As part of the Board of Directors of MTWorks I’m really proud to be involved with the National Newborn Festival. Part of my job was to help choose the Excellence in Playwriting Award (see below for the winner!) and this year I’ll be introducing one of the plays — but I won’t tell you which one!  You’ll just have to come join me at the festival.

So what is Newborn?

Now on its sixth year, The National NewBorn Festival is MTWorks playwriting competition and flagship program created to find talented emerging playwrights from across the US, introduce their work to the New York community, and open new doors to regional voices.

READINGS ARE FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC

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February 2-4, 2012
The City College of New York (map)
North Academic Center, 160 Convent Avenue  New York, NY
First Floor Lecture Hall (1/202)

THE 2012 PLAYS & SCHEDULE

Thursday, February 2nd at 7pm

The Tragedy of Dandelion by Duncan Pflaster, directed by Leah Bonvissuto, produced by Jessica Thornhill.

The Tragedy of Dandelion follows a Princess named Dandelion, who attempts to escape, by dressing as a boy, a forced marriage to Ratliff, a man who raped and impregnated her. She collaborates with Prince Crispin, son of Queen Alice, telling him that the baby is his, to gain a place in that kingdom and while waiting in the Queen’s orchard, meets the Queen’s daughter, Princess Cèlie, and shares a kiss with her. She gains a place in Alice’s kingdom, till Ratliff and her father King Stephano, come to Alice’s palace and point out that Dandelion is a female, and drag her away. A new lesbian verse play by Duncan Pflaster.

Friday, February 3rd at 7pm

Denny and Lila by August Schulenburg, directed by Tom Wojtunik, produced by London Griffith.

After her husband Marcus divorces her for their much younger maid Lucia, Mary turns to the con artist team of Denny, Lila and Jabber for revenge. They take the job, with Denny pretending to be the Neruda-quoting electrician ‘Fred’ to seduce Lucia; and Lila pretending to be the daffily charming British novelist ‘Mara’ to seduce Marcus. All goes well until Denny develops an unexpected connection to Nettie, Mary and Marcus’ manic-depressive daughter.

Saturday, February 4th at 5pm *Excellence in Playwriting Award Winner*

The Excellence in Playwriting Award is bestowed by the MTWorks’ Board of Directors. The board selects the winner before the festival takes place and is not influenced by the work the director and actors are achieving at the readings.

Absinthe by Joe Musso, directed by Dev Bondarin, produced by Martha Goode.

It’s July 1900, and a race riot has engulfed New Orleans, sparked by a black man killing two white policemen. At first, the violence on the streets is far removed from the genteel parlor of Grace Newman, a blind white woman cared for by her house servant, Curtis, a former slave owned by Grace’s father. Grace and Curtis’s relationship is forged by respect and compassion. However, their true feelings for each other must remain hidden from Grace’s racist brother Henry, a Civil War vet who fought for the South and who is hell-bent on bringing justice to a black man who killed two white policemen. As a race riot in the streets unfolds, Grace and Curtis’s relationship unravels.

Saturday, February 4th at 8pm *Resident Reading*

On Egdon Heath adapted by David Stallings from Thomas Hardy’s novel The Return of the Native directed by Glory Kadigan, produced by David Stallings.

Award-winning playwright David Stallings’ adapts one of the most powerful works of famed author Thomas Hardy, “The Return of the Native”. The ensemble of townspeople On Egdon Heath will take you on a journey of love, passion and folklore, centered around the beautiful and mystical Eustacia Vye. Her hunger for escape and a devastating twist of fate will affect the lives of the Yeobrights, the Wildeves and the heart of the heath.

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Site-Specific theatre productions are all the rage now, and in a city like New York where every conceivable set already exists in real life it’s really just a matter of finding the perfect spot for your play to unfold.

It Is Done written by Alex Goldberg happens to take place in a bar, but it’s also being produced in a bar; The Mean Fiddler Bar & Grill located in the heart of the theatre district just a stone’s throw from the hustle and bustle of the Great White Way.  Still, it’s a sure bet that even the patrons dining right above in the main room have no idea there’s such wicked goings-on underfoot in the lower level.

The set up is perfect, and upon entering you can’t help but think that this bar already looks like a staged set.  Ease back and begin to eat and drink (that is, if you come at the suggested time, which is one hour before showtime) and you get to wear a personal groove in the seat while enjoying the It Is Done menu and knocking back your free drink (beer and wine) and soaking in the atmosphere.   This is no Tony and Tina’s Wedding, however … once the show starts there is a lot of action going on around the bar, but the audience has no part in it.  For all intents and purposes you all might as well be ghosts.

