DREAM CAFE, MBS Productions

__________________________DREAM CAFÉ_________________________________
Reviewed by ASSOCIATE THEATER CRITIC, Laura L. Watson , THE COLUMN

MBS Productions’ DREAM CAFÉ by Alejandro de la Costa is a truly stunning and revolutionary experience for the audience, but a nightmare for a critic to review. You see, there are 720 stories asking to be reviewed in this one play. Regardless of my struggle to review it for you, this is de la Costa’s (and MBS Productions’) finest work to date. If I could, I’d see Dream Café every night, every show.

“Bryan is a single, middle aged man trying to find his perfect mate. He keeps running up against obstacles preventing him from falling in love. The problem? Men. Various scenes are presented in this man’s life. What makes the play unique is that each night the same six scenes will be presented in random order as picked by the audience. The result is a different play nightly depending on the order of the scenes, 720 options!” (taken from MBS Productions’ promotional material.)

After a little preshow audience interaction, which includes asking the members of the audience how they are doing, if he can get them anything and wiping down the chairs, Ivan Jones as Kent the waiter gives a brief curtain speech about cell phones, auditions and upcoming MBS shows. The preshow activity is fine, it adds to the feeling that you are indeed stepping into Dream Café. However, it would be better if the speech was written in the program and/or said by the box office prior to the show. Jones’ line delivery and flippant attitude is better suited in the play, not before it.

Mark-Brian Sonna as the character Bryan then enters and gives the opening monologue about how the defining moments of life will determine who a person is depending on when the moments happen. Sonna asks the audience to choose the scene order, knowing only the names of the scenes. The scenes the audience must choose are listed on the “menu” of Dream Café and are titled according to the coffee referenced in the scene: Slow Drip, Dessert Coffee, House Blend, Bitter, Instant, and Strong. Each scene runs, on average, 15 minutes with the entire evening being 1 hour 55 minutes with 1 intermission after the third scene. We are also formally introduced to the characters. Lila, played by Jana Edele is Bryan’s best gal pal (a.k.a. f-g hag). Micah John Collin is Michael (Sven)- Bryan’s online love interest who lives 1000 miles away. Kyle Roark portrays the sexy, young, freshly out of the closet fling Bryan has off and on (and then off and then on) again. Kent is the over-the-top waiter at Dream Café who flirts with Bryan, but otherwise serves to announce the coffee selections and check off the scenes once they are performed. Once the scenes are selected and the characters are introduced, the story chosen for that night begins.

Slow Drip is about Bryan and Tony trying to have a drunken one night stand but it is interrupted by Bryan getting a text and then phone call from his online boyfriend, Sven who is having a crisis. Dessert Coffee is Sven and Bryan’s first face to face date as Sven is in town on business. The date is interrupted by Lila who gets Sven mixed up with Tony. House Blend is Bryan’s lunch date with Lila where we learn they, too had a one night stand once, but now Lila is dating Tyler. She divulges she is pregnant and asks for Bryan’s help. Kent also propositions Bryan for no strings attached sex. Bitter is the shortest scene because it is simply Bryan leaving a voice message for TM- his previous (a.k.a. ex-boyfriend, but he only calls him his “previous”)- about how he will attend the commitment ceremony.” However, we the audience see Bryan’s true feelings as he leaves this message. Instant is the most sexually charged scene as Tony and Bryan undress in a less than movie magic way (more realistically) and compare their bodies. Bryan is middle aged and Tony is young- and their opposite body types allow for a lot of physical comedy but it also raises the question- what do they see in each other? Strong Coffee is when Tony and Bryan meet at Dream Café, and Bryan confesses that he loves Tony. Depending on the order the scenes are portrayed determines who Bryan commits to, why certain relationships end and constructs the audience’s opinion of Bryan. At the end, Sonna returns as Bryan to give a final monologue about these moments in his life and how they made him the man he is today, though if the story had been told in a different order, he would be a different man. The audience is left to ponder this striking realization as the cast quietly comes out, takes one small bow, poses in their chairs in the Café, and then exit.

