REALITY • HotCity Theatre

The drama-filled, cheap to produce genre of reality television has, for better or worse, multiplied over the last several years, and if anything, it's proven that there will always be people willing to lose their innocence on national television, and others with no shame willing to put their dignity on the back burner for a shot at fleeting celebrity at the risk of public humiliation. Lia Romeo's comedy, HotCity's chosen script from its 2013 GreenHouse New Play Festival, takes a perverse and very funny look at what happens to the lives of those involved in a dating reality show once the cameras are off.

THE NORMAL HEART • HotCityTheatre

It's been nearly thirty years since Larry Kramer's autobiographical play about the early brutal days of the HIV-AIDS crisis debuted off-Broadway, but this smoldering indictment of the failure of bureaucrats to acknowledge the epidemic, the silence of the press, and the apathy of the gay community has lost none of its muscle in HotCity's potent current production.

The play hinges on Ned Weeks (John Flack), an outspoken writer and activist at heart who serves as the proxy for Kramer, who co-founded the Gay Men's Health Crisis in 1982. Ned wrangles a group of his friends together to form a support organization to get out as much information as they can about this savage disease that was claiming the lives of gay men at a staggering rate. While Ned's confrontational approach frustrates his friends, Dr. Emma Brookner (Lavonne Byers) is one of the first in his corner. She's the victim of another virus -- polio, and is among the first doctors to try to treat men in NYC showing early symptoms of a disease with no name. Ned's brother Ben (Greg Johnston), a rich lawyer, helps him get the organization off the ground, but the long-held tensions between these two start to show once Ned asks his brother for public backing from his firm. While Ned struggles with his brother and the members of his group, and the New York Times continues to bury the story at the back of the paper, and the public officials continue to vilify those who have lost their lives to the disease, Ned meets and falls for Felix (Eric Dean White), a closeted New York Times fashion and style reporter, who eventually notices a purple lesion on his foot.

ENTERTAINING MR. SLOANE • HotCityTheatre

"Entertaining Mr. Sloane", written by English playwright Joe Orton, is currently getting a jaunty revival at HotCity.  This sordid little comedy that premiered in 1964 may have lost some of its shock value over the years, but none of the fascination in watching these characters behaving badly.

Kath (Lavonne Byers), who lives on the edge of a dumping site with her grumpy father, Kemp (Bill Grivna), or “Dada” as she calls him, comes home one day with young, good-looking Mr. Sloane (Paul Cereghino), whom she says she met at the library.  Sloane, immediately identifiable as a smooth opportunist, overflowing with self-assured swagger, needs a room, and Kath, about 20 years his senior, is desperate to have him.  REALLY desperate.  She swears that her intentions toward Sloane are maternal, but the barely restrained excitement she displays when tending a wound of his (just inside his thigh, wouldn't you know), says otherwise.  While they both take turns seducing each other, Kath's brother Ed (Michael James Reed) stops by.  His visits are rare because of a falling out he had with his dad, but he wants to meet this Mr. Sloane.  Ed has an inflated ego (Lord only knows why), and thinks of himself as a successful, honorable type, but his repressed attraction to Mr. Sloane betrays him, too.  He insists on having a few words with Sloane, and decides that this young orphan needs guidance with a steady hand, and hatches an idea to employ Sloane as his chauffeur.  Little leather black cap and everything.  Sloane goes with the flow, engaging in conversations with Ed about erotics…  oops, I mean, athletics, and agrees to Ed's suggestions, much to the chagrin of his sister who wants Sloane all to herself.

COMPLICATED LIVES: AN EVENING OF SHORT PLAYS • Stray Dog Theatre | WHAMMY! THE SEVEN SECRETS TO A SANE SELF • HotCity Theatre

I saw a couple of cool theatre things in August that have ended, but wanted to give a little shout-out to, so let's start with…

COMPLICATED LIVES: AN EVENING OF SHORT PLAYS

Stray Dog Theatre annually hosts a New Works Laboratory where new plays are workshopped, with free performances and encouragement to participate in a talk-back after the show with the playwright and cast.  It's a neat opportunity to be in on the creative process as these pieces-in-progress ready for further development.  This year, four short plays by St. Louis actor and playwright, Stephen Peirick, were featured in a presentation called "Complicated Lives".

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.

THE DIVINE SISTER • HotCity Theatre

Many of the plays written by Charles Busch are well known for their inclination toward high camp, in which he is frequently featured in drag playing the leading lady.  The Divine Sister was no exception when it debuted off-Broadway in 2010.  In HotCity Theatre's uproarious production, John Flack splendidly takes on the role of Mother Superior.  Under Marty Stanberry's keen direction and a superb supporting cast, this peek behind cloister walls will provide you with plenty of rollicking over-the-topness, including send-ups of everything from Doubt and Agnes of God to The Sound of Music and “The Da Vinci Code”.

