(l-r) Sara Barker (Emilie), Brit Herring (Voltaire) ~ Photo credit: DJ Corey Photography
The story of Émilie, La Marquise du Châtelet, a woman of science lightyears ahead of her time, is yet another thrilling play by Lauren Gunderson, the most-produced living playwright in America this season. It’s an intellectually-minded comic drama that delivers both wit and passion in spades. Based on the true story of the noted physicist and her decades-long collaboration with Voltaire, the 18th C poet, historian, and political rabble rouser, it appeals to an audience longing for representations of women of substance – especially those pioneers of science who fought hard for recognition in a male-dominated society. The latest to have been brought to our attention is Katherine Johnson, the African-American mathematician whose story was depicted in the Oscar-nominated movie, Hidden Figures.
(l-r) Lisa Hodsoll (Madam), Billie Krishawn (Soubrette), Sara Barker (Emilie), Steve Lebens (Gentleman) ~ Photo credit: DJ Corey Photography
In the role of a lifetime Sara Barker as Émilie provides us with a breathtaking, woman-in-full performance. Barker’s uncanny ability to get into the skin of the famed scientist and author is nothing less than spectacular. In defending the Marquise’s theory, a departure from Newton’s original, ‘Force, Motion, Mass Squared’ (“The squaring adds Life,” she concludes), Barker more than adopts Émilie’s brain, she appears to viscerally inhabit it.
In this plot, Émilie is eloquently matched by Voltaire, a mercurial romantic with an egotistical intellect, played admirably by Brit Herring. Together they form an alliance of ideas, “You’re a stunning woman, and an impressive man,” he tells her backhandedly. Until, ultimately, when she proves she is the true scientist of the two, he defames her, portraying her to the men of the Academy of Sciences as an insignificant female dilettante.
(l-r) Billie Krishawn (Soubrette), Sara Barker (Emilie), Brit Herring (Voltaire) ~ Photo credit: DJ Corey Photography
Director Rick Hammerly has Émilie keeping score of both her scholarly and romantic successes on framed panels of glass. She is fiercely competitive! When she wins an argument, or one-ups Voltaire, she makes white chalk marks to indicate her triumphs. Other furnishings combine 18th century elegance, like a curved leg writing desk and sparkling crystal chandelier, with modern day chrome and Lucite used in a madcap scene of musical chairs. Female actors wear corsets and paniers with denim jeans to parallel modern day misogyny. Especially noteworthy is Joseph R. Walls dramatic lighting and Frank DiSalvo Jr.’s sound design incorporating period music and striking sound effects.
Gunderson uses hilarity to depict their quixotic love scenes as when Voltaire aims to distract her with words of love. “Be my muse,” he implores. “Stop wooing, I can’t think,” she replies.
If I gave out stars (which as you know I don’t), this one would have five! Go!
With Lisa Hodsoll as Madam, Billie Krishawn as Soubrette, and Steve Lebens as Gentleman.
Through November 12th at Gunston Arts Center, Theatre Two – 2700 South Lang Street, Arlington, VA 22206. For tickets and information call 703 418.4808 or go online at www.AvantBard.org/tickets
A moment of flirtatious play between Mark Antony (Cody Nickell) and his Cleopatra (Shirine Babb). Photo by Teresa Wood.
“Kingdoms are clay,” warns Antony to his beloved Cleopatra in the opening scene of Antony and Cleopatra. Even the Soothsayer foretells their downfall and the untimely demise of the lovers. But dire prophesies do not dissuade the ego-centric Antony from fulfilling his desires, nor us from enjoying this lightly condensed version of one of Shakespeare’s most lyrical plays. And though both Romans and Egyptians tended to heed the warnings from mythological Gods and Goddesses, what the heck? They were human, after all, notwithstanding their respective royal bubbles.
