I Am A Tree explores family and memories

I Am A Tree, now playing at St. Clement’s, follows the journey of a woman, Claire, as she tries to understand the mother she has never meet.

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Claire is afraid she might become her mother’s daughter, a concern since her mother has been institutionalized for as long as she can remember.  Claire is worried about how much of her mother’s condition is medical and, therefore, possibly genetic.  Claire’s father, who is distant both physically and emotionally, isn’t much help.  He doesn’t want to discuss what happened to Claire’s mother.  So when she finds a letter that revels 3 heretofore-unknown sisters of her mother, Claire embarks on a visit to each woman.

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Dulcy Rogers plays Claire, and each of the 3 Aunts in this piece.  Each one of her mother’s sisters provides a glimpse into a different aspect of Claire’s mother.  It is an interesting idea on how people project their own personalities on others, and how time warps our memories.  For Claire, who wants a simple picture of her mother, and to understand the single catalyst for her mother’s mental problems, the visits add up to a frustrating experience.  She can’t pinpoint a single moment at which her mother tripped from independent and eccentric to crazy and committed.

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Ms. Rogers’ performance word be better served by less turning between characters mid-conversation.  It is a bit distracting having her peer this way and then that to portray characters.  Her gestures, voices and carriage combine sufficiently to bring each character to life, and the physical whipsawing is distracting. Adding a second actress to play Claire, as Ms. Rogers plays the other characters would have helped immensely.

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However, even with that qualifier, I Am A Tree is a funny and heart-tugging story.  Ms. Rogers brings the story to life with a dry humor that is infectious.  Claire’s Aunts are an imposing set of women, well spoken with rich life experiences.  The set, a forest of tree trunks, with frames interspersed throughout, is marvelous.  Do the individual trees create a complete forest, or do they block Claire’s real answer from view?  Set design by Neil Patel and lighting design by Yael Lubetzky combine excellent to bring a wonderful depth to the show.

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Director Allan Miller might have paced the story a bit better.  The show tends to slow down towards the end.  The peace which one finds in “quiet, introspective moments” plays better in real life than on stage.  But I Am A Tree stays with you long after you leave the theater, raising the question of how people will remember us.  It is a thoughtful question, poised gently.

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I Am A Tree

Playwright: Dulcy Rogers

Director: Allan Miller

Cast: Dulcy Rogers

Website

Reviews Off Broadway highlights Givenik

Givenik works with Broadway, off Broadway and charities to provide a site for you to big tickets, with some of the proceeds going to your favorite charity.  It is a good way to get tickets to shows, and give a little back at the same time.
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You can always get tickets from the Givenik logo on the site here - or go straight to their site; Givenik.com.
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A good turn is always a good thing.http://www.givenik.com/

Lonely, I'm Not.. extended thru June 3rd

I missed this, but I do love Topher Grace and the Second Stage Theater.  If you get a chance, it is extended until June 3rd.

At an age when most people are discovering what they want to do with their lives, Porter (Topher Grace: Traffic; Spider-Man 3; In Good Company; "That 70 s Show") has been married and divorced, earned seven figures as a corporate "ninja" and had a nervous breakdown. It’s been four years since he’s had a job or a date, and he’s decided to give life another shot. From the playwright that brought you the 2010 hit Trust and the director of the critically acclaimed Bachelorette (Second Stage’s Uptown Series), Lonely, I’m Not is a comic journey that follows Porter as he meets an ambitious young businesswoman, Heather (Olivia Thirlby: Juno; New York, I Love You; Being Flynn; United 93) who is overcoming her own obstacles to emotional success.

iTunes Behind the Scenes with Claybourne Park

HOWSTUFFWORKS GOES BEHIND THE SCENES OF BROADWAY

FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER WITH A VISIT TO CLYBOURNE PARK

TWITTER CONTEST WILL OFFER FANS THE OPPORTUNITY TO WIN TICKETS TO A SPECIAL HOWSTUFFWORKS NIGHT AT THE

PULITZER PRIZE-WINNING AND TONY AWARD-NOMINATED BEST PLAY

New York, NY (May 24, 2012) – Discovery Communications’ HowStuffWorks, the expert in answering questions for curious minds about our world, goes behind the scenes of Broadway for the first time ever with an all-new Stuff You Missed in History Class podcast entitled “A Visit to Clybourne Park,” now available on HowStuffWorks.com and for download oniTunes.  Hosted by Sarah Dowdey and Deblina Chakraborty, HowStuffWorks’ Stuff You Missed in History Class brings historical topics - from Amelia Earhart to Napoleon - to life with careful research and lively discussion. 

