Playwright Larissa Fasthorse’s Zany Farce Reveals an Insider’s Guide to American Indian Identity and How to Become Native as a Pastime
Fake It Until You Make It Arena Stage Jordan Wright April 12, 2025 Special to The Zebra
Noah Bean (Theo) and Shyla Lefner (Wynona) in Fake It Until You Make It at Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater running April 3 – May 4, 2025. (Photo/Daniel Rader)
Fake It Until You Make It is a wildly funny farce that provides us with a modern-day interpretation of Indian Country vis à vis White America with all its struggles and challenges. It is a co-production with Los Angeles’ Center Theatre Group.
For a wonderfully fascinating eight years, I became immersed in the heart of Native culture for Indian Country Media Network, and as beautiful, fascinating and historical it is, it can be a tangled web. No one is quite certain of the racial or cultural definition of what it means to be American Indian, for example how much ancestral Indian blood allows membership in a tribe, or if a White person can properly represent their interests. This raucous comedy addresses all those familiar controversies with lampooning, caricatures and cheeky humor.
Burgandi Trejo Phoenix (Grace), Noah Bean (Theo), Shyla Lefner (Wynona), Eric Stanton Betts (Mark), and Brandon Delsid (Krys) (Photo/Daniel Rader)
Playwright Larissa Fasthorse, who defines herself as a DC-born nonbinary Two Spirit Afro-Indigenous (Quechua-Kichwa) Latine actor, writer, director and musician, tackles these thorny issues with extraordinary humor, a side eye and a wink. Her six characters have differing viewpoints as to what makes an Indian an Indian, as they go head-to-head in a political farce that is wacky and wonderful with a cat (Yes, a cat!) that takes star turns in thewomen’s catfights.
Five of the characters have offices in a building dedicated to Native American Organizations. River (Amy Brenneman) is White, yet she’s ingratiated herself among the tribal elders with her non-profit group “Indigenous Nations Soaring”, and like the other NGO directors she is fighting for grants. Wynona (Shyla Lefner) runs N.O.B.U.S.H, a non-profit that promotes native plants and shuns the invasive butterfly bush. Thus, the ‘no bush’. She calls people who appropriate her native culture “Pretendians”. In her spare time, she is having a hot and heavy romance with Theo (Noah Bean) who’s an invasive plant remover and, as Wynona calls him, her “ecological warrior and undercover spy. She knows Theo is White but chooses to ignore that little detail to keep him as her lover.
Shyla Lefner (Wynona) (Photo/Daniel Rader)
Grace (Burgandi Trejo Phoenix) is an attorney whose concept of being Native American she describes as a personal choice. She calls it “race shifting”. In other words, you can be whatever race and culture floats your boat. To that end she morphs into Japanese, Middle Eastern and even White. And then there’s Krys (Brandon Delsid), an out gay man who goes to powwows with Grace and is a scene stealer and heart stealer in the very best way.
There are feuds and cock-ups as they challenge each other as to who is Native and who will snag the big grant. In one scene River does a TED talk and screws up her message by performing a slinky belly dance thinking she’ll charm her way to the top. She most decidedly does not. Theo pretends to be Native American in order to spy on River for Wynona. River needs a real Indian to front her organization. When the suave and handsome Mark (Eric Stanton Betts) shows up for his interview to be River’s Executive Director, Theo, who’s pretending to be Indian, gets caught out as a poser and everything goes utterly off the rails.
Describing the characters and their relationships does not in any way detract from the over-the-top high jinks, the chases, the spying, and the alliances. In the end, there are DNA tests that stun everyone as to who is a real Indian.
Burgandi Trejo Phoenix (Grace), Brandon Delsid (Krys), Eric Stanton Betts (Mark), Noah Bean (Theo), and Shyla Lefner (Wynona) (Photo/Daniel Rader)
Designer Sara Ryung Clement has created very effective moving sets of offices with doors and plate glass windows designed for us to see and hear everything that goes on inside. It’s a little bit like the TV show, “The Office” with mayhem and freakouts at every turn and I loved every bit of it.
With great respect local theaters have been paying homage to the American Indian tribes in our region, acknowledging they are sitting on their indigenous lands. On press night, several Native ambassadors were present to address the audience showcasing their music, language and culture and singing the Navaho national anthem.
A terrific cast directed by Michael John Garcés reveals an insider’s guide to American Indian identity and how to become Native as a pastime.
With Costume Design by E. B. Brooks, Lighting Design by Tom Ontiveros, Sound Design by John Nobori, Fight Director Edgar Landa.
Through May 4th at Arena Stage, 1101 Sixth Street, SW, Washington, DC 20024. For tickets and information call the box office at 202 554-9066 or visit www.ArenaStage.org.
