TU's "Perestroika": An Explosive End to an Epic

The second part of Tony Kushner's epic play, Angels in America, Perestroika, is in many ways a much more human play than the first, Millennium Approaches.  The first play is largely political, while the second delves more into the people whose lives we are witnessing.  Because of that, or in spite of that, this play has a much more universal, grander, more epic feel.  For me, Perestroika, which blazed its way on to the Towson University stage last Friday, is much more accessible, both for the actors and the audience, and as a result, the three hour play (not including two intermissions) whirls by, and never once feels long.  But in this case, it is not just the play that makes this evening of theatre so compelling, it is also the first rate direction by Steven J. Satta, and the (I'm not exaggerating here) professional quality of its young, flawless cast. 

While the action takes place on the same set (designed by Daniel Ettinger), with the same technical design team (lights by Jay Herzog and sound by Chas Marsh) as Millennium Approaches, it is there where all similarities end.  Somehow, Mr. Satta and team have amped up the entire production, in much the same way Emeril Lagasse amps up plain pasta – BAM!  The set, lighting and sound virtually pulse like the city of New York, alternately exciting, oddly intimate, and at time, bone-chillingly scary. 

(It should be noted that the remainder of this review will focus on the cast of Perestroika, which is different from the cast presenting Millennium Approaches.  It is never my intent to compare performances.  While the character names are the same, Perestroika is a different play and the cast is judged separately.  Any comparison is unintentional.)

From the opening scenes, this play shoots out of the starting gate like a thoroughbred at the Preakness, and never slows down.  Part of that, of course, comes from the cinematic, urgent direction of Steven J. Satta, who has apparently spent as much time creating a sense of flow as he has on the superior details of his casts' performances.  Here, like in life, lives ebb and flow, crisscross and intertwine.  And everything about the direction and technical support creates that thematic staging.  But the lion's share of praise must be heaped on this unbelievably talented young cast – the future of live theatre is indeed great, if these student artists are any indication.  Several of the performances are professional in quality, and all of them eschew any notions of "they are great for college kids."

In multiple, often cross-gender, roles, Lexi Martinez and Haily Wineland are chameleon-like in their portrayals.  The only thing that gives them away as far as telling they are the same two actresses is their distinct looks.  Each young actress plumbs their multiple assignments to the fullest of depths, creating vibrant, real characters in the matter of seconds.  Miss Wineland's main role is that of Hannah Pitt, the hard as nails Mormon mother, who claims she does not cry, and is too strong to admit she is lost in the sea of hedonism and alternatives available in New York City.  What is remarkable in this performance is the slow, deliberate unpeeling of a complex character to reveal layer after conflicted layer as actress and character are forced to go places they never dreamed they'd have to go.  Ultimately, the humanization of Hannah Pitt makes the difficult journey, superbly played by Wineland, worth the rocky road we endure to get there.  Miss Martinez's main role is that of the Angel, sent from Heaven to guide an unwilling Prior Walter into the realm of Prophet.  Her delivery as she stalks the set, trying to convince a man that he is not having delusions, but is, in fact, a prophet is alternately commanding and humorous.  It seems even angels get desperate.  Microphoned with a voice modulator, Martinez vocalizes in such a way that creates awe and inspiration, and then downright fear.  Her interpretation seems as real as one might expect – if I were so fortunate as to speak to an angel I'm sure I'd find her awesome, inspirational and frightening.  To discuss anymore of her intricate portrayal would be to give away many of the most interesting plot twists.

In the first play, the character of Belize, nurse and confidante, is comparatively smaller than in this play.  Charlie Long (so excellent in Cloud 9 last year) brings an earthy vibrancy to the role.  As he alternates between what others expect from a gay black man (bitchy one-liners, head and hand snapping) and a meticulously layered swirl of emotions and deep inner strength, Long makes you wish you had Belize in your corner.  His anger and anguish are carefully hidden, exposed only when he is forced to make an unexpected step in what seems at first like a straightforward trip.  The result is a warm, funny and wholly satisfying professional grade performance.

There are two central pairs in Angels – one is the Mormon husband and wife team of Joe and Harper Pitt, who start out the play estranged – he with his gay lover, Louis, she with her mother-in-law and a handy bottle of Valium.  The other pair is the aforementioned Louis, estranged from his very ill lover, Prior.  All four, like the supporting characters, are on journeys none of them ever expected to be on; it is how they cope and become new, fuller people that is the meat of this play.  All four actors in these roles are nothing less than amazing.

Valerie Westall Sale as Harper Pitt really comes into her own with this role.  It is gratifying to see these young artists grow – she is leagues better than the actress she was in Urinetown.  Never once does she overplay or resort to mugging or playing to the audience. Miss Sale shows here that she has the goods.  The role requires a large range of emotion – from near crazy to just-this-side-of-insanity anger.  What makes her performance so real, so biting, is that she grounds the entire thing with an unnerving underplaying, making us, like her family, on edge, wondering what she will do next.   It is that delicate balance between just right and over the top that makes her Harper riveting from scene to scene; and in her final scene, it makes the way Harper ends up all the more satisfying.  (I'm not telling!) 

