Snowdrops

 

Dinner: Kielbasa, Beans, Jalapenos and Pineapple over Saffron Rice

 

Keegan Theatre: Hand to God

 Rarely during the course of a play unfamiliar to me do I find myself thinking -- HOLY SHIT!  This happened a couple of times during "Hand to God" by Robert Askins at Keegan Theatre.  The run ends tomorrow, but I would suggest to any local theater folks this one is worth getting the last ticket for.

In a nutshell it is a tale told by 5 actors.  A horny Lutheran Pastor, a Grieving Housewife with enough guilt to sink the Titanic all over again, her teenage son, who is pretty fucked up over the death of his father and his mother's dysfunctional life, and two other teenagers who also go to the church.  The Mother has started a puppet ministry to channel her energies with three teenage members.  One only joined in the hopes of fucking her--some wishes do come true...  But the crux of the story belongs to her son, Jasone and his puppet, Tyrone.  As the story unfolds, the place where Jasone stops and Tyrone starts becomes more and more blurred, even as the puppet becomes more and more Satanic.  The comedy is dark, the satire is ship smart, and the violence alarming and bloody!  One of the funniest moments is when two of the puppets engage in a prolonged sexual romp while the actors playing the teenagers have a mostly banal conversation of the meaning of life.  I mean, Holy Shit!  Right?

All five members of this cast were new to me.  Each displayed a dedication to their character that seemed to strengthen with the synergy found in a well oiled machine.  And yet the star was clearly Drew Sharpe as Jasone/Tyrone.  The amount of shear energy exerted in playing two characters (and one a puppet whose carefully choreographed movements nearly made you for get that it was not an autonomous member of the cast) was nearly exhausting to just watch.  It was a tour de force performance the likes of which makes theatre such an exciting proposition.

The sets were mounted as a triad on a rotating stage, and by the end the main area depicting the Church basement was pretty much trashed to hell by the devil puppet and his helpless human minion.  The show had barely ended with a well deserved standing ovation--that I initiated, I might add, when the stage crew appeared and started washing away the blood.  I didn't realize it at the time, but in the final scene when our conflicted protagonist takes a hammer to his puppet hand to "kill" the demon, some of the blood was flung so far that it spattered audience members in part of the front row.  Fortunately, my seat was row E!  

"Hand to God" was a wild ride that entertained and shocked while still making a point.  There are some things that are just more fundamental and true than religion...hand to God!  In a very deliberate choice, the press packet photos contain none of the wild or gory images to come later in the play.

Jasone (Drew Sharpe) with "un-possessed" Tyrone

Jasone and Jessica (Hannah Taylor)

The Teen Puppet Ministry in the basement of the church.

Jason with his mother, Margery (Shadia Hafiz)

Margery confronting Timmy (Jordan Brown) over his inappropriate sexual advances

Pastor Greg (Dominique Gray) making some inappropriate sexual advances of his own.

Dinner: Cottage Pie

 

Dinner: Egg Drop Soup with Baby Shanghai Bok Choy and Oyster Mushrooms

 

Constellation Theatre: Constellations

 My beloved Constellation Theatre is having a tough year--normally a three show season, here in its 18th year, it pared itself down to two; and this "Constellations" is its opening play.  I love this company because it offers a mix of opportunities for seasoned, equity actors and those who are still working their way toward that precious card.  With "Constellations" by Nick Payne it's just a two-actor cast and both members were well acquainted with both equity and the DMV.  Another great reason to love this company is the promise of an intimate experience, and "Constellations" was written to deliver.  

It is the story of a two people who's lives are spliced and re-spliced by cosmic string theory into permutation after permutation of their possible lives.  From banal to profound, from tragic to whimsical with each flicker from a star somewhere the moment shifts.  It is a dense, but doable story that ends where it existed: in one fleeting moment full of possibility in a universe where all that is is possible.  

The set-up was in the round with an immersive design that immediately suggested a cross between floating in space and being inside the belly of the whale.  Shout out to Sarah Reed for her scenic design and Alberto Segarra for lighting that really was dynamically intertwined with the sets.  Both actors: Dina Soltan and Tony Nam were captivating in their commitments to the moments, moments that turned on the face of a dime--like that liveliest of all coins spinning and falling heads, then tails, and then which ever way, again and again--they were there, as if each moment were being realized for the first and only time.  Overall, a delightful production with just one caveat.  Assuming that Nick Payne is British, for reasons that added absolutely no value at all to the production, the actors spoke with British accents.  It was the one choice that I questioned, the one component without value added.  

Tony Nam as Roland and Dina Soltan as Marianne

Cold Cat Saturday @ Maryland Zoo: Me and Davis

With temps hovering around freezing, even the bright sunlight couldn't take the edge off.  Volunteered from 10 to noon.  The first hour was almost exclusively me and our Cheetah, Davis.  Not bad company when you stop and think about it.  

Arena Stage: "The Bedwetter: A New Musical By Sarah Silverman"

What would you think an autobiographical musical by comedian Sarah Silverman would be like?  Irreverent?  Bawdy?  Blue?  Unique?  How about Nostalgic?  How about Charming?  Would you go for Endearing?  Courageous?  Have I left out Funny?  Because Yes.  Yes to all of those things squeezed together and smooshed into just over an hour and half!  

