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Review: Measure For Measure Presented by ArtsEmerson

Theater Reviews, , ,

“Measure For Measure”

At ArtsEmerson

Is Not A Problem

William Shakespeare’s  Measure For Measure is considered his first problem play. The production now playing at the Emerson Cutler Majestic Theatre presents only one problem. It is here for only six performances, and a few of those performances are competing with the Red Sox in the World Series. This is too bad as the play, which is a collaboration by London’s Cheek By Jowl and Moscow’s Pushkin Theatre, directed by Declan Donnellan, and with a cast that speaks entirely in Russian (there are subtitles), is as interesting a production of one of Shakespeare’s works as you will see.

Set on a nearly bare stage with five large red boxes lining it, and an array of hanging lights of the type you might see in an industrial building, the starkness takes on a full life as the cast of thirteen enter and begin this story of power, the fairness and abuse of authority, hypocrisy, and conflicting principles. It is one of Shakespeare’s least performed, yet most moving works.

And yes, I wrote it is performed entirely in Russian, which may seem offsetting to some who can’t imagine seeing the works of the Bard performed in anything other than the original verse. However, I am here to tell you it works wonderfully when performed this way. There is definitely a synergy   when Russian actors take on Will Shakespeare. 

Interestingly, two of the most widely acclaimed film versions of King Lear and Hamlet were produced by Russian director Grigori Kozintsev, so this mix is not new. 

As the play begins the cast moves about the stage in a tight group without uttering a line. It is a device that is used to varying extents throughout the play as the crowd, in different sizes serves as witnesses, or perhaps a conscience, to and for the main characters. 

Angelo (Andrei Kuzichev) is played as a mousy bureaucrat who is given power by the Duke (Alexander Arsentyev), in the classic ambivalent role.

Anna Vardevanian’s Isabella is very interesting in that she gives us a more fragile and complex reading then I have seen before. Her “Man proud man” speech when confronting Angelo over his lack of compassion when enforcing the law is spoken more in mockery than anger. I found this to be very effective. Her facial expressions are priceless, especially in the closing scenes. 

There is much more to be said for this very talented cast, but time grows short, and you really should be making plans to see this Measure For Measure. It is a timely work that will have you reflecting on how power is wielded and what happens when people are too rigid and hypocritical when ruling over others. Of course there is much more to it, but you should really see for yourself. I highly recommend you do.

This is a unique and fast moving production that should not be missed. ArtsEmerson is giving Boston theatre goers a gift. Accept and enjoy it.

Measure For Measure

Cheek By Jowl and Pushkin Theatre

Presented by ArtsEmerson

At The Emerson Cutler Majestic Theatre

219 Tremont Street, Boston

Through October 28

tickets [at] artsemerson [dot] org | 617.824.8400

Photos by Johan Persson

Within This Wooden O

Theater Reviews

Hartford Stage’s 

Henry V 

In The Round

Henry V

Through November 11

The Hartford Stage 

50 Church Street

Hartford CT

www.hartfordstage.org

Reviewed by Bobby Franklin

The cast of Henry V

As the Chorus (Peter Francis James) sets the scene at the opening of Shakespeare’s Henry V now playing at the Hartford Stage, the audience is reminded that what they are about to see is all illusion. He asks that those in the theater use their imagination in order to see the story about to unfold.

Director Elizabeth Williamson has chosen to set this production in the round with very few props and effects. Other than a couple of tables and chairs, a few guns and knives, costumes that are not period specific, subtle lighting, a minimum of sound effects, and a floor that has a map inlaid in it, the rest is left to the actors, the language, and yes, the imagination. And it is Shakespeare’s language in the hands of the actors that makes the story  so vivid. 

Peter Francis James as the Chorus

Peter Francis James fills the theater with anticipation with his exciting opening monologue that invites all who are there to participate in the  events about to unfold. His rich and enthusiastic voice does indeed get the “imaginary forces” working. Throughout the play he returns to carry us along and set the upcoming scenes. It is a pleasure to listen to him.

Henry V is played by Stephen Louis Grush and he faces the challenge of reciting some of the Bard’s most rousing speeches, many of which will be familiar to the audience, such as The St. Crispin’s Day speech before the Battle of Agincourt. His battle cry (Once more unto the breech dear friends…) during the siege of Harfleur is  somewhat drowned out by sound effects at first, which is odd since they are so little used, but is still rousing as the noise fades and the words are heard. Mr. Grush sometimes appears a bit uncomfortable but settles down as he allows the words to flow from his mouth. He will only get better during this run.