A meeting of Rome’s leaders, the triumvirate. Pictured left to right: Robbie Gay (Lepidus), Dylan Paul (Octavius Caesar), Cody Nickell (Mark Antony), with Chris Genebach (Agrippa) looking on the proceeding. Photo by Teresa Wood.
From the get go Antony knows his love for his lusty queen is doomed, yet he is so besotted, so incapable of making intelligent decisions, that he ignores the sage advice of Octavius Caesar and his military leader Lepidus to abandon his pursuit of Cleopatra. With one foot in Egypt and the other in Rome, he is utterly conflicted. Love, or country? It’s complicated – especially to those lost in lust.
Performed in the round with a revolving circular platform on center stage, the production is intimate, energetic and action-packed. Director Robert Richmond calls Tony Cisek’s set design “gladiatorial”, which makes for a perfectly suited space to view hyper-electrifying of combat and romance as emotions swing to and fro like an amped up pendulum.
Mardian (John Floyd) and Charmian (Simoné Elizabeth Bart) tend to their Queen of Egypt, Cleopatra (Shirine Babb) in Antony and Cleopatra. Photo by Teresa Wood.
Shirine Babb’s Cleopatra is ruthless and fierce yet with a sensual nature that challenges Antony to meet her impossible demands. It’s a formidable counterbalance to Cody Nickell’s fiery, bombastic, delusional Antony and evident in their playful love scenes that skew modern (we don’t feel as though we’re hanging around in 40 BC), as well as adding punch to their wittily flip, and ferociously bruising, quarrels. As two of the most powerful figures of their time, their impetuous decisions and recurrent contretemps (Are they getting along today, or not?) affected whole nations and the future of the known world.
Cleopatra (Shirine Babb) gives comfort to her dying Mark Antony (Cody Nickell) . Photo by Teresa Wood.
In this vivid portrait of two lovers, both rulers and conquerors, we see two megalomaniacs locked in battle for dominance while vulnerable to their unbridled passions. Whether it’s a battle scene executed in dance form by the soldiers or a love scene framed by a silk-draped bed, Costume Designer Mariah Hale gives us diaphanous, gem-colored gowns for the ladies with a glittering, golden cloche for Queen Cleopatra, and leather-girded and metal-studded togas with silken scarlet capes for the men. Dramatic scene-enhancing moods set by Adam Stamper on sound design and Andrew F. Griffin on lighting.
Highly recommended.
With Simone Elizabeth Bart as Charmian; John Floyd as Mardian; Robbie Gay as Lepidus and Dolabella; Chris Genebach as Agrippa; Nigel Gore as Enobarbus; Nicole King as Iras and Octavia; Anthony Michael Martinez as Soothsayer and Eros; and Dylan Paul as Octavius Caesar.
Through November 19th 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 www.Folger.edu/theatre.
(L to R) Hal Linden as Gregory Solomon and Maboud Ebrahimzadeh as Victor Franz. Photo by Colin Hovde.
For Arena Stage’s 20th Anniversary season, Artistic Director Molly Smith has placed her bets on Hal Linden, an actor’s actor whose comedic timing is a veritable master class. Linden plays the part of Gregory Solomon, a Russian Jew and antique dealer in Arthur Miller’s classic play, The Price. It’s sheer pleasure to watch Linden ply his lines and experience his instinctively smooth delivery and Old Country accent – with a hearty dose of shtick added for good measure. Playing off an exceptional performance of Maboud Ebrahimzadeh as Victor Franz, a frustrated cop who failed to realize his potential, this production, artfully directed by Seema Sueko, is a well-cast delight that brings both searing drama and mood-lightening humor to the American stage.
Victor and his wife, Esther (Pearl Sun) are liquidating the estate of his late, formerly wealthy father, a failed businessman that pitted his two sons against each other. Walter (Rafael Untalan), a successful surgeon who hasn’t spoken to his brother in 16 years, encourages Victor and his wife to keep the proceeds. Clearly, he feels some compunction that he hasn’t returned Victor’s calls. And though Esther encourages them to patch up their relationship, Victor is stuck in past resentments, unable to decide on his retirement date and his plans for their future.
