MAPLE AND VINE • HotCity Theatre

Contemporary life can be smothering sometimes, right?  With many of us spending our days tethered to our cellphones and laptops, wouldn't it be nice to live during a time where we weren't bombarded with constant stimulation?  Or would it?  HotCity explores these possibilities in its current offering, Jordan Harrison's Maple and Vine.

It's night as the lights come up on Katha (Shanara Gabrielle) and Ryu's (Alan C. David) NYC apartment.  Katha can't sleep.  Not only do they have noisy, inconsiderate neighbors, but Katha can't seem to get work out of her head.  She's completely burned out at her publishing job, and the everyday grind is complicated by the fact that she's having a difficult time dealing with a miscarriage she suffered six months earlier.  Her husband makes a nice living as a plastic surgeon, but Ryu's long hours at work have become unfulfilling for him as well.  One day, after impulsively quitting her job, Katha meets a man named Dean (Chad Morris).  He's unassumingly debonair in his suit, tie and hat, and has a friendliness about him that strikes Katha as a little unusual.

Shanara Gabrielle (Katha) and Alan C. David (Ryu)

Photo credit: Todd Studios

Dean, after an inquiry about directions and a small bit of conversation, feels comfortable enough to tell her about a place where she and her husband could live in a simpler time, free of the digital overloads of the 21st century.  He, along with his wife Ellen (Michelle Hand), who looks like she's stepped right out of an episode of "Ozzie and Harriet", are members of a group of reenactors, you might say.  The "Society of Dynamic Obsolescence".  This group painstakingly re-enact life from 1955, and Dean is a recruiter.  They have pamphlets and everything!

Chad Morris (Dean) and Michelle Hand (Ellen).

Photo credit: Todd Studios

After a bit of coaxing, Katha convinces Ryu to give this gated community a shot and take Dean up on the trial period.  With guidance from Ellen, Katha (now called "Kathy") rids herself of anything post 1955.  Bye-bye poly-blends. And Grey Goose vodka.  And sushi and lattes.  It's Salisbury steak, crab puffs and Sanka time!  Even though Kathy and Ryu do feel the need to set up a code word to say to each other when they have to talk about the world outside, Kathy takes to her life as a homemaker wholeheartedly.  She's empowered by the simple pleasures of making chicken stock on her own and keeping a nice house.  Ryu has a harder time settling into his new job assembling boxes under the supervision of his bigoted boss, Roger (Robby Suozzi).  Life in the 50's couldn't be easy for a Japanese American, and Ryu and Kathy couldn't avoid awkward glances as a "mixed race" couple during those times.  The fact that certain attitudes, regardless of the era, contain the same complications and taboos come to light as the play unfolds.  We learn that Dean and Roger have their own skeletons, and Ellen has become quite adept at hiding her own personal pains.

Shanara Gabrielle (Katha), Michelle Hand (Ellen),

Chad Morris (Dean) and Alan C. David (Ryu).

Photo credit: Todd Studios

Under Doug Finlayson's attentive direction, this play entertains and leaves you with things to think and talk about on the way home.  Gabrielle is magnetic as the frustrated exec. turned homemaker and Morris is the epitome of "dapper" as the impossibly neat Dean.  Hand delivers a delicately layered Ellen, and David capably handles his role as Ryu.  Suozzi turns in great performances as Roger, and Katha's ladder climbing co-worker, Omar.

Creative sound effects (Rusty Wandall) and lighting (Michael Sullivan) added to the surreal quality of the dream scenes, and the costumes (JC Krajicek) were great fun.  The set (Sean Savoie) nicely accommodates a contemporary minimal apartment, an office, and retro 1950's surroundings.  HotCity, by the way, is auctioning off a few of the vintage furniture!  You get more information about that in your program.

Check it out!  It's playing until the 18th.

Shanara Gabrielle (Katha) and Alan C. David (Ryu)

Photo credit: Todd Studios

MAPLE AND VINE

Written by Jordan Harrison

Directed by Doug Finlayson

Kranzberg Arts Center, 501 North Grand Blvd.

through May 18 | tickets: $20 - $25

Performances Thursday and Friday at 8pm, Saturday at 3pm and 8pm, Sundays at 7pm

Cast:

Shanara Gabrielle* (Katha), Alan C. David (Ryu), Michelle Hand (Ellen/Jenna), Chad Morris (Dean) and Robby Suozzi (Roger/Omar).

