|
Regional Reviews: Florida - Southern Beat The Heat With Also see John's review of Little Shop of Horrors
With a team of talented and versatile actors, and some of the area's finest directors and designers, this year's Summer Shorts is a solid success, through moments of humor far outweigh those of drama and conflict. An overall balance is needed to include a poignant moment or a painful revelation or two. Humor sells, but so does sentiment, and the benefit of seeing an array of plays is that a theatregoer can both laugh and cry in the same night. I laughed, yes, but can't say that any of the plays touched my heart. The play that came closest to making an emotional mark on the audience may have been Bedtime, in which two sets of actors, side by side, portray the same married couple, many years apart, at bedtime. As the senior couple is dealing with the terminal illness of the wife, one would expect some touching moments, but they never came, either because of the writing or a lack of connection by the actors. Risen from Dough is smoother in its attempt at sentimentality, and is more strongly acted by Karen Stephens and Chastity Hart, but takes a bit too long to get to the point. This piece would be worth expanding into a longer version, however. Elizabeth Dimon is wonderful in Flare, in which she plays an airplane passenger nervous about flying. As her story unfolds it is clear that Dimon is adept at finding a rich complexity in her characters in a short period of time. She demonstrates this as well in Cougar, as a slightly drunken onlooker at the bar. Stephens is nearly as strong in her characterizations, showing great versatility in Risen from Dough and The Anthropology Section. Wahl is at his best as the patient, Gerard, in Let's Get Physical. He has the ability to present dialogue in a comfortably organic way that lets you forget he isn't thinking up the lines himself—an admirable skill to have as an actor. The Anthropology Section is well acted by Stephens and Dimon as two estranged lovers who have a chance meetings in a book store. I enjoyed them together, and also would like to see this play expanded. They have a great connection together on stage. I didn't love Mrs. Evelyn Foxy & Her Low Orbit Anxiety despite the talents of the actors in it. It is just too contrived and predictable for me to invest in. My absolute favorite play of the night is the comedic Mandate. Michael Uribe is hilarious as the over-eager, slightly nerdy, and extremely needy guy in search of a best friend. His wife hooks him up with her friend's husband for a beer at the local bar. His guileless character falls just short of slapstick in his goofiness, taking bromance to a new low. He and Bechir Sylvain, as his unsuspecting new best friend, have perfect timing together, and looked like they both were enjoying their characters. In every collection of plays there always seems to be one that just doesn't seem to fit. This year it is Human Resources, about an office being infiltrated by puppets. This doesn't work because it isn't cohesively written, and the concept isn't that funny. There is scattered humor only because of the absurdity of the moment and the talent of the actors, but this play sorely needs rewrites. The nature of the excitement of Summer Shorts is sorting through the plays, selecting favorites, and putting aside less favorite ones. It is always a great way to see short new plays given a polished presentation. Here is hoping that next year's Summer Shorts is every bit as fun as this year's! City Theatre's Summer Shorts will be appearing through June 28, 2015, on the Susan Westfall Playwrights Stage of the Carnival Studio Theater at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts of Miami-Dade County. For tickets and schedule, visit http://citytheatre.com. The Playwrights & Plays: The Actors: The Production Staff: The Adrienne Arsht Center is made possible by the public support of the Miami-Dade County Major and the Board of County Commissioners, the Miami-Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs and the Cultural Affairs Council, and the Miami-Dade County Tourist Development Council. The Arsht is located at 1300 N. Biscayne Blvd., Miami, Florida, and houses the 2,400 seat Sanford and Dolores Ziff Ballet Opera House, as well as the 2,200 seat John S. and James L. Knight Concert Hall, and the 300 seat Carnival Studio Theater. For information, or to purchase tickets for the many diverse offering of the Adrienne Arsht Center, you may contact them at 305-949-6722, 305-949-6722, or visit them online at www.arshtcenter.org. *Indicates a member of Actors' Equity Association, the union of professional actors and stage managers in the United States.
|
