and Butch arrives early, leading to an uncomfortable first meeting between him and Adam. Carpenter, another veteran Bay Area actor, plays well off Scheie in this scene and others.

More fine acting comes from Harker as Arlene, especially when she tells Adam about how she tried to reach out to a young Luke after being absent from most of his life.

Scenic designer Annie Smart’s set easily adapts to shifting scenes, as do Cathleen Edwards’ costumes. Lighting by Dawn Chiang and sound by Steve Schoenbeck enhance this Bay Area premiere of the Tony-nominated play.

“Next Fall” will continue at San Jose Repertory Theatre, 101 Paseo de San Antonio, San Jose, through Nov. 10. For tickets and information, call (408) 367-7255 or visit www.sanjoserep.com.

Oct 28 2013
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Two-legged park critters creating all sorts of things

By Woody Weingarten

Sterling Johnson blows bubbles on White House lawn.

Salvi Durango and guitar. Photo: Tim Bonnici.

Tylor Norwood (left) and Dylan Hurley check monitor on Robson-Harrington shoot.

Students concentrate at Michael Feldman’s art camp in Creek Park.

 

An escapee from San Quentin, an obsessive-compulsive San Anselmo writer and a tipsy five-legged giraffe strut into a bar.

There’s no joke there, no punchline.

I just wanted your attention.

I was afraid if I told you this column’s about creative two-legged critters encountered in Ross Valley parks, you might stop reading.

Please don’t.

Those folks are almost as compelling as the above trio.

Let’s try it this way: A filmmaker, a singing cowboy and a guy who plays second fiddle to his own bubbles operate fruitfully in local parks.

Why?

Because the parks, and their tranquility, spur creativity.

Tylor Norwood’s a San Anselmo resident I met in Robson-Harrington. He was directing two actors under a white canopy.

One actress exclaiming “my vagina” hooked me even before I spied the surrounding equipment.

Only later did I learn he was polishing a comedic scene for his new full-length feature. Tylor also swims in deeply creative TV waters: The BBC and HBO are commercial clients for his SkyDojo production company.

The 2007 San Francisco State film school grad subsequently informed me about the technological revolution, life on the road (“always hectic, so it’s a comfort to come back here”), and a crew in West Marin attacked by yellow jackets (causing eight adults to run “screaming into this little farmhouse to hide”).

No one fled during the re-shoot.

Sterling Johnson, 67, has been toying with bubbles since discovering them during a high-school science project. Nowadays he can be found with them in Fairfax’s Bolinas Park, near his home.

“It’s a great way to connect with people,” he said.

He’s good enough to make a living with his inventiveness, at least part-time. He’s even been asked to perform twice in Tokyo and once at the White House.

Heady stuff.

But more touching for him was the day “an autistic girl blew bubbles at a Formica-topped table I was working at and just lit up.”

Salvi Durango is a longhaired, white-bearded ex-Sleepy Hollow resident recently encountered in Bolinas Park while writing “Old Singing Cowboys Never Die.”

It’s well constructed, easy on the ears.

Salvi told me he’s been penning songs 33 years, and “playing in small bars and taverns all along the West Coast.”

He’s been name-dropping that long, too — with good reason: He’s been befriended by Willie Nelson (who backs him on a patriotic YouTube ditty, “Bankin’ on the Red, White and Blue”), Johnny Cash, Pete Seeger, Merle Haggard and Ramblin’ Jack Elliott.

He remembers chatting on a San Francisco street with John Lennon, who autographed his birth certificate, the only paper Salvi had on him.

He never sought fame but “never gave up on my dream — just singing for people, like I did for you in the park.”

Michael Feldman, who traded in ad-agency billing pads for a diminutive San Anselmo gallery, uses park benches and tables in Creek Park to facilitate his art camp students spreading their materials and smiles.

He encourages them to “explore different mediums and feel good about themselves through art, rather than copying the masters or doing what teachers demand.”

His prime hope? “That some of these kids will use art in their lives forever.”

Daniel Ezell also utilizes Creek Park’s facilities for classes — for Golden Gate Tutoring Center, which the San Anselmo resident founded with his wife, Celeste. They accentuate geometry, comic art and inventions.