Sonna, MBS Productions’ artistic director, writes in his program note, “Enjoy this comedy where truth has been turned into fiction to point out the truth.” He says part of the play is biographical, but the characters are a mixture of real life people. It is rated NC-17 due to language and nudity, though I heard little “strong language” and only 1 brief moment of nudity (though there was plenty of guys in their underwear or a towel.) This play is truly driven by the characters and the story unfolding, not by dirty words or naked men. They are only there because the story necessitates them. It would be less than great without them- and I say that as someone most people consider to be a conservative old prude. Finally, it is billed as a comedy, but I think this is misleading. It’s a dramedy. It’s reality. Life is full of laughter in the midst of soul crushing and/or exhilarating drama- and this play holds all of that.

Addison’s Stone Cottage Theatre is SMALL, holding only about 60 seats which are in an L shape around the playing space, but de la Costa masterfully designed each corner of the space to tell the story. From the menu positioned over the fireplace to Tony’s bed in his apartment at the far downstage, no part of the set is left out and yet it is appropriately minimalistic. The same could be said for the lights and costume. Every character remains in about the same clothes throughout the play, with Sven in a bathrobe in one scene and dress shirt and tie for another. The play, with its lack of a timeline, doesn’t necessitate a costume change nor does it allow time for much of one. Sonna’s choice of music sets the mood of a delightful café in the beginning, and then, at the end, the same song becomes a haunting reminder of how time and love can pass by (or a cheery reminder of how great love is- depending on how your story ends!) Director Charles Ballinger expertly maneuvers the cast around and with the set pieces in organic blocking. I can only imagine the hours Ballinger spent guiding his actors on as many of the journeys this script proposed as time allowed. He blended all the elements- script, design and acting with ease- and I’m told this is true no matter what order the scenes are done.

As previously mentioned, Jones as Kent the waiter is flippant and flamboyant. Think of him as an African American Jack McFarland waiting tables in Dallas, Texas. We never once see him go deeper, and while I longed to see Kent be serious or less “flaming”, this is not who Kent is and it would be a disservice to the storyline and character if Jones tried to make him any deeper than he is. In short, he is annoying yet believable. Collin began each of his scenes a little stiff- as if he were only reciting lines, but he would build into something very real and powerful- often times pulling emotions from the gut of the audience as well as himself. Lila is a fast talking drama queen, and a bit of a ditz. At one point, we learn she is 38 and the audience can tell by looking at Edele that she is no where near this age, but she, in that moment, made me believe she was. During her most dramatic scene, though, I would have liked for her to slow down just a little so the audience could catch everything she said. Lila might want to blow off this major moment she created, but Edele needs to let the audience catch their breath as it hits us. Roark wrote in his bio that this was his first professional show, and his nerves (especially when he scanned the audience) definitely showed, but he took this nervous energy and poured it into the emotions and motivations of Tony. It doesn’t hurt that he is beautiful to look at and, well, a dream to watch move across the stage. Never once was there a moment when I saw him ‘acting.’ Roark need only find those moments of masculine strength to create a truly well rounded character. Sonna is an experienced stage and film actor whom I have worked with and seen perform multiple times over the last 6 years, and he had to use every once of training and experience to successfully become Bryan. My acting teacher once told me, “The most difficult thing about acting is being private in public.” I watched as Sonna was fully himself and yet fully this other character, Bryan. It was stage magic- a performance like none other in his MBS Productions’ career.

Now, add to this the knowledge that every night the scenes change order and the line delivery must reflect the motivation that is spurned by the moment before and the actors must continue the arch of their character which might be a journey they had yet to conceive of and… oh my! What a stellar ensemble performance! This is a play where every actor must be thinking, must be listening and must be reacting truthfully in the moment on top of to the letter perfect line memorization and all that other actor technique stuff. This is not a play for beginners or amateurs. At the beginning of each scene, it felt as if each actor needed a line or two to settle into the character and the story before they really took off. Perhaps it was opening weekend jitters or this is the result of being handed the script 3 minutes before you begin, I’m not sure. The performances were outstanding, nonetheless, and will only continue to improve as the actors discovery new layers to their characters each and every night. Though briefly shaky at times, it is a journey worth taking alongside them.

Gay or straight, a prude or promiscuous, DREAM CAFÉ reaches inside every audience member and pulls out something very real and universal. It leaves the audience thinking about their own “love scenes” and how if they had happened exactly the same way, but in a different order, how very different our lives would be. I know I sat in my car for 20 minutes just thinking. Just breathing. Just… experiencing. I have already reserved three tickets on three different nights just so I can return to this dream reality and have another experience unlike any other I will ever have again.

