Run of the Mill's "Variations of Justice"

Last year's audience at Variations on Fear selected this year's theme, Variations on Justice, the third in a series of original short plays whose common thread is the chosen theme.  Then, one winter's day, a huge party was thrown by Run of the Mill Theater to get anyone interested in writing a play together with other local artists and patrons to generate ideas. A month and a half later, plays are submitted, reviewed and selected.  This year, 10 were selected, 5 directors staged them with a company of 8 actors.  And just as the theme of justice would likely have a wide variety of definitions and experiences from person to person, so too was the variety and success of the plays submitted.  The evening was full of variations, to be sure, and for the most part, justice.

Given the unique way this piece of theater is generated and each of the 10 plays is distinct, this review will be equally unique.  Each play is listed, with a brief summary, and a brief discussion of the direction, acting and success of each piece given the theme.

Act One:

 

• Legs, by Kathleen Barber, concerns two amputees in a doctor's office who bond while they await their first prosthetic devices.  Directed by Ian Belknap, the play shows yet again why this young director is your go-to man for eliciting honest, human performances from his actors and a solid bond with his audience.  Playing a veteran soldier, David D. Mitchell finds the perfect balance of tough soldier veneer and heartbreaking guilt and sadness.  Donna M. Fox is his equal if not on the far other end of the spectrum.  Her injury came from a car accident.  Justice?  It calls into question how just it is that a soldier is injured doing his job as well as how just is it to cut a woman down in her prime by an accident.  Successful?  Yes.  The poignant ending gives both characters (and the audience) a realistic closure and sense of hope.  It is never didactic.

 

• CPR Productions, by Dwight R.B. Cook, tells the story of two of God's workers whose job it is to render the world's problems solved through fairness.  Lane Pianta's direction is rather static, though the play itself rather cements the actors to their desks and a center stage phone.  He also doesn't get much out of his actors, Holly Gibbs and Darren Ohiokpehai.  Justice?  Is it human weakness, free will or the whim of God that determines how just things will turn out?  Successful?  Cook's play is a little heavy on the smug self-awareness and seems rather in love with its own cleverness.  Unfortunately, this story has been done in a myriad of ways, and much better - ask George Burns about Oh, God!

 

• Armchair and Picket, by John Conley, tells the story of a new generation of protester and the advice she receives from her parents.  Directed with a light-handed, funny touch by Laura Hackman, this play manages to be both entertaining and thought provoking.  Much of that has to do with her cast: Alan Kootsher as the father figure, Donna M. Fox as the mother figure, and Belinda Panelo as the daughter.  All three understand the duality of their roles, playing broad stereotypes with tongue firmly in cheek, while still adding enough realism to make their characters grounded and accessible.  Justice?  Yes!  It offers an interesting and very true point of view: justice goes in cycles.  Conley applies this axiom to slavery, Vietnam and the Iraq war we currently fight.  Successful? Yes!  A good lesson coupled with a hearty chuckle is good theatre in my book.

 

• Finial, by Kimberley Lynne, is a slight story of a woman looking for a banister finial at Home Depot, and the clueless sales associate who tries to help her.  Directed again by Ms. Hackman, she gets the most she can from her actors Tekee Wilkes and Daren Ohiokpehai, who do what they can with obvious dialogue that reminds me of those old citizenship films from the 50's and 60's, but with the same deadly earnestness and lack of humanity.  Justice?  Hmm… the salesman lost out on a sale of a finial because he insulted the woman with sexist assumptions.  Justice by technicality.  Successful?  Not even close.  I wonder how happy Home Depot is with their portrayal.

 

• Snake and Onion by J. Gavin Heck, directed by Lane Pianta is one of those overly self-consciously symbolic pieces that everyone concerned swears is "really about so much more."  This effects laden act one closer (Heck is the sound designer, surprise, surprise) is almost laughably bad.  I can only imagine the meeting of the selection committee on this one.  Stacey A. Matthews and Daren Ohiokpehai (this guy can't catch a break) are two violent, scary creatures that eat their way through life, and set out to trap the meek and quiet, but equally well-fed creatures played by Holly Gibbs and Belinda Panelo.  Justice?  Well, the joke's on the mean guys.  The meek ones outsmart them and let us know that this pattern has gone on for eternity. Doesn't the Bible mention this theme?  Successful?  If you like this sort of thing, yes.  As drama, no.