“I get the greatest pleasure from instilling a curiosity in my students,” he told me.

Several weeks ago, for instance, students made an old-style diddly guitar from scratch. Result?  ”A lot of noisy music, a lot of fun.”

Michael Grossman lives in San Rafael but also has started to create music in Creek Park.

A professional classical violinist, he began writing pop songs on guitar “as a catharsis, a result of my wife dying.” He’s completed five so far, and declares he will “share my work in any way that’s share-able.”

He sees “the public park as a sanctuary right down the middle of town.”

I concur.

And the range of park creativity has inspired me to ponder where I put one word after another.

I normally create at a cluttered desk at home. Maybe I’ll venture out, park myself in a park and craft a column in the sunlight.

Oct 26 2013
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Play about Bill Gates enthralls, but with a big ‘but’

By Woody Weingarten

Woody’s [rating:2.5] 

Jeremy Kahn and Rinabeth Apostol are counterpoints as Bill Gates and Luz Ruiz in “First.” Photo: Kent Taylor.

“First” is a fictional glimpse into the future of today from the yesterday of 1976.

It’s an episodic feast of words and ideas — for geeks, freaks, nerds and eggheads. Or recovering or aging geeks, freaks, nerds and eggheads.For others not obsessed with computers, not so much.

Count me in the latter list.

Why? Because the 105-minute play’s excessively crammed with factoids and history and real icons of the computer and software universe that may make delicious provender for techies but overpower folks like me.

I remember having a friend in the early ‘80s who swore by The Well, a social networking site where co-owner and “First” playwright Evelyn Jean Pine first experienced this ‘n’ that.

My gal-pal constantly regaled me with stories of bulletin boards and other now-obsolete niceties — niceties I couldn’t grok (or sometimes even pronounce properly).

I remember that she’d tell me of the hours and hours she’d spent on this game or that, on locating this obscure piece of trivia or that.

And I recall endlessly discussing such nonsense like whether online should be spelled on-line or OnLine instead.

Mostly, I couldn’t get excited. Then.

But I got hooked on the software and hardware like everyone else (just as Bill Gates and his Microsoft co-founder, Paul Allen, and a handful of other technology prophets had predicted).

“First,” which was commissioned and developed by PlayGround and which will play in the tiny Theatre Werx space through Nov. 3, details the origins of the digital revolution.

With drama. And humor.Exactly how much is accurate, how much exaggerated, I can’t say.

But I can say that it’s interesting.

And entertaining.

And amusing.

And that all six actors are competent at worst, excellent at best. The latter category includes Jeremy Kahn as a 20-year-old Gates, a mono-focused, egocentric boy wonder, and Rinabeth Apostol as Luz Ruiz, ex-pot dealer waitress.

Ruiz, the only grounded character, acts as a significant counterpoint to the head-in-the-clouds, persona non grata Gates.Instead of perceiving him as a future-seeking marvel, she sees him as “the kid doing wheelies in the parking lot this morning.”

She speaks in English, he in gobbledygook.

Except for a telling moment when he seriously advises her, “People let you do anything — if you push hard enough.”

The catch-all scene is the first personal computer conference.

There, Gates, a Harvard absentee, faces Ed Roberts (David Cramer) — a real-life guy who manufactured the first commercially successful PC kit, the $397 Altair.

He faces, too, a horde of customers irate because he’s demanding they stop sharing software.

Gates reads hate mail; the throng he perceives is “robbing him blind” boos; and Roberts (“I didn’t know I was inventing the future”) futilely urges him to apologize to the crowd.

Michael French directed this world premiere, and does well for the most part.

He does stumble into opaqueness a couple of times, however — when staging a game of keep-away with a Basic code disc, for example, and when IBM marketer Kevin Panik (Tim Green) does an awkward striptease.It’s also problematic trying to define a flighty character, Georgia Potts (Brandice Marie Thompson), self-taught programmer and computer addict who’s drawn to Valentine Smith (Gregory W. Knotts), visionary-dreamer-philosopher who renamed himself for a character in a sci-fi novel, “Stranger in a Strange Land,” a title that doubles as a “First” theme.

