Randuwa II: Shakespeare Theatre Company: Everybody

Sunday, October 27, 2019

Shakespeare Theatre Company: Everybody

Shakespeare Theatre Company has some very pricy real estate in the heart of DC. The main stage is in the Sidney Harman Building that is directly across the street from the Verizon Center (home to the Wizards and Capitals, and site of endless events). Today there was a Horse Show at the Center, streets blocked all around it, horse trailers parked three deep. A block and half away is another theater called the Landsburg, that they also own. While still large, the stage and auditorium is a smaller than the one at Sidney Harman. With two venues, they have options when staging plays, and they also rent out the spaces, like today the larger Sidney Harman was being used by the Washington Ballet for some of their performances. But on to the play of the day: "Everybody" by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins.

I didn't enjoy this one. Feels like cutting to the chase is best, no surprise ended here.

Now, why I didn't enjoy it is apart from what the play is, or how it is presented. The play is a modern take on the medieval morality play genre embodied in the oldest known English play called Everyman. It is a story set to instruct the viewers on the futility of life on earth and the way in which to acquire an eternity in Heaven. The narrator "God" goes to great length to explain this to us in the beginning. His is a fix role, as is that of Death. The 5 members of the ensemble start out as just Somebodies, but then a golden spinning ball basket like the ones used in bingo is brought out and one by one they reach in, withdraw a golden orb, and open it to discover which character they will be portraying in this particular production. The five actors know all the roles. They just don't know who they are going to be until this moment. It's a gimmick for sure. It's also a fascinating challenge for the actors. By all the evidence presented, they are up to the challenge. Today's fatefully chosen cast was so cohesive, that I would have thought they did this together all the time. A huge billboard in the lobby records each performance's iteration, so you can see who has play who and when. There is even a game of chance to predict this performances casting before the show begins and those to guess correctly can win a seat to a future performance. All the intertwined gimmicks and Dame Fortuna must certainly be smiling on from somewhere, right? The cast is compelling on many levels. They represent a range of races, genders, non-binary, trans, sexualities, ages, heights, body types... The casting is clearly another intention toward the idea of Everybody.

Once the principles are set they fall into 5 roles. The lead is now Everybody, and death has come to claim them for God. Not wanting to go the journey alone, Everybody asks for a companion. Death agrees to give Everybody the opportunity to look, and each in turn, Everybody entreats Friendship, Kinship, Cousin, and Possessions. But none will go. Then enters Love and reluctantly Love agrees to both prep Everybody and go with Everybody. Death then returns and along the way, Strength, Senses, Beauty, Feelings and Understanding show up, too. Alas, as the going gets tough, they all save Understanding and Love abandon Everybody, too. Throughout the play there is an acknowledgement of the audience and all the actors save God and Death begin their participation in the guise of audience members.

The sets are simple, the props the same. The costumes all start out as street clothes and then evolve into something sort of cartoonish. The sound was basic. As a production it was fine. The actors worked hard and gave good performances. SO why didn't I like it? For no good reason except that it bored me most of the time. I concede that the playwright, Branden Jacobs-Jenkins is certainly consider one the the finest new playwrights of our time. He actually grew up in Takoma Park! He's had one nomination for a Pulitzer Prize and is a MacArthur Foundation Genius Grant recipient. I fully acknowledge his genius in this play's rich historical and contemporary contextualization, it profound themes and its deeply demanding requirements upon the actors. On all these levels, it's amazing. Clearly, he's something special, and all I was, was bored. I just couldn't get past being fascinated by all the intricacies to just enjoy the story-telling. And for me, that was boring in short order.

Death (Nancy Robinette) being hounded by the Somebodies right after they learn that one of them is about to die (L-R: Alina Collins Maldonado, Ayana Workman, Kelli Simpkins, Elan Zafir, and Avi Roque.

In the performance I saw today:

Alina Collins Maldonado received the lead role of Everybody.

Ayana Workman received the role of Friendship and was Everybody's first choice to go on the journey.

Kelli Simpkins received the role of Kinsman, and Elan Zafir the role of Cousin and they were the next two to face her pleas.

Avi Roque received the role of Possessions. They were the third, and their role was particularly humorous. Humor is a very important part of the play. It is at times very funny.