A Stunner of a Dramedy at Shakespeare Theatre Company Stars Downton Abbey Patriarch Hugh Bonneville in this Simon Godwin Directed Uncle Vanya
Uncle Vanya Shakespeare Theatre Company Jordan Wright April 4, 2025 Special to The Zebra
4 The cast of Uncle Vanya at Shakespeare Theatre Company. Photo by DJ Corey Photography.
Simon Godwin’s direction of Uncle Vanya starring Downton Abbey’s patriarch and Royal Shakespeare Company alum and Britain’s National Theatre celebrated actor, Hugh Bonneville, is a once-in-a-lifetime theatrical experience with a brilliantly in synch cast that sparkles like a supernova.
The classic Chekhov play focuses on a dysfunctional Russian family of intellectuals and their closely knit coterie. In a tour de force performance, Bonneville imbues Vanya with engaging depth and larger-than-life passion, ranging in emotional delivery from subtle gestures and unique reactions to hugely expressive physical drama. He is consistently balanced by an experienced cast who readily absorb and match his energy, along with the complex character intricacies called for in these weighty roles.
2 Ito Aghayere and Hugh Bonneville in Uncle Vanya. Photo by Kevin Berne/Berkeley Repertory Theatre
Each character interaction is riveting, dangerously precipitous and yet recognizably familiar. As Tolstoy famously said, “All happy families are alike; each unhappy family in its own way.” And this family is no different – both joyful yet tragic.
There are the money struggles, the romantic intricacies, the cheating, the lying, the family celebrations (Are they ever what we planned?), breakdowns and breakups – plus liquor and a gun. A disastrous combination that never goes well.
3 Nancy Robinette and Craig Wallace in Uncle Vanya at Shakespeare Theatre Company. Photo by DJ Corey Photography
Using brief musical interstices from a cellist slightly offstage, Godwin’s clever choice to bring the intensity back to a dull roar prepares the audience for the next familial battle royale. I don’t need to offer up the plot, either you already know it or can readily google it. Another well-thought out directorial choice is to eschew Russian accents. Bonneville keeps his British accent and all others their American accents. It works because the play’s the thing and we don’t need to be distracted by unnecessary stylings. In an unusual opening scene an ordinary stage is set and the actors enter in street clothes. While the audience settles in (You are advised to come early to the theater so as not to miss this change-up.), they move the props around as if readying for the play and suddenly exit offstage. When they reappear, the stage is reconfigured and the actors are sporting the Victorian fashions of the landed gentry.
1 Tom Nellis and Kina Kantor in Uncle Vanya. Photo by Kevin Berne/Berkeley Repertory Theatre
Both humor and pathos in this dramedy keep Vanya’s family teetering on the edge of total collapse. Will they fight to the finish? It’s close. Will they lose their family estate? It’s iffy. Will Yelena (Ito Aghayere) decide to leave her pompous professor husband Alexandre (Tom Nelis) for Vanya or perhaps the dashing Astrov (John Benjamin Hickey)? It’s a toss-up. Can Nana (Nancy Robinette) rein in her son’s madness? “Old people are just like children. They want everyone to feel sorry for them,” she quips in the understatement of the century. They’re an emotionally land-locked duo. Is Ilya aka ‘Waffles’ (Craig Wallace) the observant philosopher, the grounding force? Cue the guitar and some wise words. Is Granmaman (Sharon Lockwood) keeping the peace? Can Sisyphus? Lastly, will the despondent and compassionate Sonya (Melanie Field) rise to the occasion to keep this family’s spinning-out-of-control madness to a dull roar? Thank God, she does, and that’s no spoiler.
Local actors and STC company members Wallace and Robinette bolster this wonderful cast with memorable performances in this co-production with Berkeley Rep.
5 Sharon Lockwood, Nancy Robinette, Ito Aghayere, and Hugh Bonneville Photo by Kevin Berne/Berkeley Repertory Theatre
Adapted by Conor McPherson, Scenic Design by Robert Brill, Costume Designs by Susan Hilferty & Heather C. Freedman, Lighting Design by Jen Schriever, Sound Design by Darron L. West, Dramaturgy by Drew Lichtenberg, Fight and Intimacy Consultant Danielle O’Dea.
This is the front runner of the season. Do not miss it!!!
Through April 20th at Harman Hall, 610 F Street, NW, Washington, DC 20004. For tickets and information call the box office at 202.547.1122 or visit www.ShakespeareTheatre.org.
