Women’s Work – RVArt Review

OUR DEAR DEAD DRUG LORD

*A Regional Premiere*

Growing Up is Messy…Especially When You’re Summoning the Dead

A Theater Review by Julinda D. Lewis

Presented by 5^th Wall Theatre

At: The Basement, 300 E. Broad St., RVA 23219

Performances: October 16 – November 9, 2025

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

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

5^th Wall Theatre opened its 2025/2026 season in its new, permanent home, the former Basement, now 5^th Wall at The Basement or 5^th Wall/Basement. In alignment with 5^th Wall Theatre’s mission “to provide insights into the human condition through theatrical expression,” the season opener provided new dimensions to the theatrical experience. Alexis Scheer’s Our Dear Dead Drug Lord is a dark comedy about 4 Miami teenaged girls, members of the Dead Leaders Club, who meet in a tree house where they hope to summon the spirit of Pablo Escobar.

In case that name sounds familiar, yes, “that” Pablo Escobar, the Colombian drug trafficker and leader of the infamous Medellín Cartel. In addition to being one of the world’s most notorious narco-terrorists, Escobar was also known as a philanthropist who built housing complexes, parks, football stadiums, hospitals, schools, and churches in some of Colombia’s poorest neighborhoods. So, what about Escobar appeals to a club (or gang?) of teen girls in Miami?

It could be the allure of the illicit, the Robin Hood element of Escobar’s philanthropy, the need to replace the powerlessness of being young and female with the trappings of power, or a misplaced coping mechanism to deal with their own personal traumas. More than likely, it is some combination of these things, along with the normal teenaged tendency to rebel.

In an interview for TheaterMania.com (September 22, 2019), the author explains that Our Dear Dead Drug Lord was created as a way for her to connect with her own roots. The Miami-born, Columbian and Jewish writer’s mother emigrated from Medellín in the 1970s. “The Colombian cartels and Pablo Escobar is a weird part of my family mythology that I don’t understand, because I feel so distant from it. So that’s where that came from. I think it’s a very American play, and part of my experience as an American is trying to touch upon the generation or two before me that was outside of this country and what they fled to get here.” (https://www.theatermania.com/news/alexis-scheer-gives-us-the-dope-on-her-play-our-dear-dead-drug-lord_89801/)

Okay. So, there’s that. But there’s also witchcraft, a Ouija board, a séance, and a special dance choreographed in honor of . There’s a diverse cast, each with a heavy burden of her own. Pipe, the club’s president, is an upper-class Cuban-American and carries the burden of grief from her younger sister’s death. Pipe’s bestie, Squeeze, is Puerto Rican-Haitian who is allergic to cats. Her father committed suicide. Zoom, Pipe’s Jewish-American neighbor, is the baby of the group, and always trying to keep up. Perhaps in an effort to over-compensate for her youth and lower status, she is also coping with the possibility of a teen pregnancy – which factors in the play’s climax. And then there’s Kit, a Columbian-American newcomer with a mysterious past that makes the other girls speculate that she may be the actual daughter of their hero, Pablo Escobar.

The intersection of this combined chaos is where these girls meet to create a sacred space, a sense of community – perhaps much like the community some young people find in gang life. Director Kaitlin Paige Longoria describes is as “an incantation, a call to the ancestors.” In her notes, Longoria writes, “It lives in that delicate space between grief and rebirth, between the ache of what’s been lost and the hope of what might still be found.”

It is in this spirit that these girls, four young women on the cusp of adulthood, seek freedom, power, and self-worth. It is in this spirit that they chant the mantra, “I will not be good. I will be loud, loud, loud. I will make the world in my image and take what I mine!”

Kylee Márquez-Downie (Pipe), Marya Brice (Squeeze), Eva Linder (Zoom), and Mary Kalinowski (Kit) form a solid ensemble, intense and darkly humorous. The séance is unsettling and the sacrifice is positively horrific and scary. It’s the kind of cast where each member has a distinct role, but it’s almost impossible to single out anyone because each plays an integral part in the whole.