The Stuff You Missed in History Class podcast will complemented by an exclusive video drawing back the curtain on the extraordinary process that the Clybourne Park set undergoes as it ages 50 years in 15 minutes.  In addition,HowStuffWorks.com will feature a series of themed blog posts inspired by the play:

A Visit to Clybourne Park: This Old House

Clybourne Park’s Tony Award nominated director, Pam MacKinnon, will talk about America’s housing history and racial issues and provide insight into how Tony Award-nominated scenic designer Dan Ostling’s set transitions from 1959 in Act I to 2009 in Act II during the show’s brief 15 minute intermission.

A Visit to Clybourne Park: The Hansberry Connection

Readers will learn about A Raisin in the Sun author Lorraine Hansberry and how the events of her personal life parallel those facing the characters in Clybourne Park.

A Visit to Clybourne Park: Pure Drama

The final Stuff You Missed in History Class blog post will further delve into A Raisin in the Sun and its connection toClybourne Park, offering a brief history of Broadway with contributions from Pam MacKinnon.

Clybourne Park will also host a Twitter contest inviting fans to a special HowStuffWorks performance at the Walter Kerr Theatre (219 West 48th Street) on Thursday, May, 31 at 7 pm.  Fans will be asked to answer Clybourne Park trivia questions based on HowStuffWorks’ online content for the chance to attend the special performance, during which interesting facts and tidbits about all facets of the theatre will be revealed through fun and informative pop-up signage. 

Nominated for 4 Tony Awards including “Best Play” (Bruce Norris), “Best Direction of a Play” (Pam MacKinnon), “Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Play” (Jeremy Shamos), “Best Scenic Design of a Play” (Daniel Ostling), and winner of the 2011 Pulitzer Prize and Olivier Award, Clybourne Park is the wickedly funny and fiercely provocative new play about race, real estate and the volatile values of each.  Clybourne Park explodes in two outrageous acts set 50 years apart.  Act One takes place in 1959, as nervous community leaders anxiously try to stop the sale of a home to a black family. Act Two is set in the same house in the present day, as the now predominantly African-American neighborhood battles to hold its ground in the face of gentrification. 

The Common Pursuit: Intelligent and Erudite

There is a certain set of expectations that occur when a play opens in a Cambridge or Oxford students’ quarters.  We know that we are in for an erudite evening of quick wit and repressed feelings.  The Roundabout Theater’s The Common Pursuit, now at the Laurie Pels Theater, delivers this evening pleasantly, building to a nice climax which is not too overwrought.

Jacob Fishel, Tim McGeever, Josh Cooke and Lucas Near-Verbrugghe in The Common Pursuit

The Common Pursuit primarily follows five friends from University for 20 years.  Stuart Thorne, the natural leader of this group, starts a literary digest at Cambridge, bringing a group of friends with him.  He gathers a mixed group of friends; the lady-killer, the repressed homosexual, the quiet guy and the effervescent fop who tries too hard to impress.

Cut to nine years later as Stuart and the quiet guy, Martin, are struggling to put out The Common Pursuit – the digest, on a regular basis.  This is clearly Stuart’s passion, and Martin is a dedicated friend and supporter.  Martin is played by Jacob Fishel, with an exactness that is endearing and perfect for the character.  Mr. Fishel brings a real humanity to the role which provides the audience and entre to this group of friends. The character of Martin is supportive without being creepy – a true friend to Stuart.  Stuart is preoccupied with the magazine, so both his girlfriend and friends have to take a backseat.  Josh Cooke plays this facet of Stuart’s personality extremely well.  Mr. Cook’s Stuart is self-involved in a cocoon of worry about living up to his own exacting standards.

The Cambridge gang drops by at odd intervals, and we see how they have or haven’t grown emotionally.  Humphry, Tim McGeever, is settling into the lonely scholar routine back at Cambridge.  Peter, Kieran Campion, hasn’t outgrown his womanizing past and is now cheating on his wife (the “Ghastly Emily” referred to, but unseen).  And fop Nick, Lucas Near-Verbrugghe in an unfortunate role, is on the edge of success in various entertainment venues.

