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Jordan Wright
May 15th, 2012
Special to www.dcmetrotheaterarts.com, www.broadwaystars.com, and www.localkicks.com
Summer Cookbooks, Celebs, Book Giveaway and A Sri Lankan Pop-Up Dinner
Apron Anxiety Giveaway – Alyssa Shelasky’s hot new tell-all cookbook will be given away to a lucky subscriber of WhiskandQuill.com. Go to CONTEST to register and enter to win your own copy. See my write up in last week’s column. Giveaway ends June 1, 2012.
In between bites we’ve been trying to catch up with the recent crop of cookbooks. This week’s report that the Washington Metro area, Alexandria and Arlington in particular, are the most well-read cities in the country was indeed exciting – so let’s stay on top with a great summer read.
What’s summer without ice cream? Since National Ice Cream Week is from May 30th to June 5th this year, you’ll have just enough time to practice wowing your peeps with these unique formulas from San Francisco’s coolest ice cream chefs. In the Humphrey Slocombe Ice Cream Book (Chronicle Books) the shop’s owners Jake Godby and Sean Vahey have partnered with San Francisco Chronicle’s Inside Scoop columnist, Paolo Lucchesiin a book chockfull of beat-a-path-to-your-door sweet treats. In a small Mission District shop they prepare their sometimes pot- more often alcohol-inspired ice cream concoctions each day and fans line up to try their latest whimsies. The Gabba Gabba Hey Sundae was inspired by The Ramones and uses the recipe for Balsamic Caramel ice cream. I can hardly wait to try the one for Sweet Summer Corn or Strawberry Candied Jalapeno.
 Lorraine Wallace - Mr. Sunday's Saturday Night Chicken Best-selling New York Times author, Lorraine Wallace, has come out with her second cookbook, Mr. Sunday’s Saturday Night Chicken (Wiley). Lorraine is the wife of Fox News journalist Chris Wallace. In a journalistic nod to full disclosure, I went to school with Chris’s sister, Pauline Dora, who was the former president of New York’s tony The Conran Shop and now owns Design Collection, a swank home accessories shop in New Canaan, CT. The siblings are both children of the late 60 Minutes anchorman Mike Wallace. Still with me? Lorraine, a resident of Washington, DC and mother of six, has chosen to cast chicken in the starring role in her tribute to her husband’s favorite dinner choice. There are 130 recipes featuring poultry including one from her pal, Art Smith, Oprah’s former private chef, for his legendary Art and Soul’s Fried Chicken, her sister-in-law Pauline’s Easy Roast Chicken, and the recipe for Brined Organic Pheasant from my dear friend Rob Townsend, former chef at Upperville’s Ayrshire Farms. Lots of Wallace family photos and intimate snippets of their lives grace the pages between recipes.
British author Jane Hornby’s follow-up to What to Cook & How to Cook It is entitled Fresh & Easy (Phaidon Press). The stunning tome features 75 step-by-step recipes with helpful photos for dishes perfectly suited to outdoor entertaining.
 Pistachio Yogurt Cake with Figs & Honey from Fresh & Easy Jane Hornby’s Pistachio Yogurt Cake
Preparation time: 45 minutes, plus cooling
Cooking time: 45 minutes
Serves at least 8
Note: I love the unique texture that yogurt gives to cakes and baked goods; sort of dense but light at the same time. Here I’ve mixed it with olive oil and pistachios to make a moist and tasty Middle-Eastern-style cake that’s ideal for dessert with coffee or a glass of mint tea.
Ingredients
7 tbsp unsalted butter, plus extra for greasing
scant ½ cup olive oil
3 eggs, at room temperature
scant 1 cup Greek yogurt, plus extra to serve
1 ¾ cups shelled pistachios
1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
¼ tsp fine salt
¾ cup superfine sugar
6 fresh figs, or more if you like
2 tbsp honey, plus extra to serve
Instructions
- Butter the inside of a deep 8-inch round cake pan, then line the bottom with a circle of parchment paper. Preheat the oven to 325°F.
- Melt the butter in a pan, then pour it into a large mixing bowl. Pour in the oil and let cool for a few minutes.
