By the Way, Meet Vera Stark

B+

I was surprised when Signature Theatre announced they were reviving Lynn Nottage’s (Ruined, Sweat) comedy as part of her residency because it is less than eight years since it was seen in New York at Second Stage. Since I rated it one of my ten favorite plays of 2011 (https://gotham-playgoer.blogspot.com/2011/05/by-way-meet-vera-stark.html), I was happy to have a chance to see it again. This new production makes a good case for its strengths without managing to minimize its flaws. 

Vera Stark (Jessica Frances Dukes; Bootycandy, Is God Is) is a young black actress who is surviving in Hollywood in 1933 by serving as the maid of an insecure aging ingenue Gloria Mitchell (Jenni Barber; Wicked, The Nance) who is emotionally dependent on her. Gloria, who is known for her dying scenes, is out to capture the role of the octoroon title character in “Belle of New Orleans.” Vera would love to get the part of Tillie, her maid, but Gloria seems reluctant to put in a good word for her. Vera lives with two roommates, the buxom Lottie McBride (Heather Alicia Simms; Fabulation, Fairview), who is eating her way to mammy roles, and the voluptuous, light-skinned Anna Mae Simpkins (Carra Patterson; Jitney, Wit), who is “passing” as a Brazilian sexpot. While waiting outside the soundstage for Gloria, Vera meets Leroy Barksdale (Warner Miller; The Old Settler), a musician supporting himself as a chauffeur. When Gloria throws a party for studio mogul Mr. Slasvick (David Turner; The Invention of Love, In My Life) and the film’s German director Maxmillian Von Oster (Manoel Felciano; Sweeney Todd, Amelie) , she engages Lottie to help Vera serve. Van Oster’s date is none other than Anna Mae, complete with thick Brazilian Portuguese accent, and his driver turns out to be Leroy.  It soon becomes clear that the mogul and the director do not share the same vision for the film. The party scene is hilarious, especially when Vera and Lottie attempt to portray the rapidly changing conceptions of their desired roles. As the first act ends, we do not know the fate of the proposed film. 

The first act is so entertaining that the shift of gears after intermission comes as somewhat of a letdown. We are now in 2003 at a colloquium devoted to the topic “What Happened to Vera Stark?” The three bloviating panelists, played by Mr. Miller, Ms. Simms and Ms. Patterson, are little more than caricatures who interpret Vera’s career according to each one’s politico-socio-cultural bent. We do get to see the delicious final scene of “Belle of New Orleans” which contains a few amusing surprises. We also get excerpts from Vera’s appearance on a 1973 talk show, after which she disappeared from sight. After a “successful” career playing a series of maids, Vera has been reduced to a two-week run on the Vegas strip. The interview scene is actually performed live, which makes for the awkward situation that the actors must freeze in place each time the interview is interrupted by a return to the panelists. The talk show host (Mr. Turner) is a blithering idiot and his other guest is a spaced-out British rock musician (Mr. Feliciano) whose inclusion is of dubious benefit. Things get interesting when Gloria makes a surprise appearance. We get a final outtake from the film that casts the relationship between Vera and Gloria in a new light. 

The actors are all very good, although I did occasionally wish director Kamilah Forbes (Between the World and Me) had asked them not to play things quite so broadly. The revolving set by Clint Ramos (Appropriate, Eclipsed) is a treat, especially Gloria’s glamorous living room and the gaudy TV show set. The period costumes by Dede M. Ayite (American Son, School Girls) are wonderful. Katherine Freer (Cellular Songs) is credited for projection design; if that includes the projected film, kudos to her.

While the satirization of Hollywood in the 30’s is hardly subtle, it is both entertaining and enlightening. Despite its second-act problems, the show is well worth seeing. Running time: two hours 20 minutes including intermission.