MBS Productions presents Alejandro de la Costa’s DREAM CAFE through June 19th.

Performed at The Stone Cottage Theatre located at 15650 Addison Rd, Addison TX 75001 as part of the Addison Conference Center, under the water tower. www.mbsproductions.net


MBS Productions’ DREAM CAFE at the Stone Cottage Theatre, Addison

*REVIEWED 05/29/10 PERFORMANCE

Reviewed by ASSOCIATE THEATER CRITIC, Laura L. Watson, THE COLUMN

Directed by Charles Ballinger
Written by Alejandro de la Costa
Assistant Director and Stage Manager: Lara Davison
Set and Costume Design: Alejandro de la Costa
Lighting and Sound Design: Mark-Brian Sonna

CAST
Bryan: Mark-Brian Sonna
Tony: Kyle Roark
Kent: Ivan Jones
Lila: Jana Edele
Michael (Sven): Micah John Collin

NO EXIT Sundown Collaborative Theatre

__________________________NO EXIT_________________________
Reviewed by ASSOCIATE THEATER CRITIC, Laura L. Watson , THE COLUMN


Denton’s Sundown Collaborative Theatre once again succeeds in their mission of artistic fulfillment and thought-provoking nights of theatre with their latest production, NO EXIT by Jean-Paul Sartre, though in the end, it felt as if something was missing, at least for me. Though every theatrical aspect of this play could be described anywhere from good to excellent, overall, I just didn’t believe it. I didn’t believe the emotions, the story, the laughter, the memories, or even the furniture. It all gave me an illusion of an amazing experience in a studio theatre, but it fell just short. I didn’t like it, but I can’t articulate why. I recommend everyone see it. Welcome to a hellish review.

‘One man and two women enter a room in Hell. All expect to be tortured, but no torturer arrives. Instead, they realize they are there to torture each other, which they do so effectively, by probing each other's sins, desires, and unpleasant memories. Eventually, as their connection to Earth dwindles and the living move on, they are left with only their own thoughts and the company of the other two.’ (Taken from Sundown Collaborative’s website.)

Garcin is a no- nonsense reporter who enters the room first and asks numerous questions of his Valet- who also served as usher for the production. Inez is, in her own words, a bitch who readily jumps at the chance to torture her companions. Estelle is a wide eyed socialite who is extra perky, extra prim, and extra proper. When looking for three differing characters, there could be none more opposite than these. This play deals with many of the theories of existentialism and never once stops throwing philosophical curve balls- in many different forms- at the audience. This is not a “sit back and relax” kind of play. It’s a sit up, pay attention, take notes, and review EVERYTHING three times kind of experience.

Director Tashina Richardson knew the heavy weight of the material she presented her young troupe of actors and fellow collaborators with, and she did not shy away from bold, artistic choices. These choices are mostly rewarding. But, when each choice is added up, in the end, it’s almost a masterpiece.

Hands down, NO EXIT has the BEST pre-show/curtain speech I have ever seen. Each audience member is escorted by the Valet (or usher) one at a time into the silent and fully lit theatre and directed to a particular seat. You are told politely but firmly “You will sit here.” Your family and/ or friends are seated elsewhere. You are now seated next to strangers in hard, squeaky chairs. The audience is almost in the round, leaving just enough room on the north wall for the entrances and, well, there aren’t many exits. Every light on the grid is on at full intensity- and they never dim. The entire point of the play is that hell is being your true self in front of other people. (Sounds like some theories from a recent acting class I took.) Even the audience is made to feel uncomfortable in ways that just mount as the show continues. Once the audience was seated, The Valet’s curtain speech was simple, to the point, and oh so perfect. “Hell has no cell phones, intermissions, and contrary to the sign (pointing out the red EXIT sign.) no exits.” By the end of the one hour and forty minute show- without an intermission, though I only checked my watch once- you realize you have been sitting in hell with Garcin, Inez, and Estelle. They have been torturing you, and you have probably been torturing them. Torture isn’t always physical- it’s done with words, with revelations, with loud breathing, with squeaky chairs, and with a heat that the actors weren’t faking. It does get hot in that studio room! It is a true experience as only live theatre can give and it helps to carry both the storyline and the performances.