* Member Actors' Equity Association

Creative:

Scenic design by Sean Savoie; lighting design by Michael Sullivan; sound design by Rusty Wandall; costume design by JC Krajicek; dramaturg, Gad Guterman; stage manager, Richard Agnew.

SMASH/HIT! • The Black Rep

Receiving its world premiere at the Black Rep, Smash/Hit!, written by Steve Broadnax and Michael S. Bordner, centers around "Money" (Ronald L. Conner), and his aspirations of making it big on the hip-hop scene along with his childhood friend, Chance (Matthew Galbreath).  The play also touches on other subjects -- the plight of poverty, post-traumatic stress disorder, father/son dynamics and homophobia in the black community.  It tries to cover a lot of ground.  Maybe too much.

Matthew Galbreath (Chance),

Ronald L. Conner (Money)

and DJ Super Nova (DJ).

Photo credit: Stewart Goldstein

"No Plan B", the name of Money and Chance's hip-hop duo, begin by loosening up the crowd with a little rap music.  After learning that his girlfriend, Joi (FeliceSkye) is pregnant, Money is more determined than ever to be successful and does what he can to make some quick money.  He refuses to abandon his girlfriend and baby, the way he was abandoned by his own father.

He decides to join the army.  At least that way he'll be getting paid more than minimum wage, as opposed to working at some fast-food joint, which he's too proud to do.  Chance goes it alone while Money is off at service, and with some help from Good Boy, (Justin Ivan Brown), a local radio promoter, Chance starts to gain a little ground.  When Money returns from Iraq, Chance wants them to pick up where they left off, but Money has a hard time letting go of the horrors he experienced during his military service.

Although this play has had a couple of years being workshopped, it could still stand a little more fine-tuning.  In addition to not really following up on subjects that it introduces, the explanations that do happen, happen way too late, or not at all.

Feliceskye (Joi) and Ronald L. Conner (Money).

Photo credit: Stewart Goldstein

Under the direction of Ron Himes, the performances were very good, when the actors weren't being hampered by the script.  Ronald L. Conner as Money shows a range of emotions during the course of the play, and even though Galbreath's Chance is sometimes reduced to asking Money if, "everything is alright" early on -- a lot, he does a fine job with his character, especially when more about him is revealed in the second act.  Still, Conner and Galbreath are both pretty good rappers!  They do a great job with the original music featured in the play.  Brown as Good Boy and FeliceSkye as Joi  turn in solid performances, and D.J. Super Nova also does a nice job punctuating the narrative with his hip-hop beats from the upper level of the set, courtesy of scenic designer Jim Burwinkel.  David Warfel is responsible for the lights, Robin Weatherall for the sound, and Lou Bird for the costumes.

Justin Ivan Brown (Good Boy)

and Matthew Galbreath (Chance).

Photo credit: Stewart Goldstein

There is some potentially good stuff here no doubt, but the focus could be narrowed with more loose ends tied up.  Smash/Hit! is playing at the Black Rep till the 18th.

SMASH/HIT!

Written by Steve Broadnax and Michael S. Bordner

Directed by Ron Himes

Grandel Theatre, 3610 Grandel Square

through May 18 | tickets: $20 - $47

Performances Thursdays at 7pm, Fridays and Saturdays at 8pm, Sundays at 2pm

Matthew Galbreath (Chance) and Ronald L. Conner (Money).

Photo credit: Stewart Goldstein

Cast:

Justin Ivan Brown (Good Boy), Ronald L. Conner* (Money), FeliceSkye (Joi), Matthew Galbreath (Chance) and D.J. Super Nova (DJ).

* Member Actors' Equity Association

Creative:

Scenic design by Jim Burwinkel; lighting design by David Warfel; sound design by Robin Weatherall; costume design by Lou Bird; stage manager, Linda Kennedy.

