By: Darryl Reilly
“I’m not a real dancer, but in this play I celebrate my health.” So, Bina Sharif emotionally said to the audience after the curtain call of the final performance of her self-written play, Dream Within a Dream, on December 30, 2018. Previously, she had executed several entrancing exotic solo dance sequences during the presentation.
“Last year during this time I didn’t know if I would live, let alone perform in another play” Ms. Sharif starkly explained of a fall she took in October of 2017. This incident led to months of hospital stays and physical therapy. It also prevented her annual December residency at the Theater for the New City where since the 1980’s she’s written, directed and acted in numerous stage works.
“Spoiler alert! The author wants you know that the entire play is a dream!” wryly announced the house manger before the show started. This descriptive proclamation was indeed apt. Dream Within a Dream is 75-minutes of surrealistic vignettes laced with Sartre and Cocteau quotes, Pirandello flourishes and Beckettian motifs, including two black derbies à la Waiting for Godot. “The audience didn’t come tonight.” “It was raining. They’ll come tomorrow” is from an exchange between the two central figures about the play with-in-a play.
In darkness, the cast of four mill about with flashlights during the opening. Two members, a man and a woman later hobble about on canes wearing those iconic hats and take seats at the swanky East Village café La Belle Époque. The haughty Algerian-born waiter is dismayed at their arrival as they are poor artists who will only order coffee and leave no tip. An actress passes by and is encouraged by the man to dance for him. He is an important drama critic and promises to help her career. The events of the café veer off into a mosaic of reflective digressions that reach a well-realized circular conclusion.
Devotees of Sharif will recognize and savor her familiar social consciousness scenario with its theme of poverty-stricken creatives clashing against oppressively rampant capitalism in contemporary New York City. That is rendered by biting dialogue, sharp observations and abundant comedy with depth. Others, could be worn out by the freeform and arguably meandering structure. It unquestionably provides a showcase for the mature yet enduringly girlish Sharif’s highly appealing idiosyncratic talents.
Her earthy comic and dramatic persona recalls the monumental life force of Melina Mercouri combined with her own distinctive Pakistani speech pattern. The combination of her arresting dancing, and stirring vocal delivery of idealistic speeches and asides, all yield to a hauntingly tender performance.
Sharif’s long-time artistic collaborator Kevin Mitchell Martin is in great form as her verbal sparring partner, and as the hilariously cartoonish critic who offers barbed commentary on the proceedings. Tall, imposing, and with his melodious voice that perfectly scores each punchline, Mr. Martin breathtakingly delivers a soaring monologue expressing scorn for Donald Trump, addiction to MSNBC and an adoration of Rachel Maddow.
As the caustically whimsical waiter, the youthful, athletic and animated Manuel Salazar is delightfully forceful with his playful French accent. Mr. Salazar is equally as commanding delivering a romantic poem in Spanish and conversing in American-accented English as other incidental characters. The captivating Selear Duke makes a marvelous impression as the striving actress who simulates Salome with her riveting dancing, and affective gentleness as a another would be performer.
On the bare black accented stage that’s sparely set with minimal vintage furnishings, Sharif’s staging is a straightforward affair of moving from scene to scene with a modicum of aesthetic effect. Alexander Bartenieff’s lighting design has artful solidity with its vibrant brightness and thrusting dimness.
The knowledge of Bina Sharif’s recent malady endows Dream Within a Dream with an honorific dimension, making its thoughtfully entertaining qualities more significant.
Dream Within a Dream (December 13 – December 30, 2018)
Theater for the New City, 155 1st Avenue, in Manhattan
For information visit, www.theaterforthenewcity.net
Running time: 75 minutes with no intermission