(L to R) Pearl Sun as Esther Franz, Maboud Ebrahimzadeh as Victor Franz and Rafael Untalan as Walter Franz. Photo by Colin Hovde.
As Gregory tries to convince Victor how worthless the antiques are, it becomes a parlor game between the two, with the old man using his considerable bargaining skills and Victor feeling taken. Every time Victor feels as though he’s struck a deal, the street savvy Gregory turns the tables, stalling for time. In a particularly hilarious scene, the sly swindler plops down on a chair and peels a hard cooked egg, toying with Victor like a lion with its prey.
As the brothers attempt to smooth out their acrimony, with Esther as cheerleader, they relegate Gregory to a back room from where he pops out to renegotiate at the most inopportune moments to great comic relief. Against the backdrop of his comedic interruptions, the brothers’ long-simmering jealousies surface and the self-righteous Victor destroys any hope of reconciliation.
(L to R) Maboud Ebrahimzadeh as Victor Franz and Hal Linden as Gregory Solomon. Photo by Colin Hovde.
The action takes place in the late 60’s in the attic of their father’s former shop where Set Designer Wilson Chin piles period antiques to the rafters evoking memories of the brothers’ past and a lifetime of disappointments.
Highly recommended.
Through November 12th at Arena Stage, 1101 Sixth St., SE, Washington, DC 20024. For tickets and information call 202 488-3300 or visit www.ArenaStage.org.
Tom Story (God) and Jamie Smithson (Gabriel). Photo by Margot Schulman.
A gem of a comedy is holding fast at Signature Theatre. Directed by 13-time Emmy-winning former head writer and Executive Producer of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, David Javerbaum, this hilarious sendup of God stars Tom Story. Story, who took on the Herculean 40-role play Fully Committed at MetroStage last December, is a seven-time Helen Hayes Award nominee who proves in this off-the-wall, one-acter that he can take on the biggest role of all. God. Director Eleanor Holdrige makes certain nothing is sacred in this stick-in-the-eye comedy – especially not God himself whom Story plays with all the irrepressible wit, snark and snap in his toolbox.
Tom Story (God), Jamie Smithson (Gabriel) and Evan Casey (Michael). Photo by Margot Schulman.
In a Family Feud takeoff God is aided by His naughty archangels (“My wingmen.”) played by Evan Casey as Michael and Jamie Smithson as Gabriel. Michael and Gabriel are adept at dashing into the audience and attributing to the unsuspecting guests pre-chosen questions that threaten to undermine God’s laws. Heresy! Beginning with the Creation of the World God confesses the six-day timeline wasn’t enough, and goes on to lay out a new version of the Ten Commandments, an original explanation of Adam and Eve (“I removed a non-load bearing rib.”) as well as a condemnation of the Ark’s fuzzy math and another pet peeve, the lack of modern science as in the impossibility of Abraham’s 90-year old wife’s miraculous birth of their son. He is apoplectic at these biblical misinterpretations. “I have wrath management issues,” He confesses.
In order to set the record straight, He explains his original intent. In particular His Fourth Commandment, “Thou Shalt Separate Me and State”, in which He reviles those that claim to speak for him. Oh, so popular these days. And His Seventh Commandment, “Do Not Tell Me What to Bless”, wherein He blasts those worshippers who ask Him for a slam dunk or touchdown and protection from devils when sneezing. He knows exactly who He will bless and who He will curse. “I don’t want you to kill in my name. I can do that all by myself.”
Evan Casey (Michael), Tom Story (God) and Jamie Smithson (Gabriel). Photo by Margot Schulman.
