A dizzying modernized version of George Bernard Shaw’s notable play, Saint Joan, is now at the Folger Theatre presented by the New York-based Bedlam theater company. Historically, and even contemporarily, it’s relevant to the discussion of church v. state v. the ruling classes. That’s what Joan, or Jeanne as the French have it, is all about. Whether tis nobler to have the church or nobility or the patriarchy back your lofty ideals, is the question. Alas, in the end, poor Joan managed to piss them all off.
Robert de Baudricourt (Eric Tucker) tries in vain to put the peasant girl, Joan (Dria Brown) in her rightful place. Photo by Teresa Wood.
In the relentlessly verbose classic, four characters take on twenty-five roles, some switching roles mid-paragraph. Joan is the only character that stays herself. It’s clever. There are tons of funny bits, but after nearly three hours it feels overly long. Besides, knowing her fiery ending as well as her legacy, it seems more than a little overblown to listen to repeated reassessments of both her value (initially they bought into her hearing voices) and her condemnation as a heretic which came after she led the French to victory.
Is it instructive? Yes. Is it well-acted? To a person. Does it speak to our modern sensibilities? Somewhat. In an age of serfdom, where knights were ransommed and the church and aristocracy reigned supreme, landowners had great sway. One’s family dictated one’s ultimate station in life and thus one’s future opportunities. Joan broke too many rules, most importantly the one that didn’t allow women to leave their household duties, don armor and go to war. So as a feminist piece, it is culturally interesting that Shaw thought it important to write of the inequality of the sexes. As a religious diatribe, the Church feels threatened by Mohammad, calling him the anti-Christ. They accuse Joan of being a nationalist and call out the Jews as treacherous. And their justifications for burning her at the stake, are entirely self-serving. As social commentary, the interest lies in the playwright’s condemnation of the church and the folly of the aristocracy.
The Earl of Warwick (Eric Tucker, left) discusses the fate of Joan of Arc with the Bishop of Beauvais (Sam Massaro), as chaplain John de Stogumber (Edmund Lewis) listens intently in Saint Joan. Photo by Teresa Wood.
But in our modern world, with a pope who has a social conscience, nobility who has little influence, and governments who rule predominantly by individual vote, would we have a Joan of Arc? Today we call them cult leaders, known in the 15th century as sorcerers, and they are equally reviled. Mostly for good reason.
But we come to like this true-hearted teenager who is dogged in her determination to save France from the expansionist policies of England. “There is something about the girl,” as the bishops and the Dauphin acknowledge.
Brother John Lemaitre, the Inquisitor (Eric Tucker) and John de Stomgumber (Edmund Lewis) await the trial of Joan in Saint Joan at Folger Theatre. Photo by Teresa Wood.
Bedlam’s Artistic Director Eric Tucker (who also created the costumes and sound design) uses every trick in the book to keep it fresh – sight gags, pratfalls and slow-motion fights. A dozen or more audience members are invited to sit onstage adding to the immediacy of the response. I must say, I don’t know how the actors find their way around all the chairs and spout their lines without taking notice of their proximity. No mean feat!
The Inquisitor (Eric Tucker) leads the accused Joan (Dria Brown) to her seat to stand trial in Bedlam’s Saint Joan. Photo by Teresa Wood.
Be your own critic, especially if you love Shaw. After all, Bedlam’s staging of Saint Joan was honored by Time magazine as a Top Ten Play and listed in the New York Times’ Best of Theater list.
Lighting by Les Dickert. Roles played by Dria Brown as Joan; Edmund Lewis as the Dauphin, John de Stogumber and others; Sam Massaro as Cauchon, Poulengey and others; and Eric Tucker as Dunois, Warwick and others.
Through June 10th at the Folger Theatre at the Folger Shakespeare Library, 201 East Capitol Street, SE, Washington, DC 20003. For tickets and information call 202 544-7077 or visit online.
Gasp! The Royal Shakespeare Company at The Kennedy Center! Unfortunately, they blew into town as quickly as they departed. Four days only. Nonetheless they made a thunderous impression on this reviewer and the audience too, who went crazy for this wonderful interpretation.
