Lindiwe, Produced by Steppenwolf Theater Company, Written and Co-Directed by Eric Simonson and Jonathan Berry, Music by Ladysmith Black Mambazo – Short Review
This is the same Eric Simonson who write Tony award-winning Song of Jacob Zulu, featuring the music of Ladysmith Black Mambazo. I felt Simonson got tagged with the credit for playwright because someone had to take the blame. The program notes clearly state that amid the desire for the two groups to work together again, they were both coming through rough patches due to mourning the passing of ensemble members. A year and a half ago they conceived a workable idea and began to develop it collaboratively. (Note to self: beware the word collaboratively when used with plot development.) So it’s likely that Simonson did no more that nip, tuck and tidy the uninspired story.
The music is wonderful. Ladysmith Black Mambazo sings in tight harmony, sometimes so low that it whispers. Their dance is joyous—high kicks that would be welcome in Radio City Music Hall. Nondumiso Tembe (Lindiwe) has a rich, vibrato free voice. When she joins Ladysmith, you would swear she is a company member, as her hushed voice sits just above the men before it breaks into its own soaring melody.
Recommendation: Worth the price of the ticket for the music, but don’t go expecting a “Steppenwolf” play.
Sombras Tango Cabaret, Produced by Tango 21 Dance Theater (T21DT),created by co-founders Jorge Niedas and Liz Sung - Short Review
DBH and I love a good tango especially danced by non-professionals who feel the music and glide effortlessly on the dance floor--no daring dips, no flipping feet, just ordinary people like us, except they can dance. So, the opportunity to see a tango cabaret presented by non-professionals promised just such an experience. And there was some excellent tango, singing, and a polished pianist/composer (Bob Solone.)
Here’s the big BUT—Niedas and Sung tried to tie the performances together with a hackneyed plot of talented gay son mimicking the Cabaret Emcee (Trent Oldham with a great baritone voice) , estranged mother who reconciles, and a cast of dancer/musicians performing a corny script about a group of non-professional dancer/musicians who perform in a Tango Cabaret. And no one can act.
Recommendation: Not worth the price of admission, though some performances were lovely.
Julia Siple as Jennie
Mosquitoes, Produced by Steep Theatre, written by Lucy Kirkwood, Directed by Jaclynn Jutting – Short Review
Can one play encompass the cosmic macro and micro reality of our relationships with each other and with our world? In Mosquitoes, Lucy Kirkwood knocks it out of the park with the micro family relationship—not so much with the macro universe and our place in it.
While scientists are reveling in the validation of the existence of Higgs Boson particles in 2008, the nuclear family of Alice (Cindy Marker), one of the scientific team, is falling apart. Her sister, Jenny (Julia Siple,) embodies the inflexible will of the anti-science crowd. Informed by the internet, she refuses to have scans of her womb while pregnant, fearful it will harm the fetus. Later, when her healthy child needs to be vaccinated, she again refuses, butting against the objections of her scientist mother and sister.
Twined into this conflict is that of Alice with her teenage son, Luke (Alexander Stuart), hungry for a relationship with his estranged scientist father. Luke is sufficiently klutzy with his first girlfriend, Natalie (Upasna Barath) that he finds comfort from his needy Aunt Jenny. She and her irascible and incontinent mother, Karen (Meg Thalken in a wickedly sharp role) have moved in with Alice. Everything about the conflicted family is rich with angst and uncensored retorts. Julia Siple resounds in the role of Jennie; maddening, conniving, a prime manipulator—an award-winning performance.
And then there is the cosmic world intersticed in three or four plot-fogging video segments of nebular particles and planets rushing at the camera. The performers, clad in lab coats and goggles, stand in ranks while The Boson (Richard Costes) recites lines meaningless to me. Perhaps a student of cosmology would understand/engage, but in my humble opinion, this play would be “stellar” without the cosmos.
Highly recommended; use the cosmic breaks to rest your eyes.