- Add the eggs and yogurt to the bowl and whisk until smooth and even.
- Put 1¼ cups of the pistachios into a food processor with 1 tablespoon of flour and process until fine and sandy. If you don’t have a food processor, the next best thing is to put the pistachios into a food storage bag, squeeze out the air, then bash the nuts with a rolling pin until fine.
- Add the nuts, flour, baking powder, salt and sugar to the buttery mixture, then fold together using a spatula or metal spoon until thoroughly combined. Pour the batter into the pan and even out the top.
- Bake the cake for 45 minutes, or until evenly risen and golden and a skewer or toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean. Cool the cake in its pan for 15 minutes, then transfer it to a cooling rack.
- When ready to serve (it can be warm or cold, but is best warm), put the cake onto a serving plate. Slice the figs in half and sit a few pieces on top of the cake. Drizzle 2 tablespoons honey over the top of the cake and fruit, then sprinkle with the remaining whole nuts. Serve with the rest of the figs and more yogurt on the side. The cake will still be very good to eat a few days after baking*
 Kim Barnouin - Skinny Bitch Book of Vegan Swaps
From the Skinny Bitch series best-selling author and holistic nutritionist Kim Barnouin, we get her umpteenth guide to a healthier lifestyle – (HarperOne). We knew she was headed there sooner or later. Barnouin’s R-rated banter intends to strip away the fear of an inaugural trip to Whole Foods. Seriously? “Swap Hostess Twinkies for X’s and O’s Vegan Bakery Canoe Boats,” she counsels the culinary naif. That should be a snap with bankrupt Hostess Brands laying off all 18,500 employees this week. Read this if you don’t know the difference between Kellogg’s and Kashi.
On a more serious note, Napa Valley’s award-winning chef and restaurateur, Cindy Pawlcyn’s new book, Cindy’s Supper Club – Meals From Around the World to Share with Family and Friends (Ten Speed Press) got us planning our next dinner party. Pawlcyn takes us to exotic locales – think Turkey, Peru, Korea and South Africa – without ever leaving the sanctity of our own kitchen. Twenty-five complete menus plus luscious photos from Alex Farnum. Take note of the Hawaiian Pork Katsu and grab your market basket to prepare the refreshing Forager’s Salad from Ireland with ten veggies, a clutch of herbs, hazelnuts and blue cheese. Wildflowers optional.
Also from Ten Speed Press is Brooklyn native Victoria Belanger’s Hello, Jell-O, a cutesy summer-useful book of gelatin treats. You might try serving her Pear and Lychee Martini or a minty Mojito mold at your next cookout. I like the Petite Watermelons made with blended vodka-infused strawberries, decorated with tiny black sesame seeds and served in a scooped-out lime wedge. These are not your grammie’s potluck supper recipes, it’s upmarket throwback fun.
When Anthony Bourdain filmed an episode of No Reservations in Sri Lanka his guide was Baltimorean S. H. Fernando, chef/author of the new cookbook Rice & Curry (Hippocrene). “Skiz”, as everyone calls him, whose first effort cookbook is enthusiastically endorsed by both Bourdain and Bizarre Foods host Andrew Zimmern, has compiled authentic recipes from his homeland into a highly engaging book. Using spices that have applications in the ancient Ayurvedic system of holistic health, Fernando takes the home cook into a world few have ever written about. As a graduate of Harvard University and Columbia University’s School of Journalism, the multi-dimensional renaissance man is also a film director, record producer and music journalist having written for The New York Times, Rolling Stone, Vibe and Spin. He’ll be hosting (and cheffing!) a 12-course pop-up dinner called The Sri Lankan Supper Club at Montserrat House in Washington, DC on June 8th. For details and ticket info visit his blog at www.riceandcurry.wordpress.com.
If you’re watching your figure, or maybe someone else is, NBC’s Today Show Diet and Fitness Guru, Joy Bauer has a new book for you. The Joy Fit Club – Cookbook, Diet Plan & Inspiration (Wiley) is Bauer’s entry into the world of before-and-after success stories. This super user-friendly at-home approach to weight loss ratchets up the inspiration with thirty transformative stories and photos from men and women who have followed her expert advice while losing up to 300 pounds. The easy to follow 21-day diet plan includes yummy snacks like Lime Ginger Baby Cakes with Coconut Frosting (only 5 grams of fat each).
