At the Humana Festival, student interns deliver a "Wondrous Strange" collection of ghost stories

Hannah Karpenko in "The Bonnets"
Photo: Bill Brymer

Share on Google+:

Every edition of the Humana Festival features a program of short one-act plays organized around a common theme and performed by the students of the Actors Theatre of Louisville's Acting Apprentice Company.  This year's show, Wondrous Strange—which takes its title from Horatio's exclamation of astonishment after seeing the ghost of Hamlet's father ("O day and night, but this is wondrous strange!")—focuses on ghosts and the supernatural.

"Kentucky's supernatural lore fills anthology after anthology," writes Jessica Reese in the program book, "and every year, thousands of visitors head to the state's haunted landmarks, from posh hotels and mansions to dive bars and Civil War sites…This season, four fearless writers—Martyna Majok, Meg Miroshnik, Jiehae Park, and Jen Silverman—have been invited to venture into the spirit realm and examine the unexplained and the uncanny."

L-R: Alejandro Hernandez, Addison Williams
Jayson Speters in "Ghost Bros"
Photo: Bill Brymer

The resulting short (70 minute) collection of nine plays, sketches, and "blackouts" is a bit uneven, but taken as a whole it's great fun and performed with skill and versatility by a company of 20 talented young actors.  Even though we saw it at a 10:30 a.m. matinee, the show still created an appropriately spooky atmosphere, punctuated with moments of inspired comedy.

Most of the latter comes from Jen Silverman's two contributions. "Ghost Bros" is a hilariously on-target send-up of supernatural "reality" TV and juvenile macho as the titular "bros" (Alejandro Hernandez, Jayson Speters, and Addison Williams) blunder their way through a long-abandoned insane asylum in unsuccessful pursuit of a ghostly little girl (Walls Trimble). "The Bonnets", which concludes the show, is an enthusiastic celebration of murder and mayhem by the female members of the company, dressed in modest nightgowns and bonnets.

Martyna Majok contributes one of the best pieces, a touching little character study about an inexperienced prostitute (Glenna Brucken) who advertises herself as a psychic to stay ahead of the law, only to discover that her customer (Mr. Hernandez) is really interested in a reading.  Instead of playing this for laughs, Ms. Majok makes it a charming portrait of two troubled people looking for comfort in a cold world.

Tracey Green in "Something Like"
Photo: Bill Brymer

One of the creepiest entries is Meg Miroshnik's "The Holler", about a group of friends who have made the mistake of trying to turn part of a former abattoir into an apartment—with unpleasant results.  Her zombie tale "Bug" is a close second, but I thought its predictability spoiled it a bit.

Jiehae Park's "Something Like" takes the ghost story into cyberspace as a young woman (Tracey Green) becomes addicted to interacting with an artificial intelligence program (Adenike Thomas) modeled after her deceased lover.  It downplays the supernatural element to deliver a moving illustration of how we deal with loss.

Directors Marti Lyons and John Rooney make good use of the Bingham Theatre's versatile space, assisted by Paul Toben's dramatic lighting and Christian Frederickson's sound, both of which go a long way towards establishing a disturbing atmosphere.

Wondrous Strange runs through April 10th at Actors Theatre of Louisville as part of the 40th Humana Festival of New American Plays. 

Humana Festival 2015: Jen Silverman's "The Roommate" is part Neil Simon, part Quenten Tarantino

L-R: Tasha Lawrence and Margaret Daly
Photo: Bill Brymer

Share on Google+

Who: Actors Theatre of Louisville
What: The Roommate by Jen Silverman
When: March 4-April 12, 2015

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

Jen Silverman's comedy-drama "The Roommate" puts a decidedly original spin on a shopworn theatrical device. The end result isn't entirely successful, but the story is inventive enough and the dialog smart enough to make for a worthwhile evening.

As the play begins, we're in what looks like familiar territory. In her mid-fifties, Iowa City housewife Sharon finds herself "retired" from her marriage and looking for a way to make ends meet. She advertises for a roommate to share expenses and specifies that only women in their fifties need apply.

She hopes, in short, to find someone much like herself. She winds up with Robyn, a vegan lesbian from the Bronx. From Sharon's perspective, she might as well be a resident of Oz.

The two are chalk and cheese. Sharon is solid and frumpy while Robyn is slim and graceful. Sharon is open, honest, and unsure of herself. Robyn, on the other hand, radiates self-confidence and is cagey about her prior personal and professional lives—with good reason, as it turns out.

Photo: Bill Brymer

As they try to get to know each other, it looks like we're in for yet another iteration of Simon's "The Odd Couple," with the mismatched pair becoming pals, growing and learning together, and eventually winding up better and stronger in the process. Soon, though, it becomes apparent that playwright Silverman is much more original than that. Growth and learning occur, but not entirely symmetrically, and not entirely for the better. Before long, things take a turn away from Simon and towards David Mamet. Or maybe Quentin Tarantino.

"I've been particularly interested in stories of how people transform themselves," says the playwright in an interview in the press kit, "or in people who are drawn or driven to a point in their lives where no choice is left to them but self-transformation." Both Sharon and Robyn are at that point, but as Sharon becomes increasingly enamored of Robyn's shady past, it becomes clear that transformation can be a two-edged sword.

I'm being deliberately vague about the story because Ms. Silverman's plot twists are part of what make "The Roommate" so much fun. Let it suffice to say that both Sharon and Robyn make some decisions that (to quote the playwright) "require a lot of boldness and recklessness, out of both desperation and desire for life."

Sharon is Margaret Daly, who St. Louis audiences will recognize as the down-to-earth Mrs. Drayton from the Rep's stellar production of "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner" earlier this year. Her Sharon appears similar at first, but appearances are deceiving. As the evening progresses it becomes clear that there's much more to this woman than the naïve Midwesterner we see in the opening scenes. Ms. Silverman's script puts Ms. Daly's character through some radical changes, and Ms. Daly makes even the less credible ones look and sound real.

Unlike Sharon, Robyn is closed and sly. The character goes through her own set of changes, but they're less overt. Tasha Lawrence's understated performance is pitched perfectly. She remains cool on the surface while still making it plain that there's turmoil underneath.

Photo: Bill Brymer

Mike Donahue's direction makes good use of the Bingham Theater's 360-degree playing area and sight lines appeared to be good everywhere. Andrew Boyce's detailed set looks exactly like the kind of kitchen Sharon would have. The show is, in short, technically perfect.

There are minor issues with the script. Subplots involving Sharon's absent son and Robyn's absent daughter never seem to go anywhere. Some of the more drastic changes in Sharon's character seem to come out of nowhere, and the final scene lacks the sense of dramatic resolution that I think the play needs. My co-critic Tina Farmer suggested that perhaps "The Roommate" would work better as a two act play (right now it's a 75-minute one act) that explores these issues in more depth.

Even so, in its current form this is an entertaining piece with two very strong and well-developed characters for middle-aged woman—still a relatively rare thing. And its technical demands are modest enough to make it a strong contender for smaller regional theatres. I would be very surprised if "The Roommate" didn't have a life beyond Humana in the coming years.

"The Roommate" runs through April 12th in the Bingham Theater at Actors Theatre of Louisville. It’s part of the 39th Annual Humana Festival of New American Plays. For more information: actorstheatre.org