Miles Anderson (Pistol)

Miles Anderson as Pistol (he also plays the Bishop of Ely) almost steals the show and his interactions with Nym (Felicity Jones Latta), Bardolph (Liam Craig), and Fleuellen (Baron Vaughn) are comic and touching. The almost knife fight between Nym and Pistol is a memorable scene that had the audience laughing while it revealed the character of the two participants. Mr. Vaughn also takes on the part of Nell Quickly and is campy and quite funny.

Director Willamson’s decision to set this in the round was a wise choice as Henry V fits well into this setting. As the actors turn about the stage addressing each other, they are also speaking to the audience. It adds an intimacy that gives the work more emotional power.

Felicity Jones Latta (Alice), Evelyn Spahr (Katherine)

Watching Katherine (Evelyn Spahr) practicing her English with Alice (Felicity Jones Latta) while moving about the stage is quite charming. Ms Spahr also plays Boy and Lord Scroop. Her Boy is innocent and yet insightful. Her Katherine is tender yet smart.

I feel I must mention Peter Francis James again. Mr. James’s Chorus paces his speeches perfectly and, without overreaching, brings a depth of excitement to the swelling scenes.

Now, since this is Henry V and we are asked to use our imagination, I beg to indulge for just a moment. During the Battle of Agincourt while the sound of machine guns were used for effect, my mind went to the swoosh of arrows being let loose from the long bows that were so effectively used to defeat the French. I think it would have been very effective here as well.

I make it a point to travel to the Hartford Stage each year to see their productions of the works of William Shakespeare. They are among the best staged anywhere. While this year’s work is a bit uneven, I thought the scenes in the French Court were stiff, it is still a worthy production not to be missed. 

Liam Craig (Bardolph), Felicity Jones Latta (Nym)

If you are among those who sometimes believe William Shakespeare wrote in a foreign language, lay your fears aside. While the text is untouched, the focus given the words and the clarity with which they are spoken here will leave you fully engaged. This is an excellent reason to make the trip to Hartford. You will leave the theatre feeling comfortable with the language of Shakespeare and glad you have seen these few, these happy few perform. 

All photos by T. Charles Erickson

NORTH SHORE MUSIC THEATRE PRESENTS THE BIG, FAT, HIT MUSICAL  ‘HAIRSPRAY’

Theatre Announcements,

October 30 – November 11, 2018 

Bill Hanney’s award-winning North Shore Music Theatre (NSMT) concludes the 2018 Subscription Season with Broadway’s big, fat, hit musical, HAIRSPRAY, playing for two-weeks only from Tuesday, October 30 thru Sunday, November 11, 2018.

 “I cannot think of more satisfying way to end this record-breaking season than with a bubbly, eye-popping, and powerful production of Hairspray,” said Bill Hanney, NSMT owner and producer. “The final show of the subscription season has to be like a fantastic dessert. It needs to be memorable, put a smile on your face, fill you up, and make you want to come back for more. This hysterical and heartwarming show is a favorite of mine, and with Blake Hammond, Brooke Shapiro and this amazing cast under the direction of Jeff Whiting, I know we have the recipe for success!”

HAIRSPRAY, winner of the 2003 Tony Award for ‘Best Musical,’ is piled bouffant-high with laughter, romance, and infectious musical numbers. Set in Baltimore, 1962, Tracy Turnblad is a big girl with big hair and an even bigger dream: to dance her way onto TV, and into the heart of teen idol Link Larkin. Tracy’s audition makes her a local star and soon she is using her new-found fame to fight for something bigger than her hair – racial integration. HAIRSPRAY is an irresistible, feel-good show with a Tony Award-winning book by Mark O’Donnell and Thomas Meehan and a Tony Award-winning score by Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman featuring the hit songs “Welcome To The ‘60s,” “You Can’t Stop The Beat,” “Mamma, I’m A Big Girl Now,” “I Know Where I’ve Boon,” and many more.

