Theater Reviews: The Sequence, Faithful, Two Trains Running

Also, Asses & Elephants, Nihil Obstat, The Women

Comments (0) By L.A. Weekly Theater Critics Monday, Oct 13 2008

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Ed Krieger

Asses & Elephants

Jeannine W. Stehlin

The Women

Craig Schwartz

Two Trains Running

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GO TWO TRAINS RUNNING The seventh of 10 plays in his Pittsburgh Cycle, which chronicles 100 years of African-American history, this production, which runs well over three hours, is one of August Wilson’s talkiest plays. Yet the success of director Israel Hicks’ revival can be attributed to the consistency and quality of the cast. The setting is a Pittsburgh diner, circa 1969, that conveniently serves as a neighborhood hangout. Its owner, Memphis (Glynn Turman), is a shrewd businessman with a soft edge who has some lively patrons: mentally disturbed Hambone (Ellis E. Williams); Wolf (Felton Perry), a numbers man; Holloway (Roger Robinson), a street-corner prophet and believer in magic; and Sterling (Russell Hornsby), an ex-con with more ambition than job prospects. The only woman, Risa (Michole Briana White), is a waitress at the diner who bears horrible, self-inflicted scars on her legs. Not much goes on here. Most of the buzz is generated by the gilded funeral of a slick ghetto preacher named Prophet Samuel, and the pending demolition of the diner. Yet Wilson is a master storyteller, and this play is filled with humorous, engaging dialogue and earthly sagacity. In one hilarious segment, Holloway talks of a grandfather who loved being a slave so much, he wanted to die and pick cotton in heaven for a “white god.” And then there is West (Earl Billings), an undertaker who has grown rich on the misfortunes of the neighborhood. These characters form a curious gestalt that eerily mirrors the tumult of those times and the harsh realities of inner-city life. Edward E. Haynes’ expansive diner set piece works perfectly for the production. Nate Holden Performing Arts Center, 4718 Washington Blvd., L.A.; Thurs.-Fri., 8 p.m.; Sun., 3 p.m., Sat., 2 & 8 p.m.; through Nov. 9. (323) 964-9766. An Ebony Repertory Theatre production. (Lovell Estell III)

THE WOMEN Clare Boothe Luce’s The Women is thought of first as an exposé of female competition among a pack of well-groomed wildcats who claw until they draw blood, then outdo each other commiserating. Less remembered is the production’s embodiment of Luce’s curious stance against emotional feminism, as betrayed wife and mother Mary (Vanessa Waters) comes to believe that the cause of her divorce wasn’t that cheap tramp, Crystal Allen (Stephanie O’Neill), but her own pride: Fempowerment, not femme fatales, wrecks homes. “Love has pride in nothing but its own humility,” writes Luce, invoking Kahlil Gibran, and so the challenge of mounting her play is in scaling its icy peaks and humble lows. Director Elise Robertson’s staging stays in the middle ranges. The 15-woman ensemble is fine; the costumes by O’Neill and Rachel Kanouse are great, as are Robertson’s sets. But both the cruelty and the heartbreak are mannered, not meaty. And unlike George Cukor’s triumphant film version, the maids, manicurists and career girls nearly steal the show from under the society dames, though Emma Messenger, as the fatuous breeder Edith Potter, is a vicious riot as she flicks her cigarette ashes over her newborn son. Hayworth Theater, 2511 Wilshire Blvd., L.A.; Fri.-Sat., 8 p.m.; through Nov. 1. (323) 960-1054 or www.circustheatricals.com. (Amy Nicholson)