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Off-Broadway Reviews—“Daphne’s Dive" and "A Better Place”

Details: Parent Category: Film and the Arts; Category: Reviews; Published on Sunday, 22 May 2016 18:32; Written by Kevin Filipski

Daphne’s Dive

Written by Quiara Alegría Hudes; directed by Thomas Kail

Performances through June 12, 2016

A Better Place

Written by Wendy Beckett; directed by Evan Bergman

Performances through June 11, 2016

Samira Wiley in Daphne's Dive (photo: Joan Marcus)

In her sometimes affecting but mostly scattershot Daphne’s Dive, Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Quiara Alegría Hudes follows the denizens of a local Philly bar over the course of 18 years, but their lives, loves, and even deaths have little resonance or dramatized with scant insight, despite flashes of wit and humor.

We meet Daphne, hard-working owner-proprietor of the eponymous bar; her flaunting, successful sister Inez and her husband, rising local politician Acosta; three regulars, provocative performance artist Jenn, painter Pablo and ancient biker Rey; and Ruby, an 11-year-old black girl adopted by Daphne after she was (literally) found in a dumpster after jumping out a window to escape her family’s eviction.

The play jumps forward through the years—Ruby intones, “I am 15,” “I am 20,” etc., to situate where we are—and the lives of this septet become ever more fractured, complicated, even loving (Daphne and Jenn begin an unlikely romance). But Hudes too often cuts corners: after a tender scene between Daphne and Jenn, for example, the latter’s disappearance from the play is handed so clumsily that it hovers over the rest of the drama, to its ultimate detriment.

More foolhardy is what feels like a tacked-on epilogue: a flashback to when Ruby was 11 and she and Daphne say what might have been their final goodbye (before Daphne adopts her). Its stiltedness is more the playwright’s fault than two characters searching for things to say. That ever-resourceful director Thomas Kail is unable to fully join the disparate strands of this memory play together, even as it’s enacted on Donyale Werle’s wonderfully dingy bar set and acted with forcefulness by the entire cast, especially Vanessa Aspillaga, who makes an intensely sympathetic Daphne, and Samira Wiley, whose Ruby is wounded but beautifully alive.

Jessica DiGiovanni in A Better Place (photo: Jenny Anderson)

Apartment envy is a fact of life in Manhattan, and Wendy Beckett’s A Better Place tackles it with all the finesse of a ‘70s sitcom filled with caricatures, however funny and accurate parts of it are.

Gay couple Les and Sel live in a rent-controlled one-bedroom, and Les is transfixed by the ultra-rich, seemingly perfect family in their modern, airy apartment across the street: he always watches what’s going on, which includes mom Mary, dad John and daughter Carol, who brings home real-estate brokers for sex laden with brokerage verbiage to get her off.

This is all OK as far as it goes, and Beckett finds plentiful, if easy, humor in these absurd situations, especially when it comes out that the one-percenters are not really as affluent as they seem—both financially and personally; but how the two sides finally get together is brought about in such a painfully contrived way that the final scenes come across as rather desperate in their attempt to join belly laughs and deeper meaning.

The performances are smartly pitched just this side of parody by director Evan Bergman, who otherwise has problems reining in the play’s episodic nature as it jumps back and forth between apartments: best in a game cast is Jessica DiGiovanni, who provides an amusingly flirtatious portrait of a millennial bimbo who needs to hear ever more florid descriptions of pricey apartments to have an orgasm.

The stunning set is by David L. Arsenault: the two apartments are shown in all their realistic glory on either side of the stage, with a metaphorical chasm in between: the lived-in, rent-controlled brownstone is dark and stuffy; and the modern multi-million dollar one all bright and airy. That more is said through the set than through the characters ends up dragging A Better Place down.

Daphne’s Dive

Signature Theatre, Pershing Square Signature Center, 480 West 42nd Street, New York, NY

signaturetheatre.org

A Better Place

Duke on 42^nd Street, 229 West 42^nd Street, New York, NY

abetterplaceplay.com

"Sylvia" Dances Across Lincoln Center

Details: Parent Category: Film and the Arts; Category: Reviews; Published on Friday, 20 May 2016 02:25; Written by Jack Angstreich

Photot by Gene Schiavone

The new season of the superb American Ballet Theater at Lincoln Center opened with one of the strongest works in its repertory, the Frederick Ashton’s masterwork, Sylvia, from 1952, set to the magnificent and famous score — greatly esteemed by Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky — by Léo Delibes, the composer of the delightful ballet Coppélia (also in the company's repertory but not presented this season) as well as the gorgeous opera Lakmé. Ashton is arguably the greatest choreographer of the 20th century (along with George Balanchine) and the company is to be commended for devoting a week each to Sylvia as well as to one of his other full-length ballets, La Fille mal gardée. Other highlights of this season include six one-act ballets — three of which are set to scores by Dmitri Shostakovich — by artist-in-residence extraordinaire, Alexei Ratmansky, possibly the finest choreographer of his generation, including one world premiere (with music by Leonard Bernstein), as well as his 2015 production of Tchaikovsky’s The Sleeping Beauty, choreographed in 1890 by Marius Petipa.