WAITING FOR GODOT • St. Louis Actors' Studio

Played out on a minimal set with a couple of stones, a leafless tree, and a backdrop of a blue cloudy sky, Waiting for Godot, as the title suggests, is about these two guys, Vladimir (Gary Wayne Barker) and Estragon (Terry Meddows), who are waiting for someone called Godot.  The men admit they don't remember how they know Godot, or if they even really know him at all.  Just about the only thing they do know is that when Godot shows up, everything will be better.  Hmm…  But what to do in the meantime…?

Samuel Beckett's tragicomedy (here pronounced GOD-oh, the way Beckett intended) that debuted in a small Paris theatre in 1953 has long been hailed as a classic example of the "Theatre of the Absurd".  It's practically devoid of dramatic conventions.  There's no solid plot.  Instead it's populated with the mundane details of what happens amidst the waiting.  The exchanges between Vladimir and Estragon (or Didi and Gogo -- their familiar names for each other), are where the wolfish, deeper themes of the play lay disguised (or in plain sight) as lamb's clothing.  This play presents the everydayness of life.  Whether they're bickering, eating carrots, trying to remember what day it is, or trading off hats and quick banter like Abbott and Costello or Laurel and Hardy, the dialogue between Didi and Gogo is where the overall landscape of the bleak, comic, repetitive and uncertain nature of the human condition is cleverly cloaked.

Terry Meddows (Estragon)

and Gary Wayne Barker (Vladimir).

Photo credit: Patrick Huber

Its revolutionary nature when it came onto the scene, plus the fact that Beckett always avoided elaborating much on the characters, made this play open to a wide range of interpretations and philosophical analysis.  I mean, it's kind of crazy how many online articles there are out there supposing what the characters might represent.  Thing is, what's in the text can be interpreted however the viewer chooses.  And there are several choices.

Act one opens with Estragon struggling to take one of his boots off.  Vladimir considers a Bible story, and at one point contemplates the consequences of hanging themselves from the tree.  There's nothing else to do besides wait, right?  They decide that they may not succeed with the hanging, considering all of the possible complications, so they go on figuring out what else they can do to fill time, while they wait for the arrival of Godot.

At one point near the beginning, they wonder whether they've gotten the right day, only to realize they can't be sure of what day it is at all.  Taking note of the tree, Vladimir wonders what kind it might be.  He suggests it might be a willow that must be dead, and Estragon answers, "No more weeping".  They go on like this -- talking about ordinary things, arguing back and forth and nursing hurt feelings like a newlywed couple.

Greg Johnston (Pozzo), Gary Wayne Barker (Vladimir),

Terry Meddows (Estragon) and Aaron Orion Baker (Lucky).

Photo credit: Patrick Huber

The everydayness is broken when two fellow travelers, Lucky (Aaron Orion Baker), a manservant/slave, shuffles forward with a noose around his neck, and his master Pozzo (Greg Johnston), an arrogant windbag, calling the shots on the other end of a long rope, come onto the scene.  They've been traveling around the lands, that Pozzo claims to be his, so they stop for awhile for some company.  As superior as Pozzo seems, while mercilessly abusing Lucky, he eventually reveals his own weaknesses.  Lucky, as miserable as his existence seems, at least has a purpose -- a purpose that the rest of the characters seem to lack.  Near the end of Act one, a Boy (Hayden Benbenek) appears to inform Vladimir that Godot can't make it that day.  He promises he'll be by the next day.  After questioning the boy about whether or not they've actually had this conversation the previous day, Didi and Gogo resume waiting.  They resolve to leave once night has fallen, but can't bring themselves to move.

Greg Johnston (Pozzo),

and Gary Wayne Barker (Vladimir)

Photo credit: Patrick Huber

The second act is a Twilight Zone-styled déjà vu of the first act, with many familiar exchanges.  Even Pozzo and Lucky show up again, but now, Pozzo is blind and Lucky is mute.  The Boy also makes another appearance to inform Vladimir that once again, Godot can't make it.  But tomorrow for sure…  The end.  Or more likely, not the end.  Whaa???

