Humana Festival 2015: A perfect mix of comedy and tragedy makes Colman Domingo's "Dot" the festival hit

L-R: Kevin R. Fee, Sharon Washington, and Marjorie Johnson
Photo: Bill Brymer

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Who: Actors Theatre of Louisville
What: Dot by Colman Domingo
When: March 10-April 12, 2015

[Watch my video capsule review with co-critic Tina Farmer.]

I've been attending the Humana Festival of New American Plays at Actors Theatre of Louisville for five years now, and every time there has been at least one show where the combination of script, acting, and direction was so perfect that it just blew me away. This year, that show is Colman Domingo's "Dot."

The play takes place during the two days before Christmas in the inner-city home of Dotty Shealy in West Philadelphia. A long-time neighborhood activist who refused to join the flight to the suburbs, Dotty has long been the matriarch and anchor of her family, especially after the death of her husband. Now, though, Dot is suffering from dementia, and the stress of dealing with her mood swings, confusion, and memory loss is falling heavily on daughter Shelly, a single parent and lawyer.

L-R: Sharon Washington and Megan Byrne
Photo: Bill Brymer

That's because, to quote the synopsis in the program, "Shelly's brother Donnie, a New York playwright, doesn't know the extent of his mother's decline until he returns home for the holidays. Their sister Averie hasn't been much help, either—she's been too wrapped up in trying to make a name for herself to realize how much Dotty has deteriorated." Throw in the presence of Donnie's husband Adam and Donnie's former high school sweetheart Jackie, along with Dotty's part-time Chechen caretaker Fidel, and you could have the recipe for either a tacky comedy in the manner of Del Shores or a turgid soap opera.

Mr. Domingo, though, is too good a playwright for that. His characters are all fully fleshed out and his portrayal of the effects of dementia on both Dotty and her family is vividly real. As someone who has a parent going through this, I speak from experience. There are plenty of laugh-out-loud moments in "Dot," as well as many that call for a hanky.

Allow me to offer some examples.

The opening scene, in which Shelly and Dotty have the same conversation repeatedly, is painfully plausible. Dotty keeps forgetting what day it is, loses track of the time, and gets lost trying to come back from the bathroom. Shelly's building frustration and increasing consumption of watermelon vodka are funny, sad, and completely credible.

And then there's a moment towards early in the second act when Dotty, mistaking Adam for her dead husband, asks him to dance with her. The family tries to intervene but Adam waves them away, and the two have a bittersweet moment in which Dotty takes momentary refuge in her memories. It's touching and allows us to see, for the first time, what a deeply compassionate person Adam is.

L-R: Marjorie Johnson and Vichet Chum
Photo: Bill Brymer

Perhaps the best combination of comedy and tragedy, though, comes later in the second act, when Dotty gives her children an object lesson in what the world looks, feels, and sounds like to someone coping with dementia. I won't go into details because I don't want to divulge spoilers, so I'll just say that it's funny and heartbreaking at the same time.

And it's brilliantly written—as is the rest of the script. There is simply not a single false note or cheap joke anywhere. The humor emerges naturally from the characters and their interactions.

As good as this script is, though, every member of the cast makes it better. Marjorie Johnson carries much of the weight as Dotty, fading in and out of reality and struggling to hold on to her mind. Her performance is entirely genuine and convincing.

Sharon Washington's Shelly is the very picture of the alpha family member trying to hold everything together. Her frustration with what she sees as the ne'er-do-well behavior of her siblings is palpable.

As Donnie and Adam, Kevin R. Free and Sean Dugan radiate reality as a couple deeply in love and just as deeply embroiled in the kind of superficial spat that inevitably erupts in a committed relationship.

Adrienne C. Moore rounds out the trio of siblings as the sassy if rather feckless Averie. Her monolog about chitterlings is a comic gem.

Vichet Chum is an engaging a sympathetic Fidel and Megan Byrne is the endearingly off-balance Jackie, pregnant by Mr. Wrong and not at all sure what to do about it.

The show is technically solid as well. Meredith McDonough's direction is clear and focused, creating great stage pictures in Dane Laffrey's impressively detailed sets. The first act kitchen set even has a functioning rangetop. Mark Barton's lighting and Christian Frederickson's sound also contribute greatly to the realism of the setting.

L-R: Kevin R. Fee, Sharon Washington,
Marjorie Johnson, and Sean Dugan
Photo: Bill Brymer

"I've had four friends who've had a parent with dementia or Alzheimer's," says Mr. Domingo in a program interview. "I was watching one friend and the way that she dealt with her mother. It as a bit of dark comedy that was going on—I think between the both of them." The absolute truth of his experience informs every minute of this powerful, funny, and gratifying show. "Dot" offers no easy answers, but the way the family finally comes together in the final moments is, in a way, a kind of Christmas miracle. This is a script that deserves and will likely get attention elsewhere after the Humana Festival has closed.

"Dot" runs through April 12th in the Pamela Brown Auditorium at Actors Theatre of Louisville. It's part of the 39th Annual Humana Festival of New American Plays. For more information: actorstheatre.org.