Craig Wright, creator of ABC series Dirty Sexy Money, opens show LADY off B'way
Oscar E Moore from the rear mezzanine for Talk Entertainment.com
The sound of crickets, gunshots and silence permeate this powerful one act play written by Craig Wright which has just opened at the Rattlestick Playwrights Theater at 224 Waverly Place in conjunction with Barrow Street Theatre. The show will run through Sunday, September 28, 2008. I suggest you get your tickets now.
LADY is skillfully directed by Dexter Bullard. Tense and dramatic moments are balanced with some really funny lines and some very strong silences. Three best friends are off on their yearly hunting trip deep in the woods of Illinois. Three best friends who know each other well but who don’t know each other at all.
There is Kenny (Michael Shannon). A pot head, a movie addict, runs a Tee Shirt Emporium, has a wife who is dying and a dog, Lady, who he loves more than anything else in the world. There is Dyson (Paul Sparks) who has enough pent up anger to ignite the forest where the action takes place. Lastly we have Graham, Grammy (David Wilson Barnes) a voice of reason, a Congressman, a democrat who ran on a Republican Platform, who, unfortunately for his two best friends, whole heartedly supports the war in Iraq and wants to discuss “politics”. All three are spellbinding.
And so we come to the meat and potatoes of the play. It is about how these buddies have grown apart because of their views or in the case of Kenny – non-view of politics and war. Craig Wright has done a masterful job in cleverly camouflaging his anti war, anti Bush sentiments within the confines of a hunting trip gone sour. As Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin’s son prepares to deploy to Iraq this play resonates in a most timely manner.
Is America the one to forcibly spread democracy around the world? Is killing justified? Is Bush the stupidest person on Earth? Is an eighteen year old ready and able to make a life changing decision in enlisting? Will any of these questions be answered? We get to know what these three men are about as they reveal themselves to each other. It’s a revelation to each of them as well.
LADY, is visually arresting. The set (John McDermott), costumes (Tif Bullard), Lighting (Nicole Pearce) and sound (Eric Shim) all add up to make this production shimmer with excitement and fear. But it is the writing of Craig Wright that takes stage center. It would be unfair to reveal how and what happens on this day of hunting and searching. That you will have to find out for yourself.
www.rattlestick.org Photo credit: Paulina Quintana
09-09-08
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