Without the humor or the Ruiz character, this would be a mediocre portrait but plot-less play. With them, it’s notable.

The real Gates might be pleased with his visage here, but he most likely hates that his love-child company may be following the path of IBM into irrelevancy.

And he’d definitely despise that I’m writing this review on an iMac.

“First” runs at Stage Werx, 446 Valencia St., between 15th and Sparrow streets, San Francisco, through Nov. 3. Night performances, 8 p.m. Thursdays through Saturdays; matinees, 2 p.m. Sundays. Tickets: $25 to $35. Information: (415) 992-6677 or www.playground-sf.org.

Oct 26 2013
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A Wealth of Talent Performs Gypsy at NTC

By Uncategorized

Gypsy by Arthur Laurents (book), Jule Styne (music) and Stephen Sondheim (lyrics) is a real winner!  This Novato Theater Company production is brilliantly directed and choreographed by Blanca Florido assisted by Musical Director Andrew Klein and Producer Gary Gonser.

Gypsy is loosely based on the 1957 memoirs of Gypsy Rose Lee, the famous strip tease artist and focuses on her mother, Rose (Daniela Innocenti-Beem) whose name has become synonymous with “the ultimate show business mother.”  The play follows the dreams and efforts of Rose to raise her two daughters to perform onstage and casts an eye on the hardships of show business life.  The character Louise (Gillian Eichenberger) is based on Lee and the character of June (Julianne Thompson) are based on Lee’s sister, the actress Joan Havoc.

There are 21 talented adult actors in Gypsy as well as 9 talented children.  The real star of this great production is Daniela Innocenti-Beem, an Ethel Merman look alike as Mama Rose, who has fabulous stage presence.  She is ably supported by her two daughters Louise and Baby June.  Other outstanding performers are Ron Dailey as Pop playing three parts, Weber and Phil; Patrick Barr as Herbie, the girl’s manager and Rose’s lover; Burl Lampert in four roles including Uncle Jocko, Bougeron-Cochon and Mr. Goldstone; and Michael Lumb as Tulsa who elopes with Baby June.

Set during the vaudeville era in the early 1920’s, Gypsy is about Rose, the archetype of a stage mother, aggressive and domineering, pushing her children to perform.  While June is an extroverted, talented child star, the older girl, Louise is shy.  Rose travels the country with the two daughters and manager Herbie. While June and Louise wish their mother would settle down and marry Herbie, Rose continues to pursue dreams of stardom for her girls.  But June deserts the act and marries Tulsa and Rose tries to turn shy Louise into a star. When the act is booked into a burlesque house by mistake, Louise is forced into the spotlight and Gypsy Rose Lee is born!

This musical contains many songs that became popular including “Everything’s Coming Up Roses,” “Together (Wherever We Go),” ” Small World,” and “Let Me Entertain You.”  Gypsy has been called the greatest American musical by numerous critics and writers.

Gypsy runs October 18-November 10, 2013 at the Novato Theater Company, 5420 Nave Drive, Novato.  Curtain times are Thursday at 7:30 p.m., Friday-Saturday at 8 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. For tickets, call the box office at 415-883-4498 or go online at www.novatotheatercompany.org.

Coming up next at Novato Theater Company will be “The Best Christmas Pageant Ever,” by Barbara Robinson, November 30-December 15, 2013.

Flora Lynn Isaacson

 

Oct 26 2013
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DIRTY LITTLE SHOWTUNES! is back and good as ever at NCTC.

By Kedar K. Adour

DIRTY LITTLE SHOWTUNES!: Musical Revue. Written by Tom Orr. Conceived and Directed by F. Allen Sawyer. Musical Direction by Scrumbly Koldewynn. Choreographed by Jayne Zaban. Starring (alphabetically): Rotimi Agbabiaka, David Bicha, Daryl Clark, Jesse Cortez, Tom Orr, Randy Noak. New Conservatory Theatre Center (NCTC), Decker Theatre, 25 Van Ness Ave, San Francisco, CA. 415-864-8972 or www.nctcsf.org Through November 10-2013. [rating:5]

DIRTY LITTLE SHOWTUNES! is back and good as ever at NCTC.

