Another successful Actors Alliance Festival program begins with The Secret Royal Order of the Feminine Gender by James Caputo and produced and directed by Julie Clemmons, with Aja Oberlies-Rodrigues and Emma Shea.
The two stars, I am told, are ten years old. They are shopping for that something special at the local Salvation Army store. They talk "the talk", i.e. dating and boy swagger. They sing and dance. There is even a booming voice-over of mother. Aja and Emma are excellent; don't miss them.
Nemesis, penned by Phil Johnson and Mike Spears, with Cynthia Stokes directing, and starring Annie Hinton, Phil Johnson, and Mike Spears.
When Phil and Mike get together, you aren't sure what you're gonna get; you just know it will be hilarious. They do a "16 Tons" mine that is delightful. Mike Spears, mostly-bald pate in a hairnet, is worth the price of admission. We only wish we had seen more of Annie Hinton.
The Actor's Nightmare by Christopher Durang, directed by Robert Salerno, with Taylor Henderson, Andrea Maida, John Martin, Sara Beth Morgan and Dominique Salerno in the cast.
This piece seems to turn up at many short play festivals and for good reason. It is an actor's worst fear -- a totally blank mind, having done just one play too many. Even trying to remember his own name is impossible. The play is worth seeing many times as we can watch different actors interpret their worst nightmare.
A Poster of the Cosmos by Lanford Wilson under Nick Mata's direction and starring Joey Landwehr. For 23 minutes, Landwehr, seated sloppily in his chair, gives us a brilliant performance. He's in an interrogation room in a Manhattan police station. Suffering from survivor guilt, he has been accused of killing his lover, who is dying from AIDS as a result of occasional IV drug usage.