Hank, the bartender (Matt Kalman) | Photo by Jen Maufrais Kelly

Which is fitting, given the spooky nature of It Is Done.  Despite the full bar there is a certain desolation that cloaks this place once the show gets underway; a lone bartender, Hank (Matt Kalman) bides his time behind the bar with not much else to do except read porn (avidly), ignore the phone calls from his ex-wife (pointedly) and welcome the one lone stranger who is blown into the bar by the dust storm that’s been kicking up outside.

“You’re not from around these parts” Hank notes.  It’s easy to tell … no one’s from “around here” he explains.  They’re 90 miles from anything in any direction, making this both a bastion of hope as well as an outpost for the hopeless.   Therefore it’s the perfect place for the stranger, Jonas (Ean Sheehy) to settle in and have a drink or two till the storm dies down and he can be back on his way to wherever it is he’s going.

Catia Ojeda, Ean Sheehy, and Matt Kalman | Photo by Jen Maufrais Kelly

Into this cozy setup another stranger is blown.  Only this one is a very attractive woman.  We can call her Ruby (Catia Ojeda).  She’s even more obviously not from around here … and seems even more annoyed at having to while away her time in the bar until a tow truck can come rescue her.  Well, she’s annoyed at first.  Until she begins to find an amusing way to pass the time … by trying to melt the icy exterior of the stranger who calls himself Jonas and “doesn’t like conversation”.  She rebuffs the attentions (salacious) of Hank (who she pointedly insists on addressing as “BARKEEP!”) and as Hank skulks off to the back room to do whatever it is he does she attempts to engage Jonas in conversation.

Divertive at first, Jonas does manage to give up certain details.  In a type of tit-for-tat game Ruby offers up some personal information of her own.  Or so it seems.  And so, eventually, in this desolate bar with no one around but this total stranger who (she insists) he will probably never see after this night Jonas reveals the secret that has him on the run.

From here the tale turns from eerie thriller to supernatural horror and to give any more away would be to spoil both the plot as well as the enjoyment of the piece.  Suffice it to say, there’s a reason these folks are all together this terrible night … and it ain’t pretty.

Tom Wojtunik’s direction is fabulous; he uses the space to its utmost advantage.  There are even some neat little tricks built into the existing room, such as a number of reflective surfaces, which allow the audience to see the faces of the actors regardless of their seat.  This gives the actors free range of the performance space while keeping the audience from having to whip their necks around constanly in order to keep tabs on the action.

Wojtunik also does a great job in creating the mood of the piece; again – despite the crowded room there’s a real feeling of emptiness and desolation that simply can’t be explained but is very well executed.  Even though we all know we’re all there, these three are as alone as they appear to be.

The actors all come through with strong performances.  Matt Kalman as Hank is perfect as the libidinous average joe who doesn’t work too hard, doesn’t think too much and doesn’t care about your story as long as you’re paying.  Ean Sheehy’s Jonas telegraphs his tension and nervous energy in every awkward angle.  His lanky frame almost bends in upon itself  in an effort to appear as unremarkable as possible in order to keep you from noticing him.

Finally Ruby is perhaps the most intersting character to examine.  At first Catia Ojeda’s style could be taken as bit too smarmy, full of her self, too pat, too grandiose.  However when Ruby’s true nature is revealed it all makes perfect sense and you realize that she couldn’t have been any other way. Ojeda does a fantastic job of keeping the camp out of her character; there is a moment — several in fact — when some scenes could chew the scenery, but Ms. Ojeda commands her lines with power and authority.  If the audience is laughing it’s becuase they’re meant to.  And there are moments when she is downright terrifying.

It Is Done is like a good Masters Of Horror episode taken from the small screen and moved to the real world.  But putting the audience in the midst of the action the creepienss factor is upped, the tension is tightend and the payoff is higher.  Plus, after the show you get to stick around and finish your beer right there on the set.  What could be better?

If you’re looking for something differernt, you’ll find it here.  If you’re looking for a good night of theatre with a twist – this is it.  Either way, It Is Done gets it done.

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• Sweet Dreams? The Pillowman Comes To Astoria

If you know nothing at all about The Pillowman by Martin McDonagh you might mistakenly allow the deceptively downy title to lead you to believe this is a play about security and comfort.  However, if The Pillowman brings up recollections of what you know about the Tony Award nominated 2005 Broadway run — and you still can’t resist the dark siren song of The Pillowman — then the new production being put on by the Astoria Performing Arts Center (APAC) is just what you’ve been looking for.