The spellchecker in MS Word keeps trying to correct the spelling of ‘showtunes’ to ‘show tunes.’ But it is not to be in this review of this revue since there is nothing ‘correct’ about the 16th incarnation of this hilariously energetic production that defines the basic three “Rs”. . . Racy, Ribald and Risqué. It earns the exclamation mark that is integral to the title.

The entire evening is a parody of songs from about 25 Broadway shows lasting about two hours including the 20 minute intermission. That intermission is needed to regroup your brain cells that have gone astray trying to identify which song is from which show. We reviewers received a list of the songs and the shows involved. (A little secret: There is a stack of sheets listing the songs behind the box office desk. Just ask and you shall certainly receive.)

Rotimi Agbabiaka


The marvelous Tom Orr and David Bicha are the only hold-overs from the original show and they are matched song for song and dance for dance with the naughty energetic Rotimi Agbabiaka, the willowy charming Randy Noak and the innocent (in looks only) Jesse Cortez that you will not recognize in drag.  Daryl Clark was absent from some shows and in football parlance is probably on injured reserve.

The show would not be complete without the extremely talented musical director Scrumbly Koldewynn who has aged gracefully since his Cockette days and is riot when he deserts his piano to take the stage in a simplified English Busker jacket (complete with white buttons) for the second act entr’acte patter song, “Stupid Silly Paranoid Theatric Superstitions!” (“Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious!” – Mary Poppins).

(l to r) Jesse Cortez, Tom Orr, Randy Noak, Rotimi Agbabiaka

The ensemble reminds us in an opening number “Parody Tonight” (“Comedy Tonight” – Funny Thing Happened on the way to the Forum) that probably protects them from plagiarism law suits. Consider “How Do You Solve Your Problem Gonorrhea?” (“How Do you Solve a Problem like Maria” – The Sound of Music), “Turn in Your Fag Card” (“Brush Up Your Shakespeare” – Kiss Me Kate), “Bossy Bottoms” ((“Bosom Buddies” – Mame), I Am The Very Model of A Modern Homosexual (The Pirates of Penzance) and “The Lady is a Man” (“The Lady Is A Tramp” – Pal Joey)

The list goes on and on with each member of the cast getting to strut their stuff upon the stage receiving great appreciative applause. The ensemble numbers are humorously choreographed and the drag costumes a hoot and a holler. They don’t frolic in the most stunning drag costumes until the second but in act one two “nuns” bring down the house with the naughty, naughty Maria number.

Favorite production numbers are “The Leatherman & Drag Queen Suite” (South Pacific, Guys and Dolls, Westside Story, and Oklahoma) and “Nude” (to the tune of “Mame” with  choreography stolen from The Full Monty). To answer your question “Do they do the full Monty??” you will have go see the show. Highly recommended by this reviewer and my straight-laced seating companion.

(l-r), Jesse Cortez, David Bicha, Tom Orr, Rotimi Agbabiaka, Randy Noak in the “Nude” number (The Full Monty).

Kedar K. Adour, MD

Courtesy of www.theatreworldinternetmagazine.com

 

 

Oct 25 2013
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An unsettling NEXT FALL at San Jose Rep.

By Kedar K. Adour

NEXT FALL: Drama by Geoffrey Nauffts and directed by Kirsten Brandt.San Jose Repertory Theatre, 101 Paseo de San Antonio, San Jose. (408) 367-7255. www.sjrep.com.  October – November 10, 2013. [rating:3] (3 /5 stars)

An unsettling NEXT FALL at San Jose Rep.

Twenty five plus years ago there was a plethora of plays dealing with the HIV-AIDS epidemic and as that topic had become over saturated in the theatre interest has shifted to the legal ramifications of gay and lesbian relationships. There were numerous instances where a gay or lesbian was denied visitation rights and health care decision making for a partner and some states have legally sanctioned those denials. Geoffrey Nauffts’ Next Fall dramatizes one such specific case in this second play of San Jose Rep’s 2013-2014 Season.

