Des Moines

 Des Moines
Theatre for a New Audience
Polonsky Shakespeare Center
December 23, 2022 

Photo courtesy of Theatre for a New Audience

Denis Johnson crafted his play Des Moines with mesmerizing dialogue that captures interest and builds intrigue.  His characters are on the edge, dark, and simmering.  The Theatre for a New Audience production is riveting.  Director Arin Arbus uses Mr. Johnsons rhythms and silences to lure the audience and involve them in the action.  Once engaged, there is no release, just a plunging spiral, fueled by unwavering hope.

Michael Shannon, Johanna Day, & Arliss Howard
Photo courtesy of Theatre for a New Audience

Dan (played by Arliss Howard) is home from work at the Car Barn, where he drives a taxi.  He and his wife Marta (played by Johanna Day) share the news of their day.  A woman, Mrs. Drinkwater (played by Heather Alicia Simms) came by Dan’s work to inquire about a ride he gave her husband to the airport.  It was her husband’s final cab ride.  His plane crashed and he was killed.  Mrs. Drinkwater asks Dan about her husband’s last words, then shows him her husband’s wedding ring, which she accidentally leaves with Dan.  Marta tells Dan that Father Michael (played by Michael Shannon) will be stopping by, which reminds Dan that he saw Father Michael outside a gay bar at closing time, wearing woman’s make-up.  When Father Michael arrives, Marta breaks the news to Dan that the Doctor told her she has two to four months to live.  They decide to go out for a drink, leaving Father Michael with Jimmy (played by Hari Nef) who is in a wheelchair due to complications during sex change surgery.  When Mrs. Drinkwater arrives to pick up her husband’s wedding ring, the drinking begins.  When Dan and Marta return, the drinking accelerates.  They all sing Karaoke, baring their souls in a drunken frenzy.  Morning comes.  They all stand tall to face the day ahead.  

Arliss Howard & Hari Nef
Photo courtesy of Theatre for a New Audience

This cast of actors each create truthful, multi-layered characters, who are all driven by deep need and propelled by boundless energy.  The action builds as these drives connect, uniting them on their journey of facing insurmountable personal challenges.  Each actor has a clear sense of what keeps their characters moving forward.  This is what sustains the audience’s investment in the heightened action.  There is sorrow, but no grieving  There is conflict, but no animosity.  They spiral into darkness, then slowly and steadily rise with hope.

The Theatre for a New Audience production of Des Moines is masterfully conceived and skillfully directed and performed.  Denis Johnson has written a truly unique piece of theatre.  You become one with these character in their bizarre mingling and faithful persistence.  The play is compelling and thought provoking.  This production has been extended through January 8 at the Polonsky Shakespeare Center in downtown Brooklyn.  

Domenick Danza

How I Learned to Drive

 How I Learned to Drive
Manhattan Theatre Club
Samuel J. Friedman Theatre
April 28, 2022 

Photo courtesy of Manhattan Theatre Club

The Manhattan Theatre Club production of Paul Vogel’s How I Learned to Drive is mesmerizing.  Mary-Louise Parker and David Morse step into the award winning roles they created in the original 1997 Vineyard Theatre Off-Broadway production.  Director Mark Brokaw finds a pace that eases the audience into the unsettling events of the story.  We are lured into the action of the play as the darker side is exposed.  The story does not unfold, but jumps around in time, requiring the audience to piece the details together.   

David Morse & Mary-Louise Parker
Photo courtesy of Manhattan Theatre Club

When we first meet Li’l Bit (played by Mary-Louise Parker) and Peck (played by David Morse), they are sitting in a car.  There is a physical distance between them, but the sexual tension and discomfort is potent.  They could be any two people, until we hear her call him “Uncle” Peck.  The action jumps back to Li’l Bit's younger years.    She grew up in Maryland, in a family that made her feel less than whole.  At first, she finds companionship in her Uncle Peck.  Her company helps him stop drinking.  The affection between them grows, until Li’l Bit becomes unable to escape.  Her mother (played by Johanna Day) warns her against spending time with him.  Her Aunt Mary, Uncle Peck’s wife (also played by Johanna Day), is somewhat aware of what is going on, yet waits for it to pass.  Both women feel Li’l Bit is to blame what happens to her.  Li’l Bit survives the sexual misconduct inflicted on her by her Uncle Peck over the years, yet she carries him with her for her everywhere she goes.

Mary-Louise Parker and David Morse are brilliant as Li’l Bit and Uncle Peck.  Ms. Parker embodies a darkness within her throughout the play.  Mr. Morse flavors his character with a soothing southern charm.  They find moments of connection, attraction, disdain, and surrender that draw you into the events.  As Li’l Bit’s resistance builds in the later years of the story, Ms. Parker infuses the character with fierce determination.  Mr. Morse portrays the beginning of Uncle Peck’s downfall with a surprising level of vulnerability.  They are enthralling together.  

Alyssa May Gold, David Morse, Mary-Louise Parker,
Johanna Day, & Chris Myers
Photo courtesy of Manhattan Theatre Club

Johanna Day is powerful as Li’l Bit’s Mother and Aunt Mary.  Her characters have distinct voices, yet share a rhythm that shows the destructive forces that surround Li’l Bit’s upbringing.  Adding to this damaging atmosphere are Alyssa May Gold and Chris Myers as Li’l Bit’s grandmother and grandfather.  Ms. Day, Ms. Gold, and Mr. Myers work as a tight ensemble (“Greek Chorus” as listed in the program), building tension and keeping the action flowing.