Set in 1960's Pittsburgh, Mother Superior is looking to raise some funds so she can modernize St. Veronica's convent school, with the help of Sister Acacius (Kirsten Wylder), the convent's brash wrestling coach.  Don't take this to mean that the Mother Superior is "modern".  She acknowledges the fact that she is living in a time of great social change, but she is determined to do everything she can to stop it!  She is also trying to manage (while Sister Acacius is trying to tolerate) one of the new postulates, Sister Agnes (Alyssa Ward), who's convinced she's "the chosen one", hearing divine voices, witnessing visions, and apparently possessing the power to heal.  St. Veronica's is also hosting the visiting Sister Walburga (Lavonne Byers) from Germany.

GOODBYE, RUBY TUESDAY • HotCity Theatre

This play was first introduced at HotCity's GreenHouse Festival, where new plays are workshopped and shown to the public.  Now, here we are, a few years later, and Goodbye, Ruby Tuesday is currently receiving its world premiere with strong direction, a spot-on cast and pitch perfect creative contributions.  The only thing it doesn't provide is easy answers.

Nobody in Lynn Hallaby's family can quite figure out what her deal is.  Lynn (Nicole Angeli) has come home to say goodbye to her family.  Seemingly out of nowhere, she's decided to hop on a Greyhound and head to Alaska to work on a commercial fishing boat, and the bus leaves in one hour.  Everyone in the family is desperately trying to get her to stay.  Her mom, Margie (Peggy Billo), even tries to hide her duffel bag under the sink.  Her father Hudson (Joe Hanrahan), offers to take her fishing, like they used to do when she was a kid -- to no avail.  Her brother Kelly (Charlie Barron), who thinks of Lynn as being "so drastic", insists that this just doesn't make any sense, and that she must stay.  Maybe only for his sake.  Kelly is gay, and has come out to everyone but his parents, and he and Lynn obviously have a close brother/sister relationship.  Lynn's husband Ray (Eric White), is also left angry, hurt and confused over her decision.  During an exchange with Lynn and Kelly, we learn that she unsuccessfully tried to "check-out" a decade earlier, but we never really learn why.  What we do learn is mostly revealed through the scenes with Lynn and her brother, and things escalate when Lynn's husband shows up.  Even Gary (Rusty Gunther), Kelly's boyfriend, tries to get under the surface of why Lynn has come to this decision, but like everyone else, he gets nowhere.  Kelly decides to come out minutes before Lynn has to leave, and here we see her take control of the situation, calm her parents, and emerge as the level-headed one, but she still holds her stance as needing to get away from her surroundings to save herself.

OLEANNA • HotCity Theatre

HotCity is kicking off their 2012 season with this tense, explosive play written by David Mamet, that will surely leave an impression as you head to your car after the show.

The play begins in the office of John (John Pierson), a college professor, who is meeting with one of his students, Carol (Rachel Fenton).  Carol, meek and self-effacing, has received a failing grade on a paper, and is seeking the help of her rather condescending, smug and verbose professor.  Carol admits that she is having a difficult time understanding John's class, his book, and just about everything he's saying most of the time.  She quotes from her extensive notes and frantically jots down everything he says to her, but she remains overwhelmed by the material, is offended by his assertion that higher education is like "systematic hazing", and thinks she's stupid.  John tries to console Carol by opening up and telling her that he wasn't the best student himself back in the day, but key points during this conversation are interrupted by phone calls from John's wife.  John, who's an inch away from being granted tenure along with a sizable raise, is also getting ready to close on a new high dollar house.  His wife keeps calling about last minute details and wants him to come out to the property.  After numerous interruptions, one coming just as Carol was going to reveal something about herself, John eventually offers to give her an "A" in the course if she would agree to come back to his office for talks about the coursework.  After an innocent hand on the shoulder is quickly shrugged off by Carol, the first act ends.

THE WINNERS • HotCity Theatre

So, how does winning a butt-load of cash in the lottery change your life?  Or more intriguingly, what temptations and behaviors do new-found financial freedom uncover? That's at the center of THE WINNERS, written by David L. Williams.  This play won HotCity's GreenHouse new play competition last year, and it's receiving a full production in its St. Louis premiere in the cozy black-box confines of the Kranzberg.

