Summer Shorts 3: Series B

Perhaps the best thing about short play festivals is that if you don't like what's happening onstage, it'll probably be over soon, and you have another play to look forward to which might be better. The plays that J.J. Kandel and John McCormack have chosen to present in part B of their third Summer Shorts, their annual festival of new short American plays, are wildly diverse in both type and quality.

First on the bill is Don't Say Another Word, written by Carole Real, directed by Ian Belknap, and starring Stephanie D'Abruzzo and Andy Grotelueschen. It's an amusing and innocuous piece about a couple at a restaurant who can't seem to stop saying things that get on each other's nerves. While light and entertaining, it has that vaguely offensive sitcom "men are dumb but we put up with them because we love them" air which is so fashionable these days. D'Abruzzo and Grotelueschen are very funny together, though they feel about 5-8 years too young for their roles.

The second play is The Sin Eater, written by Keith Reddin, directed by Billy Hopkins, and starring Clara Hopkins Daniels, Jamie Watkins, Rosalyn Coleman (The night I attended, I saw her understudy Tonya Latrice Stewart), J.J. Kandel, Teala Dunn, and Sheldon Woodley.
This piece was inexcusably painful to watch in almost every way. The script is a confused mish-mash: it attempts to be a modern black version of The Oresteia, but includes out-of-context selections from Hamlet for some reason; The title comes from an unclear reference to an obscure Scottish tradition mentioned apropos of very little by an ancillary policeman character (which is then referenced later by a character who didn't hear the original conversation). The cast and direction are all over the place, often rendering laughable what are intended to be serious moments. As El, the Electra character, eighth-grader Clara Hopkins Daniels speaks all of her lines in a petulant monotone, showing no glimmer of the matricidal rage she purports to feel. As if to Make Up For her dull performance, Ms. Stewart was playing high tragedy throughout as Cleo, the Clytemnestra role, her regal bearing and exquisite elocution rendering her more prosaic lines ridiculous. Teala Dunn, another child actress, was entertainingly spacey and wide-eyed in her short time onstage as Ruthie (Cassandra). Mr. Woodley does his best as Orel (Orestes)- he at least seems to know what genre he's playing in, though by the time his character showed up, I had already lost all my suspension of disbelief, and simply sat, mouth agape. Ms. Watkins has some interesting moments as a white devil social worker who continues to hang around the stage acting as the chorus, and Mr. Kandel channels Frank Drebin as his police officer (the titular Sin Eater).

After intermission was If I Had, by Roger Hedden, also directed by Billy Hopkins, and starring Shane McRae, Andy Powers, and Emily Tremaine.
This was an interesting meditation on class structure in America. Slim (McRae) and Augie (Powers) are landscapers who work for wealthy clients. On one job, while watching the daughter of the family sunbathe as they work, Augie begins entertaining thoughts of "sticking it to them", channeling his diffused rage at those rich people who seem to have it all into puerile revenge fantasies. Though Slim attempts to open his eyes to how good he has it compared to 80 percent of the world, Augie is inconsolable. When it comes time to collect their payment at the end of the day, the parents are out on their boat and unavailable, so the two men confront Audrey (Tremaine), the sunbathing beauty, in a taut scene full of excellently defined dialogue and characters.

The final play of the evening was The Killing by William Inge- a premiere performance of a lost play by a renowned writer. It was directed by José Angel Santana, and starred Neal Huff and J.J. Kandel.
In the play, a sad and lonely man named Mac (Huff) brings home from a bar the friendly but down-on-his-luck Huey (Kandel) to his small, book-filled apartment. Mac plies Huey with whiskey in order to get him to accede to his wishes- though when Huey eagerly begins taking off his clothes, Mac reveals that he desires a different sort of consummation: he wants to die, but can't bring himself to commit suicide due to his religious beliefs. The rest of the play is Huey struggling with his conscience, deciding whether or not he'll agree. Both actors are fantastic, and certainly do justice to this neglected play by a master of the stage.

Summer Shorts 3: Series B
At 59E59, 59 East 59th Street.
Runs July 24-August 27

www.summershortsfestival.com for more information.

PHOTO CREDIT: Carol Rosegg

1. Andy Grotelueschen and Stephanie D'Abruzzo in DON'T SAY ANOTHER WORD By Carole Real
2. Rosalyn Coleman, Clara Hopkins Daniels, and Jamie Watkins in THE SIN EATER By Keith Reddin
3. Shane McRae, Andy Powers and Emily Tremaine in IF I HAD By Roger Hedden
4. Neal Huff and J.J. Kandel in the THE KILLING By William Inge