“Tywanza Kibwe Diop Sanders was 26 years old when he returned to his Father in Heaven. A poet and entrepreneur, he died while reaching to save his Aunt Susie. Just a few hours before his death, his last Instagram post was a meme with a quote from Jackie Robinson. It read, ‘A life is not important except in the impact…
In Britton Buttrill’s “Scratching,” four characters who seem to have no interest in “climbing up and scratching” their ways to “start something new” appear stuck in a Sisyphean loop with no hope of purifying their karma. Estranged brothers Christian (Karsten Otto) and Adrian (Tyler Gardella) spent their early years watching their abusive father beat their collusive mother. Christian left their…
The rapid fire repartee that bounces back and forth faster than the ping pong balls that fly through the air is the source of energy in “ChipandGus, the remarkable two-hander one act play presented as part of the N.Y. International Fringe Festival. It is a sort of a contemporary Gin Game on steroids with two unlikely characters in an unusual,…
Stu Napolitano (played with a charmed angst by Philip Cruise) owns his own towing business and still lives at home with his abusive father and collusive mother. Stu drops everything and dashes home to administer insulin to his diabetic father whenever his incompetent mother calls. Stu’s dreary – and troubled – life gets interrupted by the return of his brother…
A woman is sitting on a bench. A man walks by and notices her sitting there alone. They silently flirt, coyly and innocently, until the man decides to sit on the bench next to her and attempt to have a conversation. When the silence is broken, this dramatic presentation shatters and falls apart. This unfortunately is the dilemma the new…
“Their relative ineffectiveness, however, is reflective of larger forces that combined over many decades to make blacks in the city all but invisible. And by now, the truth is that the black community has few genuinely influential advocates in San Francisco’s centers of power, the business community, and at City Hall.” – Amy Alexander, “The Atlantic” Following fifteen minutes of…
“The play’s the thing wherein I’ll catch the conscience of the King.” – William Shakespeare, “Hamlet,” Act II, Scene 2. If a play has no playwright, is it a play? If a playwright’s play is entitled “Anonymous, Anonymous,” is he or she really a playwright? When is any play finished? When it has a working title? When the playwright fulfills…
One of the many solo shows being presented as part of the N.Y. International Fringe Festival is “Naked Brazilian,” written and performed by Gustavo Pace. The script follows his life from childhood in Rio de Janeiro to the streets of New York City and beyond elaborating on copious experiences that contribute to his engaging journey to the present day. The…
“When Herod saw that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was filled with rage. Sending orders, he put to death all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, according to the time he had learned from the Magi.” – Matthew 2:16 Don Chaffer’s “The Unusual Tale of Mary and Joseph’s Baby”…
It is rare to find a solo show in the NY International Fringe Festival that includes original music and lyrics: that welcoming combination can be found in Paul Adams who happens to be “The Cleaning Guy.” A transplant from Kansas, he has been cleaning NYC apartments for the past twenty-five years and has an incredible roster of clients and their…