This is the story of four African-American women who left the South after the failures of Reconstruction, and headed west. Three sisters and an older friend that they met in the all Black town of Nicodemus, Kansas, are trying to try to find a better life for themselves. 

The American West was the hope of many souls. With the support of the Homestead Act,  doors were open for those who would venture west, to start anew …  if they could handle the demands of the challenging environments in a raw, loosely settled land. But this story begins after the move. It takes place in 1898, some years after the four settled in the backwater town of Nicodemus, Kansas. It is not the fantasy west of Kit Carson, Buffalo Bill, Wild Bill Hitchcock, or even Annie Oakley. But although this story is historical fiction, these people are more real than those western legends. These women represent those pioneers who ventured west to begin a new life, where a black skin was not a detriment. Pearl Cleage’s fascinating play is less myth and more about real people.

Fannie, Sophie, and Minnie bought their property a few years earlier. Living with them is Miss Leah, as she is older and needs assistance. Minnie actually left a to return east to Memphis and has now come back with her husband, Frank. Seems simple enough–it’s not. 

During the 1890’s, the land that they bought was cheap. The Kansas settlement was uniquely African-American. But now, the land has risen in value. White speculators are trying to buy out the early settlers, thereby changing the nature of the town where those pioneers achieved independence. And Frank, son of a white man and a Black woman, who seeks to pass for white, is one of those men who wants to make money by forcing the sisters to sell Minnie’s share.

That is the edge of the conflict, but what drives the play are the old Miss Leah, once a slave who was forced to give up the children she bore, and Sophie, the sister who wants no part of the white world and stubbornly fights against the likes of Frank. They are strong in different ways and that is the beauty of the tale.

Under the direction of Zuhairah McGill, the portrayals are powerful. Deanna S. Wright as Sophie is mesmerizing. It’s hard to take our eyes off her to see her reaction to all that transpires. There is kindness in the likes of one of the men played by Phillip Brown just as there is abuse that spews from Frank (Dax Richardson). And McGill herself plays the both simple and complex, dramatic and comedic role of Miss Leah. She’s great! 

The story is riveting. It explores racism and sexism in America at the end of the 19^th century. Cleage has created a fine piece of drama and Quintessence presents it superbly. 

“Flyin’ West”  at Quintessence Theatre, 7137 Germantown Ave., Phila, PA 19119, 215-987-4450. http://www.quintessencetheatre.org  Thru July 3, 2022.

“Fairview,” by Jackie Siblies Drury, currently at the Wilma Theater, is perhaps the most complex play I’ve seen on the stage in years. It begins in what seems to be a very normal African-American household, as they are about to celebrate the birthday of Grandma Suze. Family is coming in from out of town and Beverly, the mother is preparing for the event as she banters with her husband, Dayton. It almost feels like a tv sitcom.  But in short order, everything goes awry- from the food to the silverware to getting word that one son might not make it. This is life, and it is no less complicated than real life, but it is not the guts of play.

We, the audience, are constantly trying to figure out precisely what actually is happening. Often, I turned to my friend who came with me to the play and she just shook her head with a baffled expression. 

It seems like every character is ambushed by changing facts or a new understanding of the underlying struggles that that they and we all face. But the real victim is the audience, as we are cleverly thrust into chaos. Drury knows that most of the audience is White and she chooses not to give a naturally developing story but a surrealistic one. Things don’t fit. Relationship are not real. “You think you understand us,” she seems to be saying. “I think not.” I agree.

The characters are all interesting. They are fun and make us laugh. And they are  multi-racial. How can that be? This an African-American family, isn’t it? 

  There is one scene, behind windows where White people peer through  windows as the Black family sets up for the birthday. Are they trying to understand something? They even ask each other what race they would choose if they could be any race but White. One could not help but wonder what race the members of the audience would choose to be if they had the choice. But the discussion at the window is long and a bit overbearing, even though we can watch in the foreground, the family repeating the dinner table setup of the first scene.

In the third scene, daughter Keisha is clearly disturbed when one of the White women who was at the window, appears as the girl’s grandmother. She is confused. So are we. Then, the son finally arrives. He too is White. What is going on? What does it mean?  It is complex. You’ve never seen a play like this. I certainly haven’t… and it’s fascinating.