Now, I admit, I read way too much stuff about this play before I saw it, and was kinda scared.  This kind of theatre intimidates me.  Didn't think I'd get it.  But I was surprised at the accessibility of it, and the amount of comedy within the text.  For me, someone who's never seen this play before, that accessibility is largely due to its director, Bobby Miller, and a top notch cast.  Barker injects Vladimir with a playful, affable humor one moment, and exasperation the next.  Meddows as Estragon, the more somber of the two, has a face full of wide ranging expressions, from glee to downright despair.  Then there's Lucky -- pale, despondent and broken-down, but Baker gives us a clearly drawn representation of someone who may be luckier than the rest of the characters.  At least he and Pozzo have decidedly defined roles. Johnston confidently shows us a Pozzo whose cocksure affectations belie his shared helplessness.

Patrick Huber's scenic and lighting design were perfectively just enough, and Michele Friedman Siler's costumes ring true to the "tramp like" look of the men.

Terry Meddows (Estragon), Aaron Orion Baker (Lucky),

and Gary Wayne Barker (Vladimir).

Photo credit: Patrick Huber

The opening lines of the play sum it up rather nicely, when Estragon struggles to take off his boot, he says, "Nothing to be done".  He's answered by Vladimir who says, "I'm beginning to come round to that opinion. All my life I've tried to put it from me, saying Vladimir, be reasonable, you haven't yet tried everything. And I resumed the struggle."  So yeah.  It's deep, but well worth it if you're willing to take the plunge.  I promise -- it's not scary.  Check it out from the comfort of your theatre seat, and watch these intriguing fellows bide their time.

WAITING FOR GODOT

Written by Samuel Beckett

Directed by Bobby Miller

The Gaslight Theater, 358 N. Boyle Ave.

through May 5 | tickets: $30

Performances Thursday to Saturday at 8pm, Sundays at 3pm

Terry Meddows (Estragon) and Gary Wayne Barker (Vladimir).

Photo credit: Patrick Huber

Cast:

Terry Meddows* (Estragon), Gary Wayne Barker* (Vladimir), Greg Johnston (Pozzo), Aaron Orion Baker* (Lucky) and Hayden Benbenek (A Boy).

* Member Actors' Equity Association

Creative:

Scenic and lighting design by Patrick Huber; costume design by Michele Friedman Siler; stage manager, Amy Paige.

GYPSY: A MUSICAL FABLE • Stray Dog Theatre

Stray Dog continues its trend of not backing away from ambitious shows with its current production, Gypsy -- one of the most highly regarded book musicals in the canon of musical theatre.  Loosely based on the memoirs of famed striptease performer, Gypsy Rose Lee, there are many reasons this musical that premiered in 1959 about the stage mother of all stage mothers is regarded in such high esteem.  With a deeply-layered book by Arthur Laurents, clever lyrics by my hero, Stephen Sondheim and splendid, intricate music by Jule Styne, Gypsy not only has a reverence for "showbiz" itself and more than a few classic numbers (beginning with an old-school overture that you should definitely keep your pie hole shut for), but also, it centers around the complicated character, Mama Rose, who roots for and alienates those close to her.  It also has not one, but two major character arcs, where at the start there's a strong one and a weak one, and by the end, the strongest has become the weakest, and the weakest becomes the strongest.  Love…

Deborah Sharn (Mama Rose) and Ken Haller (Herbie).

Photo credit: John Lamb

It picks up in the early 1920's at "Uncle Jocko's Kiddie Show" in Seattle.  Mama Rose (Deborah Sharn) is chasing after fame with her daughters, June (Lily McDonald) and Louise (Isabella Koster) in tow.  Rose is convinced that "Baby June" is destined to be a star, and if it kills her, she's determined to make that happen.  Along the way Rose meets Herbie (Ken Haller), a former show business agent and current candy seller.  He's attracted to Rose's moxie, and agrees to accompany Rose and her rag-tag vaudeville troupe to do what he can to help her book gigs, even if his nagging ulcer doesn't agree.

Evan Fornachon, Mike Hodges, Zach Wachter (seated),

Jennifer Theby-Quinn (June), Deborah Sharn (Mama Rose),

Michael Monsey (Mr. Goldstone),

Ken Haller (Herbie), and Steve Roma.