Jordan Wright
May 14, 2012
Special to The Alexandria Times
 Eric Sutton and Michael Russotto in Lonely Planet by Steven Dietz Photo credit: Christopher Banks When an entire cast consists of only two characters, such as in Steven Dietz’s play Lonely Planet, be assured the piece will reveal a deep exploration of the psyche. This thoroughly engaging Ionesco-influenced drama affords a 1980’s gay perspective of a time when the HIV/AIDS crisis was at its apex and death was the prolonged yet assured outcome. It is a window writ large into the private fears and anguish of those who faced the daily loss of their loved ones.
Jody is the urbane proprietor of Jody’s Maps, a cartography shop in Anytown, USA. He is consumed with the incongruity of wonky-proportioned Mercator maps its out-sized dimensions of Greenland. He wants a world more clearly defined by Peters’ Equal Area Maps that reflect the actual scale of the continents. He is trying to resolve these conflicting issues and sell maps at the same time.
His friend Carl is a fantasist who adopts new professions as seamlessly as a chameleon changes color. On each visit to Jody’s shop he spins new tales of his day. Sometimes he’s a crime scene investigator, or an auto glass repairman or a fine art restorer. Grappling with the constant reality of the death of his friends, he confesses, “I don’t make up things. I lie.” But what’s his angle? Is it a coping mechanism, an innocent transference, or is he a con artist? Jody is wary but captivated.
The men pass the time with mock tales of Richard Nixon-inspired Shakespearean skits and swordplay with rolled up maps. “We need to play our game,” Jody challenges. “The game where we tell the truth? I prefer to lie a little longer,” Carl admits, spinning tales of Jesus-imaged china as they bear constant witness to the mind-numbing reality of losing their friends.
Each day as their relationship deepens and Carl delivers more chairs to Jody’s small shop, Jody’s disconnectedness grows into agoraphobia. “No one prepares you for the fear,” he reveals with resentment of how the “straight world” views the deaths of gays from AIDS. But this play is not a redux of Ionesco’s absurdist farce Les Chaises (The Chairs), nor Angels in America. It is an intimate and darkly humorous portrait of universal love and loss and the methods we use to cope. In Carl’s case signified by the burgeoning collection of metaphorical chairs representing his late friends.
Kudos to award-winning Director John Vreeke and Set Designer Jane Fink, a local grad student from George Washington University, who does a brilliant job of evoking a musty map store with all its nooks and crannies. Memorable performances by Michael Russotto (Jody) and Eric Sutton (Carl) who create a believable bond in the face of unimaginable loss with ferocity, humor and fluidity.
At MetroStage now through June 17th. 1201 North Royal Street, Alexandria, 22314. For tickets and information call 703 548-9044 or visit www.metrostage.org.
Jordan Wright
May 2, 2012
Special to www.dcmetrotheaterarts.com and www.broadwaystars.com
Destination Pig
 Chef Will Harlan breaks down a side of beef while Chef/Owner Scott Harlan looks on at Green Pig Bistro - photo credit Jordan Wright I’m hooked on Green Pig Bistro and already dreaming about a return engagement. Who could resist dishes so scrumptiously succulently delicious they should be illegal? At the hot new porcine-centric resto in Clarendon last week, I did not get arrested for engaging in food porn. But I could’ve and so could you. Who cares? Bring on the cuffs!
For a resto whose raison d’etre is pork (their naturally raised Virginia beef is outstanding too) all meats are broken down from the whole animal. Chef and Owner Scott Harlan, whose signature riff is preparing the lesser known cuts, has assembled a fine supporting kitchen cast including Co-Chef Will Sullivan and Sous Pastry Chef Rory Kraus. But according to an ad last week on Craigslist (and a follow up call yesterday), they need additional help in pastry and service.
