“The Exonerated” at 2nd Story Theatre

By Richard Pacheco

While most theater companies plunge into summer with light hearted plays or sheer comedies, 2^nd Story has propelled itself into summer with an often compelling indictment of the judicial system in America, called “The Exonerated” a play culled from  real life from interviews, court documents, letters and case files complied by Jessica Blank and Erik Jensen. These ordinary people were wrongly convicted and on Death Row,  and one was executed. The resulting drama is chilling and disturbing to witness the legal and moral wrongs involved and the corruption that led innocent people to be sentenced to death.

There is no set. The actors merely stroll about the Bristol Statehouse courtroom telling their tales of woe and miscarried justice. The roots of their failed justice are similar, from cops who railroad then for convictions, or being black in a white man’s world, or being rated out by a professional criminal. Taking its inspiration from real life details, it is a harrowing tale of justice gone awry with tragic consequences.

The tales go from their arrests to their time and death row and its consequences for them and their loved ones. Not only is is disturbing and shocking, it is also at times profoundly moving and touching.

The strength they show is nothing short of amazing as is the humanity they show and how they deal with their circumstances.

Tom Chase’s Gary was talked into confessing to the brutal murder of his parents. He cannot recall committing the crème, but relentless investigators will not let up unto he confesses. The investigators think he might have blocked it out and are looking for a quick solution and he is the target..

Joe Henderson’s Kerry is convicted of the murder of a woman he met once. Her boyfriend, is never a suspect to the police in the charade of justice. In prison, he is gang raped and they cut an obscene and demeaning phrase into his flesh. The repercussions ripple through the years.

Amos Harmrick, Jr. is a man who works at a stable, love horses and finds all that taken away from him even after he is released.

Edward V. Crews is David who laments losing his spark for life in the ordeal.

Joanne Fayan is Sunny, probably one of the most harrowing tales ins these tragedies. She and her husband are convicted on the word of a career criminal who murders tow police officers and blames them for a deal, taking advantage of the system, he who talks first gets the better deal.

The killer eventually recants his testimony, but not before she has been in prison for ten plus years and her husband has been brutally executed. Meanwhile her parents die and her children grow up. Her husband Jesse endurse4 a horrific death, being jabbed with electricity three times and taking thirteen minutes to die. Flames smolder from his head and smoke from his ears.

The two, in order to evade detection by guards write love letters to each other in Japanese, which they got from dictionaries. It is powerful and moving.

Ricardo Pitts-Wiley is Delbert, the poet of the group. He is a black man caught up in a messed up system and still manages to herald the country as a great one in spite of the injustice paid to him. As he puts it,  he is a poet and it’s not easy, but “he sings.”

This production does the same thing. With a stunning cast, it soars past the injustices to leave a passionate and positive view of people overcoming great inequities and difficulties, in a world stacked against them. The terrific cast comes from 2^nd Story and from Mixed Magic Theatre.

Ed Shea directs with a firm touch, keeping the focus on these people overcoming these injustices while maintaining their humanity and the intense character these people find along the way.

“The Exonerated” runs through June 30 at the Bristol County Statehouse courtroom, 240 High Street in Bristol. Tickets are $30. Call 401-247-4200 or go to http://www.2ndstorytheatre.com

“House” and “Garden” at Trinity Rep

By Richard Pacheco

Trinity Rep’s latest offering by English playwright Alan Ayckbourn's "House & Garden" has a single cast performing two plays at the same time. “House” takes place upstairs while “Garden” goes on at the same time downstairs with the same cast. It is almost a live magic act as actors run back and forth between the two sets to perform and it is pure comic delight all the way.        

While the plays are connected, they are also independent productions which can stand alone. You would do yourself a disservice to see only one as both together pack a comic wallop that is sheer fun and a laugh a minute as well as having some touching moments.

            The plot revolves around the annual garden party of Trish and Teddy Platt and brings to a head that their marriage is headed for disaster in fact has been for many years because Teddy does not have the word fidelity in his vocabulary and cannot keep his pants on around other women.