Since 1997, Paula Vogel’s How I Learned to Drive has been produced across the country, giving voice to victims of sexual molestation.  It is a most valuable work, addressing the effects of holding in a secret that can have a long term effect.  This Manhattan Theatre Clun production is well directed, skillfully acted, and masterfully produced.  Go see it!  

Domenick Danza

Peace for Mary Frances

Peace for Mary Frances

The New Group

The Pershing Square Signature Center

June 16, 2018

Photo courtesy of The New Group

Lily Thorne’s play, Peace for Mary Frances, chronicles the end of life journey and the toll it takes on a family.  The New Group production is sensitive and realistic.  Director Lila Neugebauer builds on the conflict in the family dynamic that is deeply embedded in Ms. Thorne’s complex characters.  Secrets are revealed and emotions collide, yet the main character finds her peace.

Mary Frances (played by Lois Smith) is nearing ninety years of age and requires oxygen and constant care, which she receives from her daughter, Fanny (played by Johanna Day).  Her other daughter, Alice (played by J. Smith-Cameron) believes that Fanny is incapable of caring for their mother.  When the doctor finds fluid in her lungs, Mary Frances, who wishes to pass peacefully in her sleep, chooses hospice care.  Alice convinces her mother to pay her living expenses so she can move in and supervise her care around the clock.  Their brother, Eddie (played by Paul Lazar), visits once a week to maintain his mother’s finances.  His sisters are angered when they find out their mother has been paying him to do this.  Adding to the stress of the situation is the presence of Alice’s two adult daughters (played by Heather Burns and Natalie Gold).  Their memories of their grandmother are loving, which differs from the angst in the relationship between Mary Frances and her daughters.  Mary Frances has visions of her dead husband, mother, and father-in-law as she makes her peace, yet she leaves behind a family in turmoil.

Lois Smith & J. Smith-Cameron
Photo courtesy of The New Group

The play has a slow and steady pace, especially in the second act.  Fueling the action is the conflict between the two sisters.  J. Smith-Cameron and Johanna Day go at each other full force in these roles.  The history of their relationship and the stress of the situation cause their emotions to flare up in an instant.  Their portrayal of this vulnerability is truthful and genuine.  Lois Smith is warm, brave, and gutsy as Mary Frances.  The way she treats her children reflects a lifetime of experiences and forgiveness, but includes, as she says, never forgetting.  She embraces her grandchildren and looks longingly into the eyes of her great grandbaby, maintaining a connection to life up to the very end.

Johanna Day, J. Smith-Cameron, & Heather Burns
Photo courtesy of The New Group

The set, designed by Dane Laffrey, is a split level masterpiece, showing the living room, kitchen, and back porch on stage right, and Mary France’s bedroom about a half a flight up on stage left.  It is constructed as if one wall of the house opened up so the audience could peer in on this family in crisis.  Lighting designer Tyler Micoleau makes brilliant use of track lighting, chandeliers, and table lamps to enhance the realism and sense of peeking in on the lives of the characters.

Lily Thorne’s play successfully reveals the stark truths of facing the end of life, its stress, fears, and deeply embedded emotion.  Peace for Mary Frances closed on June 17. 

Domenick Danza

Sweat

Sweat

Studio 54

May 21, 2017

Photo courtesy of Sweat

Sweat is a truthful telling of the social and economic events that took place in this country during the years 2000 through 2008 that allows us to clearly reflect on how America has become the divided nation it is today.  Through interviews and research, Pulitzer Prize Winning Playwright Lynn Nottage has written authentic characters who struggle with challenges and face consequences that cause their lives to spiral out of control.  Her characters blindingly face their fears and frustrations head on. 

Tracey (played by Johanna Day), Cynthia (played by Michelle Wilson), and Jessie (played by Alison Wright) are close friends who have worked together on the factory floor in Reading, Pennsylvania for decades.  They are proud that they come from a long line of factory workers.  The year is 2000, and economic disruption is about to crumble the world they have come to know.  Cynthia accepts a promotion into a management position at the factory at the same time that the union contract is being challenged and factory jobs are being relocated to Mexico.  Non-English speaking residents are recruited as scabs during a union walk-out.  Fear, frustration, and betrayal build to heated anger and acts of violence from which there is no return.

Michelle Wilson & Johanna Day
Photos courtesy of Sweat

Johanna Day and Michelle Wilson shine in these brilliantly written, juxtaposed characters.  They build a relationship based on years of trust and reliability that brutally flips during the course of events.  They are the driving force that propels the action of the play.  Their portrayals are riveting, true, and genuine.  James Colby plays Stan, the bartender at the local watering hole.  His character is the neutral, rational negotiator throughout the play.  His portrayal is strong and warm-hearted.  Khris Davis and Will Pullen play younger workers at the factory who face a future with more choices than their parents.  These two actors complement one another amazingly well.  They create characters who face their challenges with opposite points of view.  They are viscerally connected and deliver powerful performances.  

Photo courtesy of Sweat

Kate Whoriskey masterfully directed this superb ensemble cast.  She skillfully builds tensions that explode with powerful human emotions.  The scenic design by John Lee Beatty is brilliant.  The set spins into place, keeping the pace moving quickly.  Lighting Design by Peter Kaczorowski sets a realistic tone, and Projection Design by Jeff Sugg keeps the audience grounded in the time period.

Will Pullen, James Colby, & Khris Davis
Photos courtesy of Sweat

What makes Sweat so powerful is that it is personal.  The emotional upheaval that takes place in the lives of the characters over the eight year span is understood and shared by every member of the audience.  Each character is clearly developed to present a different perspective of the effect of the economic changes in the working class during the years 2000 through 20008.  Ms. Nottage offers a glimpse of hope in the final moment of the play that empowers us to move forward with unity.

Domenick Danza