We are told that at the end of the play (spoiler alert), that the audience will be invited on stage, into the set, to try to connect better with the substance of the characters, the play, and race itself. Many went up there…maybe to get a Fairview.

“Fairview” at The Wilma Theater, 265 S. Broad Street, Philadelphia, PA 19107, 215-546-7824  www.wilmatheater.org  extended thru June 26, 2022

           Memoirs are a form of autobiography that go beyond just the story telling of what happened in a person’s life. They are filled with the writer’s reflection on the events, and they show us how the memoirist felt about his or her life. The most popular ones are usually about celebrities- show business, the political life, sports. And in the recent decades, they have become the most popular book in the publishing world. Bucks County Playhouse is producing a new memoir in a different form, on the stage, as one of those writers is also a performer and relives her story. It is a departure from the bigger shows and musicals usually on that New Hope stage and it is enjoyable, intriguing, and a learning experience for me.

            The story is written by and starring Jodi Long, a most accomplished actor in film, television, and on the stage. She chronicles her life from her earliest accomplishments (when she was cast at the age of seven by famed director, Sidney Lumet) to today, some 60 years later. But what makes it most fascinating are the tales she tales of her parents. Jodi Long’s mother is a Japanese-American, her father is of Chinese descent.

            Jodi grew up in Queens, New York.  Her parents were performers of a Vaudevillian style, her father an accomplished dancer, and they traveled the country in the 1940’s and 50’s wherever there was a chance to entertain. They even appeared on the “Ed Sullivan Show.” But there is so much more to the story. Her mother, who grew up in Oregon, was in an internment camp because of her Japanese heritage- this, while Jodi’s uncle, her mother’s brother, was fighting the Nazis in Europe.

            She loved both her parents, but the marriage didn’t work out and they divorced.  She had to establish relationships with new step parents. But she was rescued by her talent, first going to the High School of Performing Arts, then as a theater major to a New York State College at Purchase, before going on to a successful career.

            I can go on and on telling you what I learned from Jodi’s memoir. How her father, who couldn’t speak Chinese, faked words to give his audience the impression of a native Chinese man. In fact, he came from Australia and was of Chinese and Scottish descent. How her mother gave up show business when she divorced. About the different productions, successful and failed, that Jodi worked in. But it best to hear it from her, on the Bucks County stage, about her personal journey through life as an Asian-American, who was probably more American than most Americans.

            The only bit of criticism I had for the piece was the beginning of first act of the two hour play. Jodi was simply telling us what went on. I liked it better when she more dynamically took on the characters of the people in her life and showed us. It is a new play and will probably keep evolving, but it still leaves the theater-goer enriched. I always like that.

“American Jade” by Jodi Long. Thru June 11, 2022. Bucks County Playhouse, 70 Main St., New Hope, PA 18938. Buckscountyplayhouse.org   215-862-2121

          This musical comedy is the second longest Off-Broadway musical in history after “The Fantasticks.” “I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change” played for 12 years before closing in 2008. “Act II Playhouse has brought it to its intimate theater in Ambler after a delayed opening last week and I can see why the show was so successful. It is smart, it is well written, and it is very funny. And the cast performing it at Act II is outstanding.

            What is love? What makes for a good relationship? How long do you wait before jumping into bed? Why do so many fail after good beginnings? Why do some relationships never get off the ground? What remains unsaid? How does family effect love? What is passion? In two hours of watching a few dozen relationship ignite and sputter, the audience is entertained with short dialogues, asides, and songs that keep it laughing. There are no answers, just the questions lovers, potential lovers, and past lovers face every day.

            In the two act, two hour play, four actors play a myriad of characters with simple but effective changing of costumes and makeup. The four are brilliant in their portrayals that begin with a first date. In another, a couple is telling the parents they are breaking up just as the parents are expecting to hear that the kids might be getting married.  One of my favorites was a car ride with the kids as choreographer Dann Dunn staged the family in four chairs and moved them all over the stage in a crazy but uproarious fashion.

            There are all the questions one asks in a relationship that make no sense to one or the other partner. Why is she shopping all the time? Why is he so engrossed in the football game that he doesn’t notice me? Joe DiPietro, who wrote the book and the song lyrics, deals with all the stereotypes as well as the real-life situations with humor but he also deals with the challenges of establishing and maintaining a loving relationship.

