What kinds of secret do you know?

Is it classified?  Is it torrid?  Do you feel it’s necessary to preserve your identity?  Do you have a secret identity?  Is it ruining your life?  Is it a second life? Is it real or just pretend? Do you need to expose it to be free?  Do you need to preserve it just to stay sane?

The blurb for this Planet Connections  show was very brief:

It’s a secret.

I want to keep the surprise as well so you can find the answers for yourself by coming to the play.  So the questions that are sparked within you will hopefully expose new truths to you, or make you laugh in surprise at the craziness of a situation, or cry at the irony, or smirk in bemusement at an unexpected twist, or revel in satisfying conclusions.  Or hopefully lead you on to examine yourself deeper and find new secrets about yourself.

But I will tell you one thing . . .

This show is 5 one-act plays that has a running time of 100 minutes and is a strong showcase of playwrights who have other longer pieces in this festival (Duncan Pflaster who wrote and directed Thyme of the Season,  Jonathan Wallace who wrote A Dream about Sunflowers and Glory Bowen who adapted and directed The Picture of Dorian Gray) as well as others don’t have multi-act plays in this festival, but are also cutting edge playwrights:  Nandita Shenoy and Alex Goldberg.

When looking through the program of shows in a festival like Planet Connections (such as Frigid, Fight Fest, or that other little one coming up – Fringe (here’s its schedule))  . . . How do you decide which plays to go to?  You can’t get to them all, so you have to pick and choose.  Therefore, the blurb becomes an artful attention grabber – one where you have to pick and choose your words carefully to reach the right balance.

The same can be said about a one act play.  You only have a small amount of time to get your story across and almost always you’re going to be grouped with a number of other one act plays.  It’s gutsy to have only a three word description of the play.  And it worked for me.

In the same spirit, below are “micro-reviews” of each of the one acts you’ll find in Clandestine.  But overall this is a great show with Chae-kyung Lee as House Manager, Nicole M. Smith as Stage manager, and very dramatic  lighting effects done by Eric Kasprisin and further design by Jessica M. Burgess (lighting), Dan Ozmininkowski (light) and Jacob Subotnick Sound.  NewGround Theatre Collective did a great job in getting everything in this show coordinated together and  I look forward to seeing their work in the future.  Hopefully they’ll consider putting this show together again as the components fused together really well.

UFO Weather by Jonathan Wallace
Directed by Rachel Klein

Shane (Teisha Bader) and Lainie (Mariel Matero) finish walking up the side of a small mountain so they can either see some UFO’s in the fog, or figure out what they really want to do with their lives.  The answers should surprise you.  Great sound and lighting design on this one.

Fabulous by Glory Bowen
Directed by Cindy N. Kawasaki

When two old friends meet for coffee, one keeps secrets of her liberal nature from her friend while the conservative one just keeps being inadvertantly offensive. The secrets they have from each other quickly escalate from simple small talk to accusations and much more as misunderstandings create many funny situations to keep the audience laughing throughout.  This fast paced play showcases Mariel Matero as Jean and Rosebud Baker as Clara.

Rules of Engagement by Nandita Shenoy
Directed by Luke Harlan and Assistant Director Brendan Naylor

Nora (Bona Tek) and Eugene (Eugene Oh) meet at a cafe over lunch break from the company they both work at.  Eugene tells her his secret – he loves her.  Nora says he can’t love her because they only made out that one time at a party, and she doesn’t date guys like him.  Like what?  And she tells him.  And tells him.  And tells him.  She seems to have every possible reason to not want to start a relationship with.  Eugene tries to pop each of these secret “rules” with charisma and intelligence, and Nora finds out some secrets about herself.

Lying Naked by Alex Goldberg
Directed by Michael Schwartz and Assistant Director Samantha Cooper

In this intense play Lily (Rosebud Baker) and Carter (Dominic Spillane) start off naked on a bed furiously ravishing each other.  “Naked” that is in all ways except in how they really feel about all the layers of secrecy they have in order to maintain their illicit relationship with each other.  We see in this play how being intimate and being together aren’t the same thing without honesty.  The choreography of the bedsheets is almost as good as the witty dialogue and surprising twists all packed into this one act play.