Joey Luck composed an original score using the cast’s own voices and William Luther created a uniquely isolated and compact tree house environment where all the action takes place.

Our Dear Dead Drug Lord is anything but predictable. It is weird, dark, disturbing, and it resonates with the truth that society is failing our young women and if we don’t do something to shape and direct them, they will find someone – or something – to fill that void.

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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. Julinda was recently awarded the Dean’s Distinguished Adjunct Faculty Award 2023-24 Academic Year by VCU School of the Arts and the 2025 Pioneer Award in Dance Ministry by Transformation International Worship Ministries, Newport News, VA.

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OUR DEAR DEAD DRUG LORD

A Play by Alexis Scheer

Directed by Kaitlin Paige Longoria

CAST

Kylee Márquez-Downie ………. Pipe

Eva Linder ………. Zoom

Marya Brice ………. Squeeze

Mary Kalinowski ………. Kit

UNDERSTUDIES

Natalie Tubia ………. u/s for Pipe & Kit

Kylie Metheny ………. u/s for Zoom

Jada Paul ………. u/s for Squeeze

FEATURING

DJ Cummings Herdoiza ………. Pablo

Fio Lo Presti ………. Pipe’s Little Sister

PRODUCTION TEAM

Directed ………. Kaitlin Paige Longoria

Scenic Design ………. William Luther

Lighting Design ………. Corrine Manderino

Sound Design ………. Joey Luck

Costume Design ………. Emily Andrew Mateos

Choreography ………. Kayce Sullivan & Jamie Hollman

Intimacy Choreography ….. Kerrigan Sullivan

Stage Management ……… Megan Wave

Technical Direction ………. Chris Foote

Photography ………. @ivyandlacephoto

Performance Schedule:

Thursday, Friday, Saturday 7:30PM

Saturday, Sunday 2:30PM

Tickets: $30/Adult; $15/Student

Run Time: 95 minutes, no intermission

The World Premiere of Our Dear Dead Drug Lord was presented in September 2019 by WP Theater and Second Stage Theater, NYC, NY.

CONTENT WARNING: This play contains strong language, sexual content, depictions of drug use, and scenes of violence. The play also includes references to suicide, sexual assault, and other sensitive subject matter.

Marya Brice, Mary Kalinowski, Kylee Marquez-Downie, Eva Linder

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CRY IT OUT

…A Method for Training New Moms…

Produced By: Yes, And! Theatrical Company in partnership with Virginia Repertory Theatre

At: Theatre Gym at VaRep, 114 West Broad Street, RVA 23220

Performances: May 15-31, 2025

Ticket Prices: $40 general admission

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

A Theater Review by Julinda D. Lewis

Some definitions you might need to know before seeing Cry It Out:

Cry It Out (CIO): a sleep training technique that involves putting babies in their cribs and leaving them to cry or self-soothe and fall asleep without parental intervention

NoseFrida®: a nasal aspirator or “snot sucker” for babies who do not yet know how to blow their noses

Some plays are just more relatable than others. I’m not sure how this play hits if you’re not a mother (feel free to comment!), but Molly Smith Metzler’s take on motherhood, Cry It Out (2017) is empathetic, relevant, authentic, and hilarious. Just as we warm up to the growing friendship between Jessie (Lindsey Zelli) and Lina (Emily Berry), the playwright throws in not one, not two, but three new plot-changing dynamics.

Both new moms, Jessie is a corporate lawyer married to an unseen spouse who still works in New York City and commutes to their Port Washington, Long Island home. Jessie’s in-laws are “old money” residents and have already pre-paid for their infant granddaughter’s first year at an exclusive daycare. Lina is a hospital receptionist from Long Beach on the South Shore (more urban, more “new money,” more Jersey Shore-ish, if you will) with a somewhat shady past. She, her son, and her partner are living with his mother who has a worrisome habit of disposing of her empty wine boxes in a public dumpster. Jessie is empathetic, a problem solver. Lina is brash, funny. Both are loving mothers and quickly bond, in spite of their differences, over daily coffee meetings while their babies nap.