 Beef shank for two with polenta and greens from Green Pig Bistro - photo credit Jordan Wright  Crispy pig ear tacos at Green Pig Bistro - photo credit Jordan Wright After a chance meeting in New York City with design diva Nicole Facciuto, Harlan chose the design team of Facciuto Mele to execute his vision for a low-key rustic, sleek-chic bistro. The stunning Facciuto is known to many as one of four designers on Food Network’s Restaurant Impossible, the Robert Irvine program that takes failing restaurants and turns them into success stories. Along with her partner Erich Mele they transmogrified the ordinary space, outfitting it with a boho eclecticism and a nifty stainless steel open kitchen. The upscale design vibe uses old cookbook pages as wallpaper and bathroom doors that are cleverly labeled Julia (as in Childs) and James (as in Beard).
But let’s dish on the food. Harlan goes for deep soulful bright yet complex flavors. Start off with crispy pig ear tacos, pimento cheese balls, or fries served poutine style with duck gravy and cheese. Juicy smoky tasting cheeseburgers are enhanced with 1/3 ground bacon to 2/3 beef and three types of cheese. More daring diners will try corned ox heart reubens or lamb sweetbreads with cauliflower and grapes. Whole pork shanks cooked sous vide then crusted and served with polenta and greens are best suited for two, Parker House rolls on the side. Save room for some screaming crazy house-made doughnuts with chocolate sauce and peanut butter ice cream.
Brunch is served Saturdays and Sundays. We like that. And in addition to eggs-and-bacon fare there are a few non-standards like sourdough blueberry pancakes with maple ice cream and a dish intriguingly entitled Aunt Florence’s egg pie. Ah, sweet mystery of life.
There’s no website yet so here are the deets. Green Pig Bistro 1025 North Fillmore Street, Arlington, VA 22201. No lunch service as of now, but for more info and to check hours call 703 888-1920.
Alexandria Goes to the Dogs and You Should Too
 Inspector Foo Foo dreaming of doggy "Yappy" Hour at Artfully Chocolate - photo credit Jordan Wright Starting this week Artfully Gifts and Chocolates’ Old Town Alexandria location kicks off their Friday evening summertime doggy “Yappy” Hour. In addition to their delicious designer chocolates, specially baked dog treats and burgers and beer and wine for their owners will be available for purchase. I hope to be there with Inspector Foo Foo, my Shih Tzu, who will have his report on your desk in the morning. 506 John Carlyle Street, Alexandria, VA 22314
 Jose Andres at Jaleo Crystal City - photo credit Jordan Wright My all-time favorite interviewee and grand master of Iberican pork, José Andrés, has devised a special menu to go along with the Joan Miró exhibit at the National Gallery of Art. Beginning May 6th and continuing through August 12th Garden Café Catalonia will feature dishes as well as wine and beers from the region.
The über-chef Andrés, owner of Oyamel, Zaytinya, minibar and Jaleo restaurants here in Washington, was just named to the 2012 TIME 100, the magazine’s annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world.
À la carte selections inspired by the exhibition include empedrat de mongetes amb bacallà (white bean salad with vegetables and Catalan salt cod), canelons de Sant Esteve (pork and chicken “canelons” with béchamel sauce), and escalivada catalana (salad of roasted red pepper, eggplant, and onion). A lovely dessert is peres al vi amb gelat de vainilla (pears poached in red wine with vanilla ice cream).
The buffet at $20.25 incorporates a variety of traditional Catalan fare, including rustic bread, empedrat de mongetes (white bean salad with vegetables, black olives, and tomato), sopa freda de cireres de Santa Coloma de Cervelló (cold cherry and tomato soup), samfaina (Catalan vegetable stew), xatonada (salad of frisée, preserved tuna, and romesco sauce), formatges amb anous i codony (Catalan cheese with Marcona almonds and quince marmalade), escalivada catalana (salad of roasted red pepper, eggplant, and onion), pollastre a la catalana (Catalan chicken stew with dried fruits and nuts), fricandó de galtes de vedella amb bolets (Catalan stew of beef cheeks and mushrooms), and for dessert crema catalana (caramelized Catalan custard).
To recreate the experience at home, recipe cards for some of the dishes are offered to guests.