The Russet Rascal by Duncan Pflaster
Directed by Luke Harlan and Assistant Director Brendan Naylor

In this play the powers of derring-do and good reporting live in a fun and zany world with caped crusaders, super-villains and a female butler named Bertha (Leslie Nemet).  Can the Russet Rascal (Doot-doo-doo) played by Kate Michaud keep her secret identity as a rich industrial tycoon safe when a nosy reporter by the name of Alice “Ace” McAllister comes around looking for a scoop about the disappearance of an experimental prototype of the dangerous freeze-ray molybdenum gun  is stolen from her nearby factory?  Who is the likely culprit?  None other than the Spanglish Fly (Fly…Fly… Fly…) played by Matt Carr, who drops in to cause trouble in the middle of the play.  Alice and the Rascal learn each other’s secrets and Bertha finally gets what she really wants for Secretary’s Day.  This play does a great job at laughing at as well as appreciating the ridiculousness of those old super hero shows of the 50′s and 60′s (especially Bat Man and Robin).

Only one show left, Sunday June 20th at 2:30.  If you can make it you won’t be sorry.  If you can’t check out some of the other works by the playwrights of this show.

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Related Posts:

• Entrevista: The Starship Astrov and Asian Belle (Midtown International Theatre Festival 2010)
• The Thyme Of The Season: Even Better The Second Thyme Around (Planet Connections 2010)
• Planet Connections Q&A: The Picture Of Dorian Gray / The Thyme Of The Season
• The Taint Of Equality Or, I Want Your Sex (2012 Planet Connections Festivity)
• The Empress of Sex (2012 Planet Connections Festivity)

Oscar Wilde wrote The Picture of Dorian Gray over a hundred years ago and while it wasn’t tremendously well received in its day Wilde’s cautionary tale of a man captivated by vice and enslaved by hedonism is such a timeless one that there have been numerous adaptations of Gray – from movies to musicals and even an opera.  It’s a juicy story with a lot of  thought-provoking themes wrapped in an alluring package.

This new adaptation of The Picture of Dorian Gray is no exception.  Directed and written by Glory Bowen it’s playing now at The Robert Moss Theater.

For those not familiar with The Picture of Dorian Grey – it’s a twist on the Faustian principal of trading in something which seems extraneous at the moment (visibly aging) for something that seems vital to a perfect existence (eternal youth and beauty).  As Dorian moves through his life, perfecting the art of being cruel, selfish and hedonistic a portrait painted long ago by his good friend Basil Hallward does the dirty work of hard living for him.  Dorian’s youthful visage remains in tact while the portrait becomes twisted with cruelty, withered with age, even dusted with a coating of evil.  Acting as tempter, seducer, and encourager is Lord Henry (Harry) who somehow brings this strange situation into existence by simply being enthralled with Dorian.  He coaxes Dorian to wish for eternal youth and in some strange way it all happens.

Bowen’s adaptation stays faithful to this set up.  Lord Henry (Walter Brandes), Basil (played by a compelling and captivating Eric Percival) and Dorian (Adam Barrie) are all members of England’s idle rich and have very little to do all day besides  talk about their latest hobbies, gossip about the last person they were with (“she is a peacock in everything but beauty” they snidely remark about one unfortunate hostess), and invite each other to plays, the opera, lunch and opium dens.    This causes them all to be very, very self absorbed.

Lord Henry, specifically,  is the tray upon which all of Wilde’s best lines are served and Walter Brandes does his best to make sure we don’t forget it – he savors every word as if it were a balsamic-soaked Portabello mushroom and lets certain phrases roll around on his tongue like a heady, lush, full bodied red wine ending every sentence in a hummmmmmmmm.   Sin and temptation – that’s good ole Harry’s watch-cry and his red vest is such a token of devilishness that he might as well be sporting a pitchfork as he descends onto the scene in a cloud of brimstone.

The homoerotic overtones that needed to be deeply hidden or heavily veiled (much like that aging portrait) by Wilde in the original have been coaxed out a bit more by Bowen; she chooses to show the hand, and therefore there’s not as much double-entendre with which to beguile and tease the audience into an “ohhhh” or a “did they just??”  That sly wink is what made Wilde’s original novel a playbook of code for those who were meant to understand it, and yet just a good story for those who didn’t.   Bowen chooses to allow her men to be emphatic and dramatic – leaving a little less to the imagination, but in the same instance scoring one for progress.

