Nandita Shenoy did double duty as both playwright and lead in her 90-minute comedy “Washer/Dryer.” Shenoy played an Indian-American working actor and owner of a studio with a prized washer/dryer combo in a co-op on Manhattan’s Upper East who has to choose between her true love and her dream apartment.
Sonya and her Chinese-American hubby Michael (played with expert timing by Johnny Wu) eloped and to Michael’s frustration, he can’t openly live with Sonya because of Sonya's strict co-op board rules. Michael must keep mum about their marriage while his insult spewing and overbearing mother-in-law Dr. Lee (Jade Wu), and a neurotic co-op board president Wendee (Annie McNamara) complicate matters. Michael pretends he is Sonya’s gay friend when confronted by Wendee and accuses Wendee of discrimination to scare her away. Later, Sonya’s African American neighbor and BFF Sam (Jamyl Dobson), a gay designer, talks some much needed sense into Sonya who risks losing Michael because of her misplaced priorities and lies.
Shenoy succeeds with a play that has roles for a multi-cultural cast that only smaller companies like Ma-Yi can seem to produce in New York City(!) in a way that is authentic, while inclusivity eludes theaters with multi-million dollar budgets and geriatric subscribers. “Washer/Dryer” has universal themes (frayed parent-child relationships) and a touching scene in which two women from different ethnicities bond over their sons while cooking. However, Shenoy’s representation of Sam, who although is played with intelligence and warmth by Dobson, and others veered into caricatures. Director Benjamine Kamine needed a firmer hand with Shenoy who ranged from auto-pilot to exasperated, and his pacing could’ve been tighter. Fortunately, the game cast helped as did her designers who created a malfunctioning washer/dryer which reminded space deprived New Yorkers not to store electronics in the dryer. Also, thanks to Jade Wu whose recipe for Tongzi Ji Chicken, which she cooked onstage, was included the show's program. Audience members can test its ability to ease parent-child tensions as Wu's character claimed it did in the play.
Washer/Dryer by Nandita Shenoy. Directed by Benjamine Kamine. Set Design: Anushman Bhatia. Costume Design: Dede Ayite. Lighting Design: Jonathan Cottle. Sound Design: Miles Polaski. Production Stage Manager: Shelley Miles. At Theatre Row Theaters, 410 W. 42nd St. Ran from Jan 26- Feb 21, 2016.
No comments:
Post a Comment