Thanks to Costume Designer Robert Croghan’s pimped-out white suit with Gucci belt mega-church preacher style, God can say with total assurance, “I am a well-established brand.” The Playbill agrees, crediting him as Playwright. “God is the original multi-hyphenate and triple threat, an auteur and visionary whose bold creations and intelligent designs have earned Him international recognition since Day One. He is also a writer whose previous literary efforts, The Old Testament and The New Testament, have collectively sold an impressive 7,000,000,000 copies.”
Credit also to Daniel Conway for his flashy scenic design giving God a suitably deluxe platform on which to pontificate and take selfies with His archangels and Alberto Segarra for lighting God and His pronouncements in all His extraterrestrial glory.
Highly recommended for a healthy dose of irreverence.
Through November 26th at Signature Theatre (Shirlington Village), 4200 Campbell Avenue, Arlington, VA 22206. For tickets and information call 703 820-9771 or visit www.sigtheatre.org.
Lisa Dawn as Sarah and Patrick Kennedy as Richard ~Photo credit Carol Rosegg
The Lover opens a door onto a middle class couple conversing in their mid-century modern living room. Richard (Patrick Kennedy) and Sarah (Lisa Dwan) have been married ten years. Over martinis they discuss how they spent their afternoon with their respective lovers. They appear emotionally, and inexplicably, detached – aloof about their spouse’s peccadilloes, and eager to overshare. They quaintly thrust and parry, delivering jealousy-inducing blows with accuracy. But neither flinches. With the unflappable reserve of the English stiff upper lip, they regard each other with all the enthusiasm of a scientific experiment while challenging one another with wild tales of their extramarital exploits. Perhaps, that was Pinter’s intent – to examine the differences between the sexes with a calculatingly eye towards achieving parity. “Frankness at all costs,” demands Richard. Or perhaps, it’s just an exercise in existentialism with the audience as voyeuristic dupes?
Ultimately, it is merely vexing. Why, you wonder, are they so blasé about infidelity? Why should we care about them and their outcome when they are so cruel to each other? When Pinter wrote these set pieces we were coming out of the Beatnik era and into the sexual revolution. It was a time when “being cool” was crucial, and being closed-minded was decidedly “uncool”. But who was being served?
In this one-acter, Richard and Sarah vie for power in a sexually-charged marriage. As their erotic role-playing becomes fiercer, they switch off roles of dominance and submission. It’s a no-win game that plays out in dispassionate insults and fantasy vignettes, with a milkman as red herring thrown in to divert.
Photo of Patrick Ball as Bill and Jack Koenig as Harry ~Photo credit Carol Rosegg
The Collection is a more diverting tale with a somewhat meatier storyline. Two gay men, one a well-to-do elderly man, Harry (Jack Koenig), the other his fancy boy, Bill, the fashion designer (Patrick Ball), live together in a bespoke home in London amid a collection of antiques and Oriental vases. Bill appears to be caught in a tangle. Did he sleep with a woman on a business trip, or did she fabricate the story to make her husband jealous? “Did you have a good time in Leeds last week,” James asks accusingly.
Photo of Lisa Dwan as Stella ~Photo credit Carol Rosegg
As a mystery, it’s no Agatha Christie – far too many holes in it. As in, why would Harry welcome the low-class, middle-aged stranger, James (Patrick Kennedy), into his home for a chat? Who does that? And why would he and Bill ultimately befriend James with promises of a posh life when he accuses James of blackmail? James’ own wife Stella (Lisa Dwan) would have had her reputation destroyed in a divorce case if that had been his intent, which it appears it isn’t. But let’s not allow details to get in the way.
Lisa Dawn as Sarah and Patrick Kennedy as Richard ~Photo credit Carol Rosegg
The action picks up when young Bill is alone with the canny and violent James. Together they play a macabre dance with Bill trying to determine James’ intent and James playing cat-and-mouse with the vulnerable Bill. Their conversation, as in the couple in The Lover is as dry as the proverbial bone, until Harry appears, toys with James’ affections, and Bill is treated like a disposable house guest.
