Tuesday, November 22, 2011

Quick Hit Theater Review: Horsedreams

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Michael Laurence, Roxanna Hope, and Matthew Schechter  Photo: Sandra Coudert.
Horsedreams
By Dael Orlandersmith
Directed by Gordon Edelstein
Rattlestick Playwrights Theater

Summary:
Against a metaphoric cracked backdrop (Takeshi Kata, set design), drug use takes its toll on one family in an intensely gripping, unrelentingly engaging world premiere of Horsedreams, a play by Dael Orlandersmith, who also plays the role of Mira, a housekeeper who tries to help young Luka (Matthew Schechter), caught in the middle of his parents' addictions.

Loman (Michael Laurence) and Desiree (Roxanna Hope) seem like any other young couple. They're successful, enjoy the club/party scene and are physically attracted. They get married and have a baby and move out of the city to Westchester, but Desiree soon finds playing housewife and mother unfulfilling. She also starts to doubt whether she loves Loman and turns to drugs to feel more in control. Sensing his wife's unhappiness, Loman starts taking her back to the clubs, but the once-a-week stimulation and snorting of coke lines isn't enough and Desiree starts injecting a mix of cocaine and heroin with devestating results.

In the wake of his wife's overdose, Loman swears off coke and hires Mira to look after Luka who craves some attention from his father who consoles himself with alcohol. When Loman succumbs to the temptation of escape "just this once" and "one last time" through the same cooked narcotic combination that took his wife, Mira wonders whether she should intervene and have Luka removed from the home, especially when Loman starts taking the boy with him to drug-buying trips to 125th and Lexington Avenue.

Highlights:
An uncompromising look at the downward spiral drugs bring and their effects on addicts and those who love them. Orlandersmith has a gift for storytelling and for realistic characters. I particularly liked the development of Loman's thoughts that he is somehow above having a drug problem because he is rich and white. The play answers a lot of questions about why people turn to drugs and has a great message about how our kids are more influenced by what we do than by what we say. Should be required curriculum for middle schoolers (and their parents).

Edelstein's direction is excellent, as are lighting and sound ((Marcus Doshi; Ryan Rumery).

Lowlights:
The theater was unbearably warm the night I attended and the use of a strong herbal cigarette made it more uncomfortable for the intermissionless, 85-minute presentation.

Information:
Hosrsedreams runs through Dec. 11 at Rattlestick Playwrights Theater, 224 Waverly Place, NYC– off 7th Avenue South – between West 11th & Perry streets. Performances are Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday at 8 pm; Sunday at 3 pm. Tickets are $55 and are available at 212-279-4200 or at www.ticketcentral.com.

Christians might also like to know:
--God's name taken in vain
--Drug usage
--Language
--Sexual activity
Posted by Lauren Yarger at 11:07 AM

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My Bio

Lauren Yarger is Executive Director/Producer with Masterwork Productions, Inc. She has written, directed and produced numerous shows and special events for both secular and Christian audiences. She co-wrote a Christian musical version of “A Christmas Carol” which played to sold-out audiences of over 3,000 in Vermont and was awarded the 2000 Vermont Bessie (theater and film awards) for “People’s Choice for Theatre.” She also has written two other dinner theaters, sketches for church services and devotions for Christian artists.

Yarger trained for three years in the Broadway League’s Producer Development Program, completed the Commercial Theater Institute's Producing Three-Day Training and produced a one-woman musical about Mary Magdalene that toured nationally and closed with an off-Broadway run.

In 2008 she was a Fellow at the National Critics Institute at the O'Neill Theater Center in Waterford, CT. She writes reviews of Broadway and off-Broadway theater with an added Christian perspective for Masterwork Productions at http://reflectionsinthelight.blogspot.com/. She is editor of The Connecticut Arts Connection (http://ctarts.blogspot.com), an award-winning website featuring theater and arts news for the state. She is a contributing editor for BroadwayWorld.com and previously served as Connecticut theater editor for CurtainUp and as Connecticut and New York reviewer for American Theater Web.

Yarger is a book reviewer for Publishers Weekly and freelances for other sites. She is a member of the National Book Critics Circle.

She is a freelance writer and playwright and member of The Drama Desk, The Outer Critics Circle, The American Theater Critics Association and The League of Professional Theatre Women. She is a judge for the SDX Awards presented by the Society of Professional Journalists. She also is a member of the CT Press Club, the Connecticut SPJ and the Connecticut Critics Circle.

A former newspaper editor and graduate of the University of Missouri’s School of Journalism, Yarger also worked in arts management for the Bushnell Center for the Performing Arts and the Hartford Symphony Orchestra. She lives with her husband in West Granby, CT. They have two adult children.

Copyright

All material is copyright 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 by Lauren Yarger. Reviews and articles may not be reprinted without permission. Contact reflectionsinthelight@gmail.com

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Key to Content Notes:

God's name taken in vain -- means God or Jesus is used in dialogue without speaking directly to or about them.
Language -- means some curse words are used. "Minor" usually means the words are not too strong or that it only occurs once or twice throughout the show.
Strong Language -- means some of the more heavy duty curse words are used.
Nudity -- means a man or woman's backside, a man's lower front or a woman's front are revealed.
Scantily clad -- means actors' private areas are technically covered, but I can see a lot of them.
Sexual Language -- means the dialogue contains sexually explicit language but there's no action.
Sexual Activity -- means a man and woman are performing sexual acts.
Adultery -- Means a married man or woman is involved sexually with someone besides their spouse. If this is depicted with sexual acts on stage, the list would include "sexual activity" as well.
Sex Outside of Marriage -- means a man and woman are involved sexually without being married. If this is depicted sexually on stage, the list would include "sexual activity" as well.
Homosexuality -- means this is in the show, but not physically depicted.
Homosexual activity -- means two persons of the same sex are embracing/kissing. If they do more than that, the list would include "sexual activity" as well.
Cross Dresser -- Means someone is dressing as the opposite sex. If they do more than that on stage the listing would include the corresponding "sexual activity" and/or "homosexual activity" as well.
Cross Gender -- A man is playing a female part or a woman is playing a man's part.
Suggestive Dancing -- means dancing contains sexually suggestive moves.

Other content matters such as torture, suicide or rape will be noted, with details revealed only as necessary in the review itself.

The term "throughout" added to any of the above means it happens many times throughout the show.

Our Reviewing Policy

Our reviewer Lauren Yarger receives free tickets to Broadway and Off-Broadway shows made available to all voting members of the Outer Critics Circle and The Drama Desk, the two professional critics organizations with journalists covering NY theater. Journalistically, she provides an unbiased review and is under no obligation to make positive statements. Sometimes shows do not make tickets available to reviewers. If these are shows our readers want to know about (we review all Broadway shows and pertinent Off-Broadway shows), Masterworks purchases a ticket.

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