The cast of HAIRSPRAY will be led by Blake Hammond as Edna Turnblad and Brooke Shapiro as Tracy Turnblad. Blake Hammond is stepping into the role of Edna Turnblad once more having played her in the Broadway company of Hairspray. He has also appeared on Broadway in Living on Love, First Date, Sister Act, Elf, Billy Elliot, The Lion King, The Music Man, Kiss Me Kate, and On The Town. His Off-Broadway credits include When Pigs Fly, Carnival and Do Re Mi at Encores. Other credits include National Tours of Something Rotten, Cinderella, The Addams Family, and Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. Brooke Shapiro returns to North Shore Music Theatre where she was last seen as Jan in the 2014 production of Grease. She has performed off-Broadway in My Big Gay Italian Midlife Crisis, The Calico Buffalo, and did the first NYC reading of Love in Hate Nation (a new musical by Joe Iconis). Brooke has also performed in regional theaters across the country including Goodspeed Opera House, Cape Playhouse, Zach Theatre, Florida Studio Theatre, and Gateway Playhouse.

Performances are October 30 thru November 11, Tue – Thurs at 7:30 pm, Fri & Sat at 8 pm, matinees Wed, Sat and Sun at 2 pm. For tickets and information call (978) 232-7200, visit nsmt.org, or visit the box office at 62 Dunham Rd., Beverly, MA.

 

 

MRT’s Musical-Comedy Whodunit, “Murder for Two”, To Open with Original Star and Co-creator

Theatre Announcements,

 At The Merrimack Repertory Theatre From

October 17 through November 11

Joe Kinosian
(Photo Joan Marcus)

Joe Kinosian, the original star and co-creator of the Off-Broadway sensation Murder for Two will lead the Merrimack Repertory Theatre (MRT) cast of the musical-comedy whodunit October 17 – November 11 at the Nancy L. Donahue Theatre at Liberty Hall, according to Artistic Director Sean Daniels and Executive Director Bonnie J. Butkas.

Murder for Two, framed by the authors, Kinosian and Kellen Blair, as The Marx Brothers meet Agatha Christie, will be the second show of MRT’s 40th Anniversary Season and its 264th production since 1979.

“A hilarious musical whodunit,” according to The New Yorker, Murder for Two played Off-Broadway for nearly two years and earned a slew of Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle awards and nominations. The New York Times called the show, “Ingenious! A snazzy double-act.”

Making his New England debut in the show, Kinosian plays all six of the suspects in the murder mystery, and he will be joined by Martin Landry as the detective in this original musical with book and music by Kinosian and book and lyrics by Blair. JC Clementz will direct.

Part Vaudeville, part murder mystery spoof, Murder for Two features one murder, two actors, six suspects, and one piano, wildly shared by both actors. In the zany story, every guest has a motive. Was it the prima ballerina, the widow, the niece, the psychiatrist, or even the detective? The two actors play 13 roles in the homage to everything from Agatha Christie to “Murder She Wrote” to the board game Clue.

A veteran of more than 700 performances in the role, Kinosian said his grandmother showed him his first Marx Brothers film as preschooler. “Their anarchic combination of intellectual screwball wordplay and physical zaniness has never stopped appealing to me. Like Vaudeville, we definitely wanted to channel that comedically broad ‘anything for a laugh’ approach.”

Kinosian has played the role in a two-year tour of America, as well as in productions in Korea, Japan, England, and China. His New York credits as an actor also include the cult favorite Dear Edwina. His regional theatre credits include The Nerd, An Act of God, and Dirty Blond with Emily Skinner.

Landry’s credits include the national tour of Murder for Two and the Off-Broadway productions of Dragons Love Tacos and Dear Edwina. A longtime affiliate of Steppenwolf Theatre in Chicago, director Clementz lists Irving Berlin’s I Love a Piano and The Devil’s Music: The Life and Blues of Bessie Smith among his credits.

For tickets or information, visit www.mrt.org, or call the Box Office at 978-654-4678.

 

 

Concert by the Forget-Me-Knots will benefit the Struggle with Alzheimer’s

Music

A concert to benefit the Alzheimer’s Foundation will take place Saturday, October 20, 7 p.m. at The Congregational Church in 21 Front Street, Exeter, NH.

