Source Festival’s Rites of Passage theme involves “moments that define who we are.” These pivotal moments help define our character and provide a solid basis for a number of different playwriting choices.
Answers
By Edgar Martinez Schulz
Directed by Doug Eacho
A talking cube answers questions with great accuracy and an even greater cost. It’s a clever idea that is handled more as a fun skit than a Twilight Zone episode. The gang of buddies (portrayed by Chris Aldrich, Sarah Blush, Rafael Medina, and Steve Lee) isn’t that bright and they need to learn the value of reading instructions in advance. However, they are gifted with strong comic timing, which is essential to the success of the play.
Answers is a quick, funny play that provides a welcome kick-off to the set. My only regret is that the program does not credit the woman who provides the voice of the box; she deserves kudos for her vocal performance.
Jinshin Jiko
By Bridgette Dutta Portman
Directed by Jason Loewith
Riding the Metro is stressful enough. The ante is raised considerably for American businesswoman Morgan (Jennifer Restak), who is riding a Japanese subway to the traditional “big presentation.” When things start to go wrong, even her significant other Kenneth (Sam Phillips) can’t calm her anxieties.
Reality and imagination start to intersect for Morgan. She encounters creepy Japanese woman Yurei (KyoSin Kang) who quietness is misunderstood until a Japanese man (Steve Lee) provides some background on the situation. Suddenly Morgan is thrust into a brief dream-like episode that brings her both fear and understanding.
Jinshin Jiko is the most realistic of the plays in this set, which highlights the impact of the imaginary interval. It is also directed with accomplished flair by Jason Loewith, making Jinshin Jiko one of the most memorable 10-minute plays of the Source Festival.
Lost and Found at the Hotel Mogador
By James Hesla
Directed by Rick Hammerly
Being interrogated by a Moroccan policeman is serious enough. When you have amnesia about your life and your conduct over the past week, it verges on a Kafka-esque drama.
Michael Rodriguez does a fine job as the policeman, alternately good cop and bad cop. He keeps David Landstrom, the American tourist, off balance. Slowly, however, Landstrom’s memory starts to come back as he searches his backpack for clues. Ultimately the two face a dangerous conflict.
Lost and Found at the Hotel Mogador is reasonably well-written even if the underlying concept of amnesia feels a bit overdone. While the text might seem to call for a slightly more mature tourist, the two give solid performances leading to a nicely disguised conclusion.
F2F
By Jennifer Barclay
Directed by Doug Eacho
One of the few pleasures of age is having escaped the era of teenage interacting via Smartphones. F2F deals with the travails of two teens trying to make a connection without the benefit of interpersonal feedback. Cody (Rafael Medina) and Grace (Natalie Cutcher) merely exchange text messages until one of them ups the ante with a “sexting.” They then decide to meet face to face (i.e., F2F).
Adding to the awkwardness of the situation are two sets of observers. Jennifer Restak is an adult blogger who contributes an anthological analysis of teenage behavior, including how sexting can be part of a teenage “quest for acceptance and love.” Less intellectual is the commentary of a teen texting trio that speaks almost totally in acronyms and text slang, serving as a sort of student chorus for the action (Chris Aldrich, Sarah Blush, and Jessica Shearer).
Will Cody and Grace break through the awkwardness and actually have a relationship? What will their peers think? Despite the light-hearted tone, I actually started to care about the answer.
Warm Bodies
By M Pepper Langlinais
Directed by Rick Hammerly
What is there for ghosts to do in the afterlife to entertain themselves? For some ghosts, inhabiting living humans can be addictive and pleasurable, as Eric Humphries tries to teach Stacy Whittle. For the two humans involved (David Landstrom and Rachel Viele), not so much.
I’ve seen this concept done before (most memorably on the SyFy Channel’s Being Human), but this play handles the ideal in a manner that is both proficient and touching. Warm Bodies is nicely staged with lighting effects that contribute to the slightly film noir of the work, and the acting is well done. Even if you see the ending coming, it’s still powerful.
Lisa Frank Virginity Club
By Christin Siems
Directed by Doug Eacho
All of the ingredients feel painfully familiar: the awkward dawning of puberty at age 12, the too hot cousin, and the intimidating uncle. Christin Siems takes these ingredients and pens a nice little play that you aren’t likely to see on the Nickelodeon channel anytime soon.
It helps that the casting of all three characters is so spot-on. Steve Lee is nicely awkward as Greg and Chris Aldrich is the southern father no young Lothario wants to encounter. Most of all, Jessica Shearer is bewitchingly memorable as the young preteen who dreams of a unicorn and who doesn’t yet really understand sex or her impact on the male gender.
The flash forward scene at the end to Uncle Jim’s funeral is nicely done. The ending little mystery about Uncle Jim’s bequest to Greg leaves the Lisa Frank Virginity Club on a thoughtful note.
* * * * *
The “Ethereal Encounters” 10-minute plays are a nicely balanced collection. Three of the six are light, entertaining, and funny, and all are directed by Doug Eacho. Coincidence? I think not. The other three dramas are all smartly done. While this collection didn’t feel as original as some Source collections in recent years, the quality of execution makes it an appealing theatre choice.
Produced by The Source Festival
Reviewed by Steven McKnight
Recommended
Running time: 1 hour and 30 minutes with 1 intermission
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