Children of a Lesser God

C+

The years have not been kind to Mark Medoff’s drama about deafness. Since it arrived on Broadway in 1980, there have been better plays, e.g. Tribes, and better films, e.g. Sound and Fury, on the subject of deafness and deaf rights. I would assume that it won its Tony and Olivier more for the seriousness and, at the time, novelty of its subject matter than for its artistic merit. In any case, it’s back on Broadway in a Roundabout production that has been imported basically intact from a Berkshire Theatre Group run. Joshua Jackson (Smart People, "The Affair") plays James Leeds, a speech instructor at a residential school for the deaf. When the school’s head, Mr. Franklin (Anthony Edwards; A Month in the Country), asks him to work with Sarah Norman (Lauren Ridloff), a graduate of the school who is still on campus as a maid, Leeds promptly falls in love with her. He tries unsuccessfully to persuade her to learn lip reading and to attempt to speak. He visits her mother (Kecia Lewis; Leap of Faith, Marie and Rosetta), who placed Sarah in the school as a child and has basically turned her back on her. Orin Dennis (John McGinty; Veritas), a student who has learned to read lips and speak, has been Sarah’s close friend for years and is jealous of her relationship with Leeds. Lydia (Treshelle Edmond; Spring Awakening) is a childlike student who has a crush on Leeds. When James and Sarah marry, the outlook is uncertain. In the second act, the play turns polemical when Orin tries to enlist Sarah to join him in an action against the school for job discrimination against the deaf. Edna Klein (Julee Cerda) is the attractive lawyer whom Orin recruits. Much of the second act is clunky. Mr. Franklin, James, Sarah and Mrs. Norman get together for an unlikely bridge game. The polemic and the personal compete awkwardly for our attention. Near the end, there is a big cathartic scene that, for many, will have made the long buildup worthwhile. The strongest argument for seeing this revival is the powerful performance by Ms. Ridloff. It is easy to see why James would be so attracted to her. Mr. Jackson gives a creditable performance in a demanding role, although I would have liked a little more variety. Mr. McGinty is strong as Orin. Kecia Lewis is impressive as Sarah’s mother. Mr. Edwards and Ms. Edmond do their best with cartoonish roles. The direction by Kenny Leon (A Raisin in the Sun, Fences) is assured, but I wish he had made a few cuts. I did not care for Derek McLane’s (The Parisian Woman, The Price) set, which features several blue door frames painted a garish salmon pink on the inside and several tree trunks. The costumes by Dede Ayite (School Girls, Mankind) are fine. There are surtitles above the proscenium arch which you will not be able to read if you are sitting in the first few rows. Running time: two hours 25 minutes, including intermission.

Mankind

D

If only I had left Robert O’Hara’s new play at Playwrights Horizons at intermission, I would have had a pleasant but abbreviated evening. Until that point, the satire had remained relatively sharp and focused and there was a sense that the play had reached its logical conclusion. Unfortunately, after a mood-breaking fifteen minutes, the play resumed and ran steadily downhill for another 45 minutes. O’Hara’s initial premise of an oppressive society where women have become extinct and men have developed the ability to bear children is a promising one. In a nice twist, abortion is still illegal, so when sex buddies Mark (Anson Mount) and Jason (Bobby Moreno; Grand Concourse, Fulfillment Center) seek one after Jason’s surprise pregnancy, they are arrested for attempted murder. When Jason gives birth to the first female born in a century, he and Mark unwittingly become founders of a new feminist religion with rituals highly reminiscent of Roman Catholicism. O’Hara takes potshots at patriarchy, talk shows, materialism, climate change, organized religion, feminism and the innate intolerance of mankind. I wish his inventiveness were coupled with more discipline. The satire generates surprisingly few laughs and rapidly becomes tedious. Four other actors — David Ryan Smith, Ariel Shafir, Stephen Schnetzer (Oslo) and scene-stealer Andre de Shields (The Wiz, The Full Monty) — play multiple roles. Clint Ramos (Bella, Familiar) has designed an overcomplicated set with a revolving platform and modules that are pushed this way and that. Dede M. Ayite’s (School Girls, The Royale) ecclesiastical garb is funnier than most of the dialog. Once again, O’Hara demonstrates why playwrights (with rare exceptions) should not direct their own work. “Barbecue,” with another director, was considerably more rewarding than either “Bootycandy” or this play. It was a frustrating evening of missed opportunities. Running time: 2 hours including intermission.