Teddy is not the most secretive of fellows and everyone knows he is having an affair with his best friend’s wife. Only his best friend doesn’t know. Upstairs is the well to do members  and their guests, a marginal French movie stars, a famed mystery writer with political connections and an aim to convince Teddy to follow in the family tradition set my his father, grandfather and great grandfather in politics and run for Parliament. Meanwhile the garden hosts mostly the staff, the hired help like the sullen and cranky gardener, Warn,

Both plays center on Teddy, played with comic aplomb by Fred Sullivan Jr. and the women he is involved with, his wife, Trish played with a chilly distance and flair by Anne Scurria and his mistress the frenetic and crazed Angela Brazil.

Fred Sullivan Jr. Plays Teddy with a flair for his cavalier attitude towards marriage and sex, a charming man who is a total cad to his wife.

Anne Scurria plays Trish, his wife with icy aloofness, borne of years of long suffering knowledge that her marriage is over. She makes it hysterically funny.

Angela Brazil plays Joanna, an elementary school teacher with frantic finesse. When Teddy breaks up with her, she goes completely hysterical and looses it, turning into a total psycho, delusion and violent, ending up in a fist fight with the French movie star in the fountain.

Stephen Throne plays Teddy’s best friend Giles with understated skill. Giles is kind but clueless, nice to the point of being delusional and out of touch with reality—he blames himself for his wife’s affair with no blame at all on her.

There is strong support coming from the rest of the cast. Janice Duclos is sheer fun as the no nonsense housekeeper who is looking for the gardener to be a father to her feisty daughter.  Catherine Dupont is a hoot as her sexually provocative daughter, Pearl. Barry M. Press is a riot as the sullen gardener Warn with few lines but evokes tons of laughter with his body language. Bridget Saracino is on the mark as Teddy and Trish politically motivated daughter who wants to carry on the family tradition in politics. Stephen Jaenhert is delightful as her friend but wannabe boyfriend Jake, who is son to Joanna and Giles.

There is more fine support coming from Joe Wilson Jr., Phyllis Kay (who speaks no English in the role of the actress, just French), and Barbara Meek as well as the ill fitting couple played by Mary C. Davis and Ted Moeller. The children add a delightful touch to it all.

The plays are directed with wacky precision by Brian McEleney who keeps everything right on track and the laughs follow one right after another.

Ackbourn is a theatrical master (with 72 plays produced) and what could be merely an amusing exercise on the page turns into and vital, vibrant and truly funny production onstage with its deft balancing of timing and some touching moments as well.

The Eugene Lee set is a wonder. The upstairs set of the English manor house is perfect with ancestral portraits and stuffed animal heads abounding. The Garden set is a delight of astro turf and columns disguised as impressive trees and a charming fountain.

William Lane’s costume design is on target. Thom Jones dialect coaching is impeccable for all cast members.

"House & Garden" runs through June 30 at Trinity Rep, 201 Washington St., Providence. Tickets are $28-$68. Call (401) 351-4242, or visit trinityrep.com

“The Hallelujah Girls” at Your Theatre

By Richard Pacheco

The Your Theatre production of the Jessie Jones, Jamie Wooten and Nicholas Hope play, “The Hallelujah Girls.” is a merry romp that moves joyously along with a solid cast and fine direction. Hilarity abounds when the feisty females of Eden Falls, Georgia, decide to shake up their lives. The action in this rollicking Southern comedy takes place in SPA-DEE-DAH!, the abandoned church-turned day spa where this group of friends gathers every Friday afternoon. After the loss of a dear friend, the women realize time is precious and if they're going to change their lives and achieve their dreams they have to get on it now! But Sugar Lee, their high-spirited, determined leader, has her hands full keeping the women motivated.

Carlene's given up on romance, having buried three husbands. Nita's a nervous wreck from running interference between her problematic son and his probation officer. Mavis' marriage is so stagnant she's wondering how she can fake her own death to get out of it. And sweet, simple Crystal entertains them all, singing Christmas carols with her own, hilarious lyrics. The comic tension mounts when a sexy, ex-boyfriend shows up unexpectedly, a marriage proposal comes from an unlikely suitor and Sugar Lee's arch rival vows she'll stop at nothing to steal the spa away from her.

Sugar Lee is the caretaker of the bunch who constantly eggs her cohorts in believing in themselves. At the same time, she is sparring with her nemesis, Bunny, and thwarting romantic entanglements from a past lover, Bobby Dwayne. Becky Minard is poised and compelling in the role.