The program of music featuring piano, vocalists, woodwind, guitar, and stand-up bass, will be presented by the Forget-Me-Knots.  They are a group of musicians who decided to come together to share their love of music in support of Alzheimer’s. Vocalist Jean Strazdes has performed throughout the world in various operas and currently teaches at Phillips Exeter Academy.  Mary Carol Kennedy is a clinical social worker as well as a woodwind player.  She teaches and performs locally in southern Maine.   Kim Karchenes, pianist, is the Music Director at The Congregational Church in Exeter and the accompanist for several local community choruses.  Bob Daigle is a self-employed environmental consultant.  His true passion is music, which he celebrates through guitar, stand-up bass and voice.

The concert will be a celebration of “memories” through several musical moments   There are many ongoing studies researching the effects of music on the brains of patients struggling with this disease.   Studies have shown that music may provide an opportunity to connect with a patient even when verbal communication has become difficult.

 The Forget-Me-Knots have each been touched by Alzheimer’s and will donate all proceeds collected at the door to The Alzheimer’s Foundation. All donations will be gratefully received. Please come and enjoy a wonderful evening of music in support of this worthy cause.   For more information please contact Kim Karchenes at kkarchenes [at] maine [dot] rr [dot] com.

Visit  https://www.alz.org/help-support/caregiving/daily-care/art-music  to learn more about how music may help with caregiving, the warning signs, the importance of early detection and diagnosis as well as information on care and support.

 

ArtsEmerson Presents “Measure For Measure”

Theatre Announcements, , ,

CONTEMPORARY SOCIETY AND SHAKESPEARE’S POLITICAL EPIC COLLIDE IN 

MEASURE FOR MEASURE 

FEATURED AT ARTSEMERSON
BY CHEEK BY JOWL AND THE PUSHKIN THEATRE MOSCOW ——
SIX PERFORMANCES ONLY – OCTOBER 24-28, 2018 EMERSON CUTLER MAJESTIC THEATRE, BOSTON 

ALEXANDER ARSENTYEV AND ANNA VARDEVANIAN
Photo credit: Johan Persson

Boston’s leading presenter of contemporary world theatre, proudly welcomes Cheek by Jowl (UK) and The Pushkin Theatre Moscow (Russia) with Measure for Measure. This production of Shakespeare’s play by the international award-winning director Declan Donnellan and designer Nick Ormerod asks vital and unsettling questions about how we are governed and, in the process, unmasks the true nature of authority, love and justice. Performed in Russian with English surtitles, The Pushkin Theatre Moscow and Cheek by Jowl will share Shakespeare’s tale through an unsettling dissection of power and shame that is as shocking as it is revelatory. The Times (London) calls the cast of Measure for Measure electrifyingly intense and disturbing that they make your hair stand on end.” Novaya Gazeta calls it “a shattering portrait of contemporary Russia.”

“Throughout our nine seasons, we’ve forged deep connections with Russian artists and narratives as part of our ‘World on Stage’ commitment,” says artistic director David Dower. “Declan Donnellan is similarly rooted in cross cultural exchange; his collaboration with Moscow’s Pushkin Theater is a perfect pairing for us. Donnellan’s visceral, visually audacious staging is stunning and his all-Russian cast is masterful. Shakespeare’s classically ‘problematic play’ suddenly emerges as a fresh, sharp, and emotionally powerful tale of our own problematic times.” 

About Measure for Measure
Shakespeare’s Measure for Measure was written between 1603 and 1604, classified initially as a comedy. However, the production history exemplifies the complex nature of the play, each with a nearly unique perspective. The story takes place in Vienna under Lord Angelo’s iron-fist rule. He revives forgotten laws on morality and sexual license and decides to make an example of Claudio, a young man who has had pre-marital sex with his fiancée, Juliet. Hearing of Claudio’s death sentence, his sister the novitiate Isabella resolves to petition Angelo for her brother’s life. Despite his outward strict moral code, Angelo tells Isabella he will only free her brother if she sacrifices her virginity to him. 

The limited run of only six performances takes place October 24 through 28, 2018 at the Emerson Cutler Majestic Theatre, located at 219 Tremont Street in downtown Boston.

www.ArtsEmerson.org,  617.824.8400, 

SpeakEasy Stage To Present the Boston Regional Theatre Premiere of the 2015 Tony Award-winning Musical FUN HOME  

Theatre Announcements,

Runs October 19 Through November 24 At The Calderwood Pavilion

FUN HOME will run from October 19 through November 24 at the Calderwood Pavillon, 527 Tremont Street in Boston’s South End. Featuring music by Tony Award winner Jeanine Tesori and a book and lyrics by Tony Award winner Lisa Kron, FUN HOME is a landmark musical about seeing one’s parents through grown-up eyes. Based on Ms. Bechdel’s best-selling memoir of the same name, this groundbreaking musical introduces us to Alison at three different ages, revealing memories that celebrate the curiosity of childhood, the challenges of coming out, and the complexities of family.