The Lonely and Glamorous Life of a Celebrity Chef’s Girlfriend
 Apron Anxiety: My Messy Affairs In and Out of the Kitchen by Alyssa Shelasky  Alyssa and Spike in better days at the St. Regis in Washington DC - photo credit Jordan Wright Alyssa Shelasky’s book Apron Anxiety – My Messy Affairs In And Out Of The Kitchen (Three Rivers Press) arrived this week buried under a slew of recent esoteric cookbooks and social networking how-to’s, – more on those soon. Alyssa as some of you may remember had a long tempestuous affair with the sizzling hot Top Chef Spike Mendelsohn. In her tell-all-without-using-names book (she calls him “Chef”) she spares us none of the juicy details, which she had been sharing on her blog even before becoming editor of New York Magazine’s Grub Street. She refers to herself as a “writer with a heavy heart, and wild child with a stethoscope on her crotch.” The book is actually a culinary coming-of-age cookbook in the Gael Greene sex-and-food gallivant style, focusing in on Shelasky’s novice attempts at cooking.
After ditching a terrific job with People Magazine to move in with Spike on C Street, she had a rough time of it in this oft button-down town and spent lonely days hanging out at Belga Café. That was around the same time I met her at the Capitol Skyline Hotel where Spike was flipping burgers poolside for super art mogul Mera Rubell. But I digress.
Shelasky eventually did embrace the kitchen with as much passion as the bedroom after a timid start with Martha Stewart’s Macaroni and Cheese and Sarabeth’s Cream of Tomato Soup (both recipes are in the book). The book is sassy, delicious and adorable and witty like Alyssa. I loved it!
How Olive Ya Sapore
 Sapore on Capitol Hill - photo credit Jordan Wright The newest addition to the Capitol Hill area is Renee and John Farr’s Sapore Oil and Vinegar a neat shop that sources artisanal products from around the world, tucking in pastas, sauces and books among the stainless steel pouring vats in their lively tasting room.
 Earth & Vine sofi award finalist Spicy Apple Garlic Jam - photo credit Jordan Wright  At Sapore to reveal the sofi award finalist. Wines courtesy of ProChile - photo credit Jordan Wright This week The Farrs graciously hosted an invitation-only preview of the Fancy Food Show’s NASFT sofi award finalists where the products were showcased and eagerly tasted. Carrie Morey of the Callie’s Charleston Biscuits, was on hand with samples of her meltingly tender sinfully buttery biscuits.
 Carrie Morey of Callie's Charleston Biscuits addresses the press - photo credit Jordan Wright Take home swag bags of some of the products were given out, but the Tate’s Bake Shop’s Chocolate Chip Cookies and Polka Dot Bake Shop’s Sweet Potato Crackers with Cracked Black Pepper were inhaled long before I crossed the 14th Street Bridge headed for home.
The NASFT Fancy Food Show will be at the Walter Washington Convention from June 17th-19th. For more info on the sofi finalists visit www.specialtyfood.com/sofi.
Swilling and Chilling at National Harbor’s Wine and Food Festival
 National Harbor Maryland - photo credit Jordan Wright  Jordan with Barbara Fairchild at the National Harbor WIne & Food Festival This weekend the 5th Annual National Harbor Wine & Food Festival returns to the waterfront at National Harbor on Saturday, May 5th and Sunday, May 6thfrom noon to 6:00pm. More than just a tasting, the festival brings together area chefs, artisanal foods and crafts, culinary pioneers and three stages of live music as well as wine and spirits from around the world.
This year’s festival features over 150 International wines, spirits and beers. Beyond the drink tastings highlights there will be a Cinco De Mayo Pavilion with Hornitos tequila, a craft beer tasting biergarten, and a whiskey and bourbon tasting paired with hand-rolled cigars.
Food samplings include guacamole and chips by Rosa Mexicano, Whoopsie’s Gourmet whoopie pies, Nature’s Table Café, gourmet baked goods by Icing Smiles, Mojo Magic and Cuban Salsa by Havana Road Café. Rotating gourmet dinners from food trucks, Chesapeake crab dip by KS Catering, fresh pastas and Italian specialties, kabobs, charcuterie, and even a whole hog from Kloby’s Smokehouse.
