Homelessness is not an easy subject to discuss. There’s an assumption made about the homeless: they are lazy and they don’t want to work. This untruth unfolds through the 200 interviews collated to create Roughly Speaking. The play introduces the chaos that mental illness, addiction, loss, and economic hardship creates in the lives of people who don’t have a place to call their own as well as the means to access the right care
Set on vast stage with crates, planks and flats that allow for different looks, director Celine Rosenthal beautifully executes the touching and raw reality that we see day-to-day in New York City. The play breaks the fourth wall with narrator/rapper, Lightning.Bolt (Steven J. Michel) who keeps us in check between set changes. Alicia (Madeline McCray) and Tiny (Danny Bolero) passionately play the “parents” of the soup kitchen they run where the play is set. We see that through their own stories and their service to their community that also have hopes and dreams. The talented ensemble support the harrowing stories by playing multiple characters with difficult circumstances and weaknesses. Kudos to Christopher Michael McLamb who flawlessly transforms into two characters, Richie and W, through his entrances and exit and at times right in front of the audience.
Roughly Speaking featured talk-backs with members of various entities includimg Coalition for the Homeless, Xavier Mission, New York Cares, Convenant House and visual artist Willie Baronet who created the We Are All Homeless Art Installation. This is their closing weekend so do be sure to support the show and it’s worthy cause.
Roughly Speaking directed by Celine Rosenthal (Broadway’s Leap of Faith & Seminar)
with Franz Jones* (Broadway’s Big River), Danny Bolero* (Broadway’s In The Heights & Joseph & The Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat), Christopher Michael McLamb*, Steven J. Michel*, Michael Twaine*, Madeline McCray*, Troy Valjean Rucker*, Shara Ashley Zeiger*, Joanie Anderson
*members of Actors Equity Association
Through 11/20 Thurs-Sat 8pm,
Sundays 11/20, 2pm
Tada Theater 15 w. 28th st, NYC
Tickets on Smarttix through http://www.theplatformgroup.org
There are times when I walk into a theatre not really wanting to see my own life on stage. However, watching a day in the life of Christine Renee Miller, actually made me feel grateful for the life I have and how important it is for us to use this platform to share our stories. Miller is known in the theatre circles as Emmy winner, Matt Hoverman’s collaborator for their Go-Solo Classes. The solo shows that have been produced from their classes have been moving and successful. This show is no different. Miller magnificently and smoothly transitions through no less than 10 characters that she encounters in one day. We meet the sassy homeless woman who kicks off Miller’s day in the early morning to the Indian palm reader to the sexist yoga client. Staged in Theater Lab’s white space with Lianne Arnold’s projections and Kia Rogers’ lighting design to support locations, director Andrea Dantas creatively and poignantly questions us: “Does New York chew us up and spits us out and how do we handle the outcome?”
HomoSapiens Interruptus by Carlos Dengler; Directed by Scott Wesley Slavin
On a humid summer night, Stokely Carmichael gathers us together and prepares us for what’s to come. He stands on a bench and rolls up a sign into a makeshift bullhorn and tells us we better get ready. The gravity of the situation can be heard in his voice. This is real and we have to take it seriously. White supremacy kills and we must understand that. Carmichael then jumps off the bench, puts the sign down, looks at the audience directly and asks with a wry smile, “You ok?”
Opening night for any performance is filled with excitement and anxiety. A play about the opening night of a performance is a beautiful insight to the crazy that surrounds it. Especially if it’s Verdi’s Otello, the tenor is an Italian superstar, and there’s a catastrophe. Set in 1934, Otello is the saving grace for the Cleveland Grand Opera. However, everything doesn’t turn out the way it should. How can it when there’s an angry wife, the starstruck girlfriend, the bombshell starlet, the nosey bellhop, the diva president of the Opera, and the anxious General Manager and his assistant – the true underdog and secret talent. That’s the perfect and delicious recipe for mayhem! And where there is mayhem, hilarity ensues.
The lights come up on an inviting bed/sitting room with French doors opening out to a view of a magnificent plantation. This sets the tone for those familiar with a Tennessee Williams play. You are invited to observe the web of secrets, deception, and shame and they begin with the opening lines between Maggie and Brick. The performance of this play hinges on a Maggie who entices the audience with her sensuality and a Brick who commits to his lengthy silences; a Big Daddy who is foreboding and unforgiving in his machismo and a Big Mama who is manipulative in her damedom; and a Gooper and Mae who have their own story supported by children who add to the chaos. The other characters are either managing the chaos or unintentionally adding to it.
Malini Singh mcdonald 