Mavis is a wise-cracking broad who tells it like it is. She'd rather stay out partying in her Sept. years than be with her predictable, blasé spouse. Valerie J. Reynolds is wining in the role, with great delivery of snide quips about Mavis’ marriage and cynicism.

Carlene is a 3-time widow who's wary of going out with another man for fear of his dying on her – again. Elizabeth Rapoza is Carlene. She handles the role with flair and conviction, full of passion, able to balance the character’s self doubt with raw energy.

Crystal lives life with flamboyant flair. She dresses in costume and sings every calendar holiday to the tune of Christmas carols.  Marilyn Ducette is wildly funny and full of energy and drama as the wacky Crystal.  Her costumes changes and the zest she brings to those changes and her singing is a sheer enchantment.

Nita is the space shot who loses herself in the romantic novels that she reads. She is blissful bewilderment personified. Susan Massey is a delight as the spacey Nita, whose life is so engrossed in sad ending romantic novels that she hides from real life and a twenty something year old son who is the bane of her existence. She is appropriately  out there and caring for her friends at the same time.

Bunny is a bitch on wheels who enjoys making life miserable for the ladies. Cheryl Day is rambunctious and relentless as Bunny, a harridan on speed. It is very funny and wildly nasty performance as she shows this self-absorbed witch for who she  truly is.

Bobby Dwayne braves the terrain with magnified ego. He is Sugar Lee's boyfriend from the past who's giving his all this time around.  Mark C. Fuller handles the role with determination an honesty. He is nervous and stuck in the past, afraid to face Suger Lee and he handles it with earnestness and skill.

Porter still lives with his mother. He's extremely settled in his ways, but, is willing to give dating a try -- maybe. His sense of humor is demonstrated only by his "strange" laugh. Robert Ducette is a joy in the role with a relentless energy and comic poise that never fails to bring a laugh. He is convincing in evoking the mama’s boy timidity of the character and weird antics with ample energy and conviction. He does have a problem with his accent at various times.

Director Trudi Miller keeps it all running merrily along, deftly balancing the large cast with skill and finesse, The Southern accents for the most part are convincing and on the mark.

The set design by Mark C. Fuller is a delightful recreation of a church, in fact it mimics the church hall the theater is in with accuracy and style.

Your Theatre until May 19 All tickets $15

136 Rivet Street, New Bedford, MA
508-993-0772 http://yourtheatre.org/yti/index.php

“The Beauty Queen of Leenane” at the Gamm Theatre

By Richard Pacheco

The current production at the Gamm Theatre is “The Beauty Queen of Leenane” the 1996 black comedy by Irish playwright Martin McDonagh which premiered at the Druid Theatre Company in Galway, Ireland.  The Gamm does it justice with some strong performances packing emotional impact with dark humor in often equal doses. It is a compelling as watching a car wreck in action and you are unable to look away.

The play also enjoyed successful runs at London's West End, Broadway and Off-Broadway. It was nominated for an Olivier Award as Best Play for the London production, and the 1998 Broadway production was nominated for six Tony Awards, winning four, for Best Leading Actress in a Play, Best Featured Actor in a Play, Best Featured Actress in a Play and Best Direction of a Play.

The play is a blend of black comedy, melodrama, horror and bleak tragedy. The story is set in the Irish village of Leenane, Connemara in the early 1990s. It takes place entirely in a shabby, poorly-lit kitchen, resulting in a claustrophobic sense of entrapment.

The play centers on the life of Maureen Folan, a 40-year-old spinster who takes care of her selfish and manipulative 70-year-old mother Mag. Maureen's sisters have escaped into marriage and family life, but Maureen, with a history of mental illness, is trapped in a seriously dysfunctional relationship with her mother.

The Folan cottage is visited by Pato Dooley and his younger brother Ray. Pato is a middle-aged construction worker fed up with having to live and work in England, disappointed by the limitations and loneliness of his life. The day-to-day sameness is tedious also for Ray, a non-threatening "bad boy". 

The glimmer of a last-chance romance between Maureen and Pato sparks up in the first act, and continues in the second one with a notable monologue of Pato. The plot, full of deceptions, secrets and betrayals interspersed with turnabouts, keeps surprising the audience. Hopes are raised only to be dashed.

Wendy Overly is Meg Folan, the manipulative hag who shares a shabby cottage with her spinster daughter. She pretends to be ill, is domineering and demanding and makes her daughter’s life a living hell. It is a brilliant performance, riveting and compelling, by turns funny and chilling.

