Folger's fab 'Nell Gwynn' is delightful fare

 Alison Luff is Nell Gwynn at Folger Theatre whose hat is bigger than your hat/Photo by Brittany Diliberto, Bee Two Sweet Photography

Sex, tarts, and miscellany! 

So much of it is true.  The whole thing is a delight, I dare say. 

We have to thank King Charles II (1630-1685) for restoring theatre and fun, post-Puritans, to England. Had playwright Jessica Swale included all 13 of his mistresses in her play, we'd still be watching them at the theatre. 


As it was, she only included three, 'twas enough and spirited they are!

Alison Luff is Nell Gwynn and Quinn Franzen is Charles Hart in Folger Theatre's Nell Gwynn/Photo by Brittany Diliberto, Bee Two Sweet Photography
 
The king's wife, Queen Catherine (1638-1705) (Zoe Speas in the role and a musician in the show) stayed married to him 'til death did them part, but that's another story to be told anon. She is the angry woman in black, although in real life (Wikipedia), she comes across as rather mousy. Nevertheless, her witchiness (portrayed in Nell) is quite understandable, given that she had many competitors (a practice, I understand, which still continues to this day). 

Peter Lely (1618-1680), Catherine of Braganza, Queen of England, c. 1665/Wikimedia.org

R. J. Foster is the haughty king who does not overplay his role.

John Michael Wright (1617-1694), Portrait of Charles II in Garter Robes, National Portrait Gallery, London/Wikimedia Commons

Nell Gwynn, the play, is about Nell Gwynn (1650-1687), the actress (!) who is Alison Luff at Folger's, star of the king's stage and at the Folger, too.  

And what bloomin' buffoonery it all is!
  
At the Folger (the East Cost premiere) and in real life, Ms. Gwynn did have an amour, Charles Hart, acted by the dashing Quinn Franzen, who does his squiring duties with Ms. Nell quite handsomely and gets her to the stage on time.

It doesn't take long for Thomas Killigrew (Nigel Gore) theatre manager and actor's broker, to succumb to the marvelous abilities of Ms. Gwynn and put her up in the "lights" (had there been any  then).  

She's got talent!

An experienced actor, the most dynamic Mr. Christopher Dinolfo,  is Edward Kynaston, the female substitute in the theatre before King Charles II pardoned the women and let them act, too.  The nerve of it all!   Women acting as women! 

Mr. Dinolfo was on stage far too short a time.  He lost his parts.

The heartiest laughs sprang from the appearances by Catherine Flye, who has earned 13 (matching the king's mistress counts)  Helen Hayes Award nominations, winning one. She has dual Folger roles as Nancy, a lady-in-waiting of sorts, and, briefly, as Nell's mom.

Her lines and mannerisms produce gales of glee, her roles crying for smiles all around as soon as the audience gets used to her antics and one-liners. (It didn't take long to realize she was the constant comic.)

A "tenured" mistress, Lady Castlemaine (Regina Aquino who plays dual roles) has her charms ripped asunder by new women on the block, including the prissy French token, Louise de Kéroualle (also Ms. Aquino) who exudes hilarity the short time she sashays down the promenade in regal "Frenchiness."

Because the audience is busy keeping up with the quick dialogue and fast scene changes, the excellent costuming by Mariah Anzaldo Hale does not receive the sufficient attention the designs warrant. They indeed help make the show and are breathtaking, under closer scrutiny by audience members who sit in proximity near the aisle where actors parade up and down.

Tony Cisek, set designer, hangs rich, red velvety drapes on either side of the stage which close and open and define the backdrop for some scenes which shift from front stage to back stage and back again with characters moving fore and aft.  (You have to be there.) 

The last ear count heard strolling musicians on banjos, guitars, mandolins, accordion, triangle, cello, and (I think) keyboard, all who added pleasant depth without dominating. I can't image the show without this music and applaud the composer, Kim Sherman.

Go and enjoy! You won't be the worse for it, but, like me, laughing lots more! I can't wait to see Ms. Swale's film version of Nell, now on the writing block.

