The 28th Annual Humana Festival of New American Plays in Louisville, KY, generated a number of fine offerings. The most buzz surrounded After Ashley, a searing black comedy by Gina Gionfriddo.
The playwright is no newcomer to the Humana Festival (she opened a work here two years ago). In After Ashley, she never wavers from her core message: to expose our American fascination with victims. In this case, the victim is a petite, wiry dynamo named Ashley Hammond (Carla Harting). Ashley is having a mid-life crisis. She is a deeply flawed and deeply unhappy character who admits she doesn't like kids, doesn't like art (she teaches art to preschoolers) and most definitely doesn't like her husband. To compensate, she smokes pot and watches daytime TV.
In the play's opening scene, her teenage son, Justin (Jesse Hooker), is nursing a case of mononucleosis. Ashley is home to keep her son company. At first, their conversation is limited to small talk. Then, Ashley begins to reveal her innermost feelings -- sexual and otherwise -- to Justin. This bizarre mother-son dialogue is as completely hilarious as it is inappropriate. (At one point, when Ashley talks about her unsatisfying sex life, the cringing youth huddles under a blanket and tells his mother to get a peer group.) Her husband (Stephen Barker Turner) soon arrives and announces he has hired a homeless person to work as a home handyman. Ashley says he's nuts. One day, the handyman rapes and murders Ashley. Soon both father and son are caught in the media limelight. They react quite differently to all the attention. Jason wants to preserve his dignity by refusing to talk to the press. His father, however, decides to join the media bandwagon. He switches professions from newspaper reporter to book writer, and then becomes a TV talk show host. His TV program mirrors the title of his book, "After Ashley." The show is dedicated to re-enacting cases of domestic violence. The "Ashley" show picks up momentum, thanks to a scheming TV producer (Frank X). The producer wants Jason's father to name a newly constructed women's shelter after his murdered wife, Ashley. Jason, meanwhile, becomes lost in drinking and drugs. He despises what he views as his father's hypocrisy. He is hanging around a bar when a young girl catches his eye.
Julie is a sad-eyed but sympathetic young woman (Sabrina Veroczi). She gently tries to pull him out of his emotional shell. As the "Ashley" situation continues to spiral out of control, Justin and Julie do what's necessary to pull the plug on it.
The playwright hits her mark time and again, evoking nervous laughter from the audience. As Justin, Jesse Hooker uses incredibly mature acting chops to create a memorable character. He also manages to look 14 (Justin's age as the play begins). Hooker delivers his one-line zingers with dead-on accuracy, capturing the essence of teenage ennui. Stephen Barker Turner does a nice turn as Justin's father, creating a modicum of sympathy for this rigid character. Carla Harting disappears too soon as the doomed Ashley. Her spitfire presence, once gone, definitely creates a void in the family. Sabrina Veroczi walks a fine line between scorn and sympathy as Justin's girlfriend. When she seems dazzled by Justin's "famous" father, one can see Justin silently bristle.
Set designer Paul Owen creates a minimal mood. Connie Furr-Soloman's costumes fit the play's contemporary mode, and sound designer Vincent Olivieri bombards the audience with loud grunge music in between scenes.