Misters McGeever and Campion have settled into their roles, albeit roles that are a little stereotypical.  Mr. Near-Verbrugghe, excellent in both Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson and Assistance, has yet to find his footing in this role.  Mr. Near-Verbrugghe has been given an unfortunate cough that seems over written and unconvincing.   If he coughed as often as the play seemed to call for, he would be hoarse in two nights; and the fake coughs are distracting.  The cough should be hinted at more, and heard less.

We revisit this group of characters twice more over the course of 20 years to see how they have or have not stayed true to their scholarly passions.  Their ultimate professional success is inversely proportional to their passion for their chosen fields, which should be ironic, but feels a little obvious.

Jacob Fishel & Josh Cooke

The biggest problem with the piece could be resolved with a simple change to the program.  The program states the play is set “20 years ago”, which was true in 1984 – when the play was written.  But now, almost 30 years later, the period is much more than 20 years in the past.  Neither the music nor the costumes give much of a clue of the time frame (Bach and Vivaldi on a college student’s record player doesn’t scream 1960s).  Had the program said “mid-sixties”, expectations would have been set correctly.  The problems and emotions are much “of a moment”, a more repressed and less wired era.

Director Moises Kaufman does a good job of staging and moving this work along, particularly in the second half, when the story seems to really settle in and grab the audience.  Playwright Simon Gray’s  story, though dated, is still both moving and very funny.  The Common Pursuit is a good show, with a very good show just under the surface.  I think it will only get better over the next few weeks.

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The Common Pursuit @ The Laurie Pels Theater, Roundabout Theater Group

Playwright: Simon Gray

Director: Moises Kaufman

Cast: Kristen Bush, Kieran Campion, Josh Cooke, Jacob Fishel, Tim McGeever, Lucas Near-Verbrugghe

Website

"The Heart of the Matter" Fundraiser for MCC Theater

Four Performances Only!

Wed, Jun 13	at	7PM
Thu, Jun 14	at	7PM*
Fri, Jun 15	at	7PM
Sat, Jun 16	at	7PM

*This perf will be followed by an
exclusive post-show reception.

Three easy ways to get tickets:
Online  Click here	In Person The Lucille Lortel Theatre Box Office 121 Christopher Street (between Bleecker and Hudson)	Call (212) 352-3101

When acclaimed playwright-provocateur Neil LaBute turns his acid wit to affairs of the heart, one thing is certain.there will be blood! Passion, emotion, sexual negotiation, and infidelity all converge in this collection of recent one-act plays, each featuring a pair of lovers in crisis.

The cast will feature Krysten Ritter, of ABC's "Don't Trust the B---- in Apartment 23" and AMC's "Breaking Bad." Full casting will be announced soon, so, keep an eye out for details!

A four-performance benefit event in the vein of LaBute's Filthy Talk for Troubled Times staged at MCC in 2010, The Heart of the Matter is an attempt to comprehend the true nature of love (or at least the fallout it can leave behind). Carolyn Cantor - who recently directed Regrets at Manhattan Theatre Club and MCC's 2007 production of LaBute's In a Dark Dark House - will direct.

MCC Theater at The Lucille Lortel Theatre
121 Christopher Street
(between Bleecker and Hudson)

Presented by special arrangement with
the Lucille Lortel Theatre Foundation.

Spider-Man: Special pricing for Service Members

Producers Michael Cohl and Jeremiah J. Harris announced today that SPIDER-MAN Turn Off The Dark, Broadway’s most popular new show, is offering “Spider-Man Hero Seats”, specially priced tickets for America’s Real Heroes and their families. All branches of the Armed Services and Military Service Personnel (active, reservists, retired, and veteran), police officers, EMS and firefighters are all eligible to receive up to four “Hero Seats”.  These tickets will be available year round beginning today, in honor of Fleet Week.

“Hero Seat” tickets are available at the Foxwoods Theatre box office (213 West 42^nd Street) only with valid services ID, and can be purchased for day-of performance or up to two weeks in advance.  “Hero Seats” are priced as follows: Tuesday – Thursday, $39/Friday – Sunday, $49. Tickets are subject to availability.  

New plays by LaBute, Gurney, Brunstetter, Hunter & others set for TBTB's MORE OF OUR PARTS, June 21-July 1 at Theatre Row. World-prem shorts about disabilities.

Theater Breaking Through Barriers presents its second annual play festival 

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MORE OF OUR PARTS Six new plays about disability in 70 minutes. 

