BWW Reviews: SUNSET BABY at Primal Forces

If you were fortunate enough last year to see Primal Forces' production of Mamet's THE ANARCHIST you'll know that this relatively new company is mounting shows that are plus ten on the intensity scale.

With SUNSET BABY, founder and director Keith Garsson, using the talents of John Archie, Ethan Henry and Makeba Pace, has ratcheted things to TNT plus.

Set in present time East Brooklyn, SUNSET BABY, written by Dominique Morisseau, has Makeba Pace as Nina, daughter of John Archie's Kenyatta and living with Damon, played by Ethan Henry.

Nina and Damon deal drugs and Kenyatta is desperately trying to be Nina's father once again. And, more importantly to him, retrieve from Nina letters her dead from drugs mother wrote to Kenyatta when he was in prison.

This is a political play, a piece about injustice decades earlier. And now. Kenyatta tried to lead a Black Revolution and generations later Nina and Damon are struggling for their individual freedoms, dreaming of travel, striving for trust in each other. A political play, yes, but one so tightly wrought in the personal that boredom cannot exist. It's a ninety minute one act dominated by the excellence of the acting.

Makeba Pace, in blonde wig and hooker dress, plays with a violence that's stunning. John Archie's eyes are as old and cold as the world as he tries to reconcile fatherhood with his failed revolution. And a brilliant Ethan Henry is a thug who reads and dreams and has great humor, despite being trapped in the meanness of his life

Performed on the small stage at Ft Lauderdale's Andrews Living Arts SUNSET BABY is the ultimate in in your face theatre. It's fast, it's funny and always brutal.

Directed by Keith Garsson with set design by Jodi Della Ventura, sound by David Hart, lighting by Christina Lauar and costumes by Alberto Arroyo.

SUNSET BABY plays through December 21 at Andrews Living Arts, 23 Northwest 5th Street, Ft Lauderdale. 954-530-1879 http://andrewslivingarts.org

Photo: Ethan Henry, John Archie, Makeba Pace

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