Barrie’s Dorian is both vexing and pitiable.  At one moment you’d like to slap him, at other times you’d like to ease him of this terrible burden that he once mistook for a gift.  He’s never so churlish as when he, after finding out that the love of his life, Sybil Vane (wonderfully portrayed by Allison Hirschlag ) has killed herself out of despair for loving him has no remorse and, rather than going to comfort her family, he goes out into the night to enjoy all it has to offer.

Beautifully done are the scenes where the ensemble are speaking through dramatically lighted frames, their speech overlapping, their words echoing each other.  This, coupled with sound design by Jacob Subotnick goes a long way to create the Gothic  atmosphere of the time, and also adds some mileage to the limited set design that is the hallmark of this festival.  With simple frames and lighting which throws eerie shadows scenic designer Craig Napoliello and lighting design Yuriy Nayer are able to keep you in perpetual uneasiness.  After all, we shouldn’t forget that Wilde originally conceived this as a horror story.

For some, The Picture of Dorian Gray is a warning, for others it is simply a good story.  Whichever it is for you – you’ll want to picture yourself in the audience.

(Click here to read Glory Bowen’s Q&A with THM)

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Related Posts:

• Planet Connections Q&A: The Picture Of Dorian Gray / The Thyme Of The Season
• It’s A Triple Play For Natalie Menna!
• A Brief History Of Thyme (2012 Planet Connections Festivity)
• THM – Proud Sponsors Of Planet Connections Festivity 2012!
• Women’s History Month: Celebrating Women In The Arts – Spotlight On Alex Bond

Planet Connections Theatre Festivity is New York City’s premiere eco-friendly theatre festival, connecting artists and audiences with diverse dynamic charitable organizations. The Planet Connections experience entertains, enlightens and informs.

The Happiest Medium (proud sponsors of The Planet Connections Festival), continues the Q&A which we’ll be running every day until the festival begins on June 3rd.  We’ll highlight 2 different shows each day, so make sure to come back and check daily!

Today we ask one question each of Glory Bowen, director and adaptor of The Picture of Dorian Gray and Duncan Pflaster, writer of  The Thyme of the Season.  One is an adaptation of a classic story written by Oscar Wilde, the other is a sequel to Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream.  Let’s see what new twists were brought to these old classics . . .

The Picture of Dorian Gray

answers by Glory Bowen

Here’s Antonio’s question -

If you would have to single out a quality between dialogue, plot or character, which one is the strongest in your play/piece, and why?

Probably the plot – although there’s definitely something to be said for Oscar Wilde’s dialogue and characters.

Here’s Karen’s question -

What has been the most surprising or unexpected thing that’s happened during this play? Did that wind up taking the play in a new direction?

Nothing that surprising has really occurred …. I mean I’m completely surprised at myself but I don’t think anyone else is really. So I would have to say that there really is nothing surprising. Oh, except for that time we got those water balloons and threw them at the actors rehearsing for Cake. But really – they were surprised – we weren’t.

Here’s Anne’s question -

What do you think is the central theme and reason this play was conceived?

There are several central themes: The value society places on youth and beauty; the purpose of art, the superficial nature of society, the search for pleasure above happiness, and the isolation and pitfalls that come from an extremities such as being extremely good looking, wealthy, or talented/intelligent.

Here’s Stephen’s Question -

Why should the audience (we) go to your play? What will the audience learn about the “human condition” by going to your play?

Oscar Wilde, who wrote the novel The Picture of Dorian Gray, was arrested, tried, and convicted for his sexual preference; he was a homosexual. Besides being one of history’s great playwrights, he was also one of the first activists who made achievements for the homosexual community – even though those achievements took a toll on his personal life and on his art. In his honor, we have selected an organization that continues the fight that Mr. Wilde began.

At his trial, under cross examination Wilde was at first hesitant, then spoke eloquently:

Charles Gill (prosecuting): What is “the love that dare not speak its name?”

