Reviewed
by Will Stackman
Zeitgeist's
current production, which opens Boston's small theatre fall season with a bang,
is a puzzle box script previously done at the Public Theatre in NY, repeated at
Long Wharf in New Haven. The Public's production featured Phylicia Rashad in a
major role which skewed the storyline a bit. As with too many current plays,
"The Story"
offers elaborate character backgrounds, believable current social problems
"ripped from the headlines," and coincidence piled on complication.
Consequently, the action barrels along drawing in the audience without quite
developing a through line, leaving the consequences up in the air. Tracy
Scott Wilson has
taken the serious subject of racial identity in today's American society. She's
used it to create an interesting but rather contrived theatre piece, ultimately
lacking a dramatic conclusion. Zeitgeist's first rate intimate production is
never the less well worth seeing, not only for the brisk action, but for the
show's range of ideas, presented with dispatch.
Much
of the credit belongs to the cast that director David J. Miller has assembled from some of the
best talent around. Worcester resident Nydia ónCal, seen in "Tooth &
Claw" last spring for Zeitgeist, plays the central character, Yvonne
Robinson. She's a complex young Black reporter, just hired at a major urban
paper, The Daily, and assigned to the Outlook section that reports on the
minority community. She got the job through her intimate association with
assistant editor Jeff Morgan, played by Gabriel Field, last seen over at the Lyric in
"Shakespeare in Hollywood". Jeff's a rich kid currently in charge of
the more prestigious Metro section. Yvonne's boss Pat, played by Michelle
Dowd, was the
first black reporter on this paper. She's fiercely committed to the Black
community. Dowd, who appeared in "Homebody/Kabul" winter, will be
seen later this season in "Crowns" at the Lyric. Pat's protege Neil,
a seasoned young reporter, is played by IRNE winner Keedar Whittle, currently studying at Circle in
the Square. Neil gets the real stories; Yvonne gets to write about community
centers. An ensemble consisting of IRNE winner Kortney Adams, IRNE nominee, W. Yvonne
Murphy, and busy
Kaili Turner
plays multiple parts including street kids, T.V. reporters, police women, and
community center directors, providing a milieu for the central action.
The
current hot story at The Daily is the murder of a white teacher, Tim Dunn, also
played briefly by Field. He and his wife, played by Caryn Andrea Lindsay were driving at night through a
Black neighborhood near the school where they both teach as part of an outreach
project. Jessica Dunn claims to have seen a black man fire the gun. Neil
immediately thinks Charles Stuart and starts digging into the wife's background.
Pat is worried about further damage to the image of the Black community.
However Yvonne apparently stumbles on the truth when she meets Latisha, played
by Chantel Nicole Bibb, a bright young student hanging out at one of the community centers.
Bibb is currently in her third year at the Boston Arts Academy, the city's new
arts high school. The youngster claims that the murder was committed by a
member of a previously unknown girl gang. Instead of taking her story to Pat,
Yvonne gives the information to her lover and the revelation becomes front page
news. She's promoted out of the community news ghetto up to the Metro section.
But
things start to unravel as the second half of the play raises various questions
as to what really happened, who Yvonne is, and how the inner politics at this
somewhat racist newspaper effect the search for the truth. The style of
"The Story" is very cinematic, with overlapping conversations and
many quick changes of scene and costume, all directed with care. The piece may
have been first conceived for TV or as a movie, but the action works well in
Miller's ingenious in-the-round setting where two desks, a central table, and
six office chairs are most of the setting. The floor is covered with a collage
of newspaper front pages and once again, as for last spring's "Tooth &
Claw", four booths separating the seating areas provide entrances and
changing areas. Zeitgeist's done a very interesting 90 minute intermission less
production of a script which needs a third act to become a real drama. The
audience is left to imagine what becomes of each of these characters, most of
whom have been given too much background but not enough interaction to develop
real personalities.
"The
Story" is certainly on par with the company's previously well regarded
shows, with effective lighting by Darren Evans, sound by Walter Eduardo, and ingenious costuming by Tracy
Campbell,
especially for the ensemble--though Jeff probably needs a tie at some point.
The show is an auspicious start to the BCA season. If only the author had some
inkling of the solution to the dilemmas she illustrates.