The sold out original 2009 Off-Broadway production by Naked Angels was extended three times and the entire cast moved to Broadway in 2010 receiving good but mixed reviews. Brantley of the New York Times called it “artful, thoughtful and very moving” and critic David Cote named it “the little play that could.” It played for 132 performances. The reviews of a more recent New York and regional productions were not as well received.

One could rightly suspect that the casting and direction could be responsible for the wide range of the critical reviews but the author must share much of that criticism for setting up a hot button issue with disparate characters and dilutes the impact of the primary point at issue. He attempts to reconcile certain religious belief of the “sin” of homosexuality with a compatible loving same-sex relationship and for questionable reasons has included a taciturn white male with attraction for black men. 

Adam (Danny Scheie) and Luke (Adam Shonkwiler) All photos by Kevin Berne

Adam (Danny Scheie) is an outwardly gay 40 year old unsuccessful writer who enters into a satisfying sexual and emotional relationship with deeply religious young actor Luke (Adam Shonkwiler) who recognizes the concept of sin and rationalizes that transgression by praying after having sex.  Luke has not come out to his family consisting of a bigoted born again Christian father, Butch (James Carpenter), his mother Arlene (Rachael Harker) divorced from Butch and an unseen stepbrother.  In the theatrical world every gay man must have a female confidant. In this play she is named Holly (Lindsey Gates). The dubious male mentioned above is named Brandon ( Ryan Tasker).

(l to r) Brandon (Ryan Tasker), Holly (Lindsey Gates), Adam (Danny Scheie), Arlene (Rachel Harker) and Butch (James Carpenter) grapple with issues of love, faith and acceptance

The play opens and mostly takes place in the waiting room of a Jewish run hospital. The fact that it is a Jewish hospital is integrated into Nauffts’ dialogue as is mention of other religions to prove one of his major tenets. Luke has been in an accident and eventually his condition deteriorates. Before that happens, Luke’s parents arrive and conflict arises as to Adam’s rights of visitation and medical decision making.

The play is non-linear with shifts back in time defining the relationship of Adam and Luke and filling background on the other characters. In that first scene, for some unfathomable reason, Lindsey Gates’ portrayal of Holly is loud conveying insensitivity that is not justified in later scenes. When Adam, who was away when the accident happened, arrives Arlene is the mollifying influence.

The storyline is predictable with only a modicum of surprises but also with a good dollop of humour. One of the funniest is a direct steal from La Cage aux Folles, when Luke attempts to de-gay the apartment by hiding fixtures and paintings before his father makes a surprise visit. With that job incomplete Butch arrives with Adam alone in the apartment. Carpenter and Scheie, both consummate actors, play off each other like finely tuned instruments and when Carpenter departs the non-physical duel is a draw.

There is more than a bit of discussion about salvation and redemption and at times seems to be proselytising. Where the first act lays the groundwork, Act 2 has powerful drama as the here-to-fore bantering between Butch and Adam verbally erupts and includes physicality with crushing emphasis that Adam has no say in the decisions that must be made concerning the dying Luke.

(James Carpenter), Holly (Lindsey Gates), Arlene (Rachel Harker) and Adam (Danny Scheie) confront personal beliefs and each other

 

Adam is Nauffts’ protagonist and has the lion share of dialog. Danny Scheie is a master at playing an effeminate gay man and to his credit he subverts those tendencies to give a subdued performance but there always seems to be a desire for the flamboyancy to emerge. Adam Shonkwiler’s sincerity as the religious Luke seems genuine and he makes a splendid foil for the flippant Adam. Bay Area icon James Carpenter give strength to  the role of Butch and one would wish there were more for him to do.  Of the other actors Ryan Tasker as Brandon, with minimal dialog, deserves accolades.  

Annie Smart’s spacious set allows the scene changes to move smoothly without intrusion on the action but somehow seems inappropriate for this “family-values” play. Director Kirsten Brandt decision to place an early flash-back scene on a high platform on stage left for the intimate first meeting of Adam and Luke seems self-indulgent.

With the recent legal strides of recent years, this play would be more cogent in the 1980s. Running time 2 hours and 20 minutes.

Kedar K. Adour, MD

Courtesy of www.theatreworldinternetmagazine.com