The language of the play is high and lofty, even formal with a hint of an English accent, but this production was in Standard American English. It could easily be done as a period piece, though (I think) it was done as a contemporary piece. This is another one of those uncomfortable things: when is this play set? After death, there is no sense of time- it’s all just eternity, and the lack of time specific costumes, props, sets, or hints within the dialogue introduce the audience to this concept. The costumes could have been from the 1940s or today. They were appropriate in fit and color to each character and had the layers that each actor needed to physically reveal as they did so with their words. The furniture, as described by the characters, was suppose to be Second Empire, but this was the weakest point of the design. They were just blocks with fancy cloth draped over them. It works, but on a “this is a group of very talented artists who are way under-funded” scale. The Redbud Studio Theatre is the perfect production room for this play. It is small, has only one exit, and was easily adapted to look like a sitting room or a parlor. I wasn’t watching through an imaginary fourth wall as three people in the living room of hell had this experience- no, instead I was sitting there, going through it with them. I, like Garcin, want answers and specifics to basic questions. Who, what, when, where, why, and how. This play, nor this production of it, answers those questions, and it is maddening. Then again, I was sitting in hell, so it works.

Each of the actors was secure in their lines and organic yet choreographed blocking, and each held a commanding presence on the stage. Valet and Assistant Director Christopher David Taylor was quietly charming yet demonic. He was the most complete, the most true, of all the characters. From the first greeting at the box office to the final pose (not really a bow) he never wavered from his purpose nor strove to be a scene stealer. He quietly yet adeptly supported the entire cast by setting the stage and answering questions as needed. He was only seen briefly after his initial scene to introduce the new characters into the room. Travis Stuebing as Garcin is tall with the look of a respectable, if not boring, business man. He carries himself as a proper gentleman should. (Obscure reference: He VERY much carried himself and made gestures in an identical way to the Gentleman of the infamous Buffy the Vampire Slayer silent episode, HUSH. This makes him also slightly creepy, appropriately so as is soon revealed.) Maggie Smith as Inez walked into the room and with her first line let the audience know exactly who and what she was- a bitchy lesbian. Estelle, played by Sarah Quiroz, was equally able to introduce herself completely to the audience in a matter of seconds. However, as the play progressed, the actors seemed stuck in these masterfully crafted first impressions of their characters rather than getting to the heart of their true beings. Honestly, I was intrigued by the stories of what had transpired for each of these while alive on earth and what they “saw” when the looked back to family, friends, and co-workers, but I never once believed them. They never “saw” what they were reciting about, nor was the laughter genuine. Especially for Estelle and Garcin- their bursts of laughter, especially in the end when they are standing revealed, were brutally forced. The masks the characters wear in the beginning were little different than the true self all this ‘torture’ was suppose to reveal to both them and the audience by the end. Perhaps the actors need to go deeper, go truer. For example, if a character is crying, then the actor needs to really cry or utilize another emotion. Don’t fake it, especially in such a small space. Also, the play calls for a couple of rather intense physical moments between Estelle and Garcin, complete with groping, kissing, and panting, but either the actors were uncomfortable or the characters were truly not in the moment. It was hard to tell- all I know is, these supposed highly charged sexual situations fell flat and rang hallow. Despite this, though, the actors maintained their focus on poking and prodding one another and I remained engaged in the performance for the entire time.

With NO EXIT, Sundown Collaborative Theatre succeeds in presenting its audience with a ‘thought provoking and discussion inciting’ experience, even if it is less than perfectly believable.




Sundown Collaborative Theatre presents Jean-Paul Sartre’s NO EXIT through May 15th.

Performed at The Redbud Studio Theatre located at 304 Administration Drive, Denton TX 76203 on the Campus of TWU in room 204. www.sundowntheatre.org

Jean-Paul Sartre’s NO EXIT at Redbud Studio Theatre, TWU

*REVIEWED 05/08/10 PERFORMANCE

Reviewed by ASSOCIATE THEATER CRITIC, Laura L. Watson, THE COLUMN

Directed by Tashina Richardson
Written by Jean-Paul Sartre
Assistant Director: Christopher David Taylor
Stage Manager: Sarah Smith
Set/Props Design: Brittany Gavit, Devin Lennon-Davey
Costume/Makeup Design: Candace Cockerham

CAST
Garcin: Travis Stuebing
Inez: Maggie Smith
Estelle: Sarah Quiroz
Valet: Christopher David Taylor
Understudies: Bonnie McGowan, Kristen Ranna, Austin Struckmeyer

Originally pulished in John Garcia's The Column