ANGRY, RAUCOUS, AND SHAMELESSLY GORGEOUS – Written by Pearl Cleage; Directed by Adrienne Martin-Fullwood. Produced by Vintage Theatre (1468 Dayton, Aurora) through November 23. Tickets available at 303-856-7830 or VintageTheatre.org.
Vintage folk really know how to utilize their spaces. What other small theatre in town can run three shows simultaneously? Right now, they have FIRST DATE in the lobby cabaret space, MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG in the bigger theatre, and in the intimate small space, they just opened this show. So the discerning playgoer can choose either a charming musical look at dating, a Sondheim musical, and a thoughtful but funny show about an existential crisis between women.
This show is the latest in a series of plays written by Pearl Cleage about feisty women. Her characters are flesh and blood women with true life problems resolved by working together. She deals with these issues in such a gentle but decisive method that you innately know that these are also problems Ms. Cleage has dealt with personally in one form or another. She joyfully shares her experiences with her audiences in a way that both enlightens and entertains.
The pitch: A performance artist has been living abroad but returns to the US from her self-imposed exile to display her fame-making theater piece one more time and arrange a national tour. What she doesn’t realize is that another dancer has been hired to actually perform the piece; she is only to get an award and coach the younger woman. She rails against this dismissal of her talent and authorship, but has to face the fact that she is too old to get naked in front of an audience as she did formerly.
Director Adrienne Martin-Fullwood has peopled her play with genuinely feisty women who slip into their roles like falling into a feather bed. Colette Brown as Anna, the older actress, moves like a dancer naturally. Her sly sense of humor gives Anna both a cynical point of view and a reluctant understanding of her place in this new (to her) environment. Rav’’n Moon is Anna’s companion, friend, and advocate. To the best of her limited resources, she clears the rocks out of Anna’s path, consoles her when she is forced to face reality, and boosts her confidence when there are difficult things to do and face. Kenya Mahogany Fashaw brings a grounded, if slightly flustered, festival manager to brilliant life. Put in the awkward position of having to tell her friend she doesn’t want her to perform the piece (there is, after all, nudity involved) and introducing and forcing a “make nice” between the older and the younger performers. The sassy, in every sense of the word ,Nadiya Jackson creates a bold and shamelessly gorgeous “dancer” who will not be dissed by the fading beauty. The fire flies between them while their friends wait on the sidelines to see who is going to win. Or at least, not kill each other. Ultimately, because we are dealing with thoughtful intelligent women, a truce is worked out and truths accepted.
The tech crew has done a lovely job of creating a mid-level hotel suite in which the ladies can play. Sound designer Luke Rahmsdorff-Terry has created an appropriate soundtrack for this lively outing and Holly Peterson Hurd has found lovely garments for the ladies that broadcast their status in life.
As I’ve said all along, this generation of young people have it figured out. All we have to do is get out of their way.
A WOW factor of 8.75!!