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SANCTUARY CITY

“Speak to the children of Israel, saying: ‘Appoint for yourselves cities of refuge.’” Joshua 20:2 (NKJV)

A Theater Review by Julinda D. Lewis

Presented by 5th Wall Theatre

At: Richmond Triangle Players, Robrt B. Moss Theatre, 1300 Altamont Ave, RVA 23230

Performances: March 6 – 22, 2025

Ticket Prices: $30/Adults, $15/Students

Tickets & Info: https://5thwalltheatre.ludus.com or https://www.5thwalltheatre.org/ or email info@5thwalltheatre.org

Looking back at my October 2024 review of H*tler’s Tasters”  I noted that the opening paragraph of that review is appropriate for this one, so I’m going to use it again: The 5th Wall Theatre’s 2024/2025 season is billed as a celebration of empowering stories that inspire change. The “theatre beyond boundaries’” production of Pulitzer Prize-winning author Martyna Majok’s SANCTUARY CITY fulfills this promise on several levels.

Set in Newark, NJ in 2001, shortly after the earth-shattering events of 9/11, just across the Hudson River, SANCTUARY CITY tells the story of two teen-age friends as they navigate not only the usual trials that impede a smooth transition from teen to young adult, these two, known simply as B and G, must also contend with the extra challenges of being the children of immigrants. Oh, and not just immigrants, but immigrants who have over-stayed their visas. Let’s add to that, immigrants who have over-stayed their visas right after a major terrorist attack that damaged the Pentagon and destroyed the World Trade Center.

And while we’re at it, why not toss in domestic abuse, parental abandonment, financial stress, and sexual identity. Majok cleverly did not use names for the characters or specify their national origin, leaving that open for wider interpretation and inclusiveness depending on the cast and the locale.

Like so much of local theater in recent months, this production is heartfelt and relevant. It brings recent history into perspective into perspective, making it tangible, giving a face to “woke” and forcing us to think about how policies and legislation affects the lives of real people.

SANCTUARY CITY runs about 90 minutes with no intermission, but it does have two distinct parts. The first half or so takes place in a minimalist setting, with a simple bench set in front of a wall of windows. Dasia Gregg’s scenic design is gray and institutional, deliberately lacking in the details that suggest hominess and permanence. It looks like a bus station or a waiting room in a government building, but it serves as a variety of locations from B’s bedroom to the high school gym where B and G attend their senior prom.  For the second half, the bench is removed, and the wall of windows opens up to reveal B’s apartment – presumably, the same apartment he inherited when his mother, fearing deportation, returned to her home country, leaving B, a 17-year-old high school student, to fend for himself.

G’s mother, on the other hand, managed obtain citizenship for herself and her daughter, opening the door for G to attend college in Boston. The school, like the other details, is never named, but we know Boston is home to Harvard, MIT, and several other schools. 

G spends more time at B’s apartment than with her own mother, whose abusive boyfriends make G’s life unbearable to the point that the play opens with her banging on B’s bedroom window, coatless on a cold night, seeking refuge. For much of the first half, the two share B’s twin bed, with his mother’s permission.

The first half is a series of non-chronological scenes that create a sense of anxiety and uncertainty for the viewer. This seems to have been the playwright’s intention, but Juliana Caycedo, in her directorial debut, successfully balanced the edginess with flavorful dashes of humor.

I was excited to see that B would be played by Erich Appleby whose performance in the recent Water by the Spoonful (Firehouse Theatre) was most impressive. G is played by Anne Michelle Forbes (who was also in Water by the Spoonful) and the third character, Henry, who does not appear until well into the second half, is played by Keaton Hillman (whom I have seen mature into a seasoned actor on a variety or RVA stages).

It is fascinating to observe Appleby and Forbes navigate the delicate and difficult issues faced by two teens of immigrant parents: overstaying their visas, not having the proper documents or the financial means to become “legal,” accepting abuse at home and at work for fear that speaking up would lead to deportation. These young people, undocumented immigrants who arrived in the US as children, and whose only known home is the USA, are the people who would be labeled “Dreamers” (Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors Art) and for whom the Obama administration created DACA, the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program in June 2012.

G and B forge a plan to help B stay and become legal. They play to get married. They practice what to say to pass their interview with the immigration authorities. And then G get accepted to a college in Boston. They live in Newark, more than 200 miles and a 5-6 hour bus ride away. But while away at school, G develops cold feet. If their plan fails, the penalty is a $250,000 fine and 5 years in prison. She doesn’t come home for holiday breaks as planned, and when she finally shows up, after 3 ½ years, their close bond has been broken, and G has become involved with Henry, a law student. Henry is first generation American-born, the son of immigrants, also from an unnamed nation.

SANCTUARY CITY is educational, informative, and addresses issues that we, as a nation, are wrestling with right now. There are no easy solutions. There are issues of border security and national security, drugs, crime, employment, social integration, social services, economic impact, language, and racism. The topic is one that either leaves you speechless and weeping or ready to take up arms and march into battle. The acting in SANCTUARY CITY is mesmerizing. It may take a bit of adjusting to get used to the disjointed, non-linear format of the first half, but the discomfort is necessary. One cannot expect to sit comfortably in one’s seat and sip one’s cocktail. This is the sort of production that goes beyond the superficial and delves deeply into characters and issues of society and social justice and economics and education and…things that matter to us. It is about something that happened between 2001 and 2006, but it is also about real people, right now. This is not light entertainment; it is art that serves a cause.

One scene that sticks with me is when B describes the time he secretly took a bus to Boston to visit G, to surprise her. He walked around the campus. He pretended to have lost his ID, and other students readily gave him access. He had lunch and sat in on classes and even participated. In one class he answered a question eloquently, because he had read the book (G shared her books with him). But then, he left without speaking to G. He saw her, but he left.

So, I leave you with this: Who is welcome at the table? Who will we allow to walk away without sharing their talents and gifts and who will we make room for? For whom are we willing to fight? Is there a B or G or Henry in your life, and if not, why not?

———-

Julinda D. Lewis is a dancer, teacher, and writer who was born in Brooklyn, NY and now lives in Eastern Henrico County. When not writing about theater, she teaches dance history at VCU and low impact dance fitness classes to seasoned movers like herself and occasionally performs.

———-

SANCTUARY CITY

Written by Martyna Majok

Directed by Juliana Caycedo

CAST

B                                  ……….           Erich Appleby

G                                 ……….           Anne Michele Forbes

Henry                         ……….           Keaton Hillman

Aidan Campbell      ……….           u/s for B

Katherine Nguyen   ……….           u/s for G

DJ Cummings-Herdoiza …..         u/s for Henry

PRODUCTION TEAM

Directed by               ……….             Juliana Caycedo

Production Stage Management        ……….            Tariq Karriem

Scenic Design by     ……….           Dasia Greff

Lighting Design by  ……….            Gretta Daughtry

Sound Design by       ……….            Kyle Epps

Costume Design by   ……….            Sassy Rychalski

Prop Master              ……….           Tariq Karriem

Technical Director   ……….           Rebecka Russo

Dialect Coach           ……….           Harrison Runion

Intimacy Coordinator         ……….           Dorothy Dee-D Miller

Photos by                  ……….           Destiny Martinez

Performance Schedule:

Thursday, March 6, 7:30PM | PREVIEW

Friday, March 7, 7:30PM | OPENING NIGHT

Saturday, March 8, 7:30PM

Sunday, March 9, 2:30PM | MATINEE with Talkback with the cast & Creative Team

Thursday, March 13, 7:30PM

Friday, March 14, 7:30PM

Saturday, March 15, 7:30PM

Sunday, March 16, 2:30PM | MATINEE

Tuesday, March 18, 7:30PM | INDUSTRY NIGHT, pay what you will

Thursday, March 20, 7:30PM | TALKBACK, Reestablish Richmond

Friday, March 21, 7:30PM

Saturday, March 22, 7:30PM | CLOSING NIGHT

Saturday, November 2, 2024, 7:30PM | Closing Night

Tickets: $30/Adult; $15/Student

Run Time: 90 minutes, no intermission

SANCTUARY CITY had its World Premiere at New York Theatre Workshop, Jim Nicola, Artistic Director, Jeremy Blocker, Managing Director, 2020. SANCTUARY CITY was developed, in part, at the 2018 Sundance Institute Theatre Lab.

Erich Appleby and Anne Michelle Forbes
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THE DIARY OF ANNE FRANK

All That Remains

At: The Swift Creek Mill Theatre, 17401 U.S. Route One, Chesterfield, VA 23834

Performances: January 25 – February 15, 2025

Ticket Prices: $44-49. Ask about discounts for students, seniors, and veterans.