Paapa Essiedu and Buom Tihngang with the cast of Hamlet. Photo by Manuel Harlan.
So… Hamlet (Paapa Essiedu), goes mad when his dad the king dies, and mom marries his uncle, and he drops Ophelia like a stone, except she floats. But you already knew that. So, I’ll spare you all the deets. What’s refreshing is the eighteen-member troupe – African, British and Jamaican, with the exception of three white cast members, Byron Mondahl as the Professor of Wittenberg, James Cooney as Horatio and Eleanor Wyld as Guildenstern, gifter of English biscuits. And though they speak of Denmark, director Simon Godwin uses themes from both ancient and modern-day Africa to achieve this fresh, new dynamic. (There’s a Wakanda salute from Hamlet to Horatio. Watch for it!) What’s exciting is this alternative perspective – imagining how the tragedy would go down in contemporary society. It’s entirely relatable.
Paul Will’s contemporary design demands richly colored kente cloth costumes and lofty headdresses for Queen Gertrude with formal military dress uniforms for King Hamlet. Palace guards, Barnardo and Francisca, sport stylish camouflage and Cordelia’s four-inch heels and dreadlocks beside Hamlet’s hipster get-ups and drummers in dashikis, assure us we are firmly in the present day.
Mimi Ndiweni and Paapa Essiedu in Hamlet. Photo by Manuel Harlan.
Will envisions Hamlet as a graffiti-painting, boombox-toting lad who’s gone off the rails. (For some unknown reason, I thought of Prince Harry’s rebellious period after the loss of his mother.) In a mash-up of past and present, the mood shifts precipitously from formal Danish court to ancient African rituals and indigenous dances. As in The Lion King, characters frequently dash down the aisles and leap onstage. Composer Sola Akingbola sets the tone with fierce drumming and African music from calypso to tribal.
Of particular note was the ghost of Hamlet’s father, spotlighted up in the balcony, and the handling of Ophelia’s speech about the flowers – fennel, pansy, rue, columbine – as she mourns Hamlet’s repudiation of her love. It is in this tragic scene that she, grief-stricken, pulls out locks of her hair, one for each flower she names, to give to the King and Queen.
With Lorna Brown as Queen Gertrude, Clarence Smith as Claudius, Joseph Mydell as Polonius, Buom Tihngang as Laertes, Mimi Ndiweni as Ophelia, James Cooney as Horatio, Romayne Andrews as Rosencrantz, Patrick Elue as Marcellus, Lucianus and Fortinbras, Kevin N Golding as Barnardo and Tracy-Anne Green as Francisca.
Direction by Simon Godwin, Design by Paul Wills, Lighting by Paul Anderson, Composed by Sola Akingbola with Fight Direction by Kev McCurdy.
What a joy and privilege to experience this brilliant production by a such fine cast!
Imagine, if you will that composer Leonard Bernstein’s 18th C set piece opera Candide was first staged the year following the Broadway premiere West Side Story. 1956. It seems incredible that these two wildly divergent stories were composed, staged and produced by one man in less than twelve months. Okay, he was a genius, which is why the Kennedy Center is lauding his songbook for its exciting celebration on the 100th anniversary of his birth.
Wynn Harmon, Emily Pogorelc, Alek Shrader, and Denyce Graves in Candide. Photo by Scott Suchman.
Under the virtuoso direction of Francesca Zambello, this imaginative, new production hails from New York’s The Glimmerglass Festival, where she is Artistic Director. And it is not hyperbole to say it is a jaw-dropping extravaganza of dance, opera, comedy and, yes, drama too. Sword fights! Its list of lyricists – Richard Wilbur, Stephen Sondheim, Lillian Hellman, John La Touche, Dorothy Parker and Bernstein too – puts one in mind of late, martini-soaked nights plotting the script at the Algonquin’s famed Round Table. One can only imagine the heady repartee.