Richard D. Busser (Ariel) looks on at Avery Clark (Katurian) and Seth Duerr (Tupolski). Photo: Jen Maufrais Kelly

This production of The Pillowman (Directed by Tom Wojtunik) is just about as perfect as a dark, dark, dark (DARK) comedy can get.  With an almost Tim Burton like magic thanks to a team of talented designers who spare no morbid, gory detail, The Pillowman vacillates between the real time story of the writer, Katurian Katurian (Avery Clark) and the dreamy reenactments of the horrific stories he’s written.

We first come upon Katurian (full name Katurian Katurian Katurian) as he is being interrogated by Detective Tupolski “I’m a detective … I detect” (played with deliciously smarmy arrogance by Seth Duerr), and Police Officer Ariel “He’s a police officer … he polices” (played by Richard D. Busser who percolates with pent-up nervous cop energy).   Katurian has been taken in because he’s a writer of 400 stories which often depict the brutal death or torture of children.  Now, with the bodies of two dead children turned up – both murdered according to ghastly methods detailed in Katurian’s stories – he becomes the prime suspect.  On the line is the life of another child, a deaf girl who’s gone missing and is presumed dead.  Katurian is being pressed for details which he simply can not provide since he has no connection to these murders.  Does he?

Nathan Brisby (Michal) and Avery Clark (Katurian). Photo: Jen Maufrais Kelly

Whipped into this odd grouping is Katurian’s older brother, Michal who (despite his years) has the mental capacity of a child due to … well … that’s part of both the story of The Pillowman as well as one of the stories that Katurian has written.  Suffice it to say, Katurian was the favored of the two children, and being the much-doted-upon child has left him with both a blessing and a curse – all in the embodiment of Michal (Nathan Brisby).

Fans of Edward Gorey can see echoes of his iconic little pen and ink children in the yarns spun by Katurian, some of which are simply read aloud, some of which are re-enacted.  It would be but a small step from Katurian’s The Little Apple Men to Gorey’s The Gashlycrumb Tinies and therefore even easier to understand Katurian’s blind spot when it comes to his own writing.  To paraphrase Freud – sometimes a story is just a story.

Katurian Katurian is a writer who had the (somewhat engineered) seed of imagination planted into his head by his parents; his talent was encouraged and then slowly tweaked to grow darker and darker.  Still, to Katurian these are only stories, clever ones at that, morality tales some … cautionary tales, others …but only stories, not blueprints to murder. Clark gives Katurian a likable and trustworthy core, you truly feel his horror that anyone would find his stories disturbing, let alone confuse him for the evil incarnate which so easily springs from his mind time and again.

The softest sides of Katurian are in evidence when he interacts with his brother, Michal.  Mr. Brisby gives Michal just the right touch of childlike innocence and even ignorance without overplaying what, in another actor’s hands, could be a very scenery-chewing role.  Michal may be childlike, but he is not completely dim; he knows what he’s lived through, he knows what it’s made him into, and he knows his brother’s part in the whole thing.  Between these brothers is a palpable love, and a respect, even as they play the blame game and throw desperate, hurtful insults at each other when more and more of their monstrous history is revealed.

Sound design by Kristyn R. Smith with musical landscape by composer Ryan Homsey and lighting design by Driscoll Otto is lush and layered, with subtle but evocative touches that point the audience in the intended direction without belaboring the point and work seamlessly with Stephen K. Dobay’s multi-leveled set design.  Best are the little touches which don’t call attention to themselves (such as the subtle changing of the paintings in the story of “The Little Jesus” … green and springlike trees when life is good for The Girl, claw-like and barren remains when things take a turn for the worst) and the eerie noise that signals something is not quite right which drills into your brain each time you hear it.

Avery Clark (Katurian) and Seth Duerr (Tupolski). Photo: Jen Maufrais Kelly

While the story line is not for everyone (children under the age of 14 won’t even be allowed in the theatre, but I think some adults may shy away as well) there is no doubt that this is a masterly crafted production.  Even as the staging brings the play (and the stories) to life, some of my favorite elements happened while watching the actors do their best work in the quiet moments.  An arched brow or smirk from Mr. Duerr’s Tupolski, a jumpy restlessness in Mr. Busser’s Ariel, a dull but loving stare from Mr. Brisby’s Michal, or … the deft handling of a pillow by Mr. Clark’s Katurian “Pillowman” Katurian himself.

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