{"id":17793,"date":"2015-04-24T20:39:33","date_gmt":"2015-04-25T03:39:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/forallevents.com\/reviews\/?p=17793"},"modified":"2015-04-24T20:39:47","modified_gmt":"2015-04-25T03:39:47","slug":"focus-on-immigrants-evokes-tears-laughs-at-a-c-t","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forallevents.com\/reviews\/focus-on-immigrants-evokes-tears-laughs-at-a-c-t\/","title":{"rendered":"Focus on immigrants evokes tears, laughs at A.C.T."},"content":{"rendered":"

[Woody’s [rating: 5]<\/span><\/p>\n

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Alfred (Carl Lumbly) and his live-in caregiver, Maria (Greta Wohlrabe), share a moment of sheer joy in \u201cLet There Be Love.\u201d Photo by Kevin Berne<\/p>\n

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Donnetta Lavinia Grays portrays an angry lesbian daughter, Gemma, in \u201cLet There Be Love.\u201d Photo by Kevin Berne.<\/p><\/div>\n<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n<\/div>\n

As I left the American Conservatory Theatre\u2019s \u201cLet There Be Love,\u201d I noticed an unusual number of men dabbing tears from their eyes with hankies.<\/p>\n

Some openly.<\/p>\n

But most, a bit embarrassed, swiped surreptitiously. Or prayed no one would witness their glistening cheeks.<\/p>\n

Earlier, I\u2019d seen the same guys rolling with laughter.<\/p>\n

Stirring work by three actors and inspired writing by British playwright Kwame Kwei-Armah are the reasons why.<\/em><\/p>\n

And classic jazz recorded by singer-pianist Nat King Cole \u2014 juxtaposed with smile-inducing moments triggered by Madonna\u2019s \u201cLike a Virgin\u201d and calypso champion Lord Invader \u2014 becomes the superglue that binds characters in the new A.C.T. comic family drama in San Francisco.<\/p>\n

Cole\u2019s lyrics particularly enhance the action at critical moments.<\/p>\n

The setting \u2014 including intentionally mismatched wallpaper \u2014 is a contemporary London home that\u2019s grown a tad shabby.<\/p>\n

From neglect.<\/p>\n

Attention is paid only a wood cabinet-enclosed gramophone that Alfred (an ill-tempered, seriously sick West Indian elder who emigrated to England four decades before) lovingly calls Lily.<\/p>\n

Plus an oversized globe that houses a well-stocked liquor bar.<\/p>\n

Alfred, in a masterfully sensitive yet nuanced performance by Carl Lumbly, has antagonized his estranged wife and both of his daughters \u2014 including Janet, the absent \u201cborn-again nut\u201d and mother of his mixed-race grandson, and Gemma, the present but unhappy lesbian (played with appropriate anger by Donnetta Lavinia Grays).<\/p>\n

The former goatherd and hospital porter regrets his distancing actions but feels powerless to fix what occurred long ago.<\/p>\n

Enter Maria, a young, boyfriend-abused Polish immigrant who becomes Alfred\u2019s caregiver, confidant, nurse, cook, friend and surrogate daughter.<\/p>\n

Greta Wohlrabe, whose elastic face runs an expressive gamut that\u2019s never unconvincing or mawkish, is impeccable in that demanding role.<\/p>\n

Her solo dancing spurts are highlights, too.<\/p>\n

Director Maria Mileaf \u2014 differing from most plays staged in the Bay Area (and anywhere else, in fact) \u2014 makes sure there are no slack spots in \u201cLet There Be Love.\u201d<\/p>\n

No lagging whatsoever. No watch checking.<\/p>\n

And no dropped accents.<\/p>\n

Alfred isn\u2019t above dropping an occasional f-bomb, though. The word, he insists, \u201cbrings a wonderful clarity to my\u2026sentences.\u201d<\/p>\n

The play manages to cover a lot of ground in two hours: racial bitterness, social change, end-of-life dignity, redemption \u2014 and trips to both the local Ikea and faraway Granada.<\/p>\n

While the first act of \u201cLet There Be Love\u201d offers mostly laughs, the second switches into a touchstone of courage and forgiveness.<\/p>\n

The climax of the play, which I felt was now and then a bit too pat, is astoundingly sentimental.<\/p>\n

But it\u2019s also astoundingly poignant, the very definition of moving.<\/p>\n

Which explains why the hankies came out.<\/p>\n

Including mine.<\/p>\n

\u201cLet There Be Love\u201d plays at the American Conservatory Theater, 415 Geary St., San Francisco, through May 2. Night performances: 8 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays. Matinees: 2 p.m. Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays. Tickets: $20 to $85. Information: 1-415-749-2228 or www.act-sf.org<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Contact Woody Weingarten at voodee@sbcglobal.net<\/a> or check out his blog at www.vitalitypress.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[Woody’s [rating: 5] As I left the American Conservatory Theatre\u2019s \u201cLet There Be Love,\u201d I noticed an unusual number of men dabbing tears from their eyes with hankies. Some openly….<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":32,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"yasr_overall_rating":0,"yasr_post_is_review":"","yasr_auto_insert_disabled":"","yasr_review_type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-17793","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-woody-weingarten"},"yasr_visitor_votes":{"stars_attributes":{"read_only":true,"span_bottom":"