Photo credit: John Lamb

With that marvelous time-honored strobe-light transition from the young traveling company onstage to the older kids, years later, Rose is still at it, pilfering restaurant silverware, making motel blankets into coats, and chasing after the last threadbare shreds of vaudeville fame.  While her "less talented" daughter Louise (Sabra Sellers) plays along, yearning for connection with her mom, June's (Jennifer Theby-Quinn) eyes are wide open to the fact that their act that's hardly changed in forever is crap, they are still being dressed as children, and she's driven away to marry a member of the chorus, Tulsa (Zach Wachter), by Rose's relentless pursuit of the Orpheum Circuit.  Rose ends up re-shifting her attention to poor Louise in the show's wonderful act one closer, "Everything's Coming Up Roses".

Deborah Sharn (Mama Rose),

Sabra Sellers (Louise/Gypsy Rose Lee),

and Ken Haller (Herbie).

Photo credit: John Lamb

They eventually end up in Burlesque -- where vaudeville acts go to die.  Three of the resident strippers, Tessie Tura (Jenni Ryan), Mazeppa (Kimberly Still) and Electra (Paula Stoff Dean) teach Louise, now called "Gypsy Rose Lee", the fine art of stripping in another one of the show's memorable tunes, "You Gotta Get a Gimmick".  Fortunes are reversed as Louise discovers she has a knack for this kind of work, and Rose sees herself playing a smaller and smaller role in Louise's life.  Rose lays it all out there with a shout-out to who she really is with "Rose's Turn".

Gary Bell directs this show and the huge cast with laser-sharp focus, and all of the aspects of Gypsy come together beautifully.  Sharn in the tyrannical role of Mama Rose blew me away.  With a strong, full-bodied voice, she delivers all of her big numbers without missing a step.  Haller as Rose's boyfriend Herbie really conveyed a man weighed down by Rose's demands, but the fact that he still loves her is apparent -- though you can hardly blame him when he's finally forced to walk out.  Sellers as Rose's painfully shy daughter, Louise, makes a great impression with a heartbreakingly sweet rendition of "Little Lamb", and reacts with horror when Rose bursts into "Everything's Coming Up Roses".  Theby-Quinn once again shows her comedic skill and flair as June, and delivers a splendid "Dainty June and her Farmboys".  She, along with Sellers, hit the harmonies on the head in "If Mama Was Married", one of my personal favorites.  All of the kids in the cast were adorable and the aforementioned strippers, Ryan, Still and Dean knocked their number out of the park.

Sabra Sellers (Gypsy Rose Lee), Eileen Engel, Andy Kay,

Sierra Buffum.
Photo credit: John Lamb

The set, courtesy of David Blake and Justin Been, while simple enough to let the acting and singing carry the show, had some lovely details, like the little marquee panels that were changed throughout to inform time and place.  J.T. Ricroft contributes some terrific choreography, as well as lending his adorable little dog Pedro as Chowsie.  Alexandra Scibetta Quigley coordinated the magnificent array of costumes that were accommodated by the Repertory Theatre of St. Louis and Stages St. Louis.  The members of the cast had head mics, but it seemed to me that they weren't "kicked on" until a number was being performed, deftly avoiding the issue of the cast being drowned out by the music.  Kudos!  Chris Petersen directed the sizable orchestra, and while the band could have been a little tighter, I can't imagine a more challenging score, and I have to admit, this is a score I love.  I wasn't disappointed.

Time to "bump it with a trumpet", folks!  With familiar, haunting, funny, sad and frightening things in the mix of this "King Lear" of musicals, if you're reading this, and you miss it, you're an idiot.  Ha!  Just kidding…

Kinda.
GO SEE IT!!!

Deborah Sharn (Mama Rose).

Photo credit: John Lamb

GYPSY: A MUSICAL FABLE

Book by Arthur Laurents

Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim 

Music by Jule Styne

Directed by Gary F. Bell

Tower Grove Abbey, 2336 Tennessee Ave.

through April 20 | tickets: $18 - $20

Performances Thursday to Saturday at 8pm, Saturday April 20 performances at 2pm and 8pm.