School Girls; or, The African Mean Girls Play

A-

One of the hallmarks of the current season has been the proliferation of fine plays with all-female ensembles. First we had the excellent Mary Jane at New York Theatre Workshop. A revival of The Wolves is currently in previews at Lincoln Center Theater. And now MCC Theater has brought us this delightful play by Jocelyn Bioh (In the Blood; Men on Boats), marking her New York debut as playwright. Set in a girls’ boarding school in central Ghana in 1986, it introduces us to four students who are members of a clique led by mean girl Paulina Sarpong (Maameyaa Boafo) who intends to be the school’s contestant in the upcoming Miss Ghana pageant. During the early scenes, we get an amusing look at how Paulina reigns over her subjects — cousins Gitty (Paige Gilbert) and Mercy (Mirirai Sithole), the bookish Ama (Nike Kadri; The Death of the Last Black Man...) and the food-addicted Nana (Abena Mensah-Bonsu). There are hilarious examples of their misunderstanding of American culture, e.g. that White Castle is an elegant restaurant. Paulina’s plans are endangered by the arrival of a new student Ericka Boafo (Nabiyah Be; Hadestown), recently relocated from Ohio, who has looks, charm and talent to spare. The rivalry between the two girls is paralleled by the tense relationship between no-nonsense headmistress Francis (Myra Lucretia Taylor; Nine, Familiar) and the stylish Westernized pageant recruiter Eloise Amponsah (Zainab Jah; Eclipsed), herself a former Miss Ghana, who had tangled as classmates in the past. There’s a nice bonus for the recruiter and a substantial gift for the school that yields the winning contestant. Bioh overlays the well-worn conventions of teen-age cliques and beauty pageant competition with an additional ingredient: colorism — the belief even within the black community that, when it comes to skin color, lighter is better. Eloise favors Ericka over Paulina because she is the fairer and thereby "more commercial" of the two. How far will Paulina go to prevent Ericka’s selection? How far will Eloise go to thwart Paulina? Why is Paulina so mean? What secrets is Ericka hiding? Will all their efforts have any meaningful impact anyway? Has anything changed since 1986? Come, find out and be entertained. The actors are all wonderful. Director Rebecca Taichman (Indecent, Time and the Conways) has demonstrated her usual sure but deft hand. Arnulfo Maldonado’s (Charm) schoolhouse set is perfect from the perforated windows to the corrugated ceiling and tropical fans. Dede M. Ayite’s (The Royale, Bella) costumes, especially for the pageant, are delightful. Running time: one hour 12 minutes.

Jesus Hopped the 'A' Train

B+

What a valuable service Signature Theatre’s Residency Program performs by giving us the opportunity to look back at the early works of leading contemporary playwrights to see how their talent has grown. This 2000 drama by Stephen Adly Guirgis contains the promising elements of his later plays (The Motherfucker with the Hat, Between Riverside and Crazy), but they are not yet as masterfully controlled. The black humor and marvelous urban patois are present, but are not well-blended with the long monologues and debates about morality, religion and justice. Most of the action takes place in the outdoor recreation area where prisoners under protective custody at Rikers Island are let out of their cells for an hour once a day. We meet Angel Cruz (Sean Carvajal), a 30-year-old bike messenger who is on trial for the death of the preacher of a cult-like church whom he blames for stealing his lifelong best friend. In the adjoining cage is Lucius Jenkins (Edi Gathegi), a charismatic serial killer who is awaiting extradition to Florida where he will be executed. Lucius has found God and been reborn. Although he takes responsibility for his actions, he still fears execution. We meet two guards. The first, Charlie D’Amico (Erick Betancourt), is soon fired for doing a variety of favors for Lucius. His replacement, Valdez (Ricardo Chavira), is not likely to show anyone a kindness. Angel is hostile to Mary Jane Hanrahan (Stephanie DiMaggio), the public defender who has been assigned his case. We learn enough about her background to understand why she became a public defender and why she might find Angel sympathetic despite his verbal abuse. Lucius, on the other hand, begins relentlessly haranguing Angel to take responsibility for the death he inadvertently caused. A cloud of implacability hangs overhead with no infraction, however minor, likely to go unpunished. The actors, particularly Carvajal and Gathegi, are marvelous. The set design by Riccardo Hernandez (Indecent) is appropriately bleak as are the costumes by Dede M. Ayite (The Royale). The direction by Mark Brokaw (Heisenberg, The Lyons) is assured and mostly succeeds in making the monologues flow into the rest of play. If you have a low tolerance for rough language or the description of violent events, you might be uncomfortable. Running time: two hours 10 minutes including intermission.