Other members of the cast are Caitlin Cisco as Rose Gwynn, Nell's sister; Kevin Collins, musician; Michael Glenn, John Dryden, playwright who rapidly scribbled down lines for Nell Gwynn and was named poet laureate by the king.

Also, Jeff Keogh, Lord Arlington, the king's secretary of state; Alex Michell, who starts and ends the play theatrically.

Directing is Robert Richmond, who is also the chair and director of the University of South Carolina's department of theatre and dance.
 
Other members of the creative team are Andrew F. Griffin, lighting; Matt Otto, sound; Diane Healy, production stage manager; Jessica Short, assistant stage manager; Michele Osherow, resident dramaturg, Janet Alexander Griffin, artistic producer; and Beth Emelson, associate artistic producer.  

What: Nell Gwynn by Jessica Swale

When: Now through March 10, 2019

Where: Folger Theatre, 201 East Capitol Street, S. E. Washington, D.C. 20003

Tickets: Buy online, by phone (202-544-7077), or at the box office. Tickets start at $42 with discounts for groups, persons under age 30, students, seniors, educators, members and family of the military.

Open-captioned performances: Sunday, March 3, 2 p.m. and 7 p.m., sponsored by Vinton and Sigrid Cerf

Free Folger Friday, March 1, 6 p.m. Before Nell Gwynn at 8 p.m., scholar Deborah Payne and actors will speak and share excerpts from the long-lost manuscript, The Country Gentleman, found in the Folger archives in 1973.
 
Metro station: Capitol South or Union Station

For more information: 202-544-4600 or info@folger.edu

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Gala Theatre premieres 'The Old Man, the Youth and the Sea'

Victor de la Fuente, left, and Horacio Pena star in Gala Hispanic Theatre's The Old Man, The Youth, and The Sea or El Viejo, El Joven Y El Mar/Photo by Stan Weinstein

 Who was Miguel de Unamuno?

If you, like me, are unaware of the Spanish poet, novelist, teacher, rebel, and a member of the "Generation of 1898," you'll want to get a ticket to the world premiere of The Old Man, The Youth and The Sea or El Viejo, El Joven Y El Mar now on stage at Gala Hispanic Theatre.

The scholar and sage bears some resemblance to Ernest Hemingway who receives "an homage" in the subtitle.


It is likely that Mr. Unamuno (1864-1936) and Mr. Hemingway (1899-1961) never met, but they shared a love of writing, of Spain (Mr. Unamuno's birthplace) and attitude towards war and its soul-searching after-effects.

In a Gala commissioning, playwright Irma Correa focuses on Mr. Unamuno's philosophies about existence and reason, in contrast to a youth's idealism.

The old man (Horacio Pena as Mr. Unamuno) and the young man (Victor de la Fuente) meet on the island of Fuerteventura in the Canaries where Mr. Unamuno has been confined because of political differences with the dictator Primo de Rivera.
 
Cisco, the young man, is assigned caretaking responsibilities for Mr. Unamuno who stays in one bedroom for the entire length of the play.

They exchange pleasantries and ideas about life, their conversations which stand opposite stark plywood walls, floors, and few pieces of furniture which permit no distraction from the dialogue.

The two discuss existence and meaning. Cisco dreams the impossible, that of capturing the largest whale in the ocean which he calls "Moby Dick." He holds and moves a chair up and down as he crosses the room, back and forth, much like a great fish would do while threshing through waves.

Unamuno's wife, Concha (Luz Nicolás), briefly joins her husband to provide support. Soon, Unamuno's friend and writer, Dumay (Delbis Cardona) arrives, bringing an elaborate plot to escape, but Unamuno will have none of it!

Later, the general (Cardona in dual roles) puts the squeeze on any escape plans, but the dictator issues a pardon to Unamuno who rejects it. The prisoner continues making other escape plans and encourages Cisco to join him.

The two strive to hold fast to their own ideals and searches, but they clearly are affected by the other's beliefs.

