Macbeth

Reviewed By Karl O'Brian Williams

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by Classical Theatre of Harlem

With the temperature hanging hot and humid in Harlem it was perfect for a tropical re-imagining of Shakespeare’s “Macbeth” produced by the Classical Theatre of Harlem (CTH) and staged in the Richard Rodgers Amphitheater in Marcus Garvey Park. The stage design immediately took you back to the colonial West Indies, with its colors, window treatments, burlap draping, and intricate properties. However, director Carl Colfield, and his team keep the Caribbean aesthetic fresh with contemporary Jamaican, and Eastern Caribbean notes wafting through the music, the movement, the fabrics, taking liberties with the language, and even coloring the villainy that plays out before us. Hats off to all the creators for immersing us into a world that was easy to navigate as our imaginations went wild, but never too far off.

For those who maybe unfamiliar with the play, in short, Macbeth gets a prophecy from witches that he is to rule, but with the king being alive this poses a problem. He shares the prophecy with his wife Lady Macbeth. Thus is birthed not only a double ambition to get the crown, but a great plot, and a thirst for evil so relentless it’s legendary. The play remains one of Shakespeare’s most popular and quoted works.

CTH’s artistic director Ty Jones sits in the title role of Macbeth with ease, and though there were some questionable choices made, it was a strong performance. The stage however, belonged to Roslyn Ruff as Lady Macbeth. From her first entrance to her last exit she lifted the bars of the Bard’s muscular language and threw them at us with precision, passion, and painful purpose… she was on point, and you felt every piercing moment of it.  CTH favorite Anthony Vaughn Merchant once again satisfied his Harlem audience with his accessible sense of humor and charisma as the Porter. CTH followers will remember him fondly from last year’s “The Tempest.” 

The witches were a wonderful spectacle, and so too were the dancers. This had much to do with Rachel Dozier-Ezell’s costuming, and the smart choreography of Tiffany Rea-Fisher – a combination that enhanced Colfield’s overall concept, and the execution of Christopher and Justin Wader's scenic design. The music and sound, the lighting design, the projections, and the make-up aided in rooting the production to bloom at such a high level of artistry on stage that it was clear another success had been cemented for the CTH.  As it closes on July 31, run to see it!

Macbeth by Williams Shakespeare. Directed by Carl Colfield. Choreographed by Tiffany Rea-Fisher. Scenic Design by Christopher Swader & Justin Swader. Lighting Design by Alan C. Edwards. Sound Design by John McKenna. Projection Design by Katherine Freer. Props Design/Video SFX Makeup Artistry by Samantha Shoffner. Music Direction by Shayshahn MacPherson. Fight Direction by Emmanuel Brown. Stage Management by Haylee Scott. Production Management by Rachael Harris. Voice & Text Consultant by Michael Early. Assistant Direction by Amen Igbinosun. Assistant Stage Management by Chelsea Friday.  Runs July 8-31, 2016. www.cthnyc.org/macbeth

Karl O’Brian Williams is a playwright, actor, and director who currently lectures at the Borough of Manhattan Community College in the Speech, Theatre & Communications Dept. His play Not About Eve has received awards in his native country Jamaica, as well as 3 AUDELCO nominations including one for Best Playwright.

A Man Like You

Reviewed by Karl O'Brian Williams

A man is held hostage and ends up sharing meaningful dialogue with his captor over a board game, meanwhile his wife frets away at home. This is the simple set up of "A Man Like You" an original play from Silvia Cassini influenced by the real life tragedy of a terrorist attack on shoppers at the Westgate Mall in Nairobi, Kenya, in 2013, which killed 67 persons. The more complex inner workings of the play however, attack all your senses like viruses looking for a host. You won’t be able to look away. The play had its world premiere earlier this year in Nairobi, and is now brilliantly disturbing New Yorkers on east fourth street until July 31st.