     SpeakEasy Founder and Producing Artistic Director Paul Daigneault will direct this production of FUN HOME. Winner of three Elliot Norton Awards including the 2014 Norton Prize for Sustained Excellence, Mr. Daigneault had directed dozens of Boston premieres, including the company’s recent productions of The Scottsboro Boys, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, and Allegiance. 

     The artistic team also includes IRNE Award-winning Music Director Matthew Stern and Choreographer Sarah Crane. 

     Amy Jo Jackson (Alison), Ellie van Amerongen (Medium Alison) and Marisa Simeqi (Small Alison) will play Ms. Bechdel at different ages in this compelling musical.  Also in the cast are Laura Marie Duncan, Luke Gold, Desiré Graham, Cameron Levesque, Madi Shaer, Tyler Simahk, and Todd Yard.  

 FUN HOME will run for six weeks, from October 19 through November 24, 2018, in the Roberts Studio Theatre in the Stanford Calderwood Pavilion at the Boston Center for the Arts, 527 Tremont Street in Boston’s South End.

617.933.8600 or visit www.SpeakEasyStage.com .                 

John Douglas Thompson To Play Emile Griffith In Boston Production

Boxing Articles, Theatre Announcements, , ,

“Man In The Ring”

The Story Of Boxing Champion

Emile Griffith To Open 

At The Huntington 

John Douglas Thompson

In exciting news for both boxing and theatre fans, the Huntington Theatre Company production of Man In The Ring will be opening at the Calderwood Pavilion at the Boston Center for the Arts on November 16. The play, written by Pulitzer Prize winner Michael Cristofer, will run through December 22. Man In The Ring chronicles the life of former Welterweight and Middleweight Champion Emile Griffith. 

Griffith’s story will span the time of his humble beginnings in the Virgin Islands, his love affairs, and the tragedy in the ring that forever changed his life. It its a complex story that is both touching and tragic.

I am very excited to hear that John Douglas Thompson has been cast in the role Emile Griffith as an older man. Mr. Douglas is one of the best actors on stage today, and I had the pleasure of seeing him in the world premiere of Terry Teachout’s Satchmo at the Waldorf n 2012. He was simply phenomenal that night. Most recently, he played Starkeeper in the Broadway production of Carousel. It will be interesting to see him play Griffith as an older man who if suffering from the effects of his years in the ring as well as the emotional turmoil from the Benny Paret fight.  

Kyle Vincent Terry

Kyle Vincent Terry will be playing the younger Griffith. Mr. Terry served as fight choreographer for The Royale which I saw last year at the Merrimack Repertory Theatre. The fight scenes in that production were very creative and well done. It is a challenge to create what happens in a boxing ring onto a stage, and Mr. Terry work was quite impressive.

Playwright Michael Cristofer won the Tony Award and Pulitzer Prize for his 1977 play The Shadow Box. In his script for Man In The Ring, Mr. Cristofer explores Emile Griffith’s struggle with his homosexuality which was an open secret in the boxing world during his career. Benny Paret’s taunts of Griffith before their tragic fight have always been thought to have contributed to Emile’s fire in the ring that night.

“Emile Griffith was a true hero in my book”, says Cristofer. “He was a young immigrant form the Virgin Islands and a man struggling with his identity while in a brutal sport who, as an older man slipping into dementia, worked to find peace amid the love, pain, and joy that was his life.”

Emile Griffith

Huntington Artistic Director Peter DuBois says “One of the hardest things to do in theatre is to tell the full story of a complex person’s life. Michael Cristofer beautifully captures the excessive, eccentric, and emotional parts of Emile’s amazing story by mixing the champ’s easy charm with the raw and traumatic things he experienced.”

