Ensemble Studio Theater 2010 Marathon: Series A

My notes on the five one-act plays in Series A of this year's Marathon at Ensemble Studio Theater. The first two plays are about discomfort:

Safe by Ben Rosenthal, directed by Carolyn Cantor, is a crude play about crude, quirky people: a young insecure man and his gruff stepfather, crudely acted (by Gio Perez and Danny Mastrogiorgio) with a bright phrase here and there. Each actor stays on one basic note, with one shift.

Wild Dream by Adam Kraar, directed by Richmond Hoxie, has nice old people (Jack Davidson and Marcia Jean Kurtz) bickering at an Art exhibit; a former student (Catherine Curtin) arrives; more bickering. The play is about the need for old people to take care of each other, and it works well.

Matthew and the Pastor's Wife by Robert Askins gives us a bible lesson in the South with a sweet lady teacher (Geneva Carr) and a criminal (Scott Sowers) who seduces her. This piece is well-written, well-acted, well-directed (by John Giampietro.

Turnabout by Daniel Reitz, directed by Moritz von Stuelpnagel, has two scenes which seem as if they were directed by different directors. In scene one, in which the acting is all "indicating," a gay man (Lou Liberatore, who nods his head after every line) asks help from an ex-boyfriend (John-Martin Green, who does threatening riffs in soprano). Act two is the consequence of the deal they make wherein Liberatore must be a waiter at a gay event, and wear an absurd, nearly naked costume. He is totally believable in this uncomfortable situation, and Haskell King, with great comic timing and a gorgeous sixpack of an abdomen as another waiter, is hilarious as a sharp, feminine, counterpoint. It's great fun well done.

Where the Children Are by Amy Fox based on a story by Fox and Caitlin Shetterly, directed by Abigail Zealey Bess, is a series of Our Town type monologues, but it's not Thornton Wilder and is barely engaging. There is a vague relationship with the war in the Middle East, a father, a wife, others not seemingly related to the war. Aha! Parents of people in the war. A dismal, well-intentioned, boring play about reactions to, and the effects of, war.

Am I a little harsh in some of my comments on Series A? Perhaps. But I still look forward to series B: EST's work is generally some of the highest caliber in NY.