Seeing a world premiere of a new play is exciting. A play goes through many iterations before it is brought to the public. It begins in the mind of the playwright, who eventually commits it to paper. Then begin the readings, which become readings to selected audiences, followed by a series of rewrites. At some point, the playwright and a director feel the play is ready to be staged in front of a general audience. The director and writer, the parents, pace, fidget, and watch the audience for anticipated reactions to their progeny. Alas, most often, more rewrites.
Moxie Theater's production of Kirsten Greenridge's Gibson Girl, under the able direction of Delicia Turner Sonnenberg, is a perfect example of the process. While some would call it a play in progress, I suggest that it is much closer to a play ready for the stage.The multi-scene set-ups in the first act, at times, prove confusing. Once the mist clears, however, Gibson Girl's twists and turns have an interesting, if convoluted, logic.
There's nothing mysterious about the cast: they're outstanding. We meet teenage twins, Win (Che Lyons) and Valerie (Kaja Amado), in a school's girl's bathroom, complete with stalls. The twins have zero in common. One is peppy, full of life, rebellious, and not much of a student. The other is studious and very, very quiet. And, one is very light-skinned, the other very black. Twins? The contrast between Lyons and Amado is absolutely perfect for the story. They play off of each other like real-life sisters - a delight to watch.
Yolanda Franklin plays Ruth, their mother. This is one very confused woman. She is trying to win back her husband (?), J. C. (Anthony Drummond), who has escaped to Vermont. J. C. is a professor whom we only see projected in a portrait frame. He pontificates via the projected video (by Jerry Sonnenberg), giving us a bit of an understanding of him. Ruth hopes to woo him back by extracting sap from maple trees and bathing herself and the twins in it. (I didn't say that Ruth was totally cognizant of reality.) And this is only a tiny bit of her problems. Franklin gives Ruth just the right amount of believability that masks some really terrible secrets.
Ruth's sister, Thelma (Sylvia M'Lafi Thompson), must have been the inspiration for the cliche, "a piece of work." Thompson is amusing as a stereotypical pushy matron. We are introduced to her at a used-everything store, where she beats out a man over who will buy a used sports jacket. Thelma does have some redeeming qualities. She is also the keeper of a dark secret.
Ladell (Mark Christopher Lawrence), the man pushed around by Thelma, is the neighbor of emotionally beaten-down Nia (Monique Gaffney), a single mother who lost her child years ago at a crowded amusement park. Filled with guilt, she has refused the help of authorities. Gaffney elicits compassion for her character in a moving performance. Ladell moves from serious drama with Nia to rousing humor with Thelma.
Lawrence Brown is the apartment-house janitor, Nelson. Nelson suffers from music on the brain and a curiosity that leads him to drill holes in walls to peer at tenants - female tenants. He, too, pontificates in a nonsensical way. June Christina Rogers portrays Mademoiselle, a Jamaican fortune teller. Both establish their characters quickly, providing us with very good performances.
Designer Jerry Sonnenberg's set not only includes the maple trees and women's room but also Nia's kitchen, the apartment house laundry room, the wall pocked with drilled holes as well as the talking picture, the used-everything shop, and the Jamaican's reading room -- an excellent use of Diversionary's space.
Director Sonnenberg provided a simple, but effective sound design. Jeff Fightmaster's lighting works well, as do Jennifer Eve Thorn's costumes. Props by Joanne Glover and Liv Kellgren add authenticity.
Director Delicia Turner Sonnenberg has turned in another excellent production, giving us insight into the lives of several very different women.