Info: (804) 748-5203 or https://www.swiftcreekmill.com

A Theater Reflection by Julinda D. Lewis

Let’s be clear, this is not an easy production to see. I can only imagine how the cast manages to perform The Diary of Anne Frank day after day, night after night. It was so deeply moving that after a Wednesday matinee performance going out into the welcoming sunlight of an unseasonably warm winter day seemed surreal and a bit irreverent.

This is a script based on the diaries of Anne Frank, written when she was only 13-15 years old and she along with her family spent more than two years in hiding in Amsterdam while Hitler’s army occupied Amsterdam. Occupied seems too gentle a word. Todd A. Schall Vess has designed a simple but layered set that appropriately captures the era. While the quarters may be camped for seven people, the set appeared more spacious than the scene I imagined in my mind’s eye.

The need for quiet

The lack of privacy

The terror of footsteps

The updated script, Producing Artistic Director informed us during his pre-show curtain talk, contains material that was not available for the original production. This is Swift Creek Mill’s fifth production of The Diary of Anne Frank but my first experience with the play.

Kudos to Director Debra Clinton and this phenomenal cast for having the courage to take us on this journey at this point in time. The Mill chose this production more than a year ago, when they could not have known how relevant it would be in January 2025.

Ayla Clinton stepped into the shoes of the lead role, Anne Frank. Their youthful enthusiasm, so out of place, was a ray of sunshine in this battle against spiritual darkness. Kendall Walker played Anne’s sister, Margot – more subdued and therefore more socially acceptable – and Jeff Meisner and Emma Mason carried the roles of Anne’s parents, Otto and Edith with dignity beyond understanding. We see them as loving, educated people, someone you might like to have as neighbors in another life.

The Frank family shared their hiding place with the Van Daan family. Sara Heifetz and Fred Kaufman took on the roles of a bickering couple whose sometimes embarrassingly public revelations of one another’s shortcomings added a bit of much needed humor while a growing friendship between their shy son Peter, played by Trace Coles and the exuberant Anne provided a subplot of optimism and romance that fueled a false hope that things might turn out differently this time around.

The enmity between the Van Daan’s was also quite realistic, and I loved the authenticity of the complicated relationship Heifetz and Kaufman depicted in their roles. Mrs. Van Daan’s reluctance to give up her wholly impractical fur coat was not about materialism – it was about holding on to the only existing reminder of her father. The tears started to form when Heifetz uttered the deceptively simple line, “If you’re hungry, just hold on to me.”

Thinner.

Paler.

A lot hungrier.

Taylor Baltimore’s role as the engineer and manager of the makeshift refuge might be considered a supporting role, but it was so essential. When Miep came, she didn’t bring just food and books, she brought the breath of life. It was temporary and insufficient, but it was all they had. When Miep introduced Mr. Dussel, a dentist played by Eddie Webster, into the already tense and crowded community, the delicate balance temporarily tipped, and it took a while for the group to reestablish equilibrium. Thinking, again, of our world today, there are so many lessons to be learned from this story – and from the careful handling of it by Director Clinton and this phenomenal ensemble.

But for all their hard work, they could not change history. The final transport left on September 3, 1944. The destination – the extermination camps. And for all the hope, the prayers, the tears, the love, the sacrifice, the loss, the lack…

All that remains…

…the cast stood quietly

…some audience members stood and clapped, the most subdued applause ever

…some sat weeping

…never…again…

…dear G-d, never again…

———-

Julinda D. Lewis, EdD is a dancer, minister of dance,  teacher, and writer who was born in Brooklyn, NY and currently resides in Eastern Henrico County. When not writing about theater and dance, she teaches dance history at VCU and low impact dance fitness classes to seasoned movers like herself and occasionally performs.

———-

THE DIARY OF ANNE FRANK

By Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett

Newly adapted by Wendy Kesselman

Directed by Debra Clinton

CAST

Anne Frank   …..      Ayla Clinton

Otto Frank    …..      Jeff Meisner

Edith Frank   …..      Emma Mason

Margot Frank…..     Kendall Walker

Miep Gies     …..      Taylor Baltimore

Peter Van Daan…..  Trace Coles

Mr. Kraler      …..      Mike White

Mrs. Van Daan…..    Sara Heifetz

Mr. Van Daan…..     Fred Kaufman

Mr. Dussel     …..      Eddie Webster

First Man       …..      Mike White

Second Man …..      Bent Deekens

Third Man     …..      Austen Linder

Voice Actors …..      Roger Price, Meg Price, Melissa Johnston Price

CREATIVE TEAM

Directed by Debra Clinton

Scenic Design by Todd A. Schall-Vess

Lighting Design by Joe Doran

Costume Design by Maura Lynch Cravey

Technical Direction by James Nicholas

Sound Design by James Nicholas

PRODUCTION STAFF

Producing Artistic Director …. Tom With

Technical Director ….. James Nicholas

Stage Manager ….. Sandy Lambert

Assistant Stage Manager/Props ….. Tom Width

Light/Sound Board Operator ….. Brent Deekens

Set Crew ….. R Jonathan Shelley, Peter Proust, Brent Deekens, Christopher Samoski

Scenic Painter ….. Amber Kilpatrick

Lighting Crew ….. Brent Deekens, Alleigh Scantling

Photographer …..Daryll Morgan

Setting:

The play takes place on the top floors of the annex to an office building in Amsterdam, Holland, during the years of World War II.

Run Time:

About 2 hours with 1 intermission

Tickets:

Regular $44-49. Discounts for Seniors, Military & Veterans

Photographer: Darryl Morgan

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O’KEEFFE!

A One-Woman Show About Art, Life, and Love

Written and Performed By: Lucinda McDermott

At: Richmond Triangle Players at the Robert B. Moss Theatre, 1300 Altamont Avenue,  RVA 23220

Performances: January 25 & 26, 2025

Ticket Prices: $45

Info: (804) 346-8113 or rtriangle.org

A Theater Reflection by Julinda D. Lewis

In this mesmerizing one-woman show about the American artist Georgie O’Keeffe, Lucinda McDermott, who both wrote and stars in the play, stated early on, “I will not be mediocre.” That simple statement was a battle cry that foreshadowed what we know of the life of the artist, O’Keeffe. It was a statement first of faith and in retrospect of fact, about the work of playwright and actor Lucinda McDermott.

More than a biography, better than a documentary, O’Keeffe briefly immerses the audience into the world that created Georgia O’Keeffe. On a simply dressed stage – just a small desk, a chair, a basket on our left, a coat rack on our right, and a gigantic framed blank canvas upstage center – McDermott reveals her subject with reverence, humor, and love. To borrow a line from the script, McDermott “fills the space in a beautiful way.”

I imagine those who came as fans of the artist left affirmed and those who came as blank slates left with the satisfaction of having filled a void they didn’t know they had. O’Keeffe explores the things that inspired O’Keeffe as well as the challenges faced by a woman artist existing in a man’s world, more specifically as a woman artist living in the shadow of a well known and successful man – a renowned photographer more than 20 years her senior who also managed her career. The play dares explore the question, did Alfred Stieglitz exploit, manipulate, or otherwise (re-)direct the course of O’Keeffe’s life?

There is no doubt a popular, powerful, older male mentor can open doors closed to other women. And although McDermott did not dwell on it, there was mention of how he would not allow her to have children, her lengthy, life-affirming retreat to New Mexico, and even allusions to her affair with a mutual friend, the Harlem Renaissance writer, Jean Toomer and his long-term affair with arts patron Dorothy Norman. Yet this is a love story, and their marriage lasted in some form for 30 years.

“It’s an unpleasant sensation, squeezing the life out of someone; you won’t like what’s left.”

McDermott’s storytelling skills are immersive all on their own, yet in and as O’Keeffe, she takes it to another level. At one point, as an example, McDermott asked the audience to close our eyes to listen to music (the sound design was the work of her own real-life husband, Jonathan Piro) and then she asked three people to describe what they had seen in their mind’s eye.

McDermott commands the stage for about two hours, not so much playing the role O’Keeffe, as embodying the spirit of the artist, with time for one intermission, and not one minute of her stage time is dull or wasted. O’Keeffe resurrects the artist and allows her – not McDermott, but O’Keeffe – to lead us on an amazing journey of discovery: it is art process; it is love story; it is the heart of an artist, taken out, bared, and entrusted to a group of people who may have entered as strangers but who left as co-conspirators, a group unified by a common experience who cradled it, acknowledged its strengths and admired its cracks, and returned it to its owner so it could be shared again and again…and again.

NOTE: To answer a question raised – by McDermott? by O’Keeffe? – why do critics get paid for their opinions and the rest of us don’t? It’s combat pay, needed to buy bandages for the wounds from the darts and daggers others tossed at those who dared to defy social conventions and express an opinion, whether popular or not. And I make a distinction, in these days of social media, between the professional reviewer or academic critic and those who use and abuse social media for the sole purpose of inflicting harm on others for no other reason, apparently, than for sport. But that’s a whole other discussion.