            This play, which was updated to include modern technology as well as contemporary issues, has seen productions all around the world in many different languages. But I can’t imagine it having a better cast than the one at Act II. Under Mary Carpenter’s seamless direction, Jennifer Babiak, Michael Indeglio, Liam Snead, and Lauryn Morgan Thomas create so many different characters so effectively that at times, we think it’s a larger cast. There are so many wonderful moments, it feels like this ensemble has been doing the play for years, as their timing is so perfect.

            “I Love You, Your Perfect, Now Change” is a play that will continue to find large audiences around the country and around the world. It was a treat to see it here at Act II.

“I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change” by Joe DiPietro. Thru June 5, 2022. Act II Playhouse, 56 E. Butler Ave., Ambler, PA 19002.   act2.org   215-654-0200

            The New York Times called it a a quirky comedy by an award-winning screenwriter about finding a true human connection in a digital-obsessed world in its review of the 2017 off-off Broadway production of “Today is My Birthday.”  It’s about a young woman who moves back home to Hawaii from New York where she’d earned a degree from the prestigious Columbia University. She hoped to try to find herself. I looked forward to seeing this tale of Emily Chang as she deals with the complicated relationships with family, friends, and the workplace. Sadly, I found this production long (1:45 without an intermission) and tedious.

            The play, by Susan Soon He Stanton, is told through phone conversations that Emily has with her mother and father (who are divorcing), and with a dozen others played by two actors, Joseph Ahmed and Rachel O’Hanlon Rodriguez. These two play her best friend, her  ex-boyfriend, a prospective new boyfriend, a shock jock and more. But all the contacts with these people is via phone. It is the digital age. There are probably five dozen phone conversations that create the substance of the play. And there is substance.

            Emily flirts with a guy who is a character in a radio show segment that she did via computer.. She falls for the guy. She tries to deal with her ex-boyfriend. One call falls on the heels of another.  She talks to her parents as she tries to understand what happened in their relationship. She talks to everyone. She talks and talks and talks. The play would probably make a good radio program, not necessarily a good play.  I need actors to show me how they feel, not constantly tell me.

            As Emily’s parents,  Daniel Kim and Twoey Truong were convincing.  Not as effective were Ahmed and Rodriguez who do only a serviceable job in portraying the myriad of characters.  The bigger problem I had with the production was with the lead. Stephanie Kyung Sun Walters who played Emily did not successfully portray a struggling 29-year old woman.. There are so many issues she is dealing with, but she plays them with one note, that of an annoying teenager who complained more than she lamented. This adolescent-like whining simply did not support the depth of the character.

            Director Cat Ramirez had some fun creating entrances and exits through cabinets under the kitchen sink and through the refrigerator, but she didn’t take us inside the characters in anything but a superficial way. Sometimes Stanton’s play didn’t need it as when a character pressed the wrong button or made a butt call- it was funny. But it wasn’t enough to give us the depth of Emily’s real struggle negotiating the life of a young woman in turmoil. The play deserved more.

“Today is my Birthday” by Susan Soon He Stanton. Thru May 22, 2022. Theatre Exile, 1340 S.13^th Street, Philadelphia 19147. TheatreExile.org  215-218-4022

            In their second production back to live theater, the Arden is presenting a play they commissioned from R. Eric Thomas that is making its world premiere, “Backing Track,” It is a comedy-drama about an unconventional adult family in the aftermath of the death of the mother. It deals with many intergenerational issues, and with modern technology, but it is primarily about the complicated relationships between the main character, Avery, and his mother Mel, his sister Jessica, and the guy on the Grindr dating app, Abraham. It is full of set-ups and jokes which kept the audience laughing. I cannot say that I loved it as much.

            Humor is such a personal thing and many of the predictable jokes didn’t usually work for me as it seemed to do for  others. But the story itself is a very powerful one.

            Everyone is trying to escape from something. Avery runs to a cruise line to work singing karaoke. Jessica has fled to Canada to get away from a country that has been unkind to her people. And Mel wants to pass on the house she owns, that she inherited from her wife, Miriam, to Avery… who doesn’t want it.

            We listen to Avery sing. He has a wonderful voice, but it’s a there’s a bit too much of it. It doesn’t help drive the story. We also watch the developing relationship he has with Abraham. It too is a little excessive and I found the stereotypical overacting of gay men to be a bit tiresome, over the top, and embarrassing. It’s the stuff of bad tv.