Cassini identifies as a Kenyan playwright, but from this work she clearly wants us to see "A Man Like You" as a universal human story that explores the differences in how faith, and largely socialization, birth place and country shape one’s perspectives and actions. The captor presents himself as Somalian, and the captured as British. One is white, one is black, one is Christian, the other Muslim, both have families, hearts and, other organs, and urges that make them want to survive, and thrive. Through an incredible set up the audience gets a glimpse into how they feel about each other as each judges the other’s racial, ethnic and religious group and tries to justify himself as victim, or soldier of a righteous cause, if you will. At times Cassini overindulges, but what’s on the stage is so engaging you keep listening. Heyer’s direction prods everything forward, and a part from some odd movement in the space, which could easily be re blocked, I can remember no dull moments.

The overall design of the show was excellent. The separation of worlds we receive and easily believe was maintained throughout, and only punctuated by the strong performances of the cast. The lighting was sublime, flickering with tension and uncertainty, and manipulating our gaze to what we needed to see or attempt to un-see. Lev Choubine’s original music haunted us, and its subtlety toyed with our emotions as much as Cassini’s words. Jenny Boote as Elizabeth the hostage’s wife was a lone figure juxtaposed between the mental and physical space of middle class ease and discomfort. Her New York debut should not go unnoted here. Matthew Stannah as North the hostage, and Jeffrey Marc as Abdi the captor, both had provocative moments, especially when their characters displayed human frailty and the kind of civility that can only happen when shreds of honesty are mixed with genuine compassion. The henchman, a character ably played by Andrew Clarke, then interrupts this atmosphere keeping the threat of death and doom ever real.

"A Man Like You" is worth seeing. It is a violent play, but not just in a traditional, blood-shedding, physical sense; the greater violence comes from its ability to provoke varied thought that constantly shifts and creates psychological battles. In debating who wins or loses these battles, if it truly matters is part of the violence.

"A Man Like You," written by Silvia Cassini. Directed by Yudelka Heyer. Directing Assistance by Christopher Wharton. Original Music by Lev Choubine. Lighting Design by Michael O’Conner. Costume & Props Design by Yedelka Heyer. Set Design by Christopher Wharton. Stage Management by Annie Rosenberg. Produced by Red Soil Productions.  Runs through July 31, 2016. At IATI Theatre 64 E4th Street. www.redsoilproductions.com

Karl O’Brian Williams is a playwright, actor, and director who currently lectures at the Borough of Manhattan Community College in the Speech, Theatre & Communications Dept. His play Not About Eve has received awards in his native country Jamaica, as well as 3 AUDELCO nominations including one for Best Playwright.

War

by A.J. Muhammad

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Branden Jacobs-Jenkins says the titles of his plays have double meanings and his latest play, “War,” is no exception. As a play in which the German language acts as a barrier between estranged family members, it should be noted that in German, “war,” means “was.” Both definitions of the word describe the central conflicts in “War.”

Joanne (Rachel Nicks) is with her comatose mother Roberta, a stroke patient, at the hospital and doesn’t know why a German speaking stranger Elfreide (Michele Shay) is at her mother’s bedside. No sooner than Tate (Chris Myers) -- Joanne’s impatient and conceited younger brother who is a political strategist -- joins his sister at the hospital that the battle begins. Understandably, Tate is less than empathetic when Elfreide’s son Tobias (Austin Durant) barges into Roberta’s room insisting that Elfreide is Roberta’s half sister who was sired when their father served in War World II and was stationed in Germany. Tate is dubious when a confrontational Tobias demands Elfreide’s portion of an inheritance that Roberta promised Elfreide and he wants to transfer Roberta to a better hospital against Joanne’s wishes.

Meanwhile Roberta (Charlayne Woodard) has an out of body experience and her company in this dimension is an ape named Alpha (Lance Coadie Wilson), who communicates in sign language. Roberta struggles to make sense of memories, her dreams deferred as a middle aged educated African American woman, and how she wound up in hospital before she can come to terms with her mortality.

“War” can be considered a companion play to Jacob-Jenkins’ “Appropriate” which was about an Caucasian family who gather at the home of their deceased patriarch and discover horrible secrets about their father.  In “War” Jacob-Jenkins revisits some of the themes he mined in “Appropriate” such as unearthing family secrets and hostile siblings. Tate resents Joanne’s past irresponsibilities and also her white “regular” husband Malcolm (Reggie Gowland) whom Tate verbally eviscerates. Additionally, Jacob-Jenkins touches on an under-examined topic in theater: the experience of people of African descent in Europe which takes on a new significance in a post-BRexit Europe.  As much as characters are at odds, he also draws comparisons between both Roberta and Tobias, both of whom cared for parents with Alzheimers: Roberta did in the past for her father, and now Tobias is running on empty tending to an ailing Elfriede.