Based on the dystopian novel by Voltaire in which Candide (Alek Shrader) discovers that the world, and his royal pals, are not the egalitarian society he had been taught. And that Professor Pangloss’s (Wynn Harmon who doubles as Voltaire, the musical’s raconteur) rosy outlook on the world has its challenges – chief among them Candide’s love for the dazzling, gold-digging ingenue, Cunegonde (Emily Pogoreic). That, and survival.
Amid the velvet breeches and Gainsborough frock coats of the aristocracy, Candide encounters war, famine and human suffering but manages to keep a cheerful and brave demeanor. Along the way he meets the characters who will shape his life – The Old Lady (DC’s own superstar Denyce Graves), the haughty Maximillian (Edward Nelson), Candide’s comrade in arms Cacambo (Frederick Ballentine), the naughty servant girl Paquette (Eliza Bonet) and James (Matthew Scollin doubling as Martin the pessimistic street sweeper). Balancing out his misadventures are the ruthless Grand Inquisitor (Alexander McKissick) and the addle-headed Baroness (Keriann Otaño) who would give Marie Antoinette a run for her money with a powdered wig so high she needs her lackey to hold it up with what appears to be a fishing pole. Credit David C. Zimmerman for hair and makeup.
Emily Pogorelc, Denyce Graves, and Alek Shrader in Candide. Photo by Scott Suchman.
Throughout Candide’s peregrinations through the Old and New Worlds – in Holland, Paris, Spain, Uruguay, Paraguay and Surinam – he encounters war and misery, but somehow fortune prevails, and, unlike the thousands killed, he is spared hanging, burning at the stake, bayoneting and drowning. I may have left a disaster out. When our hero finally arrives at the Doge’s masquerade ball in Venice after some consorting with edenic Incans, he discovers his long lost Cunegonde bereft of the money and jewels she sold her soul to acquire. They work it out.
This is a lavishly artistic, sublimely witty, while yet philosophical, musical that never slows down. You will adore it! And, while I’m raving, I must single out the remarkable beauty, charm, comedic skills and flawless soprano voice of Emily Pogoreic. Her aria “Glitter and Be Gay” is breathtaking. And did I mention her dancing? Absolutely marvelous. Everyone is. Twelve additional cast members add to the beautiful chorus and the Opera House’s acoustics sound particularly magnificent thanks to G Thomas Clark and crew for GTC Sound Design LLC.
Please, please go! Even if you never thought you’d see an opera. It’s Bernstein, for Pete’s sake.
With surtitles. Even though it’s in English, they’re useful. You don’t want to miss a line.
Conducting by Nicole Paiement, book adaptation from Voltaire by Hugh Wheeler in a new version by John Caird, choreography by Eric Sean Fogel and Felicity Stiverson, lighting by Mark McCullough. Soloists are Andrea Beasom, Tom Berklund, Jaely Chamberlain, Andrew Harper, Katherine Henly, Michael Hewitt, Nicholas Houhoulis, Jarrod Lee, Danny Lindgren, Alison Mixon, Ameerah Sabreen, Louisa Morrison Waycott.
Performances on May 12th, 14th, 18th, 20th, 22nd, 24th and 26th at The Kennedy Center, 2700 F St., NW, Washington, DC. For tickets and information call 202 467-4600 or visit www.Kennedy-Center.org.
Samantha Lee
Contributing Food Writer May 10, 2018
Photo credit: Samantha Lee
Australian native and restauranteur, Edward Wong, chose the Japanese name Akira for his recently opened ramen and izakaya restaurant on Rockville Pike. The name is synonymous with the words “bright”, “intelligent” or “clear” – a very auspicious beginning for this small, appealing spot. As a graphic designer Wong was drawn to the Japanese character tsu, a kanji word meaning tsunami, and chose it for his dramatically etched black-and-white logo. Since opening the 42-seat spot last October, he has enjoyed an enthusiastic and dedicated clientele in this cheerful, window-lit eatery. Wong also owns Gong Cha, a Taiwanese bubble tea shop, and Urban Hot Pot, a Chinese-style hot pot restaurant. All three are located within the same strip mall.