But discussions of isolation, how to get their babies to sleep, and things like nasal aspirators move to the back seat as the weeks go by and the subject of returning to work becomes increasingly pressing. The economic necessity of mothers returning to work takes on a different, but no less significant, role depending on one’s socio-economic status: where to live; how to pay the bills; career choices and milestones; and childcare.

One day Mitchell (Axle Burtness), a neighbor, whose house overlooks Jessie’s backyard from up on a hilltop disrupts the delicate ecosystem Jessie and Lina have established. Mitchell has seen (spied upon?) the women’s cozy coffee klatches and, feeling concerned about his wife’s adjustment to motherhood, wants his wife Adrienne (played by understudy Erica Hughes on the night I attended) to join them.

The initial meeting is a disaster, and Adrienne subsequently presents an entirely different perspective on new motherhood, work, and society’s perceptions and expectations in general. The ending is quite surprising and reinforces the all-important lesson that motherhood, and families, do not conform to a one-size-fits-all archetype.

Lucretia Marie has directed Cry It Out with sensitivity and an unhurried pacing that assures each of these mothers is heard. Zelli imbues her character with warmth and wisdom even as Jessie herself struggles to navigate these unfamiliar waters. Berry perfectly balances Zelli, with Lina’s heavy eyeliner, thicker accent, and even more colorful language. Hughes brought the tension and surprise, and while Burtness’s character was a caring and loving father, Mitchell was the most emotional of the four parents present – sometimes to the point of being overwhelming.

Nothing much actually happens in Cry It Out. The whole play takes place in Jessie’s sparsely furnished backyard – there’s just a toddler’s playset and table and chair, and later a small patio table with three chairs. (Hm, three chairs, I thought – but there’s only two of them, so…) It’s a play that relies heavily on what’s said, and how it’s said, and who says it. Who but Lina could so convincingly tell a story about going to the door to meet the FedEx delivery man, forgetting to tuck in her breast because she was in the middle of breastfeeding. This reliance on simple, authentic dialogue, I think, places an even greater burden on the actors, who can’t hide behind a pratfall or a prop. Cry It Out makes us think about things that affect most of us, but that we may not often talk about in an open forum. Cry It Out is timely, real, and impactful.

———-

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 gets to perform.