Jeanine Kane is her daughter, Maureen, who is dutiful and obedient of her mother’s relentless demands, but not without taking her share of barbs at the cantankerous old woman. Kane is wonderful in the role, she sparkles as a woman caught between her desires and the reality which dashes them to pieces by continual betrayals. .

Joe Short is the fidgety, young neighbor, Ray Dooley. He is a mass of twitching, never still energy, always moving, always talking relentlessly. He is a sort of tame bad boy who manages to be bored more than bad, occasionally stealing things usually of little value. He is obsessed with television, watching it religiously. Short is on the mark with the role, capturing the restlessness and character traits with skill and endless energy.

Steve Kidd is Ray’s brother Pato. He is a man fed up with having to work in England and the prejudice he finds aimed at him there for being Irish. He wants more out of life than he has had so far and it seems that Maureen, who he has liked for years, but been fretful of approaching offers him a way out of the humdrum monotonous world for her and him. Kidd is excellent in the role and particularly shines in his monologue which opens the second act in a blend of humor and pathos.

The cast works well together and create a vivid and convincing whole that delights and disturbs with equal doses, both sublime.

Director Judith Swift manages the fine balance between humor and chilling undertones with skill and assurance.  The accents coached by Overly are wonderful and precise.

The set design by Michael McGarty is a masterpiece of intricate details, all adding up to a rich whole. Marilyn Salvatore’s costumes are perfect.

McDonagh has a rich, dark streak of humor and the ability to combine that with some chilling and disturbing topics and this is no exception. The result here is riveting theater which amuses while it disturbs.

“The Beauty Queen of Leenane” at Gamm runs through June 2, 172 Exchange St., Pawtucket. Tickets are $36-$45. Call (401) 723-4266, or visit gammtheatre.org.

           

“The Rose Tattoo” at Second Story Theater

By Richard Pacheco

Tennessee Williams is not known for his light hearted theatrical fare, but “The Rose Tattoo” currently paying at the Second Story Theatre is just that and it is a sheer delight, an adult fairy tale that charms and offers many laughs along the way. It is endearing and heartwarming, a sexy romantic comedy that leaves you with a lasting smile. It is set in a small fishing village in the Gulf Coast. Serafina Delle Rose is a dressmaker who has know the glory of love. After her husband’s death she withdraws from the world and expects her daughter to do the same—except her daughter has just discovered boys, in her case a young sailor whose sister goes to school with her. Serafina is adamant until a young truck driver arrives in town and her attitudes begin to change. It won the 1951 Tony Award for Best Play. Williams originally wrote the role for Italian actress Anna Magniani but she wasn’t’ able to do it although she performed the role in the film in 1955 and won an Academy Award.

Rae Mancini is the determined and indomitable Serafina. It is a masterful performance, one filled with heart, passion and sincerity.  Serafina worships the memory of her dead husband. Her meaning in life comes from that love and her devotion to her religion, in particular Our Lady.

Ara Bohigian is the truck driver, Alvaro, who ends up in town and at Serafina’s house.  Alvao is a mixture of overly sensitive and the grandson of the village idiot, he constantly says. Bohigian is a delight in the role, very funny and  hitting the character’s peculiarities and passion with finesse.

The scenes between Serafina and Alvaro when he is crying are hilarious.  The passion the evolves between them is vivid and compelling.

Valerie Westgate is Serafina’s daughter, Rosa, a young woman who has suddenly become aware of the opposite sex and her own sexuality as her mother is withdrawing from the world. The confrontations with her mother are wonderful. Westgate is charming and provocative in the role. Her scenes with Iacovelli as the young sail rawer winning and fun.

Andrew Iacovelli is the young sailor, Jack, a young man torn between his attraction for Rosa and his religious upbringing. Iacovelli is full of energy and sincerity in the role, the perfect foil for Westgate.

The rest of the large cast makes it all vivid and fleshes it all it, from Liz Hallenbeck s the witchy Strega, to  Vince Petronio as Father De Leo,  Jim Sullivan as the salesman,  to Emily Lewis as Flora and Gail Hanrahan as Bessie are all delightful and fun.