———-

Julinda D. Lewis is a dancer, minister of dance, teacher, and writer who was born in Brooklyn, NY and currently resides in Eastern Henrico County. When not writing about theater, she teaches dance history at VCU and low impact dance fitness classes to seasoned movers like herself and occasionally performs.

———-

O’KEEFFE

Written & Performed by Lucinda McDermott

Directed by Dr. Jan Powell

Cast

Lucinda McDermott as Georgia O’Keeffe

Creative Team

  Playwright/Actor/Producer:Lucinda McDermott
                                      Director:Jan Powell
Sound Design/Co-Producer:Jonathan Piro
                     Costume Design:Elizabeth Weiss Hopper
                       Lighting Design:Andrea Stratton
Master Electrician:Gabriel Beard

Performance Schedule

Saturday, January 25, 2025           8:00PM

Sunday, January 26, 2025              4:00PM         

Tickets

Ticket Prices: $45

Run Time

Approximately 2 hours, including one intermission

Photos N/A [from Lucinda McDermott’s Facebook page]

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CONSTELLATIONS

Experience the Multiverse

Produced By: Yes, And! Theatrical Company in residency with New Theatre at Firehouse

At: The Firehouse Theatre, 1609 West Broad St., Richmond, RVA 23220

Performances: January 3 – February 8, 2025

Ticket Prices: $40 general admission; $15 for return visits; $100 for Season 3 Tickets [four shows]

Info: Email: yesandrva@gmail.com; Website: yesandrva.org; Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/yesandrva/

A Theater Review by Julinda D. Lewis

CONSTELLATIONS is, by design, a play of endless possibilities. Playwright Nick Payne has the two actors speak multiple versions of the same lines throughout the course of the play. Director Maggie Roop takes it a step further by having each actor learn both roles and rotating the pairings of partners throughout the run. (Do the math; that results in six possible pairs). Roop describes the resulting product as a Sci-Fi Rom-Com.

WARNING: It is impossible to talk about this play without touching on some spoilers, so if you want to retain your sense of awe and wonder, stop reading here, go see the play, and then come back to finish.

The gist of CONSTELLATIONS is the relationship between Marianne, a physicist who leaps enthusiastically into discourse on quantum mechanics and multiple universes, and Roland, a beekeeper. The two meet at a barbeque and begin a relationship that might be romantic or might not be. It might be rocky or smooth. It might be challenged by infidelity – or not, or it might be on her part, or may his. But after a time, they reconnect at a ballroom dance class – again, for assorted reasons, depending on which version of the story is told at any given time. Eventually they marry, and Marianne falls ill. For all her love of words, that is the first thing she begins to struggle with and, with Roland’s help, she embarks on a journey to seek assisted suicide (which reminded me of Ronan Carr’s The Barber of Moville, which I also saw here at the Firehouse Theatre, in June of 2022: https://jdldancesrva.com/2022/06/28/the-barber-of-moville/ Both plays came from “across the pond,” as Payne is British and Carr hails from Dublin).

I saw CONSTELLATIONS on opening night with John-Michael Jalonen in the role of Roland and Ashley Thompson playing Marianne. I am not familiar with either actor but based on their tightly woven performances in this delightfully quirky two-hander, I would enjoy seeing more of them. Jalonen initially portrays Roland as sort of an everyman but gradually adds more depth and texture to the character. Similarly, Thompson starts off playing Marianne as someone aloof and driven by some sort of mystical philosophical angst but gradually lets us in – as much as you can get close to someone who straddles the multiverse. Ultimately, it seems that the multiverse that most affected Marianne and Roland came from within, rather than from any external sources or forces.

The tragic circumstances are balanced with generous doses of wry humor – spoken in British accents. Director Maggie Roop has ensured that the timing is impeccable, especially when scenes are repeated or revised with alternate outcomes. At times, the two characters are transported into an alternate reality, signaled by changes in their voices, robotic stance, and otherworldly lighting.

Scenic Designer Alyssa Sutherland set CONSTELLATIONS on a multilevel series of wooden platforms with wire mesh sides; honeycombs adorn the walls, an alternative “universe” with two rows of audience seating was added to one side, near the bar, and Kelsey Cordrey filled the auditory space with a dull somewhat ominous rumble. Oh, and there was honey. A honey jalapeño moonshine cocktail at the bar, and straws of straight honey at the box office in the lobby. Sweet.

———-

Julinda D. Lewis is a dancer, minister of dance, teacher, and writer who was born in Brooklyn, NY and currently resides in Eastern Henrico County. When not writing about theater, she teaches dance history at VCU and low impact dance fitness classes to seasoned movers like herself and occasionally performs.

———-

CONSTELLATIONS

Written by Nick Payne

Directed by Maggie Roop

Cast

4 actors each portray both roles, Roland and Marianne, and the actor pairings change throughout the run:

John-Michael Jalonen

Marie Lucas

Ashley Thompson

Adam Turck

Production Team

Scenic Design – Alyssa Sutherland

Costume  Design – Emily Atkins

Lighting Design – Michael Jarett

Sound Design – Kelsey Cordrey

Dialect Coach – Erica Hughes

Intimacy Coordinator – Michelle Greensmith

Fight Choreography – Axle Burtness

ASL Coordinator – Allison Polson

Production Stage Manager – Grace Labelle

Assistant Stage Manager – Kennedy Shahan

Director of Production & Scenic Painter – Todd Labelle

Technical Director – Emily Vial

YES, AND! THEATRICAL COMPANY

in residency with NEW THEATRE at FIREHOUSE

Artistic Director – Maggie Roop

Executive Director – Matt Shofner

Performance Schedule

Thursday, January 23, 2025          7:30PM          Preview

Friday, January 24, 2025               7:30PM          Opening Night

Saturday, January 25, 2025           7:30PM

Tuesday, January 28, 2025            7:30PM          Pay What You Can*

Thursday, January 30, 2025          7:30PM

Friday, January 31, 2025                7:30PM

Saturday, February 1, 2025           7:30PM

Sunday, February 2, 2025              2:00PM          Pay What You Can*

Tuesday, February 4, 2025            7:30PM          Pay What You Can*

Thursday, February 6, 2025          7:30PM

Friday, February 7, 2025                7:30PM

Saturday, February 8, 2025           2:00PM

Saturday, February 8, 2025           7:30PM

Tickets

Ticket Prices: $40 general admission; $15 if you return to see a different actor pairing; $20 Rush Rickets at the Box Office one hour prior to all performances

*Pay What You Can: $5 suggested minimum at the door; $10 minimum in advance

Run Time

Approximately 70 minutes with no intermission

Photos N/A

CONSTELLATIONS was originally produced on Broadway by the Manhattan Theatre Club, Lynne Meadow, Artistic Director, Barry Grove Executive Producer, and The Royal Court Theatre by special arrangement with Ambassador Theatre Group and Dodges on December 16, 2014.

Marie Lucas, John-Michael Jalonen, Adam Turck, Ashley Thompson

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PAGE TO STAGE III

Dance + Literature = Magic

A Reflection on StarrFosterDance by Julinda D. Lewis

At: The Firehouse, 1609 West Broad St., Richmond, RVA 23220

Performances: December 5-8, 2024

Ticket Prices: $20-25 General Admission; Date Night tickets 2 for $40

Info: (804) 304-1523 or starrfosterdance.org or firehousetheatre.org

Program & Casting:

All Choreography by Starrene Foster

Art Director: Douglas Hayes

Lighting Design by Greta Daughtrey (for all pieces)

Music Director: Daniel Deckelman

Starr Foster Dance Performing Artists: Shannon Comerford, Madison Ernstes, Molly Huey, Angela Palmisano

Guest Artists: Sara Burtner, Danielle Cecile, Hailey Clevenger, Ma-Siya Dycus, Olivia Gotsch, Janelle Ragland, Roya Baker-Vahdani

Living Tidal

Inspired by an excerpt from a memoir written by Sheena Jeffers

Performed by Fran Beaumont, Shannon Commerford, Madison Ernstes, Molly Huey, Angela Palmisano

Music by Scott Buckley, Balefire

Costumes designed and constructed by Starrene Foster

Ned, Steven

Inspired by a story written by Dr. Tim Wenzell

Performed by Molly Huey & Angela Palmisano

Original Music Composition by Daniel Deckelman

Costume Design by Starrene Foster

A Soft Neglect

Inspired by a poem by Tara Shea Burke

Performed by Sara Burtner, Danielle Cecile, Hailey Clevenger, Ma-Siya Dycus, Madison Ernstes, Olivia Gotsch, Janelle Ragland, Roya Baker-Vahdani