The performance of Sylvia on the evening of Friday, May 13th, featured an outstanding cast headed by the exquisite Russian ballerina, Maria Kochetkova, whose grace and precision were unfailingly dazzling in the title role. Her partner, in the role of Aminta, Herman Cornejo, one of the most brilliant dancers in the company, was equally riveting. My only caveat with respect to these two leads were limitations in the performances from an actorly viewpoint — I would have liked to see more emotional conviction.

This reservation did not apply to the marvelous Daniil Simkin, the best character player in the company, in the role of Orion — the dancer's performance was delightfully hammy as well as choreographically arresting. Excellent support was given by the other featured players — Arron Scott as Eros and Christine Shevchenko as Diana — while the other thrilling dancers, especially in thedivertissements,were too numerous to mentions. (Thecorps de balletwas also in fine form.)

My only significant criticism of this production is that it requires a strong directorial vision — elements of the scenography and lighting and some of the costumes are lovely and effective but as a whole the staging lives only in the dancing whereas it could — and should — be a complete spectacle. Still, any opportunity to see Ashton's endlessly creative choreography so vividly realized should not be missed by any connoisseur.

Theater Reviews—“City Stories,” “Anna Akhmatova: The Heart Is Not Made of Stone”

Details: Parent Category: Film and the Arts; Category: Reviews; Published on Thursday, 19 May 2016 18:18; Written by Kevin Filipski

City Stories

Written and directed by James Phillips; music composed/performed by Rosabella Gregory

Performances through May 29, 2016

Anna Akhmatova: The Heart Is Not Made of Stone

Written by Eve Wolf; directed by Donald T. Sanders

Performances through May 1, 2016

Daphne Alexander and Tom Gordon in City Stories (photo: James Phillips)

Part of this spring’s edition of Brits Off Broadway at 59 E 59 Theaters—again bringing together an array of new work from across the pond—is City Stories, a smorgasbord of variable one-acts that melds into a pleasing platter evokes the sights, sounds and people of London.

Director James Phillips’s half-dozen playlets are in rotating repertory: the four I saw—Narcissi, about a couple’s lifelong distancing act; Lullaby, a futuristic tale of a city beset by a plague; Great Secret, about a search for the meaning of life; and Occupy, about the countless letters people have written to God, all stored in a cathedral—run from contrived to clever, all accompanied by songwriter Rosabella Gregory’s sprightly piano playing and singing, which comments on, at times even forming the crux of the alternately intimate and adversarial relationships on display.

In the talented cast, Daphne Alexander stands out with her bewitching manner and easy way with Phillips’ cascades of dialogue in Lullaby. Gregory equally transfixing: when singing the Beatles’ “Golden Slumbers” during particularly fraught moments in Lullaby, she brings Phillips’s somewhat forced allegory into sharper focus.

Ellen McLaughlin in Anna Akhmatova: The Heart Is Not Made of Stone (photo: Joan Marcus)

Anna Akhmatova was the brilliant Russian poet whose lifelong struggle against Soviet government officials is encapsulated in Anna Akhmatova: The Heart Is Not Made of Stone, a stimulating multi-media performing piece written by Eve Wolf—who also performs several potent Russian piano works—for her enterprising Ensemble for the Romantic Century.

The ruthless and lethal tactics of the Stalinists are shown—sometimes absurdly, as when two apparatchiks dance together to Dmitri Shostakovich—alongside Akhmatova having an unforgettable evening in conversation with British intellectual Isaiah Berlin and commiserating with artist contemporaries like Sergei Prokofiev. We see how great artists, even when up against intolerant, uncomprehending authorities, continue to create.

And it was remarkable that Soviet artists were able to create such enduring works of art: and the best moments occur when Wolf and fellow musicians—fellow pianist Max Barros, violinist Victoria Wolf Lewis and cellist Andrew Janss—play works by Prokofiev, Shostakovich and Sergei Rachmaninov, briefly transporting her (and us) to a place away from the gulags and secret police, however much that reality informed their very creativity.

Ellen McLaughlin makes a strong-willed yet fragile Anna while Berlin is nicely sketched in by Jeremy Holm; Donald T. Sanders’ effective direction, coupled with David Bengali’s artful projections, Vanessa James’s evocative sets and costumes and Beverly Emmons’s resourceful lighting, vividly reminds us of art’s ultimate power to triumph over evil.

City Stories

59 E 59 Theatres, 59 East 59^th Street, New York, NY

britsoffbroadway.com

Anna Akhmatova: The Heart Is Not Made of Stone

Brooklyn Academy of Music, Fishman Space, Brooklyn, NY

romanticcentury.org

May '16 Digital Week III

Details: Parent Category: Film and the Arts; Category: Reviews; Published on Tuesday, 17 May 2016 23:15; Written by Kevin Filipski

Blu-rays of the Week

The Boy
(Universal)

This ordinary thriller about a young woman who becomes an elderly couple’s nanny for their eternally young “son” has creepyTwilight Zone-like moments, but since it runs for 90 minutes instead of a half-hour, there’s a lot of time left for director William Brent Bell to lose his way, and he fills the remaining hour with half-baked attempts at psychological complexity.

