Review: NEAT at Scripps Ranch Theatre And Loud Fridge Theatre Group

"On a clear day," is the opening and closing of NEAT by Charlene Woodard, as she recounts her coming of age in 1960s and 70s America and her relationship with her disabled aunt. A co-production of the Loud Fridge Theatre Group and Scripps Ranch Theatre, this play is beautifully performed and directed and is playing at Scrips Ranch Theatre through April 16th.

This one act is an autobiographical play, where Woodard is played by Kandace Crystal, who tells about growing up with her aunt Beneatha, nicknamed "Neat", who due to a mix-up of medicine bottles, and the systematic racism of the healthcare system when Neat was a baby, meant that Neat was forever mentally impacted. Playing multiple characters, Crystal plays everyone from young to old, from the prejudiced South to racial violence in the North.

The story weaves and flows from tender moments in childhood, to teenage fashion and infatuations, and through the hard-learned lessons of learning your history and being betrayed when trying to stand up for your heritage. Through it all is Neat, with her sense of curiosity, her stubborn streak, and even her ability to find something special in something like the taste of falling snow. It is through this prism that Woodard looks back at her and Neat's life, and how it shaped her into the person she became.

Along with Crystal is dancer Nicole Diaz-Pellot who comes on as a silent duet partner with Crystal, physically embodying other characters, inner emotional turmoils, and celebrations. Their chemistry and partnership in telling this story results in beautifully layered storytelling.

Excellently directed and paced by Claire Simba, the choice to have this production be told on a bare stage, with simple black costumes, highlighted with a few projections by Ted Leib and video animations by Leigh Akin allows the focus to be solely on the incredibly strong and emotional work being done by Crystal as the main storyteller.

What NEAT gives the audience is "a clear day" to allow all of us to see the distinct chapters in a coming-of-age story in America, and how we can be lifted up and shaped by unexpected people in our lives, as presented by a talented production.

How To Get Tickets

NEAT, a co-production of the Loud Fridge Theatre Group and Scripps Ranch Theatre, is playing at Scrips Ranch Theatre through April 16th. For ticket and showtime information please go to www.loudfridge.com or www.scrippsranchtheatre.org

Photo Credit: NEAT produced by Scripps Ranch Theatre and Loud Fridge Theatre Group - photo courtesy of Ken Jacques