(Photo credit: Russ Rowland)
By: Darryl Reilly
Wearing an unbuttoned, orange-accented shirt over a blue-patterned T-shirt, and jeans, the salt and pepper-haired and bearded Joel Ripka, definitely looks the part of an aging, unsuccessful rock singer songwriter in author Lynda Crawford’s affective one-act play, The Audit. In addition, the beaming Mr. Ripka is a whirlwind while powerfully singing, playing guitar and cajoling. The serene Disnie Sebastien wearing sedate business attire is a former Iraq War veteran and now IRS investigator who has come to Ripka’s messy, tenement kitchen in 2013 to go over his 2011 tax return. Ms. Sebastien offers a majestic portrayal of bureaucratic officiousness while subtly imparting painful personal details. Ripka’s heartbreaking portrait of an artist who has struggled too long includes the palpable anguish of not having $2000 to pay a veterinarian to save his ailing, unseen cat. The Audit soars with Ripka’s and Sebastien’s indelibly poignant performances.
Ms. Crawford’s well-structured and finely written play with its premise of the non-conformist versus conventional society, welcomely harkens back to the stinging 1960’s efforts of such absurdist theatrical titans as Herb Gardner, Murray Schisgal and Elaine May. Director Leigh Selting’s smooth physical staging achieves momentum and emotional truth in scenic design consultant Benny Pitt’s detailed, disorderly kitchen. Costume designer Elena Vannoni gorgeously, and perfectly visualizes this odd couple.
The Audit is the opener of a double bill presented by the Urban Stages theater company entitled, Dynamic Duos. They were selected from over 300 American and international submissions.
The other two-character one-act, is playwright Juan Ramirez Jr.’s gripping and queasy, The American Dream. A young Guatemalan woman has illegally entered the U.S. via a human smuggling ring. She is now being held hostage and is on the verge of being executed; her husband has 20 minutes to make the second wire transfer payment for her passage. Mr. Ramirez spins out his classic captor and captive, time is running out plot, by impeccably delineating his two articulate characters, who communicate in his ravishing, hard boiled and poetic dialogue. The woman expresses her hopes and dreams of a better life, and the man demonstrates that he is more than a violent thug. The American Dream is topical and painfully resonant.
The bearded, pony-tailed and physically imposing Ramirez plays the smuggler with piercing range, supremely veering from cold blooded to philosophically pragmatic. As the sympathetic young woman in jeopardy, Libe Barer is captivating while conveying youthful idealism and a steely will to survive as she fiercely lies her head off, stalling for time.
Director Maria Mileaf’s minutely paced physical staging achieves suspense, realism, and menace reminiscent of Harold Pinter’s brutal, One for the Road. David Anzuelo’s vivid fight direction is demonstrated in a few riveting clashes on the stage ominously bare except for a folding chair, a small table with a pivotal miniature television, and a flattened box on the floor. Lighting designer Sinjin Reinhard and sound designer David Margolin Lawson’s artistry distinctively enhances both plays.
Urban Stages emerged in 1984 with the mission of “giving playwrights resources to develop and produce new works… to also address socioeconomic and geographic limitations that prevent many from engaging with art and theater.” These aims are solidly realized by Dynamic Duos; it is an eclectic, absorbing and humane entertainment.
Dynamic Duos (through March 16, 2025)
Urban Stages, 239 West 30th Street, in Manhattan
For tickets, visit www.urbanstages.org
Running time: 2 hours including one intermission