Music by Pieter de Graaf, OCD

Costumes Designed and Constructed by Starrene Foster

Elegy to Childhood

Inspired by a story written by Judith Rice

Performed by Fran Beaumont, Shannon Comerford, Molly Huey, Angela Palmisano

Music by Morryc, Saint-Saens

Costume Designed and Constructed by Tamara Cobus

Good Mourning

Inspired by a poem written by Geraldine Beaumont

Performed by Shannon Comerford & Fran Beaumont

Original Music Composition by Daniel Deckelman

Costume Designed and Constructed by Johann Stegmeir

Not a Dream

Inspired by an excerpt from a memoir written by Caitlin McGill

Performed by Madison Ernstes

Music by Valgeir Sigurõsson, The Crumbling

Costume Designed and Constructed by Starrene Foster

Middle Passage

Inspired by a poem written by Y.B. Taylor

Performed by Fran Beaumont, Shannon Comerford, Madison Ernstes, Molly Huey, Angela Palmisano, and guest artists Sara Burtner, Danielle Cecile, Hailey Clevenger, Ma-Siya Dycus, Olivia Gotsch, Janelle Ragland, Roya Baker-Vahdani

Music by Ran Bagno, Sticks (Vertigo 20)

Costume Designed and Constructed by Starrene Foster

**********

A few days before the opening of Starr Foster’s latest iteration of her Page to Stage project, I sat with Starr watching her company rehearse. It was the night of the Richmond Dance Awards, and during the rehearsal Starr received word that her company had been recognized as the Best Professional Dance Company in Richmond for the 2024 season. She was honored but humble. I was not surprised that she was honored. I was also not surprised that she was humble. She deserved it. But she had work to do, and celebrating would come later.

Page to Stage III, like its predecessors, is an artistic marriage of dance with poetry or short stories. Building on the programs that came before (in 2015 and 2022), the concept has matured, it has reached a place of balance and – dare I say – perfection. There was drama, humor, and even controversy. It’s dance for people who like movement, and movement for people who like words – a visualization of the words on paper, but without mimicking or condescending.

The program began with Living Tidal, a work for five dancers inspired by Sheena Jeffers’ story of the end of a relationship – that point when you feel you no longer belong, that you’re in the wrong place, when, quite simply, “our time has come.” For the stage Foster crafted a tight drama that veers away from the idea of a couple. It becomes personal, not just for Foster or Jeffers, but for each of us in our own way.

Ned, Steven is a comedic duet performed by two dancers in workman-like jumpsuits with name tags. Here, Foster has taken a tiny snippet of a story and turned it into a whole scenario – one can’t help but wonder what goes on Foster’s mind to produce these flashes of brilliance. The one word that best describes A Soft Neglect is “relational.” The work, performed by the talented troupe of guest performers, ended with a haunting image of the soloist’s chattering hands that, for me, seemed to perfectly capture the poet’s words: “Maybe families kill. Not with their hands, but a soft neglect – they let the needy bird stay stuck chirping in the mud, one foot too deep to be free.”

The first half of this program closed with Elegy to Childhood. The dancers began in individual squares of light, moving with simplicity and repetition that contrasted interestingly with the edgy, anxious complexity of Good Mourning that opened the second half. Even more noteworthy, the poem, Good Mourning by Geraldine Beaumont, was written by a company member who also performed in the duet. Not a Dream, inspired by a story by Caitlin McGill, is filled with subtle details and articulations of the smallest joint, in stark contrast to big, bold movements. Overall, the work – the only solo on the program, performed by the talented and versatile Madison Ernstes, reminded me of a visualization of good touch/bad touch.

The program concluded with what could have been the most controversial work on the program. The title, Middle Passage refers, of course, to the transporting of enslaved Africans from West Africa to the Americas. This is a topic most White choreographers would – rightfully – steer clear off, for obvious reasons [you know…appropriation].  Author Y.B. Taylor, who, according to Style Weekly, was Huguenot High School’s first African American homecoming queen in 1971 and one of six African American students to integrate Albert H. Hill Junior High School in 1966 has an interesting personal history and was apparently more than willing to entrust her story to Starr Foster. [https://www.styleweekly.com/third-times-a-charm/]https://www.styleweekly.com/third-times-a-charm/https://www.styleweekly.com/third-times-a-charm/

Rather than a retelling of the horrors of the cross-Atlantic slave trade, Taylor’s poem, written on a flight home from Europe, contrasts her own experience with that of those earlier, reluctant passengers. Given this perspective, Middle Passage becomes a story that belongs to anyone in a period of major transition. Given that Foster’s company is an all-female ensemble, it becomes a story of women.

Mechanical sounds, distant whirrs and thunderings and the echoes of time ticking away support the movement. A group of women leans side-to-side, moving as a unit, their palms barely supporting their heads. Little tags on their dresses, barely visible to the naked eye, subliminally suggest a label, a brand, a way, perhaps, of reminding someone they are a commodity – but maybe I’m going deeper than necessary. At the end, the women are kneeling, but not bowed – resilient, resistant, released…

Some say the third time is the charm. This is Foster’s third iteration of Page to Stage, and the shows just keep getting better. This program developed a unique collaboration of words and movement, not a visualization of the word, but a whole new creation with a life of its own, and an underlying theme of various kinds of relationships. Taken together, the separate works seem meant to be together – and they are also worthy of discussion. A casual post-performance discussion with a friend predictably revealed questions – even a bit of confusion – about Middle Passage. I hope there are future opportunities to pursue much needed discussions about difficult topics to their logical conclusion: a deeper understanding and greater inclusiveness.

———-

Julinda D. Lewis is a dancer, teacher, and writer who was born in Brooklyn, NY and now lives in Eastern Henrico County. When not writing about theater, she teaches dance history at VCU and low impact dance fitness classes to seasoned movers like herself, and occasionally performs.

———-

Starr Foster Dance presents

PAGE TO STAGE III

Combining the arts of writing and dance

Artistic Director/Choreography by: Starrene Foster

Art Director: Douglas Hayes

Lighting Designer: Gretta  Daughtrey

Music Director: Daniel Deckelman

Company Artists: Fran Beaumont, Shannon Comerford, Madison Ernstes, Molly Huey, Angela Palmisano

Performing Guest Artists: Sara Burtner, Danielle Cecile, Hailey Clevenger, Ma-Siya Dycus, Olivia Gotsch, Janelle Ragland, Roya Baker-Vahdani

IMPORTANT PROGRAM NOTE: The poetry and stories appearing in the playbill and on the Starr Foster Dance website were published with the permission of the authors and publishers. All material is protected by copyright under U.S. Copyright laws and may not be copied or reproduced without permission of the copyright holder.

Starr Foster Dance is a Resident Company of the Firehouse Theatre

Performance Schedule

Thursday, December 5th, 7:30PM

Friday, December 6th, 7:30PM

Saturday, December 7th, 2:00PM & 5:00PM

Sunday, December 8th, 2:00PM

Post-performance Q&A after the Thursday and Saturday evening performances

Champagne toast after the Friday evening performance

Run Time

About 2 hours

Living Tidal
A Soft Neglect
Elegy to Childhood
Good Mourning
Good Mourning
Not a Dream
Not a Dream
Middle Passage
Middle Passage
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THE HOUSE THAT WILL NOT STAND

You May Be the Wealthiest Colored Woman in New Orleans, But You Built This House on Sand

A Theater Reflection by Julinda D. Lewis

Produced by: UR Free Theatre & Dance

At: Alice Jepson Theatre, Modlin Center for the Arts, 453 Westhampton Way, University of Richmond, VA 23173

Performances:  November 21-24, 2024

Ticket Prices: FREE

Info: (804) 289-8980 or modlinarts@richmond.edu

———-

            This play was not on my radar – my list of local 2024-25 productions to view for consideration for the Richmond Theatre Community Circle awards, but at the last minute I heard about it from people whose opinion I trust, and I realized I had time in my often complicated schedule to see the very last show. I am so glad I did.

            I learned a lot from this 19th century historic drama – a tale that is so very relevant today. This household of free Creole and enslaved Black women in New Orleans on the cusp of the transfer of the Louisiana territory from France to the USA redefines what it means to be free. A lengthy quote from director Lucretia Marie Anderson seems appropriate here:

           In my initial reading of this play, I was transported back to that sense of grief and longing that pervaded the household of Bernarda [Alba, by Federico Garcia Lorca] and the stark and witty differences in how Gardley infused his memories from his own upbringing by resilient, resourceful, catty, joyful, spiritual, and heartbroken Black women in New Orleans. Creating the world in which the women in this play exist has been an honor and a collaboration with all of the magic we could muster.

            This is a hauntingly beautiful play that captures the power, the magic, the tragedy, and the strength of the recently widowed Beartrice Albans and her three daughters: Maude Lynn [run the names together, without a breath], the pious one, Odette, the dark one, and Agnès, the one most desperate to break away.