The night I attended, the audience gave the actors and crew a standing ovation, proud to be part of a performance which recognizes the talents of another Spanish writer. 

The director, José Luis Arellano, won the 2016 Helen Hayes Award for Outstanding Direction for Gala's Yerma which also received another Helen Hayes Award, for Outstanding Set Design by Silvia de Marta.  For the Old Man, Ms. de Marta designed the set and costumes which perfectly match the suit Mr. Unamuno is wearing in the portrait below.
 
By Ramon Casas i Carbó - Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya, ePublic Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org


The proximity of the sea enabled sound and lighting designer Jesus Diaz to capitalize on its nature to produce visualization of a cabin at the shore.

The lighting is particularly effective as a single light from one side of the room casts a large shadow on the wall to create sharp black angles and define a prison.

A Gala statement quotes Ms. Correa:

"It is time to revive Unamuno....[who] represents the power of reason and empathy, and...Cisco, the dream of tomorrow, the drive of being alive...the General defends the fulfillment of duty [and]...unbreakable morality. He is Trump's wall." 

Mr. Pena, a persuasive Unamuno, is "Argentina's leading stage film and television actor," says Gala.  He and  Mr. de la Fuente (from Madrid) are making their Gala debuts. 
 
Others production team members are Iñaki Salvador, music composition; Elvira Zorita, video design; Alicia Tessari, properties; Catherine Nunez, stage manager; Devin Mahoney, technical director, Hugo Medrano, producer; Tony Koehler and David Peralto, production coordinators. 

Presented in Spanish with English subtitles. To read subtitles comfortably, English-only guests should request seating in rows E through H.
 
What: The Old Man, The Youth and The Sea or El Viejo, El Joven Y El Mar by Irma Correa

When: Now through March 3, 2019, Thursdays through Saturdays at 8 p.m., Sundays at 2 p.m.

Where: Gala Theatre, 3333 14th St NW, Washington, DC 20010.

Tickets: $48, regular; $30 for seniors (65+), military, students, and those ages 30 and under; $25, group sales (10 or more) with additional discounts for groups of 10 and more. Go online and order at GALA Tickets.

Student Matinees: February 28 and March 1 at 10:30 a.m. For more information, email education@galatheatre.org.

Duration: A little over two hours with one intermission

Metro stations: Columbia Heights or McPherson Square and take a bus or the Circulator from McPherson Square up 14th, or walk two miles and save money while using calories! Lots of places to eat along the way.

Parking: Available nearby

For more information: Call (202) 234-7174 and/or email info@galatheatre.org  

The production was made possible with support from the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities, the Embassy of Spain in Washington, DC, SPAIN arts & culture, and Acción Cultural Española (AC/E) through its Programa de Internacionalización de la Cultura Española (PICE).
 
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'Gordon Parks' exhibition closes Monday

Gordon Parks, Two Negro boys shooting marbles in front of their home. November, 1942, The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston.  Southwest of the U.S. Capitol, the area's homes were soon torn down in an urban renewal project and replaced by temporary government buildings and new housing, The destruction of housing for impoverished people still leaves a bad taste among many in the nation's capital and often comes up for discussion in local news, even today.

In conjunction with Black History Month, the National Gallery of Art  has hosted the first exhibition of early works by one of the nation's finest social photographers, Gordon Parks (1912-2006), who overcame poverty and discrimination to excel at photography, music, writing, and film making. 

Gordon Parks, Self-Portrait, 1941, gelatin silver print, private collection, courtesy of and copyright, the Gordon Parks Foundation

 Gordon Parks, Dinner Time at Mr. Hercules Brown's Home, Somerville, Maine, February, 1944, National Gallery of Art, Corcoran Collection

The exhibition, Gordon Parks: The New Tide, Early Work 1940–1950, closes Monday with more than 150 pictures Mr. Parks made of glamour queens, coal miners, Langston Hughes, and black life.  Documents from his own life are included.

Before Mr. Parks became the first black photographer at Life magazine, he worked for the U.S. government in Washington in the 1940s where he made life of black poverty visible to many through his pictures.