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CRY IT OUT

Written by Molly Smith Metzler

Directed by Lucretia Marie

Cast

Jessie ….. Lindsey Zelli

Lina ….. Emily Berry

Mitchell ….. Axle Burtness

Adrienne ….. Sara Dabney Tisdale

Understudy Cast

Jessie ….. Tensley Nesbitt

Lina ….. Brittany Martz

Mitchell ….. Sarbajeet Das

Adrienne ….. Erica Hughes

Production Team

Scenic Design – Dasia Gregg

Costume Design – Erik Mayes

Lighting Design – Kacey Yachuw

Sound Design – John Pratt

Properties Design – Cai Hayner

Dialect Coach – Erica Hughes

Fight Choreography – Axle Burtness

Production Stage Manager & PSM – Crimson Piazza

Assistant Stage Manager – Marcely Villatoro

Technical Director – Ben Burke

YES, AND! THEATRICAL COMPANY

Artistic Director – Maggie Roop

Executive Director – Matt Shofner

Performance Schedule

Thursday, May 15, 2025 7:30PM Opening Night

Friday, May 16, 2025 7:30 PM

Saturday, May 17, 2025 7:30PM

Friday, May 18, 2025 7:30PM

Saturday, May 19, 2025 7:30PM

Sunday, May 20, 2025 2:00PM Pay What You Can*

Tuesday, May 21, 2025 7:30PM

Thursday, May 22, 2025 7:30PM

Friday, May 23, 2025 7:30PM

Saturday, May 24, 2025 2:00PM

Saturday, May 24, 2025 7:30PM

Sunday, May 25, 2025 2:00PM Pay What You Can*

Tuesday, May 27, 2025 7:30PM Industry Night/Pay What You Can*

Thursday, May 29, 2025 7:30PM Understudy Night

Friday, May 30, 2025 7:30PM

Saturday, May 31, 2025 2:00PM

Saturday, May 31, 2024 7:30PM Closing Performance

World Premiere: 2017 Humana Festival of New American Plays at Actors Theatre of Louisville.

Tickets

Ticket Prices: $40 general admission; $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 1 hour, 40 minutes with one 15-minute intermission

Photos from the Yes, And! Theatrical Co., Facebook page

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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.

———-

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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H*TLER’S TASTERS

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

Presented by 5^th 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 5^th 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.

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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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MEMORIES OF OVERDEVELOPMENT

The New Theatre at Firehouse on the Carol Piersol Stage Presents

A WORLD PREMIERE

A Theater Review by Julinda D. Lewis

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

Performances: February 7 – 25, 2024

Ticket Prices: $0-$35

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

I know I’ve said this before, but every now and again a new play comes along that is quite unlike anything I’ve ever seen before. Caridad Svich’s new play, Memories of Overdevelopment is one such play. It’s a play about a filmmaker interviewing people for a documentary. Or maybe its documentary play about a filmmaker and the people they are interviewing for a documentary. Or maybe it’s a film that plays out on a stage.

Let’s try this approach. Memories of Overdevelopment is a two-person play that can be performed by a cast of 2-8 people, and it runs from 60-90 minutes. It is also a stage play in which technology is virtually a character in its own right. Video and projections are so fully integrated into the production that the play would be unrecognizable without them.

Now, how do I tell you about the awesomeness of Memories of Overdevelopment without giving away too much? That might not be possible, so be forewarned.

As directed by New Theatre at Firehouse’s Artistic Director Nathaniel Shaw, Memories of Overdevelopment is a two-person play that runs 90 minutes without intermission. Keaton Hillman (who started as the show’s understudy and stepped in at the eleventh hour for Juliana Caycedo, due to health reasons) plays Actor 1. Katrinah Carol Lewis (who was publicly announced as the New Theatre at Firehouse’s new Associate Artistic Director just days before opening) plays Actor 2. But sometimes Lewis and Hillman switch roles. And sometimes they are “acting” as the people being interviewed for a documentary that follows the stories of people who grew up in dictatorships (underdeveloped countries?), escaped, and lived to tell the tale of how they survived.

There’s a former shop owner, a university student, a professor, a dancer, an artist, a former friend, and a fascist. Interspersed with the sometimes intense and edgy interviews are a series of “memory reels” and while the work is not interactive the audience is inevitably drawn into the mist of the proceedings by sometimes larger than life, real-time video projections of the actors – and the characters they portray – on a backdrop of panels in a workspace intended to replicate a recording studio.

Memories of Overdevelopment has a unique worldview on politics, society, tyranny, resistance, art, immigration, assimilation, fascism, globalization, and all things rebellious. Inspired by true stories, the author reveals uncanny insight and wisdom and challenges us to rethink, well, everything. “Becoming everything you believe in” may be a blessing and a curse and both things can be true at the same time.

Hillman opens the play with a brief overview, seemingly forgetting to introduce his documentarian, Lewis, who calmly sets up cameras and tests light intensities and does all the other things a filmmaker does to prepare – and the next thing you know they have switched roles. Things rapidly progress to a Level 10 out of 10 of intensity, and stays there for most of the next 85 minutes.

