Theater Review: The Picture Box

Arthur French and Jennifer Van Dyck. Photo: Carmen L. deJesus

A Portrait of Love, Friendship and Changing Times
By Lauren Yarger
When Carrie (Jennifer Van Dyck) wraps her arms around 89-year-old Mackie (Arthur French), his deep, warm, loving smile is the expression of the security she has found in his guidance and caring. Somehow, we also know that without him as her caretaker, she would have ended up a very different, troubled person.

Such is the sweet story that unfolds in Cate Ryan's The Picture Box, being presented Off-Broadway in a limited engagement by the Negro Ensemble Company, Inc.

It's election day, 2008, and Mackie, who worked as a servant for Carrie's mother at her large Florida home, is tickled that he has gotten to see a black man running for president of the United States during his lifetime. The white folks who have arranged to buy the house following the death of Carrie's mother, Bob (Malachy Cleary) and Karen (Marisa Redanty) aren't happy about the prospect of Barack Obama sitting in the Oval Office, however. In fact, Bob isn't too pleased that there is a black neighborhood nearby and he makes plans to install an alarm system and ensconce his personal arsenal of weapons in the new house once they renovate by knocking down most the existing structure (set design by Patrice Davidson).

Their fears might be moot, however, as Carrie has been unable to bring herself to sign the purchase agreement, even as Bob and Karen do their walk-through before heading over to the closing (after stopping to vote for the other guy). Carrie's relationship with her absent and oft-married mother wasn't ideal, but she did care about her deeply and she doesn't want to sell the house. Mackie's wife, Josephine (Elain Graham), feels the presence of her best friend still in the house too, and understands Carrie's reluctance. She tells her it is what her mother wanted, however, and urges Carrie to move on with her life in Manhattan.

While cleaning out the house, Carrie finds a box of photos left by her mother for Mackie and as the three reminisce, we discover how Mackie came to look after Carrie, what happened to the man's son and even a secret about the family dog. It's a lovely stroll down memory lane with touching, layered performances, particularly from French, directed by Charles Weldon.

Ryan's script manages to convey a sense of family and how it can provide an anchor during changing times despite some structure flaws. We have to wonder, for example, why Bob, the most unbelievably, horribly stereotypical personification of a white bigot that ever lived, would even consider buying a home near a black neighborhood. It's also unlikely that a real estate closing would be taking place in a couple of hours if the papers hadn't been signed already and with boxes and furniture still in the house at the walk-through. There also are unanswered questions about why Carrie's mother had a box of photos mostly containing snapshots of Mackie's life, or why everyone loved her so much (what we know about her doesn't necessarily indicate that scenario).

Regardless, the play is a lovely slice-of-life piece that focuses on how family -- and the people and love by which we define it -- form the people we become.

The Picture Box runs through Jan. 29 at the Beckett Theatre, 410 West 42nd, St., NYC. For tickets and information visit http://www.necinc.org/.

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The mission of the Negro Ensemble Company, Inc. (NEC) is to provide African-American, African and Caribbean professional artists with an opportunity to learn, to work, to grow and to be nurtured in the performing arts. The overall mission of the NEC is to present live theatre performances by and about black people to a culturally diverse audience that is often underserved by the theatrical community.