Cast:

Deborah Sharn (Mama Rose), Ken Haller (Herbie), Sabra Sellers (Louise/Gypsy Rose Lee), Jennifer Theby-Quinn (Dainty June), Zach Wachter (Tulsa), Jenni Ryan (Tessie Tura, plus stage mother), Kimberly Still (Mazeppa, plus stage mother), Paula Stoff Dean (Electra, plus Miss Cratchitt), Lily McDonald (Baby June), Isabella Koster (Young Louise), Pedro Ricroft (Chowsie), Mature Men Roles: Michael Monsey, Charles Huevelman, Older Chorus Boys: Evan Fornachon, Mike Hodges, Steve Roma, Older Chorus Girls: Sierra Buffum, Eileen Engel, Andy Kay, Young Ensemble: Court Hyken, Lillian Kanterman, Ellie Lore and Fiona Scott.

Creative:

Scenic design by David Blake and Justin Been; lighting design by Tyler Duenow; costume design and coordinator, Alexandra Scibetta Quigley (costumes courtesy of the Repertory Theatre of St. Louis and Stages St. Louis); choreography by J.T. Ricroft; stage manager, Justin Been.

The Gypsy Band:

Director/keyboard, Chris Petersen; bass, Colin Lovett; flute and piccolo, Dedra Mason; percussion, Bob McMahon; reed I (alto saxophone and clarinet), Harrison Rich; reed II (clarinet and alto saxophone), Gabe Newsham; trumpet, Bill Hershey; trumpet (rehearsals) Ryan Foizey.

CONVICTION • The New Jewish Theatre

This engrossing one-act, one-man show covers a lot of ground.  Adapted from the novel “Confession” by Yonatan Ben Nachum, it's based on a true story centering around Andrés Gonzalez, a fifteenth century priest during the time of the Spanish Inquisition.

It begins at the Spanish National Archives in the 1960's, where an interrogation is taking place.  There's been some Inquisition files concerning Gonzalez -- trying to be smuggled out by a man who had been working on a Spanish genealogy project.  We never see who is being interrogated, only the interrogator (Ami Dayan), the manager of the National Archives.

Ami Dayan

Photo credit: John Lamb

After awhile, the interrogator begins to read from the files -- a confession written by Andrés Gonzalez himself, and once our interest is piqued, we flashback to fifteenth century Spain where Gonzalez (again, Ami Dayan), a Jewish man who converted and became a priest, tells his story and confesses his sins to a fellow priest, who later betrays him.  His sins involve a secret love affair with a Jewish woman he has fallen in love with.  Gonzalez relates his history in a detailed retelling of his painful childhood, the shelter he found in the Catholic church, his love for Isabella and his life with her once they were secretly married, his reconnection with his religious roots, and how his trust was ultimately betrayed.

Ami Dayan

Photo credit: John Lamb

Now, you know I love a black-box theatre space, and for this production, the audience is seated on all four sides, surrounding the stage.  The set is pretty minimal with a desk and chair, a kneeler, and a couple stacks of black boxes.  But with Dayan's engaging performance, it's all you need.  Nathan Schroeder's subtle lighting design is beautiful, accentuating the changing moods of the storytelling throughout.  Dayan's performance is very powerful, and once the play gains momentum, his command of the role of Gonzalez, struggling with his own identity, keeps you absorbed in the story.

Considering most of the play is all exposition, it's a compelling 75 or so minutes, that's only up for 2 weeks.  Check it out -- it's playing until the 14th.

CONVICTION

Written by Oren Neeman

Directed by Joe Gfaller

Adapted by Ami Dayan

Marvin & Harlene Wool Studio, 2 Millstone Campus Drive Creve Coeur

through April 14 | tickets: $35.50 - $39.50

Performances Wednesdays and Thursdays at 7:30pm, Saturdays at 8pm, Sundays at 2pm & 7:30pm

Cast:

Ami Dayan (Andrés Gonzalez and others).

Creative:

Lighting design by Nathan Schroeder; costume design by Michele Friedman Siler; stage manager, Becky Fortner.