Lauren Cohan makes a beguiling heroine, but unfortunately isn’t called on to do too much; and the big reveal, when it comes, is as implausible as what precedes it. The hi-def transfer is first-rate.

The Films of Maurice Pialat—Volume 1
(Cohen Film Collection)

Maurice Pialat, one of the best if unheralded French directors of the last three-plus decades of the 20^thcentury (he died in 2003 at age 77), is finally getting his due: this first volume of his films on Blu-ray collects three of his earliest triumphs: the trenchant terminal-illness drama The Mouth Agape(1974); an unsparing look at high school kids, Graduate First(1979); and Loulou (1980), a tough-minded romance with then-young stars Gerard Depardieu and Isabelle Huppert.

The films have been restored to mint condition; voluminous extras include interviews with Pialat’s widow and several of his stars (including actress Nathalie Baye, magnificent in Mouth), deleted scenes, and an 80-minute documentary about his life and career, Maurice Pialat: Love Exists.

Mr. Selfridge—Complete Final Season

(PBS)

Although I watched this soap opera faithfully, I never entirely bought Jeremy Piven as Harry Selfridge, the American entrepreneur who singlehandedly created and expanded London’s first large department store in the first decades of the last century: but the rest of the cast, costumes and sets have always been so authentic that they couched the series in a reality that even Piven’s modern sensibility couldn’t ruin.

And happily, in this final season, Piven came into his own; with heartwrenching storylines and perfect acting across the board, this season was the most satisfying Selfridge of all. All 10 episodes look glorious in hi-def; extras comprise featurettes and interviews.

Synchronicity
(Magnolia)

Although its title evokes both Carl Jung and The Police, Jacob Gentry’s convoluted sci-fi thrill ride takes a clever premise—the inventor of a time machine goes back in time to ensure no one steals his invention—and does little with it except for several ill-thought out time-travel sequences.

Chad McKnight is OK in the lead and Brianne Davis has an ingratiating Sandra Bullock-esque presence, but Michael Ironside’s too-obvious heavy drags down the entire movie. The film has a crisp, clean transfer on Blu; extras comprise interviews, commentary and music video.

Theeb

(Film Movement)

An auspicious feature debut, Naji Abu Nowar’s Theeb is a masterly exploration of the randomness of surviving a world destroyed by war, specifically the deserts of the Ottoman Empire during the 1916 war, where a young boy finds himself in spiraling violent events beyond his—or anyone’s—control.

Nowar’s assured directing rarely missteps, his unknown cast (especially Jacir Eid Al-Hwietat as the eponymous young boy) is sensationally fine and the film’s continued relevance to today is sadly apparent. The film looks superb on Blu; extras are Nowar’s commentary and Lebanese director Ely Dagher’s shortWaves ‘98.

Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf
(Warner Archive)

Mike Nichols made his daring directing debut in 1966 with this still-powerful if somewhat neutered adaptation of Edward Albee’s best play: it’s a lacerating portrait of two couples, played with strength and wit by Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, Sandy Dennis and George Segal.

Haskell Wexler’s gritty black and white photography—which earned him an Oscar—looks fantastic on Blu; extras comprise a commentary with Nichols and Steven Soderbergh and another with Wexler; featurettes including interview snippets with Albee; and an hour-long 1975 Liz Taylor profile, An Intimate Portrait.

DVDs of the Week

Beauty and the Beast—Complete 3^rdSeason
(CBS)

This reboot of the popular 1980s cult drama series—which propelled Ron Perlman and Linda Hamilton to stardom—has now lasted as long as the original (with a new season on the way), as Jay Ryan and Kristin Kreuk more than ably stand in for the original stars.

The difference is that Perlman and Hamilton were more plausibly mythic, while these two have been scrubbed clean. Still, it’s mindless fun for the most part for anyone who wants to travel down this road again. All 13 episodes are included; extras are deleted scenes, a gag reel and featurettes.

Eisenstein in Guanajuato
(Strand Releasing)

British director Peter Greenaway’s latest extravaganza ostensibly follows Russian filmmaker Sergei Eisenstein to Mexico in 1931, but it’s really about Greenaway’s preoccupations with sexuality, art and history, served with his usual sumptuous visual palette, witty musical juxtapositions (fellow Russian genius Sergei Prokofiev’s brilliant scores for Eisenstein’s films are heard throughout), copious nudity and inscrutable plotting and characterization.

It’s too bad that Strand doesn’t do Greenaway (and viewers) the favor of releasing his film on Blu-ray—as it is in Europe—since the ravishing visuals are its saving grace. The lone extra is an interview with actors Elmer Back and Luis Alberti, who play Eisenstein and his Mexican lover.

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