Under the direction of Michael Kahn, these four actors do an exceptional job of tackling this anachronistic fluff, but to what end? In both of these productions cruelty and degradation win out in the end – a Pyrrhic victory all around.
Though October 29th at the Lansburgh Theatre, 450 7th Street NW, Washington, DC 20003. For tickets and information contact the Box Office at 202 547-1122 or visit www.shakespearetheatre.org.
Marcus Naylor as Langston Hughes ~ Photo credit Chris Banks
Carlyle Brown’s play about the investigation and inquisition of Langston Hughes by the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) is a deeply moving, profoundly disturbing probe into the mind of a successful Black American poet. Under the guidance of Joseph McCarthy, these televised courtroom investigations were led by the notorious Roy Cohn, advisor to Richard Nixon and later mentor to Donald Trump, the Senate Subcommittee turns their search to uncover Communists into a witch hunt the likes of which America had never seen. Like Hitler’s civilian spies it turned the country into a nation of informants – with people putting forth names of co-workers and friends to save their own skin. That many of them had no connection to the actual Communist Party, nor knew anything more than workers had rights and blacks were equal in the USSR, was of no consequence to these self-righteous Senators.
The investigation into, and “blacklisting” of, the lives of hundreds of actors, writers, gays, etc. ruined their lives, careers, and businesses – all in the name of rooting out a misperceived Communist and anti-Christian influence on American society. It turned the country upside down at the time.
(l-r) Michael Sharp Wood, Van Meter, Josh Taylor, Marcus Naylor as Langston Hughes, Marni Penning, Russell Sunday ~ Photo credit Chris Banks
In this newly developed treatment of Brown’s play, Composer William Knowles adds verve to the drama adding original music to background life in 1953 Harlem and, later, the needle-sharp drama of the hearings. Knowles incorporates period Blues, Jazz and Cabaret songs to animate the rhythms and patterns of Hughes’ famous poems. It’s set in the period of the Harlem Renaissance when, as Hughes puts it, “Negroes were in vogue.” Until they weren’t.
It is a sinuous story set to music that weaves in and out of Hughes’ most profound thoughts, highlighting his poetry and underpinning his trial in dramatic fashion. For those familiar with Hughes’ poems it will be a pleasure to renew your acquaintance with “The Weary Blues”, The Negro Speaks of Rivers”, “Harlem Dance Hall”, “Good Morning Revolution” and others.
(l-r) Russell Sunday, Josh Thomas, Marcus Naylor as Langston Hughes, Wood Van Meter ~ Photo credit Chris Banks
Director Thomas W. Jones II does an outstanding job with a diverse cast that brings the necessary gravitas to the story. The six-member cast not only sings and dances in a number of styles of the period, but moves effortlessly through a number of roles and wardrobe changes, that is except for lead actor Marcus Naylor as Langston who tackles the role with virtuosity. The one-acter builds to a crescendo with Hughes’ interrogation by Cohn (played impressively by Marni Penning) who eviscerates the poet piecemeal. The parallels to today’s news are staggering.
Also notable is Wood Van Meter as David Schine, who has a wonderful voice and whose solos are explosive. Michael Sharp as Senator Joseph McCarthy, Russell Sunday as Senator Everett Dirksen and Josh Thomas as Frank Reeves round out this excellent cast.
Carl Gudenius and Shuxing Fan employ an effective set design of large trapezoidal panels that allow for Hughes words, plus photos and videos of the period, to accommodate designer Robbie Hayes’ evocative projections.
Highly recommended. An unforgettable night of theatre.
Through November 5th at MetroStage 1201 North Royal Street, Alexandria, 22314. For tickets and information call 703 548-9044 or visit www.metrostage.org.
(l-r) Michael Sharp, Russell Sunday, Josh Thomas, Marcus Naylor as Langston Hughes, Marni Penning, Wood Van Meter ~ Photo credit Chris Banks