CHILDCARE • OnSite Theatre Company

OnSite Theatre Company, like the name suggests, specializes in site-specific theatre -- very cool and quite exceptional in the local area.  Their latest offering is a world premiere that takes place at the Downtown Children's Center.

We start out meeting Joy (Maggie Conroy) and her aunt Roz (Elizabeth Townsend), who runs a daycare facility that's in need of more clients.  Roz is desperate to beef up the enrollment because the daycare's board has been on her about bringing in more revenue.  Her niece has been taking early childhood education classes and would love a shot at handling a class or two, but Roz insists she needs Joy at the front desk handling the secretarial duties.  Joy has also had some trouble in the boyfriend department, and is trying to keep the details from Roz because she doesn't want any information passed along to her mother.

Christopher Lawyer (Andrew) and Julie Layton (Anita).

Photo credit: Kristen Edler

While these two talk in the daycare's reception area, we learn that Roz's chances for some extra income might be looking up.  She's waiting for a couple with an appointment to check out the facility.  Maybe they'll bring in another kid to the center which = more $$$.  After awhile Anita (Julie Layton) arrives.  She's anxious and jumpy when she meets Roz, worried about finding an appropriate place for her son, Noah.  She shows up alone, telling Roz that her husband Andrew (Christopher Lawyer) and their son will be there shortly.  Anita indicates that her son may require some special attention, but as much as Roz tries, she can't get a straight answer from Anita about exactly why special attention would be necessary.  According to Anita, Noah is three years old -- basically, and a normal boy… just kind of different.

Julie Layton (Anita) and Elizabeth Townsend (Roz)

Photo credit: Kristen Edler

As the audience follows the actors through several rooms of the Center, the rest of the play unfurls with revelations about Noah.  Joy's secrets about her boyfriend also come to light, along with a few secrets of Anita and Andrew's.

Director Shanara Gabrielle does a marvelous job utilizing the space at the Downtown Children’s Center, and fear not -- there are guides that cue the audience when and where to follow the action.  The cast, considering the audience is no more than a few feet away from them, did an excellent job in not only accommodating the onlookers, but throwing themselves into their roles with gusto.  Conroy is delightful as Joy, trying to be a good employee while figuring out her personal life.  Lawyer as Andrew really throws himself into his character and seems to be having a blast while doing it.  It's certainly a blast to watch him.  Layton's Anita shows a full range of emotion as a tense wife and mom, looking for a little respite from her everyday life for a few days a week, and Townsend as Roz is entertaining to watch in her quest to win over these potential clients and rack up some money for the daycare.

This play is only an hour, and while the resolution at the end may be a little too convenient, it's a very entertaining night out, and getting to see anything OnSite does pretty much guarantees a unique theatre-going experience.

Christopher Lawyer (Andrew) and Maggie Conroy (Joy).

Photo credit: Kristen Edler

CHILDCARE

Written by Margaret Stamell

Directed by Shanara Gabrielle

Downtown Children’s Center, 607 North 22nd Street, St. Louis

through April 13 | tickets: $20

Performances Fridays at 8pm, Saturdays at 5pm and 8pm

Cast:

Maggie Conroy (Joy), Christopher Lawyer (Andrew), Julie Layton (Anita) and Elizabeth Townsend* (Roz).

* Member Actors' Equity Association

Creative:

Stage manager, Linda Menard.

THE WHIPPING MAN • The Black Rep

Matthew Lopez's intriguing play about a Jewish family of sorts premiered in 2011 off-Broadway and garnered Lucille Lortel, Obie and Outer Critics Circle Awards, and it's getting a powerful production in its St. Louis premiere at the Black Rep.

Ron Himes (Simon), Justin Ivan Brown (Caleb DeLeon),

Ronald L. Conner (John)

Photo credit: Stewart Goldstein

The play takes place in Virginia just after the Civil War.  Confederate soldier Caleb DeLeon (Justin Ivan Brown), has made his way back home, limping into his family mansion that has been all but destroyed by fire and artillery.  He's confronted by a black man with a shotgun.  They soon realize they know each other.  The man with the gun is Simon (Ron Himes), a newly freed slave of the DeLeon's who is staying behind to protect the family home.  From the looks of it though, there's not much of the family home left to protect.  Simon is also anxiously awaiting news of where his wife Elizabeth, and his daughter Sarah might be -- they were scattered along with the rest of the family in their attempts to find safer post-war locations.