Gordon Parks, Washington, D.C. Young boy standing in the doorway of his home on Seaton Road in the northwest section. His leg was cut off by a streetcar while he was playing in the street, June, 1942, the Gordon Parks Foundation.  Mr. Parks was shocked by the discrimination he found in Washington:  young children forced to play in streets and excluded from "whites only" parks, playgrounds, and recreational centers.

Gordon Parks, a portion of Death Room, Fort Scott, Kansas, 1950, National Gallery of Art, Corcoran Collection

Gordon Parks, a portion of Tenement House, Arsonia, Connecticut, 1949,
National Gallery of Art, Corcoran Collection

Gordon Parks, a portion of Death of Babe Ruth, Inside Yankee Stadium, New York City, August, 1948, the Gordon Parks Foundation. Photographing the funeral of Bath Ruth was one of Mr. Parks's first assignments for Life magazine which published three of his pictures but not this one.  Why do you guess it was omitted?

Mr. Parks was a self-taught professional out of Kansas who was influenced by Charles White, Roy Stryker, Langston Hughes, Richard Wright, and Ralph Ellison. After his mother died, he moved to St. Paul to live with his sister, but her abusive husband drove Mr. Parks to the streets where he lived homeless and sought warmth in streetcars where he slept.

He was one of the first to join the Civilian Conservation Corps and worked as a waiter on a railroad where a fellow waiter gave him a magazine that changed Mr. Parks's life.  In the magazine he saw photographs which awakened him to another life and a way up and out.  He began reading everything he could find about photography and took classes.

On Sunday, February 17 at 2 p.m. in the National Gallery's East Building Auditorium, Harry Allen, Nelson George, Adrian Loving, Miles Marshall Lewis, and Vikki Tobak will discuss Hip-Hop’s Great Day: Gordon Parks and a Legacy of Photographic Inspiration.

Films made by Gordon Parks will be screened at 12:30 p.m. February 22, February 27, and March 8, 2019, also in the East Building Auditorium. 

A signature catalogue ($48) of more 300+ pages and 168 of his photographs, which was produced and published by the Gordon Parks Foundation and Steidl working with the National Gallery, is available. Included are an extensive chronology of Mr. Parks's life, copies of pages of his photographs which ran in the St. Paul Recorder in Minnesota, and papers of his application for a fellowship to the Julius Rosenwald Fund which made Mr. Parks the first photographer to receive an award.

Nearby in other rooms at the National Gallery are pictures by another black photographer, Dawoud Bey, who has his own show,  The Birmingham Project, ending April 21, 2019:

Working in collaboration with the Gordon Parks Foundation in Pleasantville, N.Y., the National Gallery of Art organized both exhibitions.  Philip Brookman was the Parks's curator.

After Washington, the exhibition travels to the Cleveland Museum of Art, March 23–June 9, 2019; Amon Carter Museum of American Art, Fort Worth, August 31–December 29, 2019; and Addison Gallery of American Art, Phillips Academy, Andover, February 1–April 26, 2020.


What: Gordon Parks: The New Tide, Early Work 1940–1950

When:  Monday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Sunday, 11 a.m.- 6 p.m. Open on Presidents Day.

Where: The ground floor of the West Building between Third and Ninth streets at Constitution Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. On the Mall.

Admission charge:  No charge 

Metro stations closest to the National Gallery of Art are the Smithsonian, Federal Triangle, Navy Memorial-Archives and L'Enfant Plaza.

For more information: 202-737-4215 

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Teenage wow 'Wolves' star in Herndon

The cast from The Wolves get in their exercises at NextStop Theatre/Photo by Lock and Company


NextStop Theatre in Herndon has done what no other theatre has done, at least as far as the director Kathryn Chase Bryer knows.  It's put on a show with teenage talent only (and one brief mom).

A magnificent glimpse into the world of teenage girl talk and it's not all about boys.  Very little of it, which surprised me since that's all we talked about in another era, another time when girls were not quite on par with boys, but now... 

Who needs crutches when we can stand on our own legs?  We are The Wolves!

