Snoop's Theatre Thoughts

LaBute New Theater Festival 2017
St. Louis Actors’ Studio
July 9 and 22, 2017

It’s time again for the LaBute Festival, and St. Louis Actors’ studio has populated the Gaslight Theatre this year with a variety of short plays that cover questions of truth, identity, belief, power struggles, and more. As usual, the festival’s main feature is a play by the festival’s namesake, celebrated playwright Neil LaBute. His play runs throughout the festival, with the rest of the plays shown in two sets, the first one having opened on July 7, and the second–which is still running–opening on July 21. Overall, it’s an intriguing group of plays this year, showcasing some promising playwrights and some excellent local acting talent. Here are my thoughts:

“Hate Crime”

by Neil LaBute

Directed by John Pierson

Greg Hunsaker, Chauncy Thomas
Photo: St. Louis Actors’ Studio

This year’s contribution from Neil LaBute is a two-character piece focusing on a complicated relationship and a secret “plan”. Greg Hunsaker and Chauncy Thomas play two men who are obviously involved in some sort of romantic relationship, although it seems Hunsaker is more enamored with Thomas than the other way around. In fact, it often seems like Thomas can barely stand to be around Hunsaker, even though Hunsaker’s attitude toward Thomas is more on the level of adoration. As the two plan to carry out a sinister plan, it’s fairly clear who is in control and who is being manipulated. This is an intriguing character study, exploring issues of self-acceptance and self-loathing,  as well as the power of attraction and personal manipulation. It’s quite disturbing when the nature of the plan becomes known, as well as the two men’s different attitudes toward it, and toward each other. The dialogue is sharp, and the performances are strong and believable. It’s a strong, but unsettling, entry from the always provocative LaBute.

Part 1 (July 9, 2017)

“Waiting for Erie Lackawanna”

by Ron Radice

Directed by John Pierson

This play is the first of two in this festival that have strikingly similar themes. Basically, an unsuspecting individual in a seemingly mundane situation is confronted by other characters who seem intent on messing with his mind. Here, Ryan Lawson-Maeske is waiting for a commuter train at a station he hasn’t been to before, and two “regulars” at the station, played by Spencer Sickmann and Reggie Pierre, confront him and challenge his very sense of what is real. Tone-wise, this is essentially a suspense comedy, and it’s well played by all three actors, although the overall point of it isn’t entirely clear. There’s a lot of energy to this production, though, and the staging is clever, with casting that emphasizes the intimidation factor, in that both Sickmann and Pierre are much taller than Lawson-Maeske, and the height difference adds to the sense of tension that grows as the play progresses. It’s a simply staged piece, and has some memorable comic moments.

“Sacred Space”

by Barbara Blumenthal-Ehrlich

Directed by Nancy Bell

This is a short, poignant play that deals with issues of death, mourning, and atonement. Two women (Sophia Brown and Kim Furlow) are preparing to carry out a Jewish cleansing ritual for a woman in her upper 80s who has recently died. While they are preparing for their task, however, they talk about their day, and strange messages keep appearing on the wall that they first try to dismiss, but they won’t stop.  As the women try to continue their work, they can’t help but be caught up in the messages, and the story that they tell. It’s a story they are both familiar with, as they’ve heard it on the news. Brown and Furlow are both excellent in this short production that serves as a tribute to the victims of the Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando, as well as a reflection on life, death, tragedy, and the importance of remembering.

“Percentage America”

by Carter W. Lewis

Directed by John Pierson

Kelly Schaschl, Nancy Bell, Chauncy Thomas
Photo: St. Louis Actors’ Studio

As far as I’m concerned, this play is the highlight of the festival. An extremely well-constructed, cleverly written, incisive and impeccably staged piece, this play is several things at once, and they all work. It’s a mystery, a light romance, a story of political intrigue, and more. It’s framed as a “date play”, in which a man and woman (Chauncy Thomas and Nancy Bell), who have met via an online dating site are getting to know one another, and decide to engage in a little fact-finding game in order to escape the boredom of every day life.  They decide to pick a news story and by comparing various news reports and finding their own sources, they try their best to determine the truth of what happened.

This is such a clever, insightful, incisive play, with commentary on the nature of news coverage, the current state of political affairs in the US, and the general media culture, as well as insights into modern dating, teenage life, and more. So much is said in such a short piece. The story is structured so well and the performances are universally strong. It’s a riveting production from start to finish.

Part 2

“How’s Bruno”

by Cary Pepper

Directed by Nancy Bell

I guess the moral of this play is “when you get a text from a stranger, don’t text back”. In a story that’s oddly reminiscent of “Waiting for Erie Lackawanna”, an unwitting young man finds himself surrounded by strangers who may or may not be deliberately messing with his mind. Spencer Sickmann plays the man, who is sitting in a coffee shop and gets a text from a number he doesn’t recognize. When he responds, two men (Ryan Lawson-Maeske, Reggie Pierre) soon appear with an urgent story about how Sickmann is apparently in a whole lot of trouble. Chauncy Thomas later shows up and continues the story, increasing Sickmann’s confusion. The tone is broadly comic, for the most part, with similar themes as “Lackawanna” but with the added element of modern technology-induced paranoia. It’s a funny play, with a somewhat mysterious ending, although there doesn’t seem to be lot of point to it beyond the shock factor.

“Sin Titulo”

by Tearrance Chisholm

Directed by Linda Kennedy

This play, the last and longest of this year’s plays at the festival, is actually set in St. Louis, looking at the experiences of three members of an African-American family shortly following the 2016 presidential election. Damascus (Reggie Pierre) is an activist who led a local chapter of the Hillary Clinton campaign, and after her loss, he feels aimless and depressed. His wife Naomi (Patrice Foster) is concerned about him, and encourages him to find a new focus for his energy. Complicating the situation is Naomi’s unemployed brother Lloyd (Jaz Tucker), who is full of conspiracy theories that Damascus tries to play along with in order to manipulate Lloyd into being more responsible with his life choices. There are a lot of important, timely issues covered in this play, although it’s a bit disjointed and the ending is especially abrupt. Still, the performances are excellent, the relationships are credible, and the story provides a lot to think about, even though  it’s not always clear what’s real and what’s happening in Damascus’s mind. This is a promising play, even if it can be a little confusing at times.

There are still a few days left to catch the second half of this year’s festival. It’s a fascinating group of plays this year, with humor, drama, suspense, and strong casting. It’s a memorable feature of the St. Louis summer theatre season.

St. Louis Actors’ Studio is presenting The LaBute New Theater Festival at the Gaslight Theatre until July 30,2017