Saturday on stage celebs include Sticky Fingers Doron Petersen of Food Network’s Cupcake Wars, Food Network star Sara Moulton, The Wine Coach Laurie Forster, The Beef Association’s Dave Zino. Sunday features Marta Ines Quintan of Havana Road Cuban Café, Natalie Dupree making her famous Southern biscuits, Sara Moulton, Jim Baker of the Washington Wine Academy and Cooking with Salt and Pepper. All of these local, regional and nationally recognized chefs will do book signings, meet and greets and cooking demos.
To purchase tickets and view schedule, visit www.wineandfoodnh.com or call (800) 830-3976.
Jordan Wright
April 30, 2012
Special to The Alexandria Times
 David James plays Adam (the American), Matthew Randall plays Edward (the Irishman) and John Shackleford plays Michael (the Englishman) - photo credit to Mike deBlois There’s an inner peace that washes over your soul when you are immersed in a drama so powerful, so exquisitely acted and so heart wrenching, that you want to share the earthmoving experience with all your fellow theatre-goers. Luckily in this space I can. The only caveat is to make haste since Someone Who’ll Watch Over Me runs just one more weekend.
In a drama punctuated with moments of lighthearted gallows humor and male bonding, three men are imprisoned in a tiny cell in Beirut. The hostages, Edward, an Irish journalist; Adam, an American doctor; and Michael, an English teacher from Britain are shackled and chained to a communal wall for an indeterminate sentence.
Most of us remember this story from news reports filled with harrowing tales of torture and execution at the hand of self-described Islamic Jihadists. Playwright Frank McGuiness loosely bases his Drama Critics Circle award winning play on the real lives of Brian Keenan, John McCarthy and Terry Anderson during the time they were held hostage in Lebanon in 1985 and 1986. McGuiness extrapolated Keenan’s experiences from lengthy discussions about his time in captivity, and used them to form the backbone of the drama. In order to prepare the actors before rehearsal started, Director Rosemary Hartman gave each of them Keenan’s unflinchingly honest recounting, Evil Cradling, wherein Keenan poses the question, ”Just as I was chained in darkness for almost five years, my captors were chained to their guns in a profound darkness I could see into. Tell me now, who is the prisoner here?”
The piece opens with slo-mo news footage of the war in Lebanon during the decade between 1982 and 1992 when between 130,000-200,000 people were killed and more than 1 million were wounded. In stark contrast to the lulling strains of classical music the images are projected against the set’s prison walls. We don’t hear the bullets and bombs, but we bear witness to the brutal gunfights and the total destruction of cities. It was a horrendous period when random kidnappings were the order of the day and the ignominy of America and its allies was the incomprehensible goal. As the lights come up Ella Fitzgerald’s evocative rendition of Someone Who’ll Watch Over Me plays in the background and we’re greeted by a set design by Frank Pasqualino that is so end-of-the-world grim that one instantly senses the prisoners’ isolation.
 Someone who'll watch - Matthew Randall, John Shackleford - photo credit to Mike deBlois.  David James plays Adam (the American), Matthew Randall plays Edward (the Irishman) and John Shackleford plays Michael (the Englishman) - photo credit to Mike deBlois During their brutal confinement the hostages probe one another’s psyches and explore their innermost lives, trying to keep their spirits up until their hoped-for rescue. Their methods in the face of such adversity are both inspired and inspiring. One can’t help but wonder what diversions we would employ ourselves under the same dire circumstances.
The play’s moods swing back and forth like a pendulum with lightning quick transitions from misery to comedy as the men regale each other with humerous tales designed to relieve the tedium, promising each other not to let the guards hear them cry. Adam, played by David James, is afraid of going mad. Clutching a bible for support, he is haunted by memories of his life as an only son in a house full of foster children. “Will they kill me for oil?” he wonders of the guards. Matthew Randall plays Edward who claims “foreplay” was invented by the Irish. “We call it drink!” he jokes as he fake-bartends martinis. Together they reenact old films, perform childhood vignettes and fake-broadcast horse races to pass the time until one night Michael, played by John Shackelford, is delivered comatose into their shared cell and their awkward camaraderie is rearranged. Though initially regarded as an intruder, Michael, the stoic, becomes a stabilizing factor to the gradually declining spirits of the other two.