            Even the supporting characters all hold major roles: Makeda is the Haitian slave of Beartrice, La Veuve is Beartrice’s catty arch enemy, and Marie Josephine is Beartrice’s “crazy” sister who is kept hidden away in the attic. A most unusual central figure – the leading man, one might say, is Lazare Albans, the deceased white man who was Beartrice’s lover and the father of her three daughters. Lazare, who died just hours ago as the play begins, holds a prominent position as a corpse resting in state on the family’s dining room table.

            To understand The House That Will Not Stand, one needs to know a bit about New Orleans cultural history. There was a practice, prevalent from the 1600s to the 1800s) known as plaçage. A way to circumvent the laws preventing interracial marriages, plaçage allowed free women of color (light-skinned Black, mixed race, Creole) to set up households with their white lovers. Unlike common-law marriages or strictly commercial exchanges, like prostitution plaçage provided the women with homes, acknowledged the children, and assigned some contractual rights to income, property, and even limited rights to inheritance.

            In The House That Will Not Stand, not only is Beartrice’s family under attack, but the entire system is about to fall. The transfer of the Louisiana Territory to US law will mean that free women of color, who owned property and even slaves of their own – would be subject to be sold into slavery. For Beartrice, the attack was more immediate Lazare’s white wife, whom he apparently never legally divorced, has the legal right to claim his house and property simply because she is white. His will, leaving his estate to Beartrice and his daughters, has little no bearing under US law – and this is one of the places where the past seems to overlap with the present.

            While Beartrice is fighting for her daughters – adamant that they should not be sold into the plaçage system, her daughter Agnès sees the arrangement as a way to meet a handsome lover and escape the tight discipline of her over-bearing mother While Beartrice is fighting for her own freedom, her house servant, Makeda is fighting for her own freedom. Beartrice has repeatedly reneged on her promise to sign Makeda’s manumission (freedom) papers. While Beartrice is fighting for her freedom, and that of her daughters, and Makeda is hellbent on walking away from slavery, Beartrice’s own sister is imprisoned in the attic – apparently for the “crime” of loving a Black man, a drummer.

            An intricate, multi-leveled set and absolutely stunning costumes supported this cast of strong, beautiful women. Dr. Tiffany (Doc) Jana wore the role of Beartrice Albans as if it were a mantle bestowed upon her by the ancestors. Nia Simone was beautiful and cunning as the eldest sister, Agnès, who seemed to be cracking under the social pressure to be “placed” well.  Melanie Sanchez was adept at covering Maude Lynn in a façade of syrupy sweetness that, in the end, failed to completely sheath her claws. Mikaela Craft was heartbreakingly naïve as the beautiful younger sister who was burdened with the “curse” of having darker skin than her sisters and mother.

            I wouldn’t be mad with Zakiyyah Jackson if she tried to claim the title of lead for her role as what I would dare to describe as the twice-enslaved Makeda (twice, because she was held as chattel by another woman of color). Marjie Southerland, the attic dwelling sister, Marie, found freedom only by dancing off into the arms of her deceased lover, never to be seen again – and no one else in her house seemed to find that odd? Makeda had her black bag of tricks, but Marie’s magic may have been more powerful, as it was all in her mind and the swing of dancing hips. Shalandis Wheeler Smith brought the tea, the laughs, and stirred up the trouble as the catty La Veuve. But no matter how messy she tried to be, Beartrice was able to match her, word for word, without batting an eye. These women may have been dressed as genteel ladies, but underneath their bustle and layers of lace, they were tough as nails and twice as hard.

            I unknowingly selected the perfect seat, an aisle seat in the last row, where the actors made entrances and exits, where the masked drummer appeared, and where Marie flew off to find her final freedom.

            Lazare was also a constant presence. While his body lay cooling on the dining room table – a practice I have heard of, but never experienced – he did make an appearance as an apparition in the mirror when Makeda, at Marie’s request, allowed his spirit to possess her body to confirm the true cause of his death. Let’s just say that when a woman who doesn’t normally cook offers you a pie, don’t eat it.

            There was so much history and culture to process in these two hours: the whole social system of plaçage, the body in the dining room, the covered mirrors, the aunt in the attic, the colorism and caste system, the Creole balls, the white wife and the colored mistress, a woman seeking freedom in a relationship with a man who could never see her as an equal, the fear of the approaching Yankees, the fear of losing a familiar way of life, a preference for the devil you know rather than the uncertainty of the devil you only know of…What does freedom look like to you?

            What an amazing household, and how deftly they were managed for an  immersive viewing experience by Lucretia Marie Anderson. Gardley has written a masterful collaboration of drama, humor, family dynamics, tragedy, history, social (in)justice, liberation, and magic. This is a work that deserves to be seen by a larger audience. I can only imagine what a life-affirming and yet draining experience it must have been for the cast.

———-

Julinda D. Lewis is a dancer, teacher, and writer who was born in Brooklyn, NY and now lives in Eastern Henrico County. When not writing about theater, she teaches dance history at VCU and low impact dance fitness classes to seasoned movers like herself, and occasionally performs. Her most recent (ad)venture was the premiere of a solo work, The Waters of Babylon or Psalm 137 Revisited: a Post-Exodus Reflection in Movement Choreographed From Collective Memories for the debut of the Critical Race Theatre Project, right here at RTP in August 2024.

———-

THE HOUSE THAT WILL NOT STAND

By Marcus Gardley

Directed by Lucretia Marie Anderson

Cast

Dr. Tiffany (Doc) Jana …    as Beartrice Albans

Nia Simone               ……    as Agnès Albans

Melanie Sanches     ……    as Maude Lynn Albans

Mikaela Craft            ……    as Odette Albans

Zakiyyah Jackson    ……    as Makeda

Shalandis Wheeler Smith   as La Veuve

Majie Southerland  ……    as Marie Josephine

Bill Blair                     ……    as Lazare

Production & Design

Playwright                 ……    Marcus Gardley

Director                     ……    Lucretia Marie Anderson

Scenic Design          ……    Emmy Weldon

Costume Design      ……    Johann Stegmeir

Lighting & Sound Design  Maja E. white

Vocal Direction & Composition

……    Mara Smith

Choreography         ……    Deandra Clarke

Production Stage Management

……    Holly Trenbath

Assistant Stage Manager   Leland Solesby

Drummer                  ……    Austin Martin

Props Crew               ……    David Hensley, Leah Marchetti

Board Operators     ……    Jerry Chen, Charlotte Donelan,

Tina Li, Louisa Stringer, Gareth Woo

Run Crew                  ……    Gabrielle Lindsay, Leah Marchetti

Wardrobe Crew       ……    Chuhan Fang, Taylo Harris, Maddi Lewis

Director of Costume  ….    Heather Hogg

Technical Supervisor & Fight Choreographer

                                    ……    Phil Hayes

Technical Assistant ……    Tomya Pryor

Lighting & Sound Supervisor

                                    ……    Robby Williams

Guest Costume Artists       Tinia Crider, Robyn Gebhart, Karl Green,

                                                Susan Rich

Costume Shop Staff …..     Eliza Hummerstone, Jaize Francis, Alisha Tosto,

                                                Michael Florentin

Electrics Crew          ……    Alex Broening, Connor Smith, Bonny Bruzos

Scene Shop Staff     ……    Hope Amberger, Fitch Melson, Jake Litman,

                                                Megan Montoya

Scene Shop Assistants ..    Patrick Michael, Cameron Peterson, Felicia Chen

Scenic Artists            ……    Tyeon Ford, Leah Marchetti, Darcel Pham

Scenic Carpenters & Painters      

                                    ……    Jonathan Beagle, Jaleel Grinnage, Taylo Harris,

                                                Rachell Lee, Jason Liang, Ly Nguyen, Vanessa

                                                Romero, Louisa Stringer, Zachiah Zook

Production Manager & Dialect Coach

                                    ……    Erica Hughes

Poster Design           ……    Jeane Minnix

Setting & Time

The home of Beartrice, a free colored woman, New Orleans, Louisiana Territory,1830s

Run Time

Approximately two hours, with one intermission

Schedule of Performances

Thursday, November 21, 7:30PM

Friday, November 22, 7:30 PM

Saturday, November 23, 7:30PM

Sunday, November 24, 2:00PM

Ticket Information

FREE, Reservations Required.

Info: (804) 289-8980 or modlinarts@richmond.edu

Photo Credit

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A CAMPY CHRISTMAS

WITH BELLS ON by Darrin Hagen

WHO’S HOLIDAY by Matthew Lombardo

With Bells On and Who’s Holiday!