The cast also includes Victor Almanzer as Luis, Griffith’s lover and later his caretaker, Starla Benford as Griffith’s mother Emelda, Krystal Joy Brown as his wife Sadie, Gordon Clapp as manager Howie Albert. Sean Boyce Johnson is cast as Benny “Kid” Paret with Carla Martinez playing his wife Lucia. Eliseo Sosa will play Paret’s manager Manuel Alfaro. 

Man In The Ring will be directed by multiple Tony Award  nominee Michael Greif. Michael McElroy is the music director and composer of incidental music. 

Man In The Ring

Huntington Theater Company

Playing at the Calderwood Pavilion, Boston Center For The Arts

527 Tremont Street, Boston 

November 16 through December 22, 2018

huntingtontheatre.org

617.266.0800

A Boy Named Hamnet

Theater Reviews,

Hamnet

Arts Emerson

Through October 7

Emerson Paramount Center

Boston

artsemerson.org 

Reviewed by Bobby Franklin

Photo by Gianmarco Bresadola

The U.S. premiere of Dead Centre’s  Hamnet now playing at the Emerson Paramount Centre in Boston is a powerful 60 minutes of theatre. The multi media production brings us into the world, past and present, of Shakespeare’s only son Hamnet who died at the age of 11. The work is an original, creative, and very interesting look at the relationship between a father and son, and the effect that relationship, or lack of, has on the mind and emotions of a young boy.

I say past and present as the ghost of Hamnet fills the theater in what could be seen as a mix of Hamlet and Waiting For Godot. Ollie West plays the title character who brings us into his world as he deals with the struggle to understand his relationship, or lack of, with his famous father whom he barely knew. Young West is first seen live with a knapsack projected onto a large screen as he makes his way from the audience onto the stage. The screen and the projections on it will be used to incredible effect throughout the performance.

Photos by Gianmarco Bresadola

We learn right off this isn’t going to be a historical work, but instead a metaphysical exploration. While bouncing a ball off the screen Hamnet tries to explain, with the use of Google, the theory of quantum tunneling. He admits he has no idea what it means but assure us if his father were there he would know.

What’s in a name? A lot when your father is William Shakespeare. But it is not the name Shakespeare that troubles him. Hamnet is aware that his name today is most often seen as a typo, and he is trying to measure his self worth. Hamnet has many questions and turns to the audience and Google for answers. But as Vladimir and Estragon find in Godot, often times there simply are no answers. 

“Why would anyone chose not to be?” is one of those questions, and in the remarkable scene where he gets to face his father he asks that, and many others. The scene is done with the senior Shakespeare appearing on the screen with his son. Hamnet is seen both on the screen as well as on the stage itself at the same time. Shakespeare is  with him on the screen throughout most of this time, giving it a  Banquo’s ghost flavor. I’m not sure how all of this was done, but it is amazing to watch. The fact that there is a bit of the handy dandy to it does not diminish how powerful the dialog between father and son is. Whether you see the work of Shakespeare in this conversation, or Beckett, or even Bart Simpson, you will be touched by it. Can fathers and sons ever understand each other? Here, they do try, but it is emotional and awkward for them. 

Photo by Gianmarco Bresadola

Using the relationship between Hamnet and Will Shakespeare to explore so many questions does not limit us to just these two people. It speaks to all of us, and it will leave you with more questions than answers, but also with more understanding.

Ollie West, who is simply outstanding as Hamnet, will be replaced by Aran Murphy midway through this run. I highly recommend you take in this amazing production. I would even go as far as saying it would be worth seeing a second time when the cast change is made. 

 

“Between Riverside and Crazy” Life As A Poker Game

Theater Reviews

At The SpeakEasy Stage

Reviewed by Bobby Franklin

Octavia Chavez-Richmond, Tyrees Allen, and Lewis D. Wheeler
Photo Credit: Nile Scott Studios

Walter “Pops” Washington (Tyrees Allen) is a former N.Y. City police officer who is living in a rent controlled apartment. He is no longer on the force because he was shot six times by a rookie cop. The shooting took place at an after hours bar when Pops was off duty. Pops is black, the cop who shot him is white.

Between Riverside and Crazy by Stephen Adly Guirgiis does not fit into a narrative of a racist white cop shooting a black man. It gets much more complicated as the story moves along. Pops is sharing his apartment with his son Junior (Stewart Evan Smith), an ex con who is trying to turn his life around, though it appears he may still be a bit stuck in his old ways. Along with Junior is his girlfriend Lulu (Octavia Chavez-Richmond), who is pregnant and might be working as a prostitute, and Oswaldo (Alejandro Simoes), a friend of Junior’s who has been doing his best to stay clean and sober. 

