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BLIND DATE
Review

One act plays serve as a
showcase for local talent
By David Cannon
Sentinel Arts Critic

There are several one act play festivals during the year, and the current one at Silver Spring Stage highlights a growing trend.

While there are some professional writers featured here, such as works by Horton Foote and Elaine May, these one acts are also a showcase for local writers.

It is also a great experience for new actors and directors and well as writers.
An example from the opening weekend, one play marks the debut at the Stage of director Meredith Helper, in a play written by and starring Katy Helper.

Unlike some one act festivals, Silver Spring Stage has a new slate each weekend.

That makes it a little difficult to talk about the opening weekend plays since a new set kicks off next weekend.

Still the opening weekend sets the tone -- with its constant change and mix of mood and feeling.
The opening weekend gave us comedies and a drama, going from contemporary life to Depression-era Texas and even a visit by George Washington.

To kick everything off were two very short plays directed by Sally Cusenza. Both were like extended Saturday Night Live sketches, although funnier than a lot of Saturday Night Live has been recently.

"Yes Mamet" gives us two male playwrights who are more than a little stricken by contemporary playwright David Mamet, right down to the overuse of sentence fragments and adult language.

Unfortunately the person reviewing their play is a woman named Renee - who proves to b e about as un-Mamet a character as one could dream of.

The other play is "The Hen Gets the Flag" which is an odd mishmash of American history (Washington is a character), marital spats and dental hygiene tips.

"Mamet" is basically a one joke show and "Hen" mixes in too many diverse elements.

But director Cusenza and her talented cast keep the pacing up nicely and milk every laugh they can from these pieces.

The "Mamet" cast in particular seems tailor made for these roles, especially Lee Knorr as that very non-Mamet Renee.

The biggest surprise of all was the last play on the schedule -- "Blind Date" by Horton Foote.
I don't think I've seen too many good Foote productions but directors Rick Starkweather and Caroline Rivera seem to have Foote's territory down pat.

Characters are in focus and the pace is lively. Admittedly "Blind Date" is Foote at his lightest -- a far cry from something like "The Young Man From Atlanta" - but still this piece worked well.

The plot is basically "The Glass Menagerie" except on acid.

Delores is obsessed with getting a date for her dour niece Sarah Nancy, and may be scraping the bottom of the barrel with her friend's son Felix.

The cast really works well here - Shelly Rochester gives Delores a great busybody personality while Allison Galen makes moody Sarah Nancy her exact opposite.

The men are good too -- John Paul Salinas getting laughs just entering as Felix, and looking like a young Austin Powers. And let's not forget William Anagnoson as Delores' much put upon husband Robert, who helps Sarah Nancy with advice more than once in his own fashion.

Still the audience laughed out loud, which is not common for a Foote play, but this production earned that laughter and the surprisingly tender ending.

That leaves the middle play "A Little Lower Than The Angels." Great idea, wrong format.

"Angels" centers on a woman named Perris who is moving away from the city to be more alone and get some writing done.

It slowly becomes apparent that there are incidents from her past that she is trying to get away from but one does not avoid the past so easily.

It could have worked, and director Meredith Helper keeps the pace up nicely and the cast gives it their best.

But I think "Angels" would have worked better at 2/3 the length as a solo monologue.

There is a male character that could easily be dispensed with, and quite frankly Perris' friend Marian adds little to the story.

The neighbor Bird has an interesting personality and is more integral to the plot, but I think a little rewriting could eliminate that role too. As a monologue "Angels" could more directly involve the audience, give us more involved with the central character, and make the plot buildup more organic.

Right now it moves in fits and starts, which the constant blackouts between scenes only emphasizes (this play had more blackouts than Manhattan Island recently). But that's part of the whole play writing process too.

There are two more weekends of one acts, which will feature works by big name writers like Vaclav Havel and Dorothy Parker, plus works by local talent like Dan Mont and Bob Bartlett.

The one act play festival is basically the start of the 2003-2004 season at the Stage -- one of their strongest in years.

It kicks off with Neil Simon's Pulitzer Prize winning "Lost in Yonkers" followed by Lanford Wilson's award winning "Fifth of July."

Two seldom seen modern dramas - Margaret Edson's "Wit" and John Guare's "Six Degrees of Separation" start off 2004, followed by the award winning comedy "Art." The season ends with Athol Fugard's classic "Master Harold and the Boys" and Alan Ayckbourn's very British comedy "Bedroom Farce."

The one act play festival continues with a different slate of plays each weekend through Aug. 31.