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World-premiere short plays by Neil LaBute, A.R. Gurney, Bekah Brunstetter, Bruce Graham, Samuel D. Hunter, and Jeffrey Sweet.  Directed by Ike Schambelan, Patricia Birch, Christopher Burris, Christina Roussos, and Russell Treyz. 

Bekah Brunstetter’s Gorgeous is set in a gym locker room, post-yoga, where two disabled women confront Gorgeous,a woman who is perfect – or so they think. (l-r) Mary Therese Archbold, Anita Hollander, by Tiffan Borelli. photo: Carol Rosegg

Claybourne Park Extended until August 12th

Claybourne Park was just extended through August 12th.  This is an amazing show.  My review is here (LINK).
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Buy the play here...

Linda Lavin: Nominated for The Lyons

I went to watch The Lyons last week.  I wanted to see it because Linda Lavin was nominated for Best Featured Role for an Actress in a Play, and I hadn't had the chance to see it before.  Let me say, Linda Lavin deserves that nomination.

Michael Esper, Dick Latessa, Linda Lavin and Kate Jennings Grant - the Lyons family

Ms Lavin is dominating in The Lyons.  And, as an actress, pretty fearless.  Most insensitive lead characters have a mitigating trait later on in the show.  Something, or someone, had caused the caustic demeanor of the character.  Linda Lavin's role as the matriarch of the Lyons family has no such contributing quality. She is a caustic character, and Linda Lavin makes her believable. She is hilarious, providing of course, she isn't your mother.
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Ultimately there was something very refreshing about such a character.  Admittedly, I do have a weak spot for black comedies, and this is the blackest of comedies.  If it sounds remotely interesting to you, see this show.  It is worth it, and is unlike most shows out there.  I do admit, The Lyons is my first Nicky Silver show, and I think it might be very representative of his work.
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Website

Title and Deed: Its Charms Escaped Me

Title and Deed at the Signature Theater is a show which I did not like, although I admire the actor who did a fine job with the material, Connor Lovett.  It could easily be that I just didn’t understand the show, which was very much in the Samuel Beckett tradition.

Title and Deed is a simple one-man show, a monologue delivered to the audience from a visitor from another country.  That non-descript country is definitely not Ireland – despite the Irish accent.  Making the country unidentifiable seems to be a decision designed to remove every possibility of identifying with this person.  Care is taken to make this character abstractly and totally foreign to the audience.  His voice is quiet, his cadence is labored, and the laughs he engenders early in the show are met with an uncomfortable flash that he might have said the wrong thing.

Conner Lovett plays a visitor in Title and Deed

Mr. Lovett’s mannerisms are designed to reinforce a message that every man is traveling far from home – each is alone, even when surrounded by people.  It worked a bit too well for much of the audience, who felt so removed from Mr. Lovett that many were not invested in the outcome.

The character is definitely a fish out of water.  He finds the simplest interactions beyond his grasp, and struggles trying to connect with a woman he admires.   Some might be entranced with the lilt, and the character’s rambling story.  Faced with a passive character that was very difficult to relate to, most of the audience disengaged from the story long before the end of the show.

Charles Isherwood of the New York Times, a man I admire greatly, “got” the show and has a wonderful glowing review.  I am linking it here because I think I missed the point of the show - and he loved it. (NY Times Review)

The amazing acoustics in the smallest of the Frank Gehery designed theaters worked both for and against Mr. Lovett.  His voice reached every viewer, even in his quiet and gentle asides.  However, the audience members’ every twitch, rustle of program and sigh was also heard.  And despite the desire of the audience to enjoy the show, you could hear and feel the audience slip away.

I think the show was acted and directed appropriate to the material; it just wasn’t a show I enjoyed.

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Tile and Deed at The Signature Theater