Nonetheless, a couple of scenes stand out. When Lewis interviews Hillman and the subject of fascism comes up, Lewis ramps up the intensity even further. What started out as a documentary interview becomes an interrogation. Hillman matches Lewis word for word, phrase for phrase. At one point Hillman blurts out, “We’re just sheep,” and offers a strident, “baaa, baaa.” And at the end, Lewis, returning to the role of the shopkeeper, exclaims, “Everyone just want to buy things,” and concludes with an eerily unhinged giggle that, more than her words, more than her expression, more than her posture, expresses who and what we have become.

There are many such poignant moments, duly captured in this dynamic collaboration between playwright, director, actor, and scenic/projection designer Tennessee Dixon. Dixon has truly outdone herself with the integration of projections and real-time video.

My first encounter with The New Theatre was with a reading of The Red Bike, also by Caridad Svich, a prolific playwright, and one that seems to have captured the heart of Shaw. After seeing Memories of Overdevelopment Svich may capture your attention as well.

———-

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.

———-

MEMORIES OF OVERDEVELOPMENT

A World Premiere by Caridad Svich

Directed by Nathaniel Shaw

February 7 – 25, 2024

CAST

ACTOR 1 ………. Keaton Hillman

ACTOR 2 ………. Katrinah Carol Lewis

PRODUCTION TEAM

Production ………. Nathaniel Shaw

Associate Direction ………. Sarbajeet Das

Scenic/Projection Design ………. Tennessee Dixon

Costume Design ………. Ruth Hedberg

Lighting Design ………. Andrew Boniwell

Sound Design/Original Music ….. Kate Statelman

Videography ………. Andrew Keeton

Stage Management ………. Grace LaBelle

Assistant Stage Management ..…. Isabel Stone

RUN TIME

90 minutes with no intermission

PERFORMANCE SCHEDULE

Previews Wednesday – Thursday, February 7 -8 at 7:30pm
Opening Night – Friday, February 9 at 7:30pm
Running Thursday – Sunday through February 25, 2024
Members Only Post-Show Mixer on Sunday, February 11 after 2:00pm show
Post-Show Talkback on Friday, February 16 after 7:30pm show
Pay-What-You-Will on Saturday, February 17 at 2:00pm
ASL Interpreted and Pay-What-You-Will Performance on Saturday, February 17 at 2:00pm
ASL Interpreted Show on Thursday, February 22 at 7:30pm
Post-Show Talkback on Friday, February 23 after 7:30pm show

TICKETS

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POTUS

Or, Behind Every Great Dumbass are Seven Women Trying to Keep Him Alive

A Regional Premiere

By: Virginia Repertory Theatre (Virginia Rep)

At: The Sara Belle and Neil November Theatre | Marjorie Arenstein Stage

When: September 1 – October 1, 2023

Ticket Prices: $39-$59. (Discounted group rates and rush tickets available)

Info: (804) 282-2620 or www.virginiarep.org

It’s been a long time since I’ve laughed this much, this long, this loud. Selina Fillinger’s POTUS is the best kind of comedy: physical, political, slapstick, irreverent, giddy, bawdy, inclusive. I could go on but I think using more than seven adjectives in one sentence is breaking some kind of law.

If the subtitle didn’t clue you in, it only gets worse from there (and by worse I mean better). If you’re the type to clutch your pearls, you’d better leave them at home because by the end of POTUS they’ll be rolling down the aisles.

Oh, and one more thing about that subtitle. Yes, there are seven women working together – despite their diverse agendas – but that part about whether they are trying to keep the POTUS alive does come into question. That’s all I can say about that without giving away too much.

What I can say is that Fillinger has written a witty and timely play and it was performed by a superb and diverse ensemble – some familiar and some not – consisting of Elizabeth Byland, Liv Clayton, Sonja Durant, Anne Michelle Forbes, Bree Ogaldez, Catherine Shaffner, and Denise Simone. Looking at the understudies (see below) I would love to see the show again with the understudies in the key roles – there are some powerful, familiar names in that list, as well.

