Dream'in New York

A foreigner coming to New York to start a new life -- sounds like you've heard that story before. But this one has new twists. And the cast is unusually good.

Yasemin, a restless young Turkish woman, has a track record to prove she doesn't fit into the smoldering and gossipy office. When she's habitually tardy, the gals and phony boss spend their days blaming her for everything that goes wrong. She hatches a plan to dump it all and head for the Big Apple. Her friend, Defne, puts her, up and Yasemin soon lands a job. Only trouble is that it's a carbon copy of the one she escaped from in Istanbul. These co-workers are not only gossipy, but they take a hard line against Yasemin's Turkish quantum smoking. Defne does, too. She's gone whole hog into yoga and healthy living since moving to the US. Yasemin's old cronies call from Turkey to confirm either that she's a total failure or wildly successful. What can Yasemin do but satisfy their wishes -- and exaggerate her modest accomplishments?

Anna Stumpf's direction involves split-second timing for numerous scene changes, all done with extraordinary smoothness on opening night. The collection of mostly Turkish actors is not only lively but also extremely talented. It's rare to encounter so many gifted performers in a single production. L. Selen Ucer seems to revel in lead character Yasemin's dour humor and crazy impulses. Among her excellent colleagues are Zeynep Bilik as new-ager Defne, Mehmet Kaya as Defne's winning brother Cem, and Krassin Yordanov in the mime role of Xanax man.