Bobby Libby is fast becoming one of my favorite actors at any level.  When you see his name in the program you know the part is in good hands.  I thought he was excellent in Cloud 9 and Urinetown, but nothing prepared me for the huge leap in skill he takes here.  He plays Louis, the emotionally ill equipped, always beating himself up with guilt guy.  He is a raging ball of conflict – should he go back to his sick lover? Was he wrong to abandon him in his time of greatest need?  Is his relationship with Joe Pitt really what he needs?  Why does sex scare him and titillate him at the same time?  Does he really deserve all the bad things that happen to him?  Are those bad things really that bad?  It takes an innately strong actor to show all of that, often simultaneously.  Like Miss Sale, Mr. Libby also carefully allows his Louis to only dip his toe into the pool of over doing it.  Just like the character he plays, Libby's almost Scrooge-like doling out of likeability is almost infuriating to watch, but ultimately very gratifying.   The hallmark of Libby's performance, though, is the unmatched chemistry he has with the other actors in any scene he is in.  Toward the beginning of the play, Louis is seducing an awkward Joe Pitt.  Staged with the exactness of a filmed close up, Libby (and Steve Polites as Joe Pitt) creates an excruciating sexual tension.  The heat between the two is so real, so intense, that I'm pretty sure the entire audience was holding its breath.  And when the scene ultimately ends in a tasteful, but highly erotic manner, a feeling of electricity and passion filled the room.  I give both actors much credit for attacking the scene with such conviction and reality. 

Steve Polites, another young actor I always know can be relied upon, plays Joe Pitt with an amazing grace.  Here is a man fresh from giving up all he has fought his entire life to hold onto.  Polites infuses him with the fear of the unknown and that dynamic enthusiasm found in the newly freed.  It is to the actor's credit that he never makes Joe look simple or foolish, even when he clings to some of the religion he has just forsaken.  As mentioned above, the actor does remarkable work in difficult sexual scenes, and is even better when he portrays his character's struggles with having to face things he never dreamed he'd have to.  How Joe Pitt ends up (again, I'm not telling) is a final, amazing bit of acting on Mr. Polites' part.  There seems to be no end to the growing cavalcade of characters this fine young actor has created in just the past year.  Remember his name.

 

R. Alex Kliner, who last year delivered a tour de force performance in The Adding Machine, and a less than satisfying performance in Urinetown, is again at the top of his game, as the desperately ill former drag queen, Prior.  Gone is any notion of stereotype; Kliner creates an original take on the character, equal parts fading silent screen star and religious zealot (in a most unreligious way), with a very deep pool of conflicting emotions.  He plays the wide-eyed fear and wonder at being chosen by the angel to be a prophet with a clarity most actors can only strive for – his Prior laughs in the face of death, looks anger straight in the eye, and goes forward with gusto into those previously undreamt of places his character must now go.  It is fun and exciting to watch Kliner and character become one as they grow and learn together.  I imagine much of the strength Prior gains in this fantastic journey is much like the personal growth Mr. Kliner surely has accomplished in these past weeks of rehearsal and performance.  Nothing reveals the walking mess of conflict that Prior Walter is more than the way Kliner glides around the stage, an odd mix of Obi Wan Kenobi and The French Lieutenant's Woman (his costume – designed by Georgia Baker – is that exact mixture).  He is commanding and graceful at the same time – hard and strong and grace under pressure all at once.  Kliner is at all times mesmerizing.  What a pleasure to watch.

Finally, though the character is central here, but in a completely different way than in Millennium Approaches, Roy Cohn is now more human than ever as AIDS dehumanizes him until his last hard fought breath.  Jason Roth, the actor playing the role, is brilliant.  And I don't mean brilliant for a college actor, I mean brilliant period.  One would never know he was a college student, so mature and realistic his portrayal.  He is, for all intents and purposes, a dying middle-aged man.  As the disease eats away at his body, Cohn begins to realize that maybe he shouldn't have been the rotten soul he was all of his life.  Of course, Mr. Roth is savvy enough to know that even as the disease cripples Cohn, he would never be less than fierce to any outsider.  He is tough as nails, rotten to the core, and yet, surprisingly touching.  It is when Cohn, like all the others, is forced to do things he never dreamed he'd do, that Roth really lets his acting chops kick in.  He brings the audience so close to pitying his character, then sharp as an animal trap, clamps down on your emotions that you no longer pity, but almost hate the man.  And that is exactly how Cohn would have liked it, I'm sure.  Jason Roth's performance is one I will not soon forget.

It is probably safe to say that I won't soon forget any of the performances in Perestroika at Towson University.  If you love good, challenging theatre, it really behooves you to support the next generation and get to both parts of Angels in America at Towson University.  Like the journey these characters take, Angels in America will probably take you places you never dreamed of, and like them you'll be the better for the trip.

 

PHOTO: Lexi Martinez as The Angel and R. Alex Kliner as Prior Walter in Angels in America: Perestroika.  Photo courtesy of Towson University.

 

ANGELS IN AMERICA: PERESTROIKA Performance Schedule:

Tuesday, April 24, Wednesday, April 25 at 8PM; Saturday, April 28 and Sunday, April 29 at 2PM; Thursday, May 3 and Friday, May 4 at 8PM; Saturday, May 5 at 8PM.  (Millennium Approaches plays Saturday, May 5 at 2PM.