Alejandro Simoes, Stewart Evan Smith, and Tyrees Allen
Photo: Nile Scott Studios

While the relationship between Junior and Pops is strained, Oswaldo appears to understand the cantankerous Pops and the opening dialog between the two is both funny and revealing. The elder Washington displays a degree of bitterness as he spends most of his days sipping whiskey. He is not only angry about having been shot, but also over the loss of his wife who died after a long illness. He spends time sitting in her wheelchair and you can see that he’s also dealing with the guilt of not having been the ideal husband. 

He filed a law suit against the city eight years earlier and is seeking $5 million dollars in damages, but the city has not settled because of the circumstances of the shooting, which we learn more about as the play progresses. He is also receiving eviction notices.

As I said, this is not a play about police shootings. It is about how people play the game and play a bit fast with the truth to get what they want. While at times it seems underhanded, it never really goes over the top. How the rules are bent is in the eye of the beholder. 

It is also a play about relationships. Pops finds it difficult to show affection to Junior, while he is  more comfortable getting closer to Oswaldo and Lulu, both of whom he shows much empathy to.

Pops former partner Detective O’Connor (Maureen Keiller) and a Lieutenant Caro (Lewis D. Miller) visit Pops for dinner one evening. It doesn’t take long to realize there is an ulterior motive for the meeting as Caro attempts to get Pops to agree to a deal with the city. The smarmy Caro, the smarminess is overplayed here, is not so much looking out for Pops as he is advancing his own career by helping the city put this lawsuit behind them. Pops, as well as the audience, quickly sees through this game. 

There are a number of other stories playing around all of this including Junior’s relationship with Lulu as well as how he seeks to receive words of affection from Pops, Oswaldo’s own issues with his father and his set back with staying clean. All are interesting, but I found a certain depth lacking in the way these stories are portrayed. While good, I thought there was so much to work with here that was left not fully developed.

There are two scenes where things seemed to really catch fire. When tempers flare between Pops and Caro over settling the lawsuit, it appears things are really going to get moving. It is a powerful scene, but the action fades shortly thereafter.  It does regain steam later, but it felt to me like momentum was lost.

Celeste Oliva and Tyrees Allen
Photo: Nile Scott Studios

The other scene is when the Brazilian Church Lady (Celeste Oliva)  comes to visit Pops. She is filling in for another caregiver, and like many of the characters in the play, is looking to get something for herself. It is quite the perfomance, both steamy and funny, Ms Oliva plays it outstandingly. Its a scene you will not forget.

Towards the end of the play Pops finds out Lieutenant Caro likes to play poker, and this is when we see how much of what is going on is like a giant poker game, with each player looking at his cards and seeing just how much he can bluff.

The play ends on an interesting note as the characters are pretty much revealed and while we may be tempted to judge some, if not all of them, harshly, just think about how you may have acted if you were in any of their positions.

Yes, I think this play could have been better, but it is definitely worth seeing. Tyrees Allen’s portrayal of Pops is a pleasure to watch. His humor, his anger, his human weaknesses, and his quest to find what he considers justice is well served in the hands of Mr. Tyrees, who does a wonderful job in the role. You’ll feel much the way Junior does when watching him. He will aggravate you, frustrate you, anger you, but you won’t be able to resist liking him.

I would also like to say that Alejandro Simoes is touching as Oswaldo. It is heartbreaking to see how bad things engulf good people. You will be rooting for him to make it and overcome the demons in his life. People make bad choices, but that doesn’t mean they are bad people. Smith’s Oswaldo shows us that. 

I would recommend not approaching this play as a commentary on the ills of society, but rather to look at it through  more personal lens. I believe in doing so, you will develop a more sympathetic view of people who play life’s poker game while keeping a few cards up their sleeves.

 Just a note for those considering taking children to this play. It has much adult language and situations.

Between Riverside and Crazy

By Stephen Adly Gurgis, Directed by Tiffany Nichole Greene

At The SpeakEasy Stage Company, Calderwood Pavillon, 527 Tremont Street, South End, Boston.

Through October 13

speakeasystage.com 

617.933.8600