A Theater Review by Julinda D. Lewis

At: Richmond Triangle Players at the Robert B. Moss Theatre | Carpenter Foundation Stage, 1300 Altamont Ave, RVA 23230

Performances:  November 13 – December 22, 2024, 2024

Ticket Prices: $55

Info: (804) 346-8113 or rtriangle.org

———-

For some, the holiday season is heralded by a performance of The Nutcracker ballet. For others, it may be the arrival of the Richmond Triangle Players’ annual Christmas play. This year’s offering is a double bill of one-act plays: Darrin Hagen’s With Bells On and Matthew Lombardo’s Who’s Christmas.

First up is a zany yet somehow heart-warming tale of an introverted divorcé and a towering drag queen who get stuck in an elevator a few days before Christmas. Wette Midler plays the “glamazon” Natasha, who is on her way to an important, life-affirming pageant, while Doug Schneider plays Ted, an accountant who is venturing out on his own for the first time since his divorce.

William Luther’s scenic design is a simple open sided box, providing a wide-angled perspective of an elevator car, while all the attention is on Natasha, decked out in a glittery green Christmas themed dress topped off with an illuminated fascinator. Kudos to Alex Valentin for designing the posh queenly garb.  

With Bells On is equal part light-hearted romp and entwined tales of self-discovery or liberation, in which Midler and Schneider’s characters gradually, warily warm up to one another, find a point of connection, and hang on for dear life. Along the way, they leave a trail of verbal gems the way Hansel and Gretel dropped breadcrumbs.

Natasha, feeling threatened by the more diminutive Ted, says, “I have fuchsia belt in whipping your ass.” (This reminded me of a line by the great poet James Brown: I don’t know karate, but I know ka-razor! from “The Payback.”) Later she says, “If you’re not standing out, you’re lurking.” Softening up, she parries with, “Do you know what drag queens call Halloween? Amateur night!” Midler is a force and a vision, but she and Schneider share space as equals who balance each other in sometimes unexpected ways. And, BTW, where can I get those green pumps in a size 10W?

Emily Dandridge held her own in a one-handed performance as a grown-up Cindy Loy Who, sharing just a tad TMI on her relationship with that mean old Grinch. (And yes, isn’t it a coincidence that, what with the near-simultaneous of the film version of Wicked, green is suddenly “in” as an identity (for lack of a better word).

This Cindy Lou Who has traded pink pajamas for metallic gold leggings and a Christmas-themed top – just the thing to wear while searching for tramadol in the couch cushions and washing it down with a cocktail of clear spirits (gin and vodka, I think). This Cindy Lou Who may be down on her luck, having spent time in prison and living in a well-worn trailer at the foot of Mount Crumpit, but she’s smart, exhibiting advanced critical thinking skills as each of her so-called friends calls to cancel their attendance at her holiday party, Highlights of Dandridge’s performance include an unexpected rap performance and sharing a very much real pan of pigs-in-blankets with the audience.

I don’t know if it was the luck of the draw or if a certain seat (whose location I will not disclose, just in case it’s part of the plot – I mean script) is always selected, but on opening night my husband Albert Ruffin was selected from the audience to join Cindy Lou onstage to be plied with alcohol and offered a little extra for dessert. It may have been all in good fun, but now I must live with the aftermath of him walking around talking about (a) how much fun he had and (b) how he always dreamed of a career onstage.

Thinking back, I think I like this version of Who’s Christmas more than I did RTP’s 2018 version. (See my review of the 2018 version here: https://wordpress.com/post/jdldancesrva.com/700). This parody has its dark moments, its alarming images, and it is not without valuable life lessons on the downside of mixed marriage, diversity, and who your real friends are. Dandridge did a decent job of interacting with the audience, as this play requires. So, grab a drink, sit back, and enjoy the show. No stress. No worries. No need to overthink.

———-

Julinda D. Lewis is a dancer, teacher, and writer who was born in Brooklyn, NY and now lives in Eastern Henrico County. When not writing about theater, she teaches dance history at VCU and low impact dance fitness classes to seasoned movers like herself, and occasionally performs. Her most recent (ad)venture was the premiere of a solo work, The Waters of Babylon or Psalm 137 Revisited: a Post-Exodus Reflection in Movement Choreographed From Collective Memories for the debut of the Critical Race Theatre Project, right here at RTP in August 2024.

———-

A CAMPY CHRISTMAS

Act One: WITH BELLS ON

Written by Darrin Hagen

Act Two: WHO’S HOLIDAY!

Written by Matthew Lombardo

Directed by Joe Pabst

Cast

Wette Midler as Natasha in With Bells On

Doug Schneider as Ted in With Bells On

Emily Dandridge as Cindy Lou Who in Who’s Holiday!

Understudies

Keegan Ferrell u/s for Natasha

Travis Williams u/s for Ted

CC Gates u/s for Cindy Lou Who

Production & Design

Playwrights – Darrin Hagen (With Bells On) and Matthew Lombardo (Who’s Holiday!)

Director – Joe Pabst

Scenic Design – William Luther

Lighting Design – Gabriel Beard

Costume Design – Alex Valentin

Sound Design – Lucian Restivo

Props Design – Tim Moehring

Hair & Makeup Design – Luke Newsome

Production Stage Manager – Lucian Restivo

Assistant Stage Manager – Finn Thomason

Gender Consultant – August Hundley

Master Electrician – Gabriel Beard

Technical  Director & Scenic Artist – Rebecka Russo

Backstage Crew – Adri Ulm

Scenic Construction – David Ballas, Hunter Keck, Marcos O’Connor, Katie White

Settings & Times

With Bells On – An elevator in a high-rise apartment building, a few days before Christmas

Who’s Christmas! – A dilapidated trailer at the base of Mount Crumpit, Christmas Eve

Run Time

Approximately two hours, with one fifteen-minute intermission

Schedule of Performances

Thursday, November 21 at 8:00PM – OPENING NIGHT

Fridays, November 22, 29 & December 6, 13 & 20 at 8:00PM

Saturday, November 7 at 2:00PM

Saturdays, November 22, 29 & December 6, 13 & 20 at 8:00PM

Sundays, November 24,  & December 1, 8, 15 & 22 at 4:00PM

Wednesday, December 18 at 8:00PM

Thursdays, December 5, 12 & 19 at 8:00PM

Ticket Information

$55, Info: (804) 346-8113 or rtriangle.org

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WATER BY THE SPOONFUL

When Your Brain is Your Biggest Enemy

A Theater Review by Julinda D. Lewis

Presented By: The Firehouse Theatre on the Carol Piersol Stage

At: 1609 W. Broad Street, RVA 23220

Performances: November 6-24, 2024

Ticket Prices: $5.00 – $35

Info: (804) 355-2001 or firehousetheatre.org

Water By the Spoonful by Quiara Alegría Hudes (who also authors the book for the musical In the Heights) is the second work in a trilogy centered around a young Puerto Rican veteran named Elliot Ortiz. Water By the Spoonful is set Elliot’s hometown of Philadelphia, as well as Japan, Dan Diego, and Puerto Rico, several years after Elliot has returned home, limping from a wounded leg, and haunted by a mysterious apparition.

But it is more than a PTSD play. It is a play about addiction, recovery, mental health, and perhaps most of all, it is about family – the kind we are born into and the kind we choose. There’s the close relationship between Elliot and his cousin Yazmin, an adjunct professor of music at Swarthmore. There’s his estranged relationship with his biological mother Odessa aka Haiku-Mom, the administrator of an online forum for recovering crack addicts, and his close relationship with his aunt, Mami Ginny/Eugenia, who raised him due to his mother’s addiction. There is his relationship to his past, which sometimes manifests as hallucinatory images. There are also the relationships between Odessa and her online community, and between the members of the forum, known at first only by their screennames: Chutes&Ladders, Orangutan, and Fountainhead.

Director Katrinah Carol Lewis, Associate Artistic Director of the Firehouse Theatre, together with Co-Scenic Designers Vinnie Gonzalez and Todd LaBelle and Projection Designer Tennessee Dixon give life and visual impact to the multi-layered relationships and sometimes overlapping action. And I hope it is safe to assume that Jeremy Morris, who is credited with “Sound Consultancy” is largely responsible for the aural saturation with the creative discordance of John Coltrane-infused free jazz  

that underscores the production, most notably when Yazmin (played by Juliana Caycedo) is presiding in her professorial role.

Erich Appleby is gripping and authentic as Elliot, the protagonist. There are so many instances when he could have over-acted, but he approaches the brink and never takes that irretrievable leap. The interplay between the cousins, Elliot/Appleby and Yazmin/Caycedo is a thing of beauty; one often forgets they are acting.

When a crisis comes, in the form of the death of Mami Ginny, who never appears on stage, it simultaneously pulls the family together and tears them apart. Who’s going to pay for the funeral? Who’s going to deliver the eulogy? Will she be buried or cremated? Who gets her jewelry? What about the house? These are real questions that may, in fact, be quite triggering for some viewers.

