By ADAM CROWE
A Seat on the Aisle
Questions currently swirling in this ASOTA writer’s head: does satire need to be dark in order to be cutting or insightful or even sharp?
I wish I had an answer because it would really help me describe the Phoenix Theatre’s Indiana premiere of Two Mile Hollow by Butler University graduate Leah Nanako Winkler. I am trying to stay very conscious of some advice a playwright once gave me. He said to consider the play as it is rather than as I wish it to be. In the case of Two Mile Hollow, I was hoping for something along the lines of a 21st century version of George C. Wolfe’s The Colored Museum. It is not that. It is, however, an enjoyable spoof that is frequently hilarious and sometimes thoughtful.
Eddie Dean as Joshus (left) and Arianne Villareal as Charlotte. (Photo by Rob Slaven / Indy Ghost Light Photography)
The setup makes clear the sort of satire the audience is in for. The Hampton’s estate of a wealthy white family is the setting for a tale of dramatic family tensions and revelations one sees in O’Neill or Letts or Albee. Well, not quite. The playwright has turned everything up to “11” and nearly all the humor comes from the very extreme portrayals of a family of archetypes.
The cast is made up of African American actors, satirizing not just the genre, but the characters themselves. Vain, self-involved, and shallow are just a few of the adjectives that describe the Donnelly Family. The single outlier is Charlotte, an Asian American executive assistant to a Donnelly who has a major movie career and who is dragged into the high drama of a family weekend.
The playwright offers a skewering of these people and of this very familiar familial angst. The casting of non-white actors to play these archetypes seems to suggest that the audience is in for a sharp satire of race. Here is where my dark versus sharp quandary comes in. For me, the racial satire never got hot enough. And the socio-economic satire never felt as incisive or original as it wanted to be.
(From left) Eddie Dean as Joshus, Paige Elisse as Mary, and Jay Fuqua as Christopher. (Photo by Rob Slaven / Indy Ghost Light Photography)
The cast, on the other hand, was in top form from start to finish.
Arianne Villareal’s Charlotte was thrown in every direction by the Donnelly clan and Villereal’s performance matched the sensation. She earned the final moment, alone onstage. The Donnelly’s were equally well performed. Paige Elisse as Mary, Eddie Dean as Joshus, Jay Fuqua as Christopher and Millicent Wright as Matriarch Blythe. Each actor brought vibrant life to their portrayal. Even more than the over-the-top characterizations, I enjoyed the small bits of language and references.
Also, the technical aspects are in perfect harmony. Inseung Park’s set, Tonie Smith’s costumes, Eric Watkins’ lighting, Brian Grimm’s sound, and Mikael Burke’s precise direction all provide the cast ample support.
No “Bottom Line” this time. The performances are all well worth a look. The play is a definitely parody, and I can’t make it change to suit my tastes.
Read more great play reviews from A Seat on the Aisle at asota.wordpress.com.
Paige Elisse as Mary (left) and Millicent Wright as Matriarch Blythe. (Photo by Rob Slaven / Indy Ghost Light Photography)