With this latest production Port City Playhouse continues to impress, especially when tackling bold dramatic themes. In Someone Who’ll Watch Over Me superlatives go to the entire ensemble whose outstanding performances are nothing short of brilliant. Special mention goes to Lighting Designer, Julie Anne Watko, who does a fine job creating and handling 100 lighting changes and video montages, as well as Accent Coach, Carol Strachan, who has set the authenticity bar higher than ever.
Poignant, riveting and perfectly cast. Highly recommended.
At Port City Playhouse. Final performances May 4th and 5th at 8pm with an additional May 5th matinee at 2pm at The Lab Studio Theatre at Convergence, 1819 North Quaker Lane, Alexandria, VA 22302. For tickets and information visit www.portcityplayhouse.com.
Jordan Wright
April 23, 2012
Special to The Alexandria Times
 Michael (Andy Brownstein, far right) makes a stand as Alan (Paul Morella), Veronica (Naomi Jacobson) and Annette (Vanessa Lock) look on. "God of Carnage" plays at Virginia’s Signature Theatre through June 24, 2012. www.signature-theatre.org. In the 2009 Tony award-winning play God of Carnage, French playwright and social satirist Yasmina Reza introduces us to two upwardly mobile New York couples whose rowdy sons have gotten into a scrap in the neighborhood park. At a meeting in the bourgeois book-filled apartment of the victim’s parents to discuss the incident, the couples seem to present a united front while exchanging pleasantries over coffee and Veronica’s home made pear clafouti.
 Andy Brownstein (Michael Novak) and Naomi Jacobson (Veronica Novak) make a strong alliance.  Veronica Novak (Naomi Jacobson) laughs as she may have had one too many, as Alan Raleigh (Paul Morella) looks on. Initially the well-mannered grownups appear to take responsibility for their children’s actions resolving to discipline the boys and urge them to make up. Veronica, a writer on atrocities in African culture, has high-minded principles and futilely attempts to steer her husband Michael into laying the blame on Annette and Alan’s son. “It could have been the other way around,” admits Michael, “Our son is a savage,” he adds trumping Veronica’s well-orchestrated plans.
Annette on the other hand is a straight-laced suit working in wealth management and married to Alan an attorney/spinmeister who’s more wedded to his business than his wife. Between persistent cell phone calls he tries to keep pace with the mounting diatribes. “People struggle until they are dead,” Alan philosophizes.
Initially Annette tries to stay above the fray, pleading with her husband to back off, but as she sits on the sofa leafing through some well-placed coffee table books she picks up a book on existentialist painter Francis Bacon, “Cruelty, majesty, chaos and balance,” she offers and with that small remark the play’s tone is set.
Soon all decorum is tossed aside as the confab turns into a verbal slugfest with the couples pushing each other’s emotional buttons and the parents quickly devolving from respectable middle class professionals into screaming, name-calling kids on a playground. “You can’t control the things that control you,” Michael offers.
 Michael (Andy Brownstein, left) and Alan (Paul Morella) happily finding some common ground in "God of Carnage".  Vanessa Lock (left, as Annette) and Naomi Jacobson (as Veronica) share a laugh and a drink. After Michael confesses to tossing his daughter’s hamster out into the street, his credibility as the nice guy flies out the window and the women bond in their anger against him. Soothing his bruised ego he shares a bottle of his “well-aged Antiguan rum” and with that all the white gloves come off. Soon allegiances shift and the women gang up against their husbands as the men proudly profess to be Neanderthals. “Is alcohol bad for you?” Annette ponders.
Reza wields humor with a surgeon’s scalpel. Her observations of couples’ conflicts, and their ability to emotionally destroy each another, are just as incisive. And our laughter at their infantile antics is a universal response to the belief that we are all born into a culture of violence. “The God of Carnage has ruled since the beginning of time,” Alan reminds them.