Before coming to Akira, Wong’s chef Tony Lin had run his own Japanese restaurant in New York City. Working alongside noodlemaker Jerry Li, the men learned to make traditional buckwheat skinny and curly noodles from renowned Japanese soba master Shuichi Kotani – more familiarly known as “Kotani San”. Their noodles are a combination of wheat flour, water, and alkaline salt. It’s the salt which gives the noodle color and helps to control the acidity levels in the dough. Everything in the ramen – sauce, broth, noodles and meat – is made from scratch. The pork-based broth – made from pork bones, vegetables and spices – is cooked low and slow for 8 hours.
The restaurant’s decorations are simple. A feature wall has a design of pink cherry blossom trees and song birds and white paper lanterns and vintage lights hang from above. Alongside the bar, there is a navy-colored noren curtain with multiple panels of block print waves.
The menu is two double-sided pages. The main menu describes the appetizers, dessert and non-alcoholic beverages. On the reverse, it describes the ramen and ramen add-ins. A bowl of ramen is around $13.00. Another page lists the chef’s specials. Unlike most Japanese restaurants in the area, they offer unique appetizers such as Okonomiyaki (Japanese-style pancake), Geso Kara (fried squid legs), and Hamachi Kamayaki. The restaurant has an open kitchen concept that allows guests to sit at the bar and watch their ramen being prepared.
My favorite appetizers are Karaage, Tofu Avocado Salad, Poke Salad, Geso Kara, Yellowtail Carpaccio, Hamachi Kamayaki, Sashimi, Kani Salad and Takoyaki.
Karaage
Deep fried chicken pieces served with lemon and two dipping sauce – Sriracha Aioli and horseradish mayonnaise. It’s crispy, tender and juicy.
Tofu Avocado Salad
Freshly chopped romaine lettuce, topped with chopped silken tofu, seaweed threads, garlic chips, and pickled radish in a sweet tangy mustard/sesame/ginger vinaigrette.
Poke Salad
Served Hawaiian style and consisted of chopped sashimi from three types of fish – tuna, salmon and yellowtail – mixed with diced cucumber, mango, and avocado with micro wasabi in a ponzu sauce.
Geso Kara
Tempura-battered and lightly fried squid legs served with lemon and sriracha aioli.
Yellowtail Capaccio
Five pieces of half-torched yellowtail topped with scallion and fish roe and served in a yuzu-scented miso-mustard sauce.
Hamachi Kamayaki
A lightly seasoned yellowtail collar, grilled and served with lemon and tart soy dipping sauce with a hint of yuzu. The meat was fatty, juicy and tender. I like how the flesh easily comes off the bone with a chopstick or fork.
Sashimi
A choice of two each – tuna, yellowtail and salmon served over shisho leaves and shredded daikon radish with pickled ginger and wasabi. Instead of wasabi, I prefer the sashimi with lemon. I love how the sashimi was super fresh and high quality.
Kani Salad
A bed of shredded daikon radish topped with a shower of shredded crabmeat, cucumber and fish roe and lightly tossed in kewpie mayo.
Takoyaki
Six deep fried spheres of octopus drizzled with a Worcestershire-based sauce, with mayonnaise, green laver seaweed, bonito flakes and scallions. The takoyaki is savory, crispy on the sides, and chewy on the inside.
Gyoza
Five dumplings made of thin wonton wrappers filled with a seasoned pork and ginger then pan fried and served in a spicy ponzu sauce.
Charsu Bun
Two steamed sweet open-faced buns stuffed with lettuce-wrapped marinated pork belly drizzled with sriracha mayo.
A dish of skinny or curly noodles, stir-fried bean sprout, onion, pork belly, egg, fish cake, corn, scallions, bamboo shoots, wood ears, nori, black garlic oil, and chili paste in tonkotsu salt flavored broth. If it’s not spicy enough for you, feel free to add shichi-mi tōgarashi, a spicy Japanese seasoning blend of ground red chili pepper, orange peel, sesame seeds, ground sanshō, ginger, and seaweed, to your liking.
Tonkotsu Miso Ramen
Skinny noodles cooked with egg, fish cake, scallion, corn, bamboo shoots, and wood ear mushrooms in a miso paste pork broth garnished with nori and torched pork belly.