Bella: An American Tall Tale

C+

What are the odds that two shows about 19th-century black women with large derrieres would arrive on Theatre Row within a month of each other? And yet the revival of Suzan-Lori Parks’s Venus at Signature Theatre has just been followed by the New York premiere of Kirsten Childs’s musical at Playwrights Horizons. I skipped Venus, because the prospect of watching an innocent woman being exploited and forced to appear in a freak show sounded too depressing. Although Childs’s work also includes a segment when the title character becomes a circus attraction, the prevailing spirit is far from depressing. Bella (Ashley D. Kelley) is a naive girl from Tupelo, Mississippi with a rich fantasy life who is forced to leave town after injuring a rich white man who was trying to rape her. She heads by train toward New Mexico, where her boyfriend Aloysius (Britton Smith) is a Buffalo Soldier. On the train she is looked after by a protective porter (Brandon Gill). After a fanciful adventure I will not describe, she ends up as a circus attraction who becomes a big star in Europe but, a la Josephine Baker, was scorned when she returned to America. There are many other characters: Ida Lou (Marinda Anderson, a black widow heading to Kansas where she thinks life will be safer; Miss Cabbagestalk (Kenita R. Miller), an old maid on her way to likely servitude as the mail-order bride of a widower with six children; a kindly couple, an inept gang of robbers, Bella’s mother (Miller again) and Aunt Dinah (Anderson again) and the grandmother (Natasha Yvette Williams) who is succumbing to dementia. Finally, there is the Spirit of the Booty (Williams again), whom you must see to believe. The cast of twelve are all talented, with Kelley and Miller the standouts. The production is lavish: Clint Ramos’s set has a Western-themed proscenium with a red velvet curtain. a painted scrim, a stage within a stage that moves back and forth and a revolving platform. [Was there a sale on stage turntables this spring? This is the fifth play I have seen recently with a revolving stage.] Dede M. Ayite’s costumes are inspired. Camille A. Brown’s lively choreography adds a lot to the production. Robert O'Hara (Bootycandy) directed. Childs’s music mixes many styles and occasionally seems derivative: there is a song near the end that sounds very similar to the disco anthem “I Will Survive.” A hilarious number in the second act called “White People Tonight” got a big reaction. It all goes down easy, but seems muddled and overstuffed. It has already shed 20 minutes in previews but could profitably lose a few more, preferably in the first act. Running time: 2 hours 40 minutes including intermission.

The Royale ***

After the success of The Great White Hope, Howard Sackler’s Pulitzer Prize-winning 1967 play about the career of early 20th-century black boxer Jack Johnson, starring James Earl Jones and Jane Alexander, it takes an act of bravery to write another play on that subject. Playwright Marco Ramirez’s drama, now in previews at Lincoln Center Theater’s Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater, focuses on the attempt to arrange an interracial championship bout between the black champion, called here Jay “The Sport” Jackson, with Bixby, the retired world champion. We meet Jay (Khris Davis); his trainer Wynton (Clarke Peters); Fish (McKinley Belcher III), Jay’s sparring partner; Max (John Lavelle), his white manager; and Nina (Montego Glover of “Memphis”), his sister. The emphasis is on what motivates Jackson and what collateral damage he is willing to overlook. The play would be rather pedestrian if not for the superbly stylized direction by Rachel Chavkin (“Preludes” and “Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812”) which dramatically elevates the material. No choreographer is listed so the credit for staging the almost balletic fight scenes must belong to Chavkin. Punches are percussively replaced by claps and stomps. The staging of the climactic match is even more surprising. The production is enhanced by Nick Vaughn’s monochromatic brown plank set and Dede M. Ayile’s period costumes. The actors mostly succeed in enlivening their rather generic characters. Although the material is a bit thin and formulaic, Chaikin's energetic staging made me more than willing to overlook the play’s flaws. Running time: 85 minutes, no intermission.