Loosely, the plot of POTUS involves the women of the President’s inner circle coming together to patch up his most recent political gaffe. Crudely referring to his wife during a press conference as having a “c**ty day,” the POTUS sets in motion an international disaster with potentially deadly consequences.

There truly are no leading roles in POTUS, but for me, Elizabeth Byland, in the role of Stephanie, the President’s Secretary, stood out for her physical comedy and her comedic timing. The role of the meek secretary who is obviously in over her head could be a recipe for disaster, but in Byland’s expert hands it is pure comedic genius. Loved her. According to her bio, she is the Head Professor of Improv at VCU. What a treat her classes must be! Loved her – yes, I said it twice and I meant it!

I also adored Catherine Shaffner as Bernadette, the President’s sister. Big, loud, and brash, Bernadette appears fresh out of prison on a felony charge, still wearing her ankle monitor, and carrying a duffle bag filled with “pharmaceuticals” and other tools that will come in handy during the course of the day. Shaffner guides her character through a perfect combination of unfettered chaos and much needed life skills that usually are not acquired in a liberal arts undergraduate program.

Sonja Durant was something of a beautiful enigma as Margaret, the First Lady. Durant’s tall slender frame was always draped in red – first a classy business pant suit, and later a fancy dress – but throughout she wore white Crocs on her feet to make herself appear “earthy.” Smart, composed, and apparently in command of the ability to icily detach herself from her emotions at will, Durant’s First Lady seemed very much authentic.

As the President’s press secretary, Jean, Anne Michelle Forbes skillfully navigated the insanity of the White House shenanigans, juggling professional interactions and personal relationships with the President’s sister (I didn’t see that coming!) and a beleaguered female White House reporter, Chris (played by Bree Ogaldez, seen recently in The Carole King Musical), a new mother who was constantly seeking opportunities to pump her overflowing breasts. A familiar face on local stages, this was Forbes’ November Theatre debut.

As Harriet, the President’s Chief of Staff, Denise Simone’s role seemed a bit more subdued than the others. At times she appeared to be the “straight man” who enhances the comedic projections of those around her. Simone returns to Virginia Rep after a turn contributing to the theatre community in Idaho. And last but not least, newcomer Liv Clayton made her professional debut in the role of Dusty, the President’s young girlfriend who has been invited to the White House to apply for a “position.” I am sure Clayton is really good at her role, but I just found Dusty so annoying with her cheerleader moves that I almost overlooked the character’s innate kindness and corn-fed street smarts.

Set in the White House, a series of functional and somewhat minimalist sliding sets (credit Chris Raintree for the scenic design and Steve Koehler for the lighting) keeps the focus on the actors. The only time the set seemed to intrude into my consciousness was during a madcap chase scene when the set seemed too small to allow the actors full range. Kudos to director Dorothy Holland and the dynamic ensemble for keeping it moving. There was not a dull moment in either act.

Julinda D. Lewis is a dancer, teacher, and writer who recently had both knees replaced due to a manufacturer’s recall. Born in Brooklyn, NY, she now lives in Eastern Henrico County where she can be found kicking up her heels as best she can any day of the week.