Alana Dodds Sharp is often center stage in her role as Elliot’s biological mother, Odessa. (Why does that name sound so similar to “overdose” to me? Weird? Or premonition?) Her role as a nurturer and mentor is called into question on the death of her sister, and family secrets are revealed that shift perspectives and affect the outcome. Elliott spends most of his onstage time throughout the two powerful acts with his cousin Yazmin, but when it is time for the final bows, it is Appleby and Sharp who are featured as the leads.

Eric “Mr. Q.” Quander and Anne Michelle Forbes bring both levity and insight to their supporting roles as Chutes&Ladders and Orangutan, while John-Michael Jalonen as the late-comer, Fountainhead, plays a pivotal role in the dynamics of the relationships of the recovering crackheads. Finally, there is the versatile and mysterious Mahlon Raoufi who plays three roles, which require him to speak at least that many languages!

Water By the Spoonful takes its name from an incident in Odessa’s past, but it also represents the life-giving qualities of water. Sometimes even small sips – or a spoonful every five minutes – are enough to sustain life, while the lack of it guarantees death.

Not enough can be said about the modular set with its moving platforms and colorful strips of lighting, like directional signals on a runway or of the layered projections sometimes as subtle as an almost abstract map, sometimes as literal as moving images that support the onstage action, and sometimes as blatant as signage indicating the location of the actors.

It all comes down to an immersive theatrical experience that is intimate and familiar, instructive as a parable, and haunting in a way that you will not soon forget. You have until November 24th to see it.

—–

Julinda D. Lewis is a dancer, teacher, and writer who was born in Brooklyn, NY and now lives in Eastern Henrico County, VA. When not writing about theater and dance, she teaches dance history at VCU and low impact dance fitness classes to seasoned movers like herself, and occasionally performs. Her most recent (ad)venture was the premiere of a solo work, The Waters of Babylon or Psalm 137 Revisited: a Post-Exodus Reflection in Movement Choreographed From Collective Memories for the debut of the Critical Race Theatre Project, right here in Richmond at RTP in August 2024.

—–

WATER BY THE SPOONFUL

Written by Quiara Alegría Hudes

Directed by Katrinah Carol Lewis

Cast

Odessa Ortiz                         ……….           Alana Dodds Sharp

Elliot Ortiz                             ……….           Erich Appleby

Yazmin Ortiz                         ……….           Juliana Caycedo

Fountainhead                      ……….           John-Michael Jalonen

Chutes&Ladders                 ……….           Eric “Mr. Q” Quander

Orangutan                            ……….           Anne Michelle Forbes

Professor/Ghost/Policeman  …….           Mahlon Raoufi

Production Team

Direction                               ……….           Katrinah Carol Lewis

Asst Direction/Dramaturgy……….          Kyle Trice Zabala

Co-Scenic Design                ……….           Vinnie Gonzalez/Todd LaBelle

Costume Design                  ……….           Keith Walker

Lighting Design                   ……….           Andrew Bonniwell

Projection Design                ……….           Tennessee Dixon

Sound Design/Stage Mgt  ……….           Grace Brown LaBelle

Asst Stage Management   ……….           Kennedy Shahan

Sound Consultancy             ……….           Jeremy Morris

Fight Choreography           ……….           Aaron Orensky

Run Crew                              ……….           Mikayla MacVicar, Jacob Simmon, Marcely (Mar) Villatoto

Booth Operator                   ……….           Chewie Lo Moore

Run Time: About 2 hours 20 minutes; there is 1 intermission

Tickets: $5 to $35

Info: (804) 355-2001 or FirehouseTheatre.org

Performance Schedule:

November 6 & 7: Previews 7:30PM

November 8: Opening Night 7:30PM

November 9: 7:30PM

November 10: Sunday at 2:00PM – Pay What You Will + Member Post-Show Mixer

November 15: 7:30PM

November 16: Saturday at 2:00PM & 7:30PM

November 17: Sunday at 2:00PM

November 21: 7:30PM

November 22: 7:30PM

November 23: Saturday at 2:00PM & 7:30PM

November 24: Closing performance Sunday at 2:00PM

Water by the Spoonful was originally commissioned by Hartford Stage, Michael Wilson, Artistic Director & Michael Scotts, Managing Director, through the AETNA New Voices Fellowship Program.

World Premiere by Hartford Stage, October 28, 2011

———-

Photo Credits: No photos available at the time of publication

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LORD OF THE FLIES

There’s No Escaping the Ravages of War

A Theater Review by Julinda D. Lewis

 Presented by: Richmond Shakespeare

At: Libby S. Gottwald Playhouse Dominion Energy Center, 600 East Grace Street, RVA 23219

Performances: October 17 – November 10, 2024

Ticket Prices: $15-$47 [Adults $47; Seniors 65+ with ID $42; Military with ID $27; College Students & Children $22; VTA $15 with Password] Seating is General Admission.

Info: (804) 340-0115 or http://www.richmondshakespeare.org

Lord of the Flies is one of those productions that’s hard to write about because there’s good, bad, and ugly. The good things are all about the production. The bad and ugly things all have to do with the things the book and this production reveal about humankind. This is not a production you can say that you liked or enjoyed, but it is a production you need to see.

If it’s been a long time since you’ve read William Golding’s book, Lord of the Flies – or if you’ve never read it – the story is about a group of boys and young men who, while being evacuated from a nuclear attack, experience a plane crash and become marooned on a tropical island. With only eleven young survivors and no adults or other authority figures in sight, they are left to figure out how to survive and soon divide into two groups. Those who follow Ralph want some semblance of order and civilization, while those who follow Jack prefer a more chaotic life of hunting and tribal dancing. They hunt wild pigs and a malevolent force known as “the beast” that they believe jumps from body to body – meaning that no one is safe from being hunted.

The boys in the original story were upper class British boys from several different prep schools. That detail seems to have fallen by the wayside, as only one or two of the boys in this cast have adapted a British accent or mannerisms. They are a diverse bunch – in real life as well as onstage – thus giving the tale a more universal appeal.

Interestingly, author Harding’s 1954 publication was based on a children’s novel that promoted the civilizing influence of British colonialism. [Not my words, I’m just reporting here.] Golding apparently found that novel unrealistic and wanted to write a book about children marooned on an island who behaved as he believed children would really behave in such circumstances. As you might suspect – it isn’t a pretty sight.

A cast of 11 young actors, ranging from a sixth grader (Hank Astoria, who already has an impressive bio with several productions under his belt – if young people still wear belts) to college students, recent graduates, and young professionals commandeers the unnamed island and captures the hearts of the audience at the Libby S. Gottwald Playhouse – the temporary location of this island. Lindsey Kelley has designed a simple, two-level set that transforms the theater space into a tropical paradise gone rogue. There’s a beach, a mountain, and a forest. Special effects include lighting, a soundscape, a realistic looking fire, smoke, and an eerie projection that the boys believe is the dreaded “beast.”

I attended on the second night of the run, and already it seemed that a high level of camaraderie and commitment to the ensemble had begun to emerge among the “boys.” This is something very necessary for a show that delves into depravity, chaos, and anarchy, a show that upends morals and tosses rules off a cliff into a swift-flowing current. If the audience is silent and contemplative while leaving (as many were), I can only imagine how much Lord of the Flies weighs on its young cast.

(BTW, I couldn’t help but think of how on the previous Sunday the RTCC or Richmond Theater Community Circle celebrated youthful energy in theater, and not one week later I viewed two plays about young people!  I also saw H*tler’s Tasters on Thursday night. You can read my thoughts on that show here: https://jdldancesrva.com/2024/10/18/htlers-tasters/ But I digress.)  

Tavares Taylor and Liam Storm quickly established an uneasy rapport as Ralph, the winner of the popular vote, and Piggy, his advisor and confidant. Sawyer Williams emerged even more quickly as the island’s resident bully, Jack, a section leader of his school choir who soon turned rogue leader of a band of hunters and marauders.

Anthony Hernandez owned the role of Simon, the misunderstood spiritual leader of the group whose natural discernment was both indispensable and disparaged. Abe Timm straddled the line as Jack’s seemingly reluctant sidekick, Roger. Perhaps, in Roger’s internal war between morality and immorality, survival won.

Hank Astoria won hearts, on and off the stage, as the youngest castaway, Perceval. Aiden Denton and Eli Davis mastered the roles of the twins, Sam and Eric, who often completed each other’s sentences in that simultaneously annoying and weird manner some twins exhibit. The cast was completed with Maahin Kumar as Bill, Talon Bleacher as Maurice, and Ishaan Kulkarni as Henry, all in supporting roles as a part of Jack’s band of bare-chested, face-painted, and far-from-merry men.