Vegetable Ramen
Vegetable ramen boasts curly noodles cooked in a vegetable broth made from onions, carrots, garlic, tomatoes, shiitakes, bok choy, wood-ear mushrooms, and tofu and garnished with stir-fried bean sprouts, scallion, bamboo shoot, nori, and pickled ginger.
Green Tea Cheesecake
A lovely combination of smoothly blended cream cheese, matcha powder, and sugar on a graham cracker crust which is then baked and dusted with matcha powder. It is served with a scoop of matcha ice cream. It could be matcha overkill if consumed by one person, but it’s a perfect dessert for sharing.
Though not a seasonal menu, the chef introduces new items every now and then. Look for cold noodle dishes – in-house made udon and soba noodles and sukiyaki – to come on the menu this summer. If you love a Japanese restaurant that offers variety or would love to try the best ramen spot in Montgomery County, Akira Ramen & Izakaya is certainly worth checking out.
Wong plans a second location in downtown Columbia, MD later this year. It will have an open kitchen concept where patrons can watch chefs prepare the food including the yakitori, handmade noodles and ramen and where there will be a larger waiting area as well as a bar.
Akira Ramen & Izakaya is located in the Galvan at Twinbrook apartment complex. The restaurant address is 1800 Rockville Pike, Rockville, MD 20850. Open daily – Mon to Thurs: 11am – 3pm and 5pm – 10pm; Fri: 11am – 3pm and 5pm – 11pm; Sat: 11am – 11pm and Sun 11:30am – 9pm. The restaurant does not take reservations – seating is first come, first served. During peak hours, expect a 30 to 45-minute wait. Akira is within walking distance from the Twinbrook Metro. There are a few parking spots on the side street and in the front lot. Additional parking is in the underground retail garage in the rear, and the first two hours are free.
Shakespeare’s first play, Titus Andronicus, was written for pure shock value. It’s considered a revenge play and his purpose was to get noticed and to one up his competition. A sort of revenge of the playwright, if you will. It worked. In today’s world, it would probably be categorized in the fantasy genre along with Game of Thrones. With fourteen murders, six severed limbs and two acts of cannibalism involving meat pies, there’s nothing tame about it. It’s the most gruesome, grotesque Elizabethan potboiler ever conceived for a two-hour play. Never a dull moment.
Scott Whalen and Dan Istrate with the ensemble in Titus Andronicus. Photo by Johnny Shryock.
Synetic’s approach is to render the bloodiest scenes, bloodless and Shakespeare’s lines, wordless. It is one of Synetic’s hallmarks. By using reams of red silk, elbow-length red satin gloves and a stage bathed in vivid red spotlights during each murder (I lost count after the tenth), they have achieved all the thrill and all the horror without shedding a single drop of stage blood.
The play opens with a horde of Roman soldiers gripping their lances and galloping towards the audience at full tilt. That they’re not actually riding horses is incidental – it’s visceral. In one of the most thrilling productions this year, Artistic Director Paata Tsikurishvili has crafted an edge-of-your-seat interpretation of the classic that will blow your mind.
The story of King Titus is drenched in power struggles, betrayal, violence and intrigue. They are all fighting for the crown. It’s a deliciously complex battle of forces between the Goths, here intricately costumed by Erik Teague to reflect modern-day goths replete with metal-studded clothing, and the Romans, whose military toga-like costumes are exquisitely detailed. The women wear diaphanous multi-pleated gowns come hell or high water and the courtiers sport faceless metallic masks.
Alex Mills, Irina Tsikurishvili, Irina Kavsadze, and Dallas Tolentino in Titus Andronicus. Photo by Brittany Diliberto
Titus is played magnificently by Philip Fletcher to Irina Tsikurishvili’s Tamora, Queen of the Goths in one of her finest performances to date. The 15-member troupe is spectacular, especially Irina Kavsadze as Lavinia, Tori Bertocci as Marcia Andronicus and Audrey Tchoukoua as Aaron who does a torrid tango with the Queen. Phil Charlwood’s massive rotating sets of monoliths and amorphous castle walls serve well to background the evil of their murderous deeds and the sounds of their clashing swords.