POTUS

Or, Behind Every Great Dumbass are Seven Women Trying to Keep Him Alive

By Selina Fillinger

Directed by Dorothy Holland

Cast

Stephanie …………………………… Elizabeth Byland*

Dusty …………………………………. Liv Clayton

Margaret ……………………………. Sonja Durant

Jean …………………………………… Anne Michelle Forbes

Chris ………………………………….. Bree Ogaldez

Bernadette ………………………… Catherine Shaffner*

Harriet ………………………………. Denise Simone*

Stephanie u/s ……………………. Juliette Aaslestad

Jean u/s …………………………….. Juliana Caycedo

Bernadette u/s ………………..… Kelsey Cordrey

Dusty u/s …………………………… Emily Dandridge

Margaret u/s ……………………… Jianna Hurt

Chris u/s ……………………………… MacKenzie Sheppard

*Member of Actors’ Equity Association

+Member of USA, United Scenic Artists

^Member of the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society

Direction & Design

Direction ……………………………… Dorothy Holland

Scenic Design ……………………… Chris Raintree

Costume Design ………………… Elizabeth Weiss Hopper

Lighting Design …………..……… Steve Koehler

Sound Design …………………….. Tosin Olufolabi

Stage Management ………….. Donna Warfield*

Ticket Information

Box Office: (804) 282-2620

www.virginiarep.org

Tickets range from $39 – $59

Discounted Group Rates and Rush tickets are available.

Run Time

The play runs for 1 hour 30 minutes, plus one 15-minute intermission.

Photo Credits: Aaron Sutten

VA-REP Covid Safety Statement

Virginia Rep encourages wearing masks for our patrons’ safety, but we do not require that you wear a mask in our lobbies or within the theatres. They are now optional. We continue to follow CDC guidelines and local risk levels. All Virginia Rep staff will continue to wear masks while serving you.

Sonja Durant and Elizabeth Byland. Photo by Aaron Sutten.

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JUMP BABY

An Original Musical About War and Love

A Studio Series Production at The Lynn Theatre at Brightpoint Community College, 800 Charter Colony Pkwy, T Building, Room T112, Midlothian, VA 23114

Reviewed by Julinda D. Lewis

Performances: January 27 – February 5, 2023

Ticket Prices: $10

Info: (804) 796-4000 or email theatreinfo@brightpoint.edu

I usually don’t do much preparation prior to seeing a new show so as not to arrive with preconceived expectations. It didn’t take long before Rachel Landsee’s new musical, Jump Baby, began to feel familiar. This feeling solidified right around the time lead character Amelia West (played by Rachel Rose Gilmour) remarked that the plane banked just before she jumped out. It turns out it wasn’t the plane, hence the title, Jump Baby.

In September of 2021 I attended a wonderfully unique performance of four one-act plays at the Firehouse Theatre. Each had been written in workshop by a veteran, with one, SOAR, being penned by a female veteran. It made an impression:

The first half of the program closed with SOAR,
the only one of the four one-act plays written by a woman veteran, Rachel Landsee. Irene Kuykendall was outstanding as the military lawyer and wife, Rachel. Her husband, Adam (Dean Knight) was also an officer, and the focus of SOAR included the strains military life puts on relationships, the demands made on women, especially if they become pregnant while in service, as well as philosophical discussions of the validity of sending US troops to Iraq and
Afghanistan. For me, this was the most complex and layered of the four pieces, and its appeal is enhanced by the presence of a sort of Greek chorus meets four-part harmony a cappella group composed of four of the male ensemble members. SOAR turned out to be a mini-musical, powered by foot-stomping, finger-snapping military cadence, soulful rhythms, and the bluesy strains of Nina Simone’s “Feeling Good.”

Birds flying
high, you know how I feel

Sun in the
sky, you know how I feel

Breeze
driftin’ on by, you know how I feel

It’s a new
dawn

It’s a new
day

It’s a new
life for me…

https://wordpress.com/post/jdldancesrva.com/2727

Nearly 18 months later, SOAR has grown into – or provided a foundation for – a full-fledged two-act musical with an original score by Mark Messing. The a cappella quartet has doubled in size and this iteration features a full ensemble of cast members who play multiple roles, sing, and dance. The military cadences are still there, but now there is a list of a dozen songs and a trio of live musicians, under the direction of Cassie Cipolla. The story of Amelia and Jack has been placed in context, providing more of a backstory and fleshed out relationships.

There’s Jack and Amelia’s marriage, their struggle to understand the role of war and justice, the place of women in the military, and more. At one point, all the women are pregnant, opening the door to but leaving unanswered questions about sexuality, sexual harassment, and sexual assault in the military. Kerrigan Sullivan’s deft direction – and Kayla Xaiver’s choreography – keeps everything and everyone moving at a nice clip that echoes the military cadences.