 

Act Two:

 

• Feed the Meter opens act two with an all too brief glimpse at a couple who have very divergent views of justice.  Joe Dennison's play, tightly directed by Sammie Real III, deals with Carl, played by the hilarious Alan Kootsher, on his way to jury duty and obsessed with being a good citizen and feeding the parking meter before he goes into the courthouse.  His partner, Kip, played with equal hilarity by Stacey A. Matthews (she has SUPERB timing) is more realistic - her time is better spent helping society flourish by spending the day shopping.  Justice?  Yes.  This sly little piece hits home the idea of civic duty versus self-satisfaction.  And in an "up yours" to "the Man", the meter goes unfed.  Successful?  Oh, yes!  This one even tells well as a joke at work (ask my co-workers.)

 

• Probate, by Chris Graybill, deals with what is likely a common issue in families all over this country - the will of a parent and how the estate is to be handled.  Under Mr. Belknap's sure hand, his actors, Tekee Wilkes and Belinda Panelo circle each other predatorily in the hall of the courthouse as it is revealed that one of them has discovered an actual will, thus jeopardizing the split of the family fortune.  Both actresses are most convincing in getting opposing sides across and with equal conviction.  Justice?  Yes. The battle lines between the right thing to do and what is morally right are sharply drawn.  And the ending is… I'm not saying!  Successful?  Definitely.  Food for thought as the Baby Boomers age…

 

• Alien to Antiquity by Stacey Lane is most closely related to CPR Productions.  Both plays feature stock characters in charge of the human race.  In this case, Lady Justice (complete with blindfold, sword and scales of Justice) is called in to justify her continued employment.  Where this play differs though is that, under Sammie Real III's direction, the characters aren't smug and self-satisfied, rather they are like we are - flawed, judgmental and funny.  The actors are Belinda Panelo as Lady Justice, David D. Mitchell and Alan Kootsher as the interviewers.  Lane's play offers a wry commentary on the definition of "Justice".  Justice? Absolutely.  This is probably what Run of the Mill was looking for from all of its plays.  Successful?  Yes, but the play ends in a mid-sentence abruptness, robbing it of the "bang!" ending it deserves.

 

• The Body Washer, by Rosemary Frisino Toohey and directed by Dwight R.B. Cook is a stunning piece.  It concerns three women of completely polar existences brought together by the death of a young Iraqi woman, killed at a checkpoint.  Cook has directed the piece with a visually stunning, almost documentary feel, making the highly emotional ending all the more intense.  His cast, though, is uniformly superb.  Holly Gibbs is the reporter trying to come to grips with the human emotion she feels when she should have a reporter's objectivity.  She is subtle and intense all at once, making her inner turmoil all the more palpable.  Tekee Wilkes is the National Guardsman reluctantly in the war because she signed up for college tuition, and finds herself at the wrong end of a rifle.  Her anger and ache at remembering home, coupled with her staunch military code offer a realistic look at the inner fight our soldiers must be feeling.  Stacey A. Matthews gives the performance of the evening as an Iraqi woman whose job it is to wash the bodies of the dead before burial.  Like the reporter, she describes her job with an observer's detachment, while all of the profound sorrow bubbles underneath.  Justice?  Yes, if you are willing to consider the lack of it in this situation.  Successful?  This play needs to be published.  It is that good.

 

• Finally, Dwight R. B. Cook, who again shows a remarkable directorial hand when dealing with the details of finely drawn characters, directs Memoir, by Rich Espey.  The play presents two men who couldn't be more different.  Alan Kootsher, in another fine performance, plays Lancer, a dying governor who is fighting time and death for the chance to finish his memoir.  David D. Mitchell, another fine actor, plays Brian, Lancer's caregiver.  As Brian tries to relieve his patient's suffering, it is revealed that the two have met before under sad circumstances, and Brian remembers painfully the death of his partner, a State Police officer, and Lancer's uncaring dealing with it.  Justice?  Yes, in a satisfying ending that never seems inevitable, but totally what it needs to be.  Successful?  In the subtlest way, this play has really stuck with me, so I think this qualifies.

Regardless of the varying degree of success of this fast evening (just over two hours, including intermission!), all of these playwrights, actors and directors have succeeded in reminding the community that there is excellent local theatre and excellent local talent in Baltimore.  Kudos to Run of the Mill for creating these evenings - I look forward to next year's already!  And shame on the theatergoing Baltimore crowd for such a meager turn out!  Get to Run of the Mill at Theatre Project!  BroadwayWorld readers get half price tickets when you mention it at the box office.  $8.00 for 10 plays is the deal of the year!

PHOTOS: Courtesy of Run of the Mill.  Variations on Justice in rehearsal.  TOP to BOTTOM: Donna M. Fox and Alan Kootsher in Armchair and Picket; Belinda Panelo, David D. Mitchell, Alan Kootsher in Alien to Antiquity; Stacey A. Matthews, Tekee Wilkes and Holly Gibbs in The Body Washer; and David D. Mitchell and Alan Kootsher in Memoir.