            There is the neighborhood association that intrudes in the family’s life. There is convenient coincidence that brings characters together. It was reaching a bit. But when the second act takes off, there is more honest fun. The jokes were funnier. Sadly, the actors talked right through the laughter and I discovered from others in the house, that they, like me, missed many of the words which followed the laughter.

            I enjoyed the generational confusion as Mel misunderstands words (a la Lou Costello in the “Who’s on First” routine), and her struggles with the technology that her son-in-law is trying to install. She is having trouble moving on. On the unseen tv, the film “Titanic” is always on- it was Miriam’s favorite and reminds them all of lost love.

            The casting in this ensemble group was also outstanding. African-American, Asian-American, White American- the blending of loves and lovers was so natural. All-in-all, I enjoyed the production, but would have liked it even more had it been either a drama or if the director would have instructor the actors to let the comic lines take care of themselves instead of overplaying them.. It also could have been tightened with some judicious editing to make it even more powerful.

“Backing Track” by R. Eric Thomas.  Thru April 10, 2022.Arden Theatre Company, 40 N. 2^nd Street, Philadelphia, PA 19106. Arden Theatre.org    215-922-1122

            Arthur Conan Doyle was a famous British writer, who wrote hundreds of novels, short stories, poems, and historical books, but is most remembered for creating probably, the most popular and widely read detective hero, Sherlock Holmes. His play, “The Speckled Band,” has just opened at the Walnut Street Theatre .Well, it’s not exactly his play, but rather a new adaptation by Bill Van Horn, and it is a blast.

            The world premiere, which has over 30 characters  is being is performed by six amazing actors who change roles and costumes, as we sit in awe at their versatility. As for Van Horn’s script, it is not just the traditional unraveling of a mystery, but rather an almost farce-like presentation of the events surrounding a murder that begins the tale.

            A young woman has died mysteriously. Her sister, afraid that she might be the next victim, enlists the services of the great detective, Sherlock Holmes via Dr. Watson, who is her friend.

            Dr. Watson, played by the writer/director Van Horn, steps into a spotlight with asides to the audience, to give us background information, as a fist person narrator. Then, there are quick jumps to the action, and there’s plenty of it. There are so many wonderfully funny, Marx Brothers-like slapstick moments that will keep you laughing, despite its macabre story.

            Sherlock Holmes is played with panache by the talented Ian Merrill Peakes. Both Van Horn and Peakes play other roles but I suggest you wait until the intermission before you see who’s playing whom. Unlike most fairy tales, where the bad person is often the evil stepmother, here, it is Dr. Rylott, the evil stepfather.   

This production of “Speckled Band” is the kind of play that could be performed on a big or small stage (if you forget for a moment the beautiful sets that the Walnut always creates) because it is so intimate. You feel like you’re a fly on the wall, in the room with the characters.

            Van Horn has written and adapted many plays for the Walnut’s Studio Theatre. Kudos to Walnut’s Producing Artistic Director, Bernard Havard, for commissioning Van Horn to take on this Sherlock Holmes play, originally produced in 1910. It is a classic that has been seamlessly contemporized  and is a play for all ages. Most of all, it is a fun night in the theater.

“The Adventure of the Speckled Band” by Bill Van Horn based on the play by Arthur Conan Doyle. Thru March 27, 2022.  Walnut Street Theatre, 825 Walnut St., Philadelphia, PA  19107. WalnutStreetTheatre.org     215-574-3550

           In 1834, 14 year-old Afong Moy arrived in America. She was the first recorded Chinese woman to set foot in the United States. She was brought over by merchants Francis and Nathaniel Carnes, with the hope that such an unfamiliar and unusual young woman would promote the sales of the Chinese goods they were marketing. Interact Theatre has selected Lloyd Suh’s play, “The Chinese Lady” about Afong Moy’s experiences, as its opener in its return to live theater. It’s a wonderful choice and an outstanding production.

            The stage is simple. We will soon meet Afong Moy and her translator/interpreter, Atung, but first, we meet sound designer and composer, Mel Hsu as she gently plays the many instruments that will accompany the journey that Afong Moy will take over the decades. The music is warm and welcoming.