The inaugural production of the Lynn Theatre’s new Studio Series, Jump Baby is a collaboration involving the development of new work by underrepresented voices (Rachel Landsee, a female veteran and military attorney), professional actors (Rachel Rose Gilmour and Adam Turck), and students (onstage and behind the scenes). It has catchy tunes, cadences, a logical story line, and humor. The minimalist set of boxes and graded planes studded with rivets provides an appropriate and versatile background, especially when creatively lit in a kaleidoscope of colors – or in red, white, and blue. Little touches, such as having the ringing of a cell phone voiced by an actor instead of a recording of an actual cell phone demonstrate a commitment to the process.

I fully expect to see and hear more of this project. “You can do so much with music that you can’t do with words,” Landsee said during the closing show talkback. “Musicals are a fantastic way to express an American way of life.” I don’t think Landsee is finished yet, and it’s been a pleasure to see the growth and development to date. The production closed February 5, but I think I heard from a friend that you may be able to see a streaming version if you contact The Lynn Theatre.

Julinda D. Lewis is a dancer, teacher, and writer who was born in Brooklyn, NY and now lives in Eastern Henrico County.

———-

JUMP BABY

Written by Rachel Landsee

Music by Mark Messing

Directed by Kerrigan Sullivan

Cast:

Amelia West: Rachel Rose Gilmour

Jack West: Adam Turck

Staff Sergeant Michaels/Soldier: Jay Bynum

Deputy Big Boss/Jumpmaster/Soldier: Conner McGowan

Branch Chief/Soldier: Mac Owens

Acting Deputy Big Boss/Jumpmaster/Soldier/Assistant
Director: Russell Paulette

Big Boss/Soldier: Harrison Phillips

Soldier: Mahala Redden

Missy/Soldier: Ariana Silva

Military Doctor/Soldier: Julianna Velasquez

Band:

Pianist: Justin Lee

Trumpeter/Auxiliary Percussionist: August Redden

Percussionist: Elliot Loucks

Song List:

War Game

Homicide Rhymes with Lullaby

Jumping Hollywood

Death from Above

Undone

Called Away

59 Days and a Wakeup

Christmas Bells

On the Daily

Run, Gun, and Done

Mail Call

Green Light Go

Production Team:

Producing Artistic Director/Director: Kerrigan Sullivan

Playwright/Lyricist: Rachel Landsee

Composer: Mark Messing

Musical Director: Cassie Cipolla

Choreographer: Kayla Xaiver

Creative Team & Designers:

Production State Manager/Lighting Designer/Master Electrician: Alleigh Scantling

Scenic Designer/Technical Director/Properties Master: Hailey Bean

Sound Designer: Grace LaBelle

Costume Designer: Lindsey Ladnier

Assistant Stage Manager/Spot Operator/Costume Shop Supervisor: Claire Bronchick

Marketing Manager/Graphic Designer/Photographer/Videographer/Website Designer: Ian Glass

Assistant State Manager: Michelle Rubinstein

Sound Engineer: Lillian Foster

Crew:

Sam Richardson, Casey Allen, Sadie Tucker, Kenya Saunders

Performance Schedule:

Friday, January 27, at 7:00 p.m.

Saturday, January 28, at 7:00 p.m.

Sunday, January 29, at 2:00 p.m. (Talkback with the playwright follows the show)

Thursday, February 2, at 7:00 p.m.

Friday, February 3, at 7:00 p.m.

Saturday, February 4, at 7:00 p.m.

Sunday, February 5, at 2:00 p.m. (Talkback with the playwright follows the show)

Run Time:

About two hours with one intermission

Tickets:

General admission tickets are $10. Military and veteran tickets are $5. Current Brightpoint students may get their tickets for free with a Brightpoint Student ID. To purchase tickets, go to https://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/5692705

Photos: Ian Glass