Wilde: “The love that dare not speak its name” in this century is such a great affection of an elder for a younger man as there was between David and Jonathan, such as Plato made the very basis of his philosophy, and such as you find in the sonnets of Michelangelo and Shakespeare. It is that deep spiritual affection that is as pure as it is perfect. It dictates and pervades great works of art, like those of Shakespeare and Michelangelo, and those two letters of mine, such as they are. It is in this century misunderstood, so much misunderstood that it may be described as “the love that dare not speak its name,” and on that account of it I am placed where I am now. It is beautiful, it is fine, it is the noblest form of affection. There is nothing unnatural about it. It is intellectual, and it repeatedly exists between an older and a younger man, when the older man has intellect, and the younger man has all the joy, hope, and glamour of life before him. That it should be so, the world does not understand. The world mocks at it, and sometimes puts one in the pillory for it.”

We hope you will join us for the LGBT night of Planet Connections Theatre Festivity which will be held at the Bleecker Street Theater in honor of Oscar Wilde, benefiting GLAAD.

The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) amplifies the voice of the LGBT community by empowering real people to share their stories, holding the media accountable for the words and images they present, and helping grassroots organizations communicate effectively. By ensuring that the stories of LGBT people are heard through the media, GLAAD promotes understanding, increases acceptance, and advances equality

Here’s Sarah’s Question -

What is your favorite line from the play?

“It is not good for ones morals to see bad acting.”

Here’s Diánna’s Question -

What about this play do you feel most drawn to personally, and because of that, what message do you hope the audience walks away with?

The play is about love – and all of its beauty and tragic delusions. But, it’s also about the value society places on youth and appearance. The tragedy of Dorian Gray of course  is that he was a very loved person – perhaps he wasn’t loved for the right reasons exactly – but he was loved. Yet, he never appreciated that or understood it exactly. Perhaps we all could learn to appreciate the generosity of others in our own individual lives – and recognize it.

* * *

The Thyme of the Season

answers by Duncan Pflaster

Here’s Antonio’s question -

If you would have to single out a quality between dialogue, plot or character, which one is the strongest in your play/piece, and why?

Though The Thyme of the Season has a more structured, fairy-tale like plot than most of my plays, I’m going to have to go with dialogue; a lot of it is in verse, which gives a wonderfully stylized, magical feel to everything.

Here’s Karen’s question -

What has been the most surprising or unexpected thing that’s happened during this play? Did that wind up taking the play in a new direction?

A number of the performers I’d intended to use (who appeared in a reading of the play I did with Katherine and Friends a couple of years ago) had to drop out; one lives far away now, one was having money troubles, one has a slipped disc, and one showed up to his first rehearsal after having been hit by a car and fracturing his arm the night before. So re-castings (of other great performers) have brought new interpretations of the characters.

Here’s Anne’s question -

What do you think is the central theme and reason this play was conceived?

The play is a sequel to A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and was conceived (by myself and actress Clara Barton Green, who plays Puck) as a deconstruction and response to that play (much like the second act of The Fantasticks or Into the Woods). The theme is that happy endings fall apart if you don’t work at them, and that living an authentic real life is better than a false enchanted one.

Here’s Stephen’s Question -

Why should the audience (we) go to your play? What will the audience learn about the “human condition” by going to your play?

Because it’s awesome. uh…. “People are basically good at heart”?

Here’s Sarah’s Question -

What is your favorite line from the play?

I have it, Helen! We’ll disguise ourselves!

O, Bottom, you do have the actor’s gift:

A closet full of cast-off doublets, used,

No doubt, for some great tyrant, or perhaps

A lover, that did tread the boards of a

Noble stage, with you as their avatar?

Here’s Diánna’s Question -

What about this play do you feel most drawn to personally, and because of that, what message do you hope the audience walks away with?

I wrote it, so I’m drawn to it all; there’s a little part of me in all the characters. I’m not really into messages, but I guess “live your life sincerely”.

Related Posts:

• Clandestine: It’s A Secret {But Tell Your Friends} . . . (Planet Connections 2010)
• Dorian Gray – A Picture’s Worth A Thousand Sins (Planet Connections 2010)
• The Thyme Of The Season: Even Better The Second Thyme Around (Planet Connections 2010)
• The Taint Of Equality Or, I Want Your Sex (2012 Planet Connections Festivity)
• The Empress of Sex (2012 Planet Connections Festivity)