            “The Chinese Lady” is a work of historical fiction, as no one knows what Afong Moy knew or thought. But we do know that she was regarded as an oddity, as a side show of something exotic. Though she came to help sell Asian goods, people soon came and paid just to see her. From her mastery of chop sticks, to her colorful wardrobe and traditionally bound feet, Americans wanted to see what a Chinese woman was about.  

            It is on record that she actually met President Andrew Jackson. In a hilarious scene in the play, Atung, brilliantly portrayed by Dan Kim, is both the translator and Jackson himself. There are many other funny moments in “The Chinese Lady,” but there is also a sense of tragedy about her life. She must remind us that she is a human in a world that saw only a stereotype.

After some years, Alfong Moy toured with showman P.T. Barnum and became a side show curiosity in his circus as she joined the other “freaks.” She would unwrap her feet and the audience learned how those feet came to be so small- breaking the bones of her toes regularly from childhood.

I’ve saved the best for last, Bi Jean Ngo- the actor who portrays Alfong Moy. She is mesmerizing as she talks to us. She doesn’t use a Chinese accent. She doesn’t have to. She tells us of her travels across the U.S. She tells us about the changes in her life and in the country she now inhabits. She makes us laugh. She makes us cry. I was riveted to her every word, including the accurate history she shares.

We also come to see the prejudice that developed against her and the Chinese people. After waves of anti-Chinese violence, the U.S. passed the Chinese Exclusion Act, ending all immigration from China. I learned so much while being thoroughly entertained.

The 95 minutes flew by and I was yearning for more. With an equally superb performance by Dan Kim and seamless direction by Justin Jain, I’ve never felt better about recommending a play. It’s a must see!

“The Chinese Lady.” InterAct Theatre Company at The Drake, 302 S. Hicks St., Philadelphia, PA 19102, 215-568-8079.   interacttheatre.org   Thru November 21, 2021.

            Aging, anxiety, envy, love, failure, beauty, suffering- the subject of dramas by the great playwrights from Sophocles and Shakespeare to Ibsen and Chekhov. Powerful characters created memorable moments that seem as real and contemporary as if written yesterday, despite being centuries old. The Wilma Theater, in its first return to live audiences, has chosen to take “Uncle Vanya,” one of Chekhov’s classics, and present it in a new form, a  21^st century form created by New Saloon, with the twists of comedy and confusion. I am sad to report that the confusion was so off putting that I couldn’t figure out what was happening on stage most of the time, and anyone not familiar with the original play, will find “Minor Character” especially hard to understand.

            Seven actors playing multiple parts including lots of moments where they were on stage at the same time, spitting out lines based on six different Chekhov translations- at the same time. Innovative? Yes. Comprehensible- rarely.

            The actors shout the words, but ignore the depth of emotions that made the original “Uncle Vanya” and other Chekhov plays so powerful. I felt like I was listening to brief essays on life, but I never felt connected to either a drama or the comedy that the cast and director Yury Urnov were trying to achieve.

            As the actors shifted roles, it would take me a moment to understand which character was speaking. And when three actors spoke different interpretations at the same time, I was completely lost.

            I knew that the main characters the Chekhov play- Vanya and his niece,  the doctor, the professor, and the new wife. But the actors kept switching roles and there was no attempt to reveal the inner character of any. You are spending most of the time simply trying to follow the plot that is simple in the original play, but quite convoluted in this adaptation.

            The play is almost two hours in length, without an intermission. It is tedious to sit through such a production, but I suppose the comment by the dramaturg in the digital program indicates that she had the problem with the original. She wrote “I have a confession to make. I have historically struggled to connect with Chekhov’s plays.” Perhaps “Minor Character” is meant for a younger, hipper crowd who don’t get the complexity of Chekhov.

            At the conclusion, I had to rush to the men’s room. While there, another man entered and I asked him what he thought of the play. “We were lucky,” he said. We were 15 minutes late. There was an accident on the expressway. We must have missed the good part.” He didn’t.

            I don’t like writing such a negative piece about a theater whose work and productions I both respect and enjoy. “Minor Character”   is a clever idea, but just doesn’t work for me.  As this is the first play I’ve seen live since the beginning of the pandemic, I look forward to other Wilma plays this season.

            If you can’t go but still want to check it out for yourself, Wilma will be streaming the play after the stage production closes.

On Stage thru Oct. 24, 2021

Streaming from Oct. 25- Nov. 7, 2021