Hilarity and Highjinks Abound in Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing at The Little Theatre of Alexandria
Much Ado About Nothing The Little Theatre of Alexandria Jordan Wright April 2, 2025 Special to The Zebra
Paul Brewster, Amelia Jacquat, Jess Rawls, Tameka Taylor, Judy Rolph Ebner (Photo/Mark Alan Andre)
Pull up a barstool at the Bar Messina. We’re in the courtyard and a duo is playing a jazzy rendition of “A Sunday Kind of Love”. It’s present day in the French Quarter of New Orleans where this unconventionally told love story begins. Surely The Bard never envisioned his classic romcom set in the wilds of NOLA, and neither could we, but this rendition seems, well, just right, which is precisely the magic of Shakespeare – its relevancy to our modern times.
Director Joey Pierce, a New Orleans transplant, gives us all the flair and fabulousness we could ever dream of, plus a tremendous 19-actor cast that keeps the merriment at peak performance. There’s the feisty, clever-tongued Beatrice who scorns all suitors and her wordplay match, Benedick, who sets his cap for her. Claudio and his maiden, Hero, a charmer, who crushes on Claudio much to his amazement until Don Pedro, a swashbuckling soldier (who in this incarnation is gay) and his illegitimate brother, Don John who along with Borachio foments a plot against the lovers. And, lest you forget, there’s Leonato, Hero’s father who with his wife, Antonia (an introduced character), seek to protect their daughter against all slyly invented scandal.
Smithchai Cutchainon (Photo/Mark Alan Andre)
Amid all this undermining, scheming and duly faithful affection, our characters show us a festive time. There’s line dancing – the Electric Slide! – and massive doses of comedic pratfalls, secretive plots, frequent drinking, a madly funny scene with Benedick hiding behind the bar listening in to a men’s convo led by Don Pedro about how Beatrice adores him all the while pretending they don’t know he’s there. It’s the consummate set up to convince him she’s in love with him. When our heroine, Bea, hooks up with her gal pals, to share the exciting news, they all do shots. Well, it is New Orleans, after all. Make me a sazerac!
Later we encounter an ersatz sheriff with his band of nincompoops, aka “The Watch”. In fine comic form they have been deputized to arrest the duplicitous men who are lolling about engaged in a TV show about swamp creatures. Cue the Cajun accents and conjure up the Keystone Kops.
Jaye Frazier, Brendan Chaney, Michael Townsend, Ruth Sherr (Photo/Mark Alan Andre)
The whole play is witty, silly, charming and absolutely hilarious – played to the hilt and beyond. Julie Fischer’s two-level set design is oh-so-clever and Joan Lawrence’s costumes nail the styles with Benedick, Claudio and their cohorts in military camouflage, the ladies in brightly colored dresses, and Hero’s faux funeral scene that has all the hallmarks of a New Orleans’ style homegoing.
With Paul Brewster as Leonato, Amelia Jacquat as Hero, Jess Rawls as Beatrice, Seth Rue as Benedick, Zachary Litwiller as Don John, Michael McGovern as Don Pedro, Lily Larsen as Margaret, Brendan Chaney as Borachio, Smithchai Chutchainon as Claudio, Judy Rolph Ebner as Antonia, Jeff Elmore as Dogberry, Megan Fraedrich as Balthasar Sister/Sexton, Tamika Taylor as Ursula, Michelle Hughes as Balthasar Sister, Dan Lavanga as Verges/Friar Francis, Leo Mairena as First Watchman, Ruth Scherr as Second Watchman, Jaye Frazier as Messenger/Third Watchman and Michael Townsend as Conrade.
Assistant Director Heather Sanderson, Choreography by Melissa Dunlap, Lighting Design by Jeffrey Auerbach and Kimberly Crago (JK Lighting), Sound Design by Alan Wray, Hair and Makeup by Jennifer Finn.
Through April 19th at The Little Theatre of Alexandria, 600 Wolfe Street, Alexandria, VA 22314. For tickets and information call the box office at 703-683-0496 or visit www.TheLittleTheatre.com.
Synetic Theater Returns with a Brilliantly Imagined Premiere of The Immigrant
The Immigrant Synetic Theater Jordan Wright March 16, 2025 Special to The Zebra
L to R – Lev Belolipetski, Philip Fletcher, Joshua Cole Lucas, Vato Tsikurishvili, Stella Bunch, Maryam Najafzada, Natan Mael-Gray, Nutsa Tediashvili (Photo/Katerina Kato)
In a heart-stirring paean to all the desperate, lonely, hopeful people who fight against all odds to come to America, Synetic Theater presents The Immigrant. Nathan Weinberger’s wonderfully imaginative adaptation of this tender story of love and struggle is told “wordlessly”. Synetic’s extraordinary and groundbreaking troupe is well known for their unspoken productions of Shakespeare’s works as well as Poe’s and other classic authors’ seminal works. Adapted and reimagined from Charlie Chaplin’s 1917, 22-minute silent short, this expanded telling more deeply explores the plight of the immigrant as he struggles to escape prejudice and hardship in a war-torn country only to face a new set of challenges in New York City.