Playwright: Will Eno

Director: Judy Hegarty Lovett

Cast: Conner Lovett

Website

The Good and Bad of My Reviewing Style

People have said, how did you get into / what was your background?  Well, I got into when someone  who read a few blurbs I wrote on Nincompoopery asked me to review a show ( http://www.scooterm.blogspot.com/ ).  So, short answer, pure luck!  I have a good voice of the average person.
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Yet... with my background, comes the lack of training in Theater.  The good and the bad sides of it.  today both happened to be displayed to me in the pages of the NY Times.
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The bad - I don't get some stuff...
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Today's NY Times Review has a review of Title and Deed from Charles Isherwood (whom I admire greatly).  I really disliked Title and Deed.  I mean really.  And I wasn't alone, nearly all of  the audience was annoyed.  But Mr. Isherwood drew the parallels to Beckett (and in a sensible way).  He makes the play sound like something I would love to see.  He brings a background I don't have.
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And the good?  I'm not a pretentious twit.
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Today's NY Times has a piece of claptrap (on the Front Page no less!) by the other critic, Ben Bratley.  He was complaining that Broadway Tourists give too many Standing Ovations.  In it he suggests, by turns, that the tourists that visit Broadway give the ovations:
- to try to head for the exits quickly
- because they are cheap and a standing ovation makes them feel like they got their money's worth
- because they can't see the stage otherwise
- or because that horrible show Newsies won't stop dancing until people stand
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Aside - Let's just admit for a moment that the depth of his hatred of Newsies is so profound he can't blow his nose without trashing it.  If we all tattoo across our foreheads "Ben Bratley Hates Newsies" will he shut the hell up about it?  Just a question.
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He contrasts this sheepish behavior of the unwashed versus the rarefied air of the true enthusiasts of the Theater that attended the Enocre! series where (and I quote)

I should point out that among audiences for musicals, those who attend the Encores! productions are probably the most sophisticated and discriminating in town. Many of them know the history, in detail, of the show they’re seeing and the resumes of those appearing in it. But can't we all. please, strive to be a little more like them?

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More annoying words have been writen, but not by me.  And that, is the good of not having a theatre background (with an -re)

London Transfer "Cock", Is a Great Play

The new show at The Duke Theater on 42^nd Street, Cock, is amazing.  At the risk of oversetting expectations, it is a great show - funny and thoughtful.  

The play is self-described in the following way:

 “When John and his boyfriend take a break, the last thing he expects is to suddenly meet the woman of his dreams. Now he has a big choice to make. Don't miss the American premiere of COCK, the gripping new play by Mike Bartlett. James Macdonald (Top Girls, Dying City) directs this Olivier Award-winning production from The Royal Court Theatre”

It is an interesting premise and it explores not just sexuality, but what the impact is on those you are involved with. Cory Michael Smith does a stupendous job as “John”, the young man at the center of this story.  John is a charming mess of a person, unable to commit to anything, even being bi-sexual.  The story starts with John’s gay relationship.  The couple seems reasonably well adjusted, with cute, sit-com mannerisms that usually demark “quirky” rather than a flawed relationship.  But John does find it flawed, and the relationship ends. When it picks up again, John admits to having sex with a woman.

Jason Butler Harner, Amanda Quaid & Cory Michael Smith in Cock

The action then transfers to the relationship between John and the woman.  How they meet, how they have sex, and what comes next.

John’s lovers are played by Jason Butler Harner, the Man and Amanda Quaid, the Woman.  Mr. Harner plays the Man as a very together gay man, quick witted, funny and self-assured.  All of that is proven to be false bravado when John returns, after being with a woman.  Anger and self-doubt begin to drive him after John’s transgressions.  As for Amanda Quaid, she is very good, while stuck with a difficult role.  Wanting to change a gay man is a common theme, but what happens when you get one – and he is still gay.

The fourth cast member is Cotter Smith - who plays the role excellently, but I don’t want to spill too much of the story – so you have to take my word for it.

James MacDonald stages this intimate play in a exceedingly intimate venue.  The Duke has been transformed into a steeply stepped theater in the round.  The audience watches Cock as one would watch an actual cockfight; when you look away from the action for a moment, you are facing other theatergoers in a voyeuristic experience.  It serves the playwright, Mike Bartlett’s, words wonderfully.

Cock is in for a limited run at The Duke, do not miss it.

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Jason Butler Harner & Cory Michael Smith

Cock @ The Duke Theater

Playwright: Mike Bartlett

Director: James Macdonald

Cast: Jason Butler Harner, Amanda Quaid, Cory Michael Smith, Cotter Smith

Website

Currently Running: Peter and the Star Catcher

I didn’t review Peter and the Star Catcher when it was first released, but I have seen the show since – last week in fact.  It doesn’t make a lot of sense to do a full review now, but I did want to give my impressions of the show.  I went to see it because I had heard great things about it – and it is nominated for a number of Tonys.  I wanted to see most of the nominated shows before the awards ceremonies.  I think it will be fun to know more before rooting for my favorites (and trashing the rest J).

