Describe the Night

B+

Atlantic Theater Company is presenting the New York premiere of Rajiv Joseph’s (Guards at the Taj, Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo) play that blends fact and fiction, realism and surrealism in an intricate story covering the period between 1920 and 2010 in Russia, Poland and East Germany. With only eight characters, it may not qualify as an epic but it is certainly an ambitious and complex work. Four of the leading characters are based on historical figures: famed Russian writer Isaac Babel (Danny Burstein), Soviet Secret Police chief Nikolai Yezhov (Zach Grenier), Yezhov’s wife Yevgenia (Tina Benko) and an ambitious young KGB agent nicknamed Vova (Max Gordon Moore). Babel and Yezhov meet in Poland in 1920 and become unlikely friends. Sparks fly when Babel meets Yevgenia. We also meet Feliks (Stephen Stocking), a car rental agent, and Mariya (Nadia Bowers; The Farnsworth Invention), a journalist, who are witnesses to the mysterious plane crash in 2010 that wiped out most of the Polish government. Mrs. Petrovna (Bowers again) is Mariya’s landlady. Urzula (Rebecca Naomi Jones; Marie and Rosetta, Big Love) is a young East German singer who wants to escape to the West in 1989. The playwright follows the basic facts of the relationship between Babel and the Yezhovs fairly closely up to 1940, but puts his own fantastical spin on the Yezhovs’ fate. The story jumps around in time and place and challenges the audience to follow along. There are scenes that are quite dramatic, others that are very funny and a few that don’t have much impact but are necessary to connect the dots. The title of the play comes from Babel’s direction to himself in his writing journal. The travels of this journal over 90 years form the backbone of the play. To say more about the plot would risk spoiling the pleasure of discovery. Zach Grenier (33 Variations, Storefront Church), Tina Benko (The Crucible, Scenes from a Marriage) and Max Gordon Moore (Indecent, Man from Nebraska) are a pleasure to watch. While I admire Danny Burstein (Fiddler on the Roof, Golden Boy) for his willingness to take risks, he seems miscast here. The main design feature of the set by Tim Mackabee (The Penitent, Guards at the Taj) remains unused for most of the play. The period costumes by Amy Clark (Chaplin) are excellent. Giovanna Sardelli (Animals out of Paper) directs with a sure hand. While I found the play intellectually satisfying, it did not engage me fully at the emotional level. The characters seem more like pieces of a puzzle than individuals worthy of empathy. Nevertheless, it offers a stimulating theatrical experience. Running time: two hours 55 minutes including two intermissions.

Little Children Dream of God **

The mission of Roundabout Underground is to present works by emerging playwrights in the Black Box Theatre below the Laura Pels. In past years they have presented promising plays by Stephen Karam (Speech and Debate) and Joshua Harmon (Bad Jews.) Currently onstage is this ambitious work by Jeff Augustin, which deals mainly with Haitian refugees in Miami. We meet seven vivid characters. Sula (Carra Patterson) is a young pregnant woman from Haiti who struggles to delay her baby’s arrival until she is in the U.S. She is haunted by nightmares about her past. Her baby does not cry. Joel (Maurice Jones) is the son of the landlord who has turned his apartment house into a de facto refuge for immigrants. Carolyn (Deirdre O’Connell) is a nursing home aide with 11 children who lives in one of the apartments and who reluctantly takes Sula in. Vishal (Chris Myers) is the resident drag queen who sometimes sits for Carolyn’s children. Madison (Crystal Lucas-Perry) is Joel’s stereotypically yuppy cousin who hires Sula as her nanny. Manuel (Gilbert Cruz) is a dying patient of Carolyn’s who is estranged from his children. The Man (Carl Hendrick Louis) is the figure from Sula’s past who figures prominently in her nightmares. Some of the topics touched upon include the struggle to preserve a family heritage, the corrosive effects of gentrification, the disappearance of God, the attempt to escape one’s past, the efficacy of voodoo and the pain of dying alone unloved. I wished that the playwright had narrowed his scope and presented fewer but more fully developed themes. Some of the actors had trouble maintaining a Creole accent. Andrew Boyce’s flexible set design is simple but effective. Jennifer Caprio’s costumes are appropriate. Giovanna Sardelli’s direction cannot hide the unevenness of the material. Augustin shows promise if his control can catch up with his ambition. Running time: 2 hours including intermission.

Note: Judging from tonight’s theatergoers, Roundabout’s marketing to nontraditional audiences has been far more successful than LCT3’s. Tickets are $5 cheaper ($20 vs. $25), but I doubt that difference is significant.

The North Pool ***

(Please click on the title to see the complete review.)
When Dr. Danielson (Stephen Barker Turner), the vice-principal of a large public high school, summons Khadim Asmaan (Babak Tafti), a Middle-Eastern-born transfer student, to his office at the end of classes on the final day before Spring Break, Khadim has no idea why. For the next 85 minutes, they engage in an escalating verbal duel. Danielson is not the one-note bureaucrat he first appears to be and Khadim is not just a cocky student he is badgering. Joseph effectively holds the audience is his grip as he springs a series of surprises that keep changing our perception of the two characters. The play almost never heads in a predictable direction. The story has too many subplots for its own good and some of them are less than plausible. Nevertheless, the play is well worth seeing for the gripping performances of Turner and Tafti. Donyale Werle's set is the perfect recreation of a high school office and Paloma Young's costumes are just right. Director Giovanna Sardelli certainly knows how to build and maintain tension.