I attended readings of two of the three new plays, both of which were entirely satisfying on their own, and also show huge potential that I hope to see realized in a full production sometime in the future. As always, Playwrights' Center partners with fantastic local actors who really bring these stories and characters to life, despite reading from scripts and dealing with last-minute changes. They're guided by our fabulous local directors, and work with designers to get a hint of what a full production might look and feel like. Below is a short description of each new work, plus my thoughts on the two that I saw.
Married for a decade, Kevin and Theo are the ideal couple in the eyes of their families. But at dinner this Sunday, Kevin and Theo have big news. A comedy about the tragedy of loving.
I wasn't able to make it to this one, but I hope to have another chance to see it in the future.
The year is 1966 and the remnants of the Watts Riots are still smoldering against the backdrop of South Central Los Angeles. When a mysterious man stumbles into the office of private eye Thelma Higgins looking to warn her husband that his life might be in danger, she soon discovers that the man she’s been married to for ten years is not who he claims to be. As her investigation leads her on a tangled trail of deceit, corruption, and treacherous backroom deals, she and her husband must learn to trust one another again to find out who’s trying to kill him and why.
The only thing I know about the genre known as "Noir" is the movie L.A. Confidential and Garrison Keillor's Guy Noir. But this play contains all the elements I expect - the suspense, the mystery, the corruption, the smooth voice-overs. And in an unexpected twist in the genre, the hero detective is a black woman. The play also grapples with ideas of racism, gentrification, and violence in late '60s L.A. Sound designer Andrew Lee Dolan added some elements to help create atmosphere, and I look forward to seeing what this play looks like with period costumes and set, and lighting to further create that noir feeling that already exists in the script.
In 2011, the director of the International Monetary Fund was accused of sexual assault by a hotel maid, Nafissatou Diallo, but all charges were dismissed. we, the invisibles shares the rarely-heard stories of people like Diallo, people from all over the globe working at New York’s luxury hotels. Funny, poignant, and brutally honest by turns, the play is an investigation of the complicated relationship between movers and shakers and the people who change their sheets.
Rather than focus on the case in question, Susan uses it as a jumping off point for her own miossion to tell the stories of the people she works with at a luxury NYC hotel. She has made herself a character in the play as she interviews her coworkers, many of whom are immigrants from all over the world, and ruminates on her own life and career as well as what a life in the service industry is like, especially when serving the rich and famous. The interview style of the piece, with actors playing multiple characters (which this incredible cast had a lot of fun with), works really well as a reading and not much needs to be added in a full production, although it would be fun to see the actors don costumes or elements that would help to define and specify each character. As the above description notes, we, the invisibles is indeed funny and poignant, and completely engaging.