The American Repertory Theater premiered three one-act plays featuring enough local talent and emotional terrain to undoubtedly impress newcomers.
On Thursday night, local playwrights Mark Humphrey, Mark Lloyd and Matthew LaChiusa each presented a one-act play. The night, though inconsistent, contained more than enough inspiring moments to allure younger generations of local playwrights and actors.
The first play, Humphrey's "Leaving Boyletown," portrayed actor Vincent (Russ Burton) struggling with his personified past role Taylor (Bryan Patrick Stoyle). Taylor, a wild and wacky dose of comic relief, argues for the continuation of his existence before Vincent destroys him by pursuing a darker, grittier role.
The play earns points from the start for the original concept and the balance of Stoyle's humorous performance as Taylor and the overlying sadness of the piece. Vincent makes his resentment for the fictional Taylor clear from the start while Taylor argues for his relevance through his quips and nostalgic pathos.
The act essentially moves through the dynamics of a tug-of-war argument. Vincent wants desperately to move on and prove his range as an actor, but Taylor understandably hopes for a renewal of his fame.
The problem here is the actual lack of dynamic to the conflict. Vincent wants to change to the new, Taylor wants to revive the old, and neither one of them will budge.
Mark Lloyd's "See The Screams" was stricken with a similar plague: a conflict that remains as is before being abruptly resolved. It had an undeniably strong start with Michael (Michael Leszcynski) convincingly conducting himself like a man who was just brutally mugged in a dark alleyway.
This second act was a bit of a mess, regardless of Leszcynski's talent. In a nutshell, Michael attempts to save his own life by exploring the tortured life of his assailant. For most of the play, Chet (Andrew Michalski) is holding a knife to Michael, so it's easy to see the strange nature of the therapy session. The strangeness, unfortunately, never really attains a positive form.
The third and best play, Matthew LaChiusa's "The Wheelbarrow" ended the night in a light-hearted mood. Jack (Jacob Albarella), an opinionated, cynical playwright, and his girlfriend Judy (Lauren Cichon) attend an avant-garde play and suffer the self-absorbed snobs surrounding the event.
Jack was the most interesting personality of the night, making snide remarks left and right about the "artsy fartsy" environment and the stuffy characters in it. Admittedly, the tenseness between Jack and Judy felt peripheral to the humor of the exchanges themselves.
It was also "The Wheelbarrow" that had a play within a play, joining the cast members with the audience to watch the short play named after the title. The direction was top-notch and the action and dialogue never lulled.
While the plays were a mixed bag, each one had something special to offer, and each one had glimpses of real potential for more, and better. It is an intriguing way to develop and provide opportunity for writers and actors at a rapid pace.
The actors, particularly Michael Leszcynski, Jacob Albarella and Bryan Patrick Stoyle, put on engaging, humorous and heart-tugging performances. The scripts, for the most part, did not do them enough justice. The first two plays had winning concepts, marred some by a clumsy and disorganized approach to resolving conflict.
In the program, it was said playwright Mark Lloyd aspired to complete 50 of these plays by the time he is 50. There is no doubt such an endeavor will only yield improvement.
Email: arts@ubspectrum.com
