Sisters' Dance: Ants in the Pants

I have an uncommon first name, and when I see media that include a character with my name, it's usually jarring to me (I never watched Highlander on TV for that reason – and okay yes, I am seeing two Macbeths this week, but at least King Duncan dies early in act II).  When I saw there was a character named Duncan in Sarah Hollister's Sisters' Dance, I resolved not to let it bother me, and despite 12 mentions of Duncan before he even arrives onstage (rather predictably at the end of act I), I had other things on my mind.

Hollister's rather mawkish play is the stuff of bad Lifetime movies- When their mother dies, Fleur, the prodigal "bad girl" sister (Janice Mann), comes home to the bean farm to tangle with Alice, the "good girl" sister (Laura Fois), who nursed their mom as she was dying.  In her will, Mom left the house to Alice, but the acres of beans to Fleur, even though Alice's husband Roy Rune (Nick Ruggieri) has been working the farm.  Secrets are revealed, jealousies come to the surface, each sister is envious of the other but set in her ways, etc… We've all seen the characters and their relationships before, and Hollister doesn't do much with the setup, other than give the actors a platform to chew some scenery with passionately declaimed clichés.   There's very little that's subtle about the play; most of the characters say exactly what's on their minds (Alice even calls herself "the good one"), the symbolism is frying-pan-over-the-head obvious, and the repetition of some of the expositional information becomes tedious. The title isn't explained or referenced till the last few minutes of the play, in a mostly unearned "uplifting" climax.

Janice Mann appropriately dominates the stage as Fleur, the most interesting character – a good-time gal who's afraid she won't be able to coast on her looks as she ages.  She illuminates the stereotype she inhabits by letting the character's insecurities peek through her brash façade.  Her performance was especially impressive to me, since I'd last seen her in Kathleen Warnock's wonderful Some Are People in last year's EATFest, in which she played nearly the polar opposite of Fleur with equal aplomb- Ms. Mann is clearly a very talented and multifaceted actress, and I'd love to see more of her.  Laura Fois is given the unenviable task of playing stick-in-the-mud Alice, who despite claims that she's "not stupid", is so repressed she's easily manipulated by a smooth-talking con man who claims to like her hair.  The actress does what she can with such a preternaturally unlikable character.  Nick Ruggieri as Roy Rune (the only character in the play to be given a last name, for some reason) is solidly there, but the role doesn't give him much to play aside for a tediously unrequited lech for Fleur, and a fascination with horses (which he whittles, since he can't go near horses anymore- he used to tend them but now doesn't- possibly a gambling addition?  Possibly because he married Alice and only works with beans now?  It's unclear).  Chuck Saculla is appealingly rowdy as the aforementioned Duncan, who is essentially a bad-ass drunken cowboy version of El Gallo from The Fantasticks.  It's easy to see why Fleur is attracted to his roguish charm (and some fanservice shirtless scenes from Saculla are a welcome diversion from the plot), though the character is so transparently self-serving, it's hard to credit Alice's attraction.  Also onstage is Blanche Cholet as the ghost of the dead mother, who has no lines and barely comments on the action aside from letting her face fall like a soufflé when someone acts mean, or obscurely comforting the two sisters with ghostly kisses and head-pats.  Cholet is lovely, but the character could easily be cut without affecting the plot in any way, and might even strengthen the play (Cholet thanks the playwright for the role in her bio, so I assume it wasn't a director's addition).

Paul Adams' direction keeps the play moving.  Brian Garber's impressively detailed farmhouse-and-porch set shakes alarmingly at times; for Act II the angle shifts dramatically, which probably explains why it wasn't better-braced in Act I.  Lewis Flinn's original music is appropriate and beautiful, though the speakers at the Baruch theater crackle from time to time.

I'll also be reviewing the other two plays in the series, Claymont and The Play About the Naked Guy, next week.

Sisters' Dance

EMERGING ARTISTS THEATRE and Artistic Director PAUL ADAMS are pleased to announce the 2008 Triple Threat Premiere, the company's third annual series of three full-length plays by emerging writers. The four-week off-Broadway engagement will take place at the Rose Nagelberg Theater at Baruch Performing Arts Center (55 Lexington Avenue--access available on East 25th Street between Lexington and 3rd Avenue). 

Triple Threat plays the following regular schedule through Sunday, March 2nd.

Monday at 7 p.m. - The Play about the Naked Guy
Tuesday at 7 p.m. - Claymont
Wednesday at 7 p.m. - Sisters Dance
Thursday at 7 p.m. - Sisters Dance
Friday at 7 p.m. - Claymont
Friday at 9:30 p.m. - The Play about the Naked Guy
Saturday at 2 p.m. - Claymont
Saturday at 5 p.m. - Sisters Dance
Saturday at 8 p.m. - The Play about the Naked Guy
Sunday at 2 p.m. - Sisters Dance
Sunday at 5 p.m. - The Play about the Naked Guy
Sunday at 8 p.m. - Claymont

Tickets are $50.00 general admission and $25.00 seniors and student with ID.

Tickets are available online at www.eatheatre.org or by calling 866-811-4111.

Tickets may also be purchased, in person, at Baruch Performing Arts Center (55 Lexington Avenue). Box Office hours are: Monday - Friday: 10 am - 7 pm. The Box Office will also be open 2 hours before each performance. TDF accepted.

Janice Mann and Laura Fois (photo by Erica Parise)