Pirate Black Stache (Christian Borle) taunts Lord Astor - Molly's father (Rick Holmes)

I am sharing my feedback – not as a review, just as notes.  But the short answer is the show is great and I highly recommend it.

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Peter and the Star Catcher is, at its most basic, might be said to be the back-story of Peter Pan.  The play relates the tall-tale of three orphans (the lost boys), pirates, shipwrecks, Queen Victoria and “star stuff”, catalyst for dreams.  It is told in a beautifully simplistic way, with more imagination that most shows on Broadway ever use.  Ropes are used to define rooms, show waves and point the way forward.  Instead of a full scale fight between ships, Pirate Black Stache moves a model boat among the waves.

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Celia Keenan-Bolger (right) and an
amazing Arnie Burton

This works for two reasons.  First, it is children’s tale, where imagination makes sense.  It seems like an elaborate bedtime story.  The staging and storytelling works perfectly in this sense.   The second reason this show works is the energy and commitment of the players.  The show garnered nominations for best featured actor and actress in a play.

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 Nominated Christian Borle plays Black Stache, as well as other roles.  In the role of Pirate Black Stache, he is manically over the top – perfect for the role.  Nominated Celia Keenan-Bolger plays Molly, daughter of the Captain of Her Majesty’s Ship and Star Catcher in training.   The entire cast works together beautifully.  A salute also has to go out to Adam Chanler-Berat – who plays Boy / Peter.  I saw him (a lot) in Next to Normal, and I wasn’t sure he would work in this role.  I was wrong, he is magical as Peter. Go see this show - it is appropriate for kids, but wonderful for adults.

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It was just announced that Peter and the Star Catcher will go on tour, starting in Denver in August of 2013.

Peter and the Star Catcher Website 

The Innocence Charms of The Wundelsteipen

The second of The Flea’s trio of new plays is The Wundelsteipen, by Nick Jones.  The full title is actually The Wundelsteipen (and Other Difficult Roles For Young People) and refers to setup for the show.  The piece is a number of short plays, as performed by young people at acting summer camp.  It is a device that allows any number of inappropriate choices to be made, and they all seem to work.  Having “young people” create these characters brings them to life with less self-conciseness than an “adult” would bring.  An adult couldn’t very well come into a story about why God would bring a baby to Heaven, and treat it as a comedy.  And, having The Bats (the Flea’s resident players) play “children” allows the audience to laugh the actors in a way that we could not, if they were actually youngsters.

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The seven mini-plays range from pitch perfect (and entirely inappropriate) to just okay, but the actors to a great job with all of them.

Briana Pozner (the Wundelsteipen herself) and Alex Herrald

My favorite of the various plays, in both writing and acting, was Alex Herrald and Tommy Crawford in The Wundelsteipen.  In this piece two brothers, hip deep in puberty and internet porn, make a wish and are rewarded with a visit from the sex fairy.  But the sex-fairy has changed a lot in an age where Playboy magazine is quaint and would hardly be rated PG-13.  Briana Pozner is a fairy, who’s payment for wishes has changed with the times.  It is inappropriate on a million levels, and hilarious.

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Tommy Crawford (standing) and
Dominic Spillane (Caligula - in repose)

Tommy Crawford played a slave opposite Dominic Spillane as Caligula in Caligula In The Morning.  It was all about the trials and tribulations of trying to wake up an Emperor that just doesn’t want to get out of bed.  It is an aspect of Caligula that only a young person would be fascinated by.  It was great.

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The direction, by Tom Costello, kept the cast and audience in the moment excellently.  The show never grew past the idea of a bunch of young people putting this together, and it wouldn’t have worked if it did.

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All of the players participated in the story Everybaby – the story of a young baby summoned by God to Heaven to atone for his sins.  The child (played with wide eyed innocence by Donaldo Prescod) doesn’t understand the idea of original sin, or why he can’t get his playmates to go with him.  Everybaby is a perfect example of a story that reads differently when played by children, rather than adults -  where someone might have really lost a child.

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Not all the pieces worked for me.  College Romance and Salome both seemed like SNL sketches that went on too long.  But the others were very good.  The Wundelsteipen … was a very funny time at the Flea.

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The Wundelsteipen (and Other Difficult Roles for Young People) @ The Flea Theater

Playwright: Nick Jones

Director: Tom Costello

Cast: Maren Langdon, Donaldo Prescod, Dominic Spillane, Tommy Crawford, Hannah Corrigan, Eric Folks, Alex Herrald, Briana Pozner

Website