Ugly Lies the Bone ***

With this new play by Lindsey Ferrentino, now at the Black Box Theatre, Roundabout Underground continues its commitment to presenting emerging young playwrights, an effort that has previously paid off with playwrights Stephen Karam and Joshua Harmon. Jess (Mamie Gummer), a soldier badly burned by an IED in Afghanistan, has just returned to her small town on Florida’s Space Coast after a year and a half in a military hospital. She is a participant in an experimental study of virtual reality as a non-drug pain management treatment. Caitlin O’Connell plays the unseen experimenter. Jess shares the family home with her sister Kacie (Karron Graves), a schoolteacher. Their mother has been institutionalized for reasons unspecified. Katie has a dodgy boyfriend Kelvin (Haynes Thigpen) whom she met online. We also meet Jess’s former boyfriend Stevie (Chris Stack), now married and clerking at a convenience store, and eventually learn the reasons for their breakup. Just as Jess has suffered grievous injuries, the town has been devastated by mass layoffs when the shuttle program ended. We follow Jess’s struggles to find a way forward with her life. The cast is mostly strong, especially Gummer. Thigpen's approach to his character, particularly in his early scenes, is too broad. Tim Brown’s set looks lived in and authentic. Dede M. Ayite’s costumes are spot-on. The prosthetics designed and created by Vincent T. Schicchi and Thomas Denier Jr. are convincing.The projections by Caite Hevner Kemp are effective. Patricia McGregor’s direction has a few bumpy spots. I would call the play a diamond in the rough. Running time: 75 minutes, no intermission.

brownsville song (b-side for tray) **

If good intentions and heartfelt sincerity were all it took to write a successful play, Kimber Lee (who apparently has an aversion to capital letters) would have hit the jackpot with her drama at LCT3’s Claire Tow Theater. We know before the play begins that Tray (Sheldon Best), an 18-year-old black Brooklynite just finishing high school, is dead. The play opens with a grief-filled monologue by Tray’s grandma Lena (Lizan Mitchell) advising us that Tray’s life is worth far more than the few lines the newspaper will devote to his senseless death in a street shooting. After this strong start, the play moves backward and forward in time to describe Tray and the effects of his death on his grandmother, his beloved little half-sister Devine (Taliyah Whitaker), his long-estranged stepmother Merrell (Sun Mee Chomet) and, to a lesser extent, his friend Junior (Chris Myers). Unfortunately, the play begins to lose its course and ultimately resorts to some manipulative sentimentality. A few things puzzled me. What happened to Tray’s biological mother? Was the choice of an Asian-American actor to play Merrell an indication of his stepmother’s ethnicity or just a bit of nontraditional casting? (I concluded it was the former.) Some of the plot points stretched my willingness to suspend disbelief too far. Merrell’s reappearance, first as a tutor for Tray’s college admission essay, and then as a job applicant at the Starbuck’s where he is a barista, seemed too pat. The play’s sentimental but nonetheless wrenching ending reinforces our sense of tragic, senseless loss. The production is first-rate: the cast is very good, the set by Andromache Chalfant is excellent, the costumes by Dede M. Ayite are apt, the lighting by Jijoun Chang and the sound design by Asa Wember are effective and the direction by Patricia McGregor is assured. Would that the playwright had been able to maintain the high level of the play’s opening scene. Running time: 1 hour 35 minutes, no intermission.