The plot is made up of the key moments from her 10th year, the year her parents divorced and she and her older sister started at a new school, the only Jews in a WASPy suburb somewhere in New Hampshire.  Besides her sister we meet her mother, father and paternal grandmother, each of whom carries enough baggage to easily sink her adolescent lifeboat; her mother's bedridden anxiety, her father's epic philandering and compulsive adultery, her grandmother's chronic alcoholism.  The boat remains afloat because Sarah's indomitable character uses all the simmering sadness to fuel her quirky resilience.  In one number she turns a group of girls at her new school into her pose by performing celebrity impressions.  Impressions of their farts!  Her own Achilles' Tendon is her nocturnal urination.   At one point during a sleepover she is tenuously close to being found out, when suddenly the news of John Lennon's assassination save the day!  But eventually, her new friends discover the truth and she is cast into a deep depression where drugs flow in her direction and suddenly she's dreaming of dancing Xanax and joining in performing a frenetic Rockette's inspired dance line.  Her mother's obsession with TV and her fathers ubiquitous presence on it featured in adds for his discount clothing store weave a how of personalities in and out the events from Phil Donahue to Johnny Carson, and in particular Miss New Hampshire.  It's in one of these surrealistic moments that Sarah discovers a truth about the beauty pageant runner-up that transforms her life and restores her equilibrium.

This is not "The Bedwetter's" first time at the Rodeo.  Originally produced Off-Broadway, the reception was tepid.  And eerily like the main character herself, Sarah picked the show up, got an additional lyricist & composer and set to work tightening, clarifying, adding in a couple of new numbers, taking on at least one current Broadway A-lister, Shoshana Bean to play her mother.  From the start, you are captivated by the young actor playing Sarah, Aria Kane, who explodes with energy and charm and quirkiness.  With a total cast of eleven, and the rapid-fire nature of the scene changes there is a flow to the production that makes no room for error.  Everyone was on cue, and everyone, in one way or another, had a "their moment" in the show, too.  A nod to the generosity of the creator.   If profanity's not your thing, then don't go.  If, however, you enjoy little shows about big ideas with a generous heart--go.  It may never make it to Broadway, but I promise it will create a spot in your heart.  

Sarah (Aria Kane) with her new teacher Mrs. Dembo (Alysha Umphress)

Her older sister, Laura (Avery Harris) and mother Beth Ann (Shoshana Bean)

Sarah with father, Donald (Darren Goldstein)

And her Nana (Liz Larsen)

Shoshana Bean performing perhaps the most poignant number in the show "You Can't Fix Her."

Sarah on the phone at her friend's sleep-over.  L-R (Emerson Holt Lacayo, Elin Joy Seiler, and Alina Santos)

Miss New Hampshire (Ashley Blanchet)

Fever Dream

 After a week under the influence of "A Flu-like Virus".

1st Stage: The Lake Effect

"The Lake Effect" is the latest offering from 1st Stage over in Tyson's, Virginia.  1st Stage is a small and intimate theatre company that produces high quality works that sometimes even surprise.  I like it because there general two or three plays that are recent creations that I've never heard of before, and so it keeps me up on what's new out there.  

"The Lake Effect" is a play written by Rajiv Joseph in 2013.  He is best known for this Pulitzer short-listed play "Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo".  The story is centered in Cleveland, OH where he grew up and feature a trio of actors, estranged brother and sister Vijay and Priya who have returned home at the death of their father, and an odd customer, an African American man, Bernard, who over the course of a single year knows about their father than either of his children.  Bernard's involvement in the family was predicated on a bizarre incident involving their father who has left him all of his estate and worldly possessions in his will.  There are clever plot twists and moments of genuine humor tossed in amongst the anger, sorrow and resentments that arise in the characters of the siblings.  The acting was uneven, which left the climax flat; however, the work of Jonathan del Palmer as Bernard was still quite compelling and carried the play at times when the energy of the other actors was wanting or inconsistent.  

The set was lovely, shout out to Kathryn Kawecki.

The production was slated to start at 2:00 PM, and at 2 the house manager stepped out to announce a 30 minute technical delay and free wine and Doritos as the consolation prize.  The only technical thing that I could imagine was that one of the actors was running late.  The mostly Social Security crowd seemed quite and away pleased with the snacks and booze, and the air around me took on a decidedly tangy-yeasty tinge. I finished the NYTimes crossword on my phone.  

Shaan Sharma as Vijay

Surasree Das as Priya

Jonathan del Palmer as Bernard

Dinner: Porco con Salsa Verde Refresco

 

Dinner: Pasta with Ham, Tomatoes, Onions, and Spinach

 

Dinner: Zuppa Toscano with Toasted Sourdough Bread and Bacon Crumbles

 

Snowy Sunday at the Maryland Zoo (12 Jan 2025)

 

Winter MLGZoo: Wolverines

 

Dinner: a "Chunky Veg" Bolognese over Rotini

 

A Blast from the Past: Original Art

 Images from a trip to the National Arboretum that I took with my beloved dog, Romeo (2011 - 2023).  Today I received the gift of a painting made from one of these images by my friend, Barbara--who is an artist.

What joy!

"Blessed Romeo"

Barbara's Painting

Lunch: "Big Mac" Taco!

The only thing missing was the dill pickle slices (I was out!)

Super easy to make, definitely on my repertoire list! 

 

Winter My Little Zoo Garden...

 

North American River Otters

Rocky Mountain Goats

Timber Wolves