In “War” Jacob-Jenkins interrogates the concepts of race/racial categorization, family, evolution (via apes), and spectatorship. Whatever issues one can find with the script, his cast and director, Lileana Blain-Cruz are his net. Blain-Cruz balances the two worlds of Jacob-Jenkins’ adeptly and shapes the complex narrative organically. Both Charlayne Woodard and Michele Shay are welcome veteran artists and his younger actors bring heft to the crisis mode in which their characters are engulfed.

"War" by Branden Jacob-Jenkins. Director: Lileana Blain-Cruz. Sets: Mimi Lien. Costumes: Montana Blanco. Lighting: Matt Frey. Sound: Bray Poor. Stage Manager: Charles M. Turner III.
LCT 3/Lincoln Center Theater at 150 W. 65 St.  Ran from May 21 - July 3, 2016.

Skeleton Crew

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Atlantic Theater Company

Reviewed by Daphnie Sicre

Dominique Morisseau clearly has an ear for dialogue. From the realities of keeping a job after leaving prison, to working while pregnant to making it to work despite being homeless, Morisseau pays close attention to the conversations each character has in "Skeleton Crew," the third installment to her Detroit trilogy.  In it she, touches upon the lives of factory workers in the Motor City and perfectly depicts their stories at the start of the 2008 recession.

The play takes place in an auto factory break room, which heartfelt Faye (Lynda Gravatt) has appropriated as her home as the union representative for the factory and assembly line worker for 29 years. Faye mediates between Dez (Jason Dirden), a former ex-con and Reggie (Wendell B. Franking), their foreman. We also meet Shanita (Nikiya Mathis) a very visibly pregnant single mom and line worker, who also turns to Faye for advice. As the story progresses, each relationship has a deeper tie to each other than expected. Morisseau creates an interwoven tableau that explains the complexity of the human connection and the ensemble of four, masterfully un-weaves these relationships for the audience. She leave us feeling their desperation as we find out the factory is eventually closing.

Probably the least expected scenes in Skeleton Crew come from the transitions, where Adesola Osakalumi dances to original music in a rhythmic machine robot movement style, reminiscent of continuity and repletion of assembly lines. Although it seems out of place, these solo dances may be a reminder to the audience of how technology has appropriated the traditional jobs of those who used to work on assembly lines.

Morisseau isn’t just telling a story, she is telling the story of the American worker today and brining to life an American crisis by allowing the audience into the world of these factory workers.  She is reminding us that we are all involved in the state of things.  As we leave the show, we are frustrated at the injustice in the lives of these characters; and despite the feeling that little can be done about the prejudice that affects citizens of Detroit and other Detroits around the country, Morisseau reminds us just how powerful hope and resilience are in the most dire of situations.

Director Ruben Santiago-Hudson does a great job at painting this canvas on stage, through strong direction and thoughtful stage pictures. The play is also supported by a realistic set, lighting effects and projections with newspaper clippings and freighting real statistics.

Skeleton Crew by Dominique Morisseau. Directed by Ruben Santiago-Hudson. Set Design: Micheal Carnahan. Costume Design: Paul Tazewell. Lighting Design: Rui Rita. Original Music & Sound by Robert Kaplowitz. Original Songs: Jimmy “J Keys” Keys. Projections: Nicholas Hussong. Choreography: Adesola Osakalumi; Production stage manager: Laura Wilson. At The Atlantic Theatre Company – Linda Gross Theatre, 336 West 20th Street, Manhattan, NY, Ran from May 13 - June 19, 2016.

Daphnie Sicre is a full-time instructor at BMCC-CUNY, where she teaches courses in theatre, social justice, and advanced public speaking.  Some of her NYC directing credits include: "Shower Me" at FringeNYC, "Stranger" for Stage Black where she won a Best Director Award and the Audelco nominated "Not About Eve."