By: Darryl Reilly
Looking back at the 128 performance reviews I wrote for Theaterscene.net in 2017, these shows were outstanding and quite memorable. My assignments rarely include Broadway, so this list reflects the adventuresome spirit of the terrain far from The Great White Way.
Small theater troupes, major institutional theater companies and self- produced works all sought critical attention. Many were tryouts for possible future transfers and a number were intended to last just for their brief runs.
Amidst the often-flawed new musicals, solo shows, performance pieces, cabaret acts and revivals there were about 30 original plays. Due to structural deficiencies very few of these made any impression. Only one new play and no musical are among my selections.
The East Village-based Phoenix Theatre Ensemble’s revival of Joe Orton’s 1964 black comedy masterpiece Entertaining Mr. Sloane was perfection chiefly due to Craig Smith’s creative direction and the sly cast. The company’s production of Tartuffe was also laudable.
Star Dust: A Ballet Tribute to David Bowie was dazzling visualizations of nine iconic songs were superbly choreographed by Dwight Rhoden for the highly talented Complexions Contemporary Ballet. It was arguably the most effective recent homage to the late singer-songwriter.
To celebrate its 50th anniversary The Negro Ensemble Company, Inc. unearthed two racially charged, satirical one acts by Barbara and Carlton Molette and Clarence Young III. Written in the late 1960’s Rosalee Pritchett & The Perry’s Mission and first performed in 1971, these uproarious works were prescient, ingenious, and wonderfully realized.
The Negro Ensemble Company, Inc. also splendidly revived their greatest success A Soldier’s Play. Charles Fuller’s 1982 Pulitzer Prize-winning murder mystery set at a military base during W.W. II, remains gripping and culturally relevant.
The Irish Repertory Theatre presented Off the Meter, On the Record by the Queens born John McDonagh’s hilarious and moving solo show about his life and career as a New York City taxi driver.
In this intense, affectionate, and impressionistic biographical solo show Turning Page writer and performer Angelica Page vividly paid tribute to her mother the legendary actress Geraldine Page at Dixon Place.
Georgie: My Adventures with George Rose was writer and performer Ed Dixon’s solo play. It was a memory piece that brilliantly recounted his friendship with the British stage star George Rose. Mr. Dixon gave a magnificent performance and his keen writing was fiercely honest about both Rose and himself. Dixon was awarded the 2017 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Solo Performance for this production.
Her Opponent was a provocative, startling, and theatrical recreation of the 2016 U.S. presidential debates between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. The twist was that actors of reverse genders portrayed them. Rachel Tuggle Whorton was commanding as Trump.
Lady MacBeth and Her Lover was playwright Richard Vetere’s spellbinding drama which spanned two decades and was about two lesbian poets and one’s daughter. Maja Wampuszyc and Christy Escobar delivered haunting performances and Michelle Boss’ aesthetic direction made it all even more engrossing.
Lone Star by Texas-born playwright James McLure (1951-2011). He achieved a moderate level of theatrical prominence in the late 1970’s with one-act plays that included this one about a Texan Viet Nam War veteran and Pvt. Wars and Laundry and Bourbon. Mr. McLure’s earthy, comic dialogue and intense characters make his plays popular in scene study classes. This revelatory revival featured sensational performances by Matt de Rogatis, Chris Loupos and Greg Pragel.
I have an affinity for one-person shows and there were three others of note as well this year.
Jim Brochu brought his award winning, 2006 Zero Hour back for a return engagement. His detailed writing and stupendous performance recreated the essence of Zero Mostel.
First seen in New York City in 2012, playwright Jeanne Sakata’s Hold These Truths powerfully explored the fate of a Japanese-American’s resistance to the Japanese internment during W.W.II. Joel de la Fuente magnificently portrayed Gordon Hirabayashi from youth to old age and a gallery of other characters.
The dynamic Jon Peterson dazzled as that master songwriter in a workshop production of Chip Daffaa’s biographical saga Irving Berlin: In Person.