Aboard the rickety steamship, Little Fellow (young Chaplin played by Vato Tsikurishvili) sees Hetty (Maryam Najafzada) who is traveling with her Sister (Stella Bunch). A violent storm rocks the boat and Sister is tossed overboard. When Little Fellow (aka Chaplin) rescues her from the roiling seas, and the sisters reunite, the three form a shipboard friendship that sets the story of their adventures from their arrival through Ellis Island to the cinematic glories of silent screen filmdom.
Vato Tsikurishvili as the Little Fellow, Paata Tsikurishvili as The Immigrant (Photo/Katerina Kato)
The casting of Maryam and Vato as co-leads is perfection. The sylph-like grace and indelibly gamin charm of Maryam has won me over throughout her numerous lead and co-lead roles at Synetic. As a classically trained ballerina and choreographer, she brings delicacy, beauty, humor and pathos to the role of Hetty, a girl who evolves from frightened immigrant to dazzling movie star. Vato, as followers know, is a highly physical performer, whose mime skills and gymnastic athleticism are gasp-worthy. He is tailor-made for this challenging role that requires not only the unique skill of silent representation, but also the exaggerated expressiveness needed to convey comedy as readily as tragedy.
Echoing the duo’s transformation, Eric Teague’s costumes reflect the couple’s meteoric rise from rags to riches expressed by Chaplin’s later adoption of signature cane, black bowler hat and mustache! to Hetty’s 20’s era beaded gown laden with glittery crystals.
Chris Galindo, Philip Fletcher, Stella Bunch, Natan Mael-Gray, Nutsa Tediashvili, Vato Tsikurishvili as The Little Fellow, Joshua Cole Lucas (Photo/Katerina Kato)
All this is performed without words yet backgrounded by sound effects and music from the 1920’s and 30’s cleverly woven together by Sound Designer, Composer and Remix Artist, Koki Lortkipanidze. His selections contrast the spirited Jazz Age of glamorous flappers against the hardships of the Great Depression. Familiar tunes from Duke Ellington and Ragtime pianist Scott Joplin are woven into the fabric of the piece as the young couple eventually find success in the movies with Charlie directing and Hetty as the pretty ingenue. Synetic favorite, Philip Fletcher, plays The Producer who discovers Chaplin and gives him his first acting job in a Keystone Kops episode, a role that truly launched his career and his first paycheck.
Joshua Cole Lucas, Chris Galindo, Vato Tsikurishvili as the Little Fellow (Photo/Katerina Kato)
Synetic co-founder, Paata Tsikurishvili, in a dramatic return to the stage after a devastating car accident several years before, plays The Immigrant, Chaplin’s inspirational mentor and fantasy guiding light who weaves in and out of his life.
Supported by eight other performers, scenes bounce between tragedy and hilarity with the brilliance of the physicality and emotional expertise that these classically trained dancer/performer mimes are famous for. If you’ve never experienced the magic that is Synetic, this premiere will blow your mind. Conversely, if you are as endeared to their multi-Helen Hayes Award-winning productions as we faithful audiences are, you will cheer wildly at this creative telling of the immigrant story in a relevant and timely reminder of the struggles faced by those fleeing oppression only to land in an uncertain world of danger, poverty and homelessness with the elusive promise of success.
Highly recommended! An absolute must-see!
Vato Tsikurishvili as the Little Fellow, Joshua Cole Lucas, Stella Bunch, Natan Mael-Gray, Nutsa Tediashvili, Philip Fletcher, Lev Belolipetski, Chris Galindo (Photo/Katerina Kato)
With a phenomenal ensemble of Natan Maël-Gray, Lev Belolipetski, Nutsa Tediashvili, Joshua Cole Lucas, Chris Galinda, Camille Pivetta, Rodin Alcerro and Kaitlyn Shifflett.
Co-Directed by Paata and Irina Tsikurishvili; Choreographed by Irina Tsikurishvili; Lighting Design by Brian S. Allard; Assistant Costume Design by Channing Tucker; Scenic Artist Tim Grant; Assistant Director and Co-Sound Design by Iko Kavsadze; Additional Music by Aaron Kan.
Through March 23rd at Thomas Jefferson Community Theatre, 125 South Old Glebe Road, Arlington, VA 22204. For tickets and information visit www.SyneticTheater.org.
The Immigrant will move to Theatre J where it will run between April 11th – April 27th. Theatre J is located at 1529 Sixteenth Street, NW, Washington, DC 20036. For tickets and information for Theatre J contact the box office at 202 777-3210 or visit www.EDCJCC.org.