That's the name of the indoor soccer team of nine teen players who exercise, practice and banter about world events (!), Khmer Rouge (!), Cambodia (!), Harry Potter, each other (when the subject is out of earshot, natch), their drunken coach, abortion, society, the future, and what else? 

One has foot-in-mouth disease and makes laughter, but they all work seriously on their simultaneous floor exercises, and they practice kicking the ball (ensuring no member of the audience is tapped). 

Teammates look up in the stands for their coach and in the distance, #46 (Vivian Lemons, Oakton High School) spies a turfed titmouse.  She's the optimist in the pack, who's been isolated from the rest of 'em, home-schooled that she was, and unschooled in the negative, suspicious ways of some of her teammates.

The language is real which means adult, with F bombs and other bad words dropping every few seconds, but that's a warning ticket holders receive at the entrance to the theatre with the notice, too, that some of the content is loud, very loud.

Jordan Hundley, left, and Caroline Coleman go at it in The Wolves at NextStop Theatre/Photo by Lock and Company

The frequent ear-splitting screams by team captain, #25 (Caroline Coleman from Urbana HS) gives one pause to wonder how she has any voice left for the next show.

The acting is light years beyond expectations of high school students, many making their professional debuts, and Ms. Bryer is to be congratulated for exacting exceptional executions from the den. 

Each player is essential with commentary for the mix, including the quiet one, the goalie, #00 (Dominique Kalunga, South Lakes HS) who, after a dream, finds confidence and her voice in the second act.
  
At the beginning of the show, the girls do talk at the same time, and following one of those conversations is impossible until reality brightens understanding that this first burst is short-term and just an introduction to the fast-paced drama which lies ahead.

Costumers Kristina Martin and Marilyn Lopes dress the girls in matching royal blue uniforms with socks to match, and sound man Reid May plays the perfect hip tunes between scenes. 

Men don't play much of a role here.  Nor do mothers.  Girls just want to have fun and meaning.  They have their whole lives in front of them and can howl from any hilltop they choose.

YOLO!

The remaining team members (and schools they attend) are Jordan Hundley (Chantilly), Teryn Cuozzo (Tuscarora), Jordan James (Robinson), Makayla Collins (Annandale), Maya Tischler (Oakton), Rachel Lipetz (Marshall) and understudies:  Ella Stamerra (Woodson), Naomi Bertha (J.E.B. Stuart), and  Kylie Miller (Metropolitan School of the Arts).  One adult, a mom: Vanessa Lock Gelinas.

Other creative crew members are Jonathan Dahm Robertson, scenic designer and Madeline McGrath, painter;  Sarah Tundermann, lighting; Alex Wade, properties; Sarah Usary, stage manager; Laura Moody, assistant stage manager; Jonathan Abolins, electrician, Lisa Hamilton, soccer consultant, and Hilary Joel, movement coach. Evan Hoffman is NextStop's producing artistic director.

What: The Wolves by Sarah DeLappe (her first play which was a 2017 finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Drama)

When: Through February 24, 2019 on Friday and Saturday nights at 8 p.m., Sundays at 7 p.m., Saturday and Sunday matinees at 2 p.m. and one Thursday show on February 21 at 8 p.m. 

Where: NextStop Theatre Company, 269 Sunset Park Drive, Herndon, VA 20170 in the back right corner of Sunset Business Park, near the intersection of Spring Street/Sunset Hills Road. Right off the Fairfax County Parkway. A wee big hard to find on a first visit, so allow an extra 15 minutes. The program notes that GPS map systems often give incorrect driving directions once inside the Sunset Business Park. From the "Taste of the World" restaurant, circle counter-clockwise around the building and look for maroon awning. Lots of great restaurants nearby.

Free parking: Available near the door.

Admission: General admission tickets start at $35 with "flexible pricing." (Demand increases prices.) Buy online or through the box office at 866-811-4111.

Duration: About 90 minutes without intermission

Rating: Adult language

For more information: 703-481-5930 or info@nextstoptheatre.org

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