Category: Theater

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The Wonder of Women By John Marston, The Latest Zoom Reading By Red Bull Theater.

Red Bull Theater is a talented theater group that presents Elizabethan and Jacobean plays that aren’t Shakespeare. And on a number of occasions I have extolled their acquired ability at doing fresh and engaging on line readings via Zoom…and this presentation of The Wonder of Women written by John Marston and directed by Nathan Winkelstein is no exception.

Now imagine a play where a royal nobleman has a beautiful daughter sought after by two powerful young royals…and the losing suitor takes particular offense and starts a war. And here we have the premise behind The Wonder of Women. But of course it doesn’t end there. The backdrop is the wars between Carthage and Rome…and as Rome invades the land of Carthage to distract Hannibal’s progress in Italy…said rival suitors change and re-change and change again their numerous alliances…with the luckless bride caught in the cross fire. So through out we have an immense amount of bloodshed and characters who suffer from not quite understanding where the royals currently hold allegiance.

In the end, nobody…and I mean nobody wins.

courtesy of Red Bull Theater

The Red Bull presents this reading via six very engaging actors.

The three principal characters are Syphax, ably played by Derek Smith. Syphax is the losing suitor for the hand of Sophonisba and Mr. Smith plays his role as the vengeful rogue from start to tragic finish. The husband of Sophonisba is played by Ro Boddie! As he plays Massinissa, he effectively runs the gamut of star struck lover to ardent defender of Carthage to turncoat of his own accord…in both his marriage and his political allegiances. And the lovely Sophonisba is played remarkably by Cara Ricketts. Sophonisba loves Massinissa and suffers the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune up to a point…in the end she refuses to be a pawn in the great dramas of men…and our tragedy comes to a bloody end.

And we have three other hard working cast members…who have to play a number of different roles…something that I would think far more daunting in a Zoom reading than on a stage.

First we have Sarin Monae West who handles her multiple roles with grace, charm, and a remarkable directness: Gelasso, a Senator of Carthage; Nuntius, a solder of Cirta; Zanthia, servant of Sophonisba; and Eroctho, a night hag. Probably the best character she’s been handed here is the flirtatious and conniving role of Zanthia. I look forward to seeing here play here again in the future.

Robert Cuccioli has two prominent character roles here. First as Asdrubal, a Senator of Carthage and the unfortunate father of Sophonisba. Thinking he has married off his daughter well he finds himself at the helm in the war against Rome. And then playing in the opposite camp he is also Scipio, the Roman general. This oppositional casting confused me at first.

And Reynaldo Piniella is the final cast member and he is charged with a number of royal figures and a major league rogue. Here he is well cast as first Vangue, a servant of Syphax; Laelius, a lieutenant of Rome; and Gisco, a murderer.

I have been lax on getting this written…The Wonder of Women is streaming until tomorrow evening. It is free but with a pay what you can request. Here is the link!

And extra credit reading? Here is the playbill and cast family tree!

screen capture by Ed Heinzelman
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Antonio’s Song, I Was Dreaming Of A Son, at the Milwaukee Repertory Theater

The Milwaukee Repertory Theater presents their edgiest or more experimental plays in their Stiemke Theater…a very pliable and flexible black box theater. And as they re-open the Stiemke for the first time since the start of the pandemic with Antonio’s Song, they have stayed true to form.

Courtesy of the Milwaukee Repertory Theater

Antonio’s Song, I Was Dreaming Of A Son, directed by Mark Clements (the Reps’ Artistic Director) describes one man’s journey from there to here. There being a Brooklyn of ethic enclaves to a life in arts with the family that he dreamed of and struggled to achieve. And the one man is Antonio Edwards Suarez who co-wrote the play with Dael Orlandersmith (playwright and performer in Before The Flood, presented at the Rep in the spring of 2018), and is the solo actor presenting his memoir on stage.

So Antonio’s struggles lead us through too many of the unsolved ills of American society…racism, comprehensive health care, sexism, mental health issues, family dysfunction, child abuse, and the lack of a positive supportive community. That is the path connecting the there and here.

So where is the there really? It is Brooklyn and the young Antonio plays a very delicate balancing game between his peers from his two ethnic backgrounds…some days are spent with his Black friends and the alternate days with his Hispanic friends. And of course he is vilified at time or another by the one group, then the other, for hanging out with the opposite group…and he sometimes craters to peer pressure to participate in the activities of a street tough. And built over all of that is the base of his own dysfunctional family…although he has a physically present father and mother…they aren’t necessarily the supportive family unit we’ve been told is normal.

And what are the flash points or turning points the get him from there to here? Well his best friend who never abandons him and finally convinces him that he is best served by listening to himself and being himself. A chance television program that features a ballet performance featuring master dancer Mikhail Baryshnikov…which initially opens his soul to an awareness of arts that speaks directly to Antonio. And finally when he is accepted into Harvard, seeing for the first time in the story, his father stand up to his mother in favor of his going off to school. A startling revelation after years of everyone avoiding any confrontations.

Courtesy of the Milwaukee Repertory Theater.

But this isn’t a recitation of a story, but is presented via a fluid movement of body and soul across the stage as the story unfolds. And the answers slowly evolve but they often seem to be written in the palm of Antonio’s hand. And as Antonio dances across the stage or mimics the motions described in his stories, the backdrop sets the place. As we move through time and across space, projected images give us the streets of Brooklyn, the Atlantic Ocean, the industrial space that is Antonio’s studio, and the dark smoke filled rooms of his childhood home. Quite effective and a bit mesmerizing…at times distracting from Antonio’s ‘dance’.

Antonio’s Song, I Was Dreaming Of A Son continues through March 6, 2022. It does contain some adult language and situations with the Rep recommending it for ages 16 and over. COVID safety protocols are in place including presenting proof of vaccination or a negative test and wearing a mask while in the building. Latest COVID information is here.

Extra credit reading!

Antonio’s Song Program!

Antonio’s Song Play Guide!