What's the first thing Cassie (Shanara Gabrielle) and her husband Kurt (Shaun Sheley) do after raking in $337 million?  What else?  They buy a hooker for the night!  See, Cassie used to have the hots for an Asian classmate in college, but she never experimented, so they hire "Tiffany" (Sasha Diamond) a young attractive escort, so Cassie can live out her fantasy.  Naturally her husband was all for it.  After awkward small talk and money negotiations they get down to business.  All of the "action" takes place offstage, but once the first round is over, there's a bit of animosity in the air.  Cassie and Kurt seem to do a little "power-tripping" in light of their upper-hand in the situation, and they proceed to run Tiffany through a series of rather humiliating scenarios.  Throughout the night, we also hear from a crying Shirley, the couple's daughter, over the baby monitor.  Shirley's almost two years old, but not yet able to talk.  Weary of always having to go up and check on the baby, Cassie and Kurt have Tiffany go up to check on her to give themselves a break.  Geez.  Have the hooker do the dishes too while you're at it.

INTELLIGENT LIFE • HotCity Theatre

It's really been an extraterrestrial kind of week!

You guys remember Fox and Scully right?  That is, Fox Mulder and Dana Scully of the incredibly popular Fox network series, "The X-Files".  Well, much like that show, this play, written by Lauren Dusek Albonico, on the surface looks at the possibility of extraterrestrial life with a little subtext of religion and issues of blind faith thrown in.  This is the first professional production of this play that was a finalist in HotCity's GreenHouse New Plays Festival.

A basement "office" serves as headquarters for a motley crew of Utah alien chasers.  There's Robin (Aarya Sara Locker) -- a dedicated believer, Beau (Scott Schneider) -- her slacker ex-boyfriend, and Gary (Kevin Beyer) -- a recovering alcoholic who has been kicked out of his house, along for the ride.  They all think they may have just hit the mother lode.  Enter Aethan (Parker S. Donovan), a highly intelligent boy who has run away from home.  Under the influence of drugs and alcohol, Beau and Gary kidnap this kid, convinced at the time that Aethan is not of this world.  They soon learn that he's not an alien, just a highly intelligent boy with a knack for telekinesis and his own version of pig latin.  These special qualities are more than enough to convince Robin that this kid is the real deal -- a bona fide alien.  The reality of the situation is kept from Robin though, and we're given a peek at just how far people are willing to extend a non-truth, and how little it takes for believers to believe.  Things get more complicated when the disappearance of Aethan hits the news.

TRUE WEST • HotCity Theatre

Why is it that so much interesting stuff always seems to happen in the kitchen?  This is where the sibling rivalry of HotCity's first offering of their 2011 season, Sam Shepard's TRUE WEST, takes place.

There are these 2 brothers -- Austin (Scott McMaster), is a screenwriting family man who's watching his mom's house while she's on vacation in Alaska.  Then we've got Lee (Kevin Crowley), Austin's older brother, a wandering burglar who has dropped in to… "check out the neighborhood".  Austin is trying to put the finishing touches on a screenplay that he's scheduled to present to Saul (Alan Knoll), a fancy Hollywood producer, and Lee's visit is unexpected, and he's a bit in the way.  As Lee alternates between Pabst Blue Ribbon and Jim Beam, he antagonizes his little brother and his "white picket fence" life, while Austin is just trying to pacify the more intimidating Lee, while at the same time, trying not to piss him off.

EQUUS • HotCity Theatre

Giddyup psychodrama!

If anyone has any doubts about the variety and quality of theatre we have here in the Lou, they should make tracks to the Kranzberg Arts Center to check out HotCity Theatre's production of EQUUS.  I saw this last night with a couple of friends and I.  Loved.  It.

The play, written in 1973 by Peter Shaffer, was recently revived in NYC with Harry Pott… I mean Daniel Radcliffe and Richard Griffiths.  Here in St. Louis, it's admirably directed by Doug Finlayson.  The play centers on Alan Strang, a young English stable boy who has blinded six horses with a metal spike, and his psychiatrist Martin Dysart, who is talked into taking him on as a patient.  Buckle up, right?

What would drive a 17 year old boy to commit such a violent act against animals he loved -- animals he'd come to worship as deities?  As Dysart tries to find the answer to this question, and the details of Alan's life are revealed in a series of therapy sessions and flashbacks, we learn about both characters.  We learn about Alan, and how apparently, living with a mother who's a religious zealot and a father who's a restrained atheist can really mess with your head.  And we learn about Dr. Dysart, the man trying to figure him out.  In the process of dissecting his patient, slowly winning his trust, Dysart uncovers not only how the combination of societal, religious and sexual influences (with a little shame thrown in) have affected the mind of this kid, but the doctor also comes to realize that "curing" him would be in a sense, for him, breaking Alan's spirit -- a spirit and passion the doctor feels he has never known.  Does "normal and well-adjusted" = "happy and fulfilled"?  It's kinda heavy, dude.