 The Raleighs and the Novaks in a heated war of words in "God of Carnage". From left to right: Vanessa Lock, Paul Morella, Naomi Jacobson, Andy Brownstein. Award-winning director Joe Calarco does a yeoman’s job of molding actors Andy Brownstein (Michael), Naomi Jacobson (Veronica), Vanessa Lock (Annette) and Paul Morella (Alan) into a cohesive unit of controlled stage mayhem.
Through June 24th at Signature Theatre (Shirlington Village), 4200 Campbell Avenue, Arlington, VA 22206. For tickets and information call 703 820-9771 or visit www.signature-theatre.org.
Jordan Wright
April 19, 2012
Special to The Alexandria Times
 Sam Sheinberg (Court Wader), Russell Silber (Leonard), Bruce Schmid (Barrister), Dan Beck (Clerk of the Court), Jeffrey Clarke (Justice Wainright), John Johnson (Barrister), and Mark Lee Adams (Sir Wilfred Robarts, QC) - photo credit to Doug Olmsted. In a whodunit filled with more red herrings than a kettle of fish, veteran Little Theatre director Eddie Page takes a cast of nineteen actors and packages them into a tidy piece of silken stagecraft. That the plot may be familiar to those who remember the 1957 Billy Wilder-directed film of the same name, and that starred Tyrone Power, Charles Laughton and Marlene Dietrich, should in no way deter an appreciation of this well-acted version. The play, unlike the film of the same name, adheres to the original as written by Agatha Christie in 1953.
The likeable but enigmatic Leonard Vole is accused of murdering of a wealthy older lady. Or to be politically correct, allow me to amend it to “ a well-to-do senior citizen”. Miss French’s senior status should be noted here since, when it is revealed that she is 56 years old, it makes for some snickering in the audience, sounding as it does by today’s standards a rather archaic notion. Leonard becomes the main suspect when it is revealed that he is the chief benefactor in the lady’s recently revised will.
 Robert Ford (Detective) and Russell Silber (Leonard) - photo credit to Doug Olmsted Miss French, who befriends the impoverished mechanic after he chivalrously rescues her from being run over on a London city street, is neither seen nor heard during the three acts which, being quite dead should be reason enough, but for we amateur sleuths there’s not much to chew on save a haze of supposition, conflicting testimony and inexplicable evidence leading helter-skelter down a blind alley.
Mark Lee Adams deftly plays Leonard’s counselor Sir Wilfrid Robarts, Q.C. Robarts, who had up till then sworn off murder trials, agrees to take the case after becoming convinced of the poor man’s innocence.
As the case unfolds in the courtroom of the Old Bailey, we meet Miss French’s feisty yet devoted housekeeper, Janet McKenzie, played rivetingly by Cheryl Sinsabaugh whose spot-on Scottish brogue is as crusty as week-old haggis. Janet has reason to point the finger at the ambitious Leonard Vole. He’s usurped her territory and stolen her mistress’s affections. But we like the charismatic chap anyway.
 Robin Zerbe (Romaine) and James McDaniel (Mr. Meyers, QC) - photo credit to Doug Olmsted.  Robin Zerbe (Romaine) and Mark Lee Adams (Sir Wilfred Robarts, QC) - photo credit to Doug Olmsted. Russell Silber does a fine job of portraying the likeable Leonard in counterpoint to his wife Romaine, the Teutonic ice princess tautly acted by Robin Zerbe. Though Leonard marries her to facilitate her escape from wartime Germany, in an ironic twist Romaine becomes witness for the prosecution and against her adoring husband. “One can get tired of gratitude,” she stoically declares.
At times you may feel that you are in the middle of a game of Clue. There’s no rope here but a blood stained jacket, mountains of motives, a bludgeoned body and a large kitchen knife loom largely. Did I mention all the circumstantial evidence? Nothing appears to be indisputable, not least of all the exact time of the murder.
In Christie’s stage version the bewigged barristers address the audience as jury and you may feel quite invested in divining the outcome of this charming slice of skullduggery. Though your efforts may prove meaningless as the ending trumps the most invigorated mystery hounds among us. And isn’t that exactly what we adore about Agatha Christie?
Through May 12th at The Little Theatre of Alexandria, 600 Wolfe Street. For tickets and information call the box office at 703 683-0496 or visit www.thelittletheatre.com
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