It’s impossible to describe the many crimes of passion and struggles for power. Suffice it to say, they are fiercely intense and hyper imaginative with action that explodes at the speed of a super collider housed in an erupting volcano – all set to Konstantine Lortkipanidze’s fantastical sound track ranging from electronica to Gregorian and Phillip Glass to the interior of a wind tunnel. It’s a well-orchestrated madness that can only be described as electrifying from the opening scene to the climax.
And though I won’t give away the banquet scene – remember the meat pies? – it’s a stunner set to the flowery notes of carousel music. Insider tip: Black Panther fans look for Titus to give the Wakanda salute.
Five stars. Highly recommended.
With Chris Galindo as Lucius, Alex Mills as Chiron, Dan Istrate as Saturnius, Matt Stover as Quintus, Dallas Tolentino as Demetrius, Scott Whalen as Bassianus and Scott Turner as Alarbus. Choreography by Irina Tsikurishvili, Sound Design by Thomas Sowers, Fight Choreography by Vato Tsikurishvili and Alex Mills.
Through May 27th at Synetic Theater, 1800 South Bell Street, Arlington in Crystal City. For tickets and information call 1 800 494-8497 or visit online.
Girlfriend is writer Todd Almond’s warmhearted story about two teens searching for love while trying to find their footing amid the anxiety-fraught, coming-of-age high school years. Will is a footloose, no-plans, out-of-the-closet introvert. His new friend, Mike, is the high school’s prom king and quarterback. Mike has a structured life that includes leaving their small town in Nebraska for med school. Their connection seems doomed from the start when Mike calls out Will for being “obvious”, telling him “things could be perfect, if you weren’t you.” Who would stick around after that? But Mike keeps phoning Will after he gifts him with a mix tape, and together they bond over music and flicks. It’s an emotional story filled with the fraught exploration of young love coupled with the universal awkwardness that accompanies anyone’s first relationship.
Lukas James Miller (Mike) and Jimmy Mavrikes (Will) . Photo by Christopher Mueller.
Will acknowledges he’s gay – he gets bullied at school for it – but Mike is confused about his sexuality identity. Mike has a girlfriend and being gay doesn’t fit into his long-range plans. Notwithstanding their differences, the teens form an unlikely friendship that begins with a date at the drive-in to see a movie about Evangeline, a nun who’s secretly a superhero. Mike loves it. Will’s too shy to say he doesn’t. Their personalities are polar opposites.
But the appeal of this rock musical isn’t just their adorably awkward relationship, or the hilarious situations these two find themselves in, but the catchy Beatles’-styled tunes composed by Matthew Sweet and played by a four-piece, onstage, powerhouse girl band. Add in Jimmy Mavrikes’s (Will) and Lukas James Miller’s (Mike) wonderfully appealing in sync voices skillfully blending in ten original numbers from Sweet’s alternative-rock album “Girlfriend”.
Lukas James Miller (Mike) and Jimmy Mavrikes (Will) . Photo by Christopher Mueller.
Thanks to Misha Kachman’s masterful set design that places the musicians behind a wall of glass in a lipstick red, padded recording studio sound booth, stretching the length of the stage, we can see them rock out and tune into their energy. As backup singing musicians, they are an integral part of the story as they watch the teens along with the audience to see how their budding relationship will turn out.
Directed and choreographed by Matthew Gardiner, it debuted in Berkeley, CA ten years ago, yet has an enduring resonance that aims to please.
Lukas James Miller (Mike) and Jimmy Mavrikes (Will) . Photo by Christopher Mueller.
Recommended to anyone who has ever felt awkward in love and has the memories to prove it.
With musicians Britt Bonney conducting and playing keyboard, Beth Cannon on guitar, Nicole Saphos on bass and Erika Johnson on drums. Costume design by Frank Labovitz, lighting design by Colin K. Bills and sound design by Ryan Hickey.
Through June 10th in the ARK Theatre 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.