Jeffrey Cole directed. What en experience that must have been for both Cole and the cast. Here are his own words from his director’s notes: “Deep down, we all feel the need to belong to something that’s bigger than ourselves.” In this story, on this island, “it’s important for us in the audience to remember that, at all times, in all situations, these are children…. With no training, no preparation, and no guidance, these boys must follow their basest biological imperative: survive.” Could you have done any better? Would you have done anything different? Do you think you would have lived to tell the tale? And if you did survive, who would you be after that ordeal?

Lord of the Flies asks the hard questions. It explores the effectiveness of different leadership styles: intimidation versus compassion. It examines the consequences of war – nuclear war in particular; that’s how these boys ended up on this island, unsure if their families and friends had survived, or if they were the only ones left on earth. What would you be willing to do to survive? Do you have what it takes to keep the fire burning?

—–

Julinda D. Lewis is a dancer, teacher, and writer who was born in Brooklyn, NY and now lives in Eastern Henrico County. When not writing about theater, she teaches dance history at VCU and low impact dance fitness classes to seasoned movers like herself, and occasionally performs. Her most recent (ad)venture was the premiere of a solo work, The Waters of Babylon or Psalm 137 Revisited: a Post-Exodus Reflection in Movement Choreographed from Collective Memories for the debut of the Critical Race Theatre Project, right here at RTP in August 2024.

—–

Lord of the Flies

Written by William Golding

Adapted for the Stage by Nigel Williams

Directed by Jeffrey Cole

Cast

Ralph              ……………    Tavares Taylor

Jack                ……………    Sawyer Williams

Piggy              ……………    Liam Storm

Simon            ……………    Anthony Hernandez

Roger             ……………    Abe Timon

Sam                ……………    Aiden Denton

Eric                 ……………    Eli Davis

Bill                   ……………    Maahin Kumar

Maurice         ……………    Talon Bleacher

Henry             ……………    Ishaan Kulkarni

Percival          ……………    Hank Astoria

Production Team

Artistic Director                   ……………    James Ricks

Managing Director             ……………    Jase Smith Sullivan

Director                                 ……………    Jeffrey Cole

Assistant Director                ……………    Sim Nakamura Rivers

Production Stage Manager           ……………    Nata Moriconi

Assistant Stage Manager/Props Design …        Jordan Dively

Costume Design                  ……………    Lindsey Ladnier

Lighting Design                   ……………    Tristan Ketcham

Scenic Design                                  ……………    Lindsey Kelley

Sound Design                                  ……………    James Ricks

Scenic Builder                                  ……………    Brok Décor

Run Time: approximately 2 1/2 hours, including two 10-minute intermissions

———-

Photo Credits: Aaron Sutten

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H*TLER’S TASTERS

Making the World Safe for a Totalitarian Dictatorship, One Bite at a Time

Presented by 5th Wall Theatre in Partnership with Virginia Rep

A Theater Review by Julinda D. Lewis

At: Theatre Gym at Virginia Repertory Center, 114 W. Broad St., RVA 23220

Performances: October 17 – November 2, 2024

Ticket Prices: $30/Adults, $15/Students

Tickets & Info: https://5thwalltheatre.ludus.com or https://www.5thwalltheatre.org/ or email info@5thwalltheatre.org

The 5th Wall Theatre’s 2024/2025 season is billed as a celebration of empowering stories that inspire change. The “theatre beyond boundaries’” first production of the season, H*tler’s Tasters fulfills this promise on several levels.

This highly triggering tale is based on the true story of the young women who were honored with the dubious patriotic duty of tasting Adolf Hitler’s food to make sure it wasn’t poisoned. Somewhere, I think I saw this play described as a comedy, but while there are precious moments of humor between the three young women on stage at any given moment, it is not comedic. Rather, it is the kind of humor that is born of a need to survive by any means necessary. I wouldn’t describe H*tler’s Tasters as a drama, either. No…it’s more of a case study, and a cautionary tale that reminds us that “complacency is a dangerous meal.”

Anachronistic touches make this bitter pill just a bit more palatable. Set in an unknown location in war-torn Germany during the height of the Third Reich, the young women have cell phones and are given to breaking out into bursts of abstract modern dancing. Their cell phones are for recording selfies during their long periods of boredom, and for timing the period after eating. They have one hour after each meal to be observed for symptoms of poisoning. The dancing serves as a stress reliever – for the audience. The actors perform a weird movement ritual three times a day, before each meal. The ritual, one of several movement segments choreographed by Kayla Xavier, is part interpretive dance, part visualization of their inner turmoil, and part religion – in the sense that it represents their only authentic representation of and communication with the truth of their reality.

Each of the young women has a distinct personality. Hilda (Rebecka Russo) is the mean girl. Unable to face reality, she lashes out at the others. “I don’t want to know about truth,” she says, and who can blame her. Liesl (Preston Bradsher) is inquisitive – dangerously so. She wants to know what is going on even if it hurts to know. Anna (Eva Linder) is innocent and asks the wrong questions and speaks too freely. The interaction between Anna and Hilda ends predictably. And then there is Margot (Kylee Márquez-Downie). The closest thing to a breath of fresh air in this psychologically dark world, Margot brings innocence and laughter and dancing into the young women’s bleak world. But the ritual that first stunned us with raw energy gradually dulls until the final performance is decidedly lackluster and uncoordinated.

The ensemble is a tight knit organism that tells the story with a combination of acting, dancing, and non-verbal cues such as glances, body position, posture, and use of space. Longoria, who tells us in the Director’s Note that she has previously spent six years as an actor and producer for this show, directs with a sense of energy and inevitability that is urgent, and manages to somehow suggest that hope never dies.

 H*tler’s Tasters encompasses many important issues that are as relevant today as they were in 1932: the treatment of women and girls; politics; economics; sexuality; sexual assault; the exploitation of women and the poor and immigrants and Jewish people and Black people and anyone who could possibly be seen as “other.” As if this doesn’t sound familiar enough, Hilda says, “Jews cannot replace us,“ and “our lives will be so much better when he makes Germany great again.” Margot innocently shares a vision of the Führer arriving on a beautiful horse, with his shirt off, that

sounds a lot like a photo of another world leader that made the rounds just a few years ago.

Brooks’ play premiered in New York in 2018. She could not possibly have conceived then that H*tler’s Tasters would grow in relevancy rather than fade into the obscurity of historical fiction and artistic archives. It is triggering – so much so that the author did not even spell out the name. It drives home the truth that if we turn our heads when anyone is being exploited, we will inevitably become targets ourselves – if we aren’t already…

This is not the type of play that deserves an answer when someone asks, “did you enjoy it?” It is not meant to be enjoyed. It is meant to be experienced. It is meant to be discussed. It is meant to be absorbed, and it is meant to make better, because when you know better, you must do better.

———-

Julinda D. Lewis is a dancer, teacher, and writer who was born in Brooklyn, NY and now lives in Eastern Henrico County. When not writing about theater, she teaches dance history at VCU and low impact dance fitness classes to seasoned movers like herself, and occasionally performs. Her most recent (ad)venture was the premiere of a solo work, The Waters of Babylon or Psalm 137 Revisited: a Post-Exodus Reflection in Movement Choreographed From Collective Memories for the debut of the Critical Race Theatre Project, right here at RTP in August 2024.

———-

Written by Michelle Kholos Brooks

Directed by Kaitlin Paige Longoria

CAST

Rebecka Russo          ……….           Hilda

Preston Bradsher     ……….           Liesel

Eva Linder                  ……….           Anna

Kylee Marquez-Downie  ….      Margot

Tory Davidson          ……….           u/s Hilda & Margot

Emma Rivet               ……….           u/s Liesel & Anna

PRODUCTION TEAM

Directed by               ……….         Kaitlin Paige Longoria

Choreography by       ……….          Kayla Xavier

Lighting Design by  ……….         Gretta Daughtry

Sound Design by       ……….         Candace Hudert

Costume Design by   ……….         Maggie Ronck & Ashleigh Poteat

Fight Choreography by  ……        Marr Hovastak

Production Associate   …..        Emily Adler

Stage Management by ….        Tariq Karriem

Photos by                  ……….       Tom Topinka

Performance Schedule:

Thursday, October 17, 2024, 7:30 PM | Opening Night

Friday, October 18, 7:30 PM

Saturday, October 19, 7:30 PM

Sunday, October 20, 2:30 PM

Thursday, October 24, 7:30 PM

Friday, October 25, 7:30 PM

Saturday, October 26, 2024, 7:30 PM

Sunday, October 27, 2024, 2:30 PM | Talkback

Tuesday, October 29, 2024, 7:30 PM | Industry Night | Pay What You Will

Friday, November 1, 2024, 7:30 PM

Saturday, November 2, 2024, 7:30PM | Closing Night

Tickets: $30/Adult; $15/Student

Run Time: 90 minutes, no intermission

Content Warning: This production contains mature themes and potentially sensitive or controversial content, including discussions of sexual assault, politics, war, and race. Viewer discretion is advised.

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