Ron Himes (Simon), Justin Ivan Brown (Caleb DeLeon)

Photo credit: Stewart Goldstein

Simon notices that his former master has neglected a nasty gunshot wound to his leg, and tries to persuade him to go to the hospital before gangrene completely takes over, but Caleb refuses to go.  Caleb's infected leg is going to have to be amputated old school style, and Simon warns him that while it won't be pretty, Caleb's life might be spared.  While Simon gets busy gathering his tools and getting Caleb liquored up for the procedure, they're joined by a third man, John (Ronald L. Conner), another former slave and best childhood friend of Caleb's.  John has been making ends meet by "finding" items like clothes, whiskey, food and furniture from neighboring homes.  He and Simon are also staying close to the DeLeon house for the money that Caleb's father has promised them once they are freed.  While John is suspicious of Caleb's determination to steer clear of the hospital, he agrees to help Simon take care of Caleb's leg.

Ron Himes (Simon).

Photo credit: Stewart Goldstein

There's not much food, save for some celery that Simon has been growing and Caleb's horse that gave up the ghost just outside the house.  While reexamining their new relationships with each other in light of the Confederacy's defeat, John realizes that Passover is approaching, so Simon scrounges for what they will need for their Passover seder (commemorating the Israelites' exodus from slavery in Egypt).  So yeah.  You've got 2 black men, former slaves, and one white man, the young master and Confederate soldier, all Jewish, since Simon and John worship in the faith of their owners.

Now, Jewish African American slaves in the 1860's South isn't something that typically registers in the mind, but while Simon sings a few verses of "Go Down Moses", during the seder, the similarities between the Jewish and African American emancipations from slavery become apparent.

Their meal is meager -- celery and a bit of hardtack, a biscuit-like cracker from Caleb's military rations, and some uncooked collard greens for the bitter herbs.  With secrets to hide and sharp resentments harbored, Matthew Lopez judiciously doles out his exposition bit by bit over the course of the play, keeping the audience engaged up until its unexpected revelations at the end.

Justin Ivan Brown (Caleb DeLeon) in foreground.

Photo credit: Stewart Goldstein

Under Edward Smith's keen direction, the cast displays a tremendous chemistry.  Justin Ivan Brown turns in an impressive performance as Caleb, changed by the war, and still getting used to the new landscape of the world he lives in.  Ronald L. Conner gives John the crafty slyness and confidence of someone who always seems to land on his feet, but with a bitterness about his treatment by Caleb's father when he describes, in haunting detail, being dragged by the master of the house to "the whipping man" when he needed to be punished.  Ron Himes as Simon completely inhabits his role as a father figure to these two young men, and delivers an excellent performance filled with many layers throughout.  Tim Case's scenic design, complete with a chandelier hanging from a portion of ceiling with fallen plaster, makes a striking impression the minute you walk into the theatre.  Mark Wilson's lighting design is low at the start with flickering candlelights, and when coupled with Robin Weatherall's stormy sound design, they prove very effective, along with Lou Bird's complementary costume design.

Ronald L. Conner (John).

Photo credit: Stewart Goldstein

This thought provoking play should not be missed.  Check it out!  I'm not kidding.  It's playing until the 13th of April.

THE WHIPPING MAN

Written by Matthew Lopez

Directed by Edward Smith

Grandel Theatre, 3610 Grandel Square

through April 13 | tickets: $20 - $47

Performances selected Wednesdays, Thursdays at 7pm, Fridays and Saturdays at 8pm, Sundays at 2pm, Saturday April 13 at 2pm

Cast:

Justin Ivan Brown (Caleb DeLeon), Ronald L. Conner* (John) and Ron Himes* (Simon).

* Member Actors' Equity Association

Creative:

Scenic design by Tim Case; lighting design/projection by Mark Wilson; sound design by Robin Weatherall; costume design by Lou Bird; stage manager, Jim Anthony.