There are so many solid and rich scenes in here such as when Serafina, being mother Inquisitor, makes Jack promise to the Virgin Mary on his knees that he will respect Rosa no matter what. Or the scenes between Serafina and Alvaro, from the crying scene, to the drinking scene to when they first feel the attraction for each other and how ti develops. The scene where Serafina learns a disturbing disruption of her view of her dead husband is also a a treat.

Director Ed Shea is adept with a large cast 19, handling them with flair and a clear sense of purpose. They all have wonderful Italian accents.

Trevor Eliet’s turntable set is a marvel, hinting at shutters and windows, a parch and door as well as a living and dining room.  It is chic and impressive. Ron Cesario’s costumes in a 1950’s fashion are accurate and charming.

            The cast gets a well deserved standing ovation for a job well done.

Tickets are $25, age 21 and under tickets are $20. You can call the box office at 401-247-4208 or check the website at www.2ndStoryTheatre.com for more information.

"The Rose Tattoo" (2 - 26 May)

2ND STORY THEATRE

@ 28 Market Street, WARREN RI

1(401247-4200

“The King and I” at Ocean State Theatre

“The King and I” at Ocean State Theatre

by Richard Pacheco

            There are some play s and musicals which lose impact over the years and other which do not. “The King and I” is a as vivid and charming as fun and as moving as it once was. The current production at Ocean State Theatre is sheer delight from beginning to end, loaded with fun, overflowing with charm and still packing an emotional climax.

It is based on the 1944 novel “Anna and the King of Siam” by Margaret Landon, which derives from the memoirs of Anna Leonowens, governess to the children of King Mongkut of Siam in the early 1860s. The musical's plot relates the experiences of Anna, a British schoolteacher hired as part of the King's drive to modernize his country. The relationship between the King and Anna is marked by conflict through much of the piece, as well as by a love that neither can admit. The musical premiered on March 29, 1951, at Broadway's St. James Theatre. It ran nearly three years, then the fourth longest-running Broadway musical in history, and has had many tours and revivals. It was written for actress Gertrude :Lawrence and although they originally wanted Rex Harrison for the king’s role, he was unavailable so they got Yul Brenner.

Christopher Swan plays the King of Siam, a man caught between his strong, well established   He has a wonderful singing voice, one of robust energy and skill, and it shines throughout the production. He shows a real presence, full of regal confidence as the king and a bit more timid an cautionary as a man confronting the every that is Anna. He shows a more vulnerable side when he sings, “A Puzzlement” where he sincerely questions himself.

traditions and his desire to bring his country into the modern world. He is a proud man, a man of principles who is passionate and intelligent. Mr. Swan handles this with flair and finesse, creating a king who is at once imposing and yet kind at heart.

Alison Mahoney plays, Anna Loenowens, an Englishwoman who has come to tutor the king’s children. She is bold, strong willed and determined, with an eye towards honor and keeping to your word no matter what and no matter who you are. Ms. Mahoney delivers a vibrant and passionate performance, at once articulate and intelligent. She is a wonderful singer, full of power and finesse. She shines in  “Whistle A Little Tune, and “Shall We Dance.” She display a fine comic sense which shows up through out like the interplay between her and the king about her head having to be no higher than the king’s at all times. In “Hello Young Lovers” about her late husband and true love, she is a wonder and pleasure.

When she sings “Getting to Know You” with the wives and children it is marvelous.

The two leads here have great chemistry together endearing and sincere. When they dance in “Shall We Dance?” it is pure magic, a real wonder.

The rest of the cast is equally talented. There are many children in this show and they are delightful and talented, adding so much to the production. The many wives are also terrific.

Hyemi Kim as Lady Thiang is an ally or Anna, and very supportive and kind. She has a wonderful voice and deftly creates some stunning dramatic moments. As the head wife, she convinces Anna to remain in Siam when it is crucial. Her plaintive, “Something Wonderful” is vivid and entrancing, with an emotional depth that is very moving. She also leads the wives in the delightfully Uncle Thomas Ballet” which is winning and winsome while containing some application to Siam.

The two forbidden lovers are played with  skill and emotion by Samn Simahk as Lun Tha  and Shawna Haeji Shin asTuptim. Shawna has a winning soprano voice that shines in songs like “I Have Dreamed” a duet with Samn’s  charming tenor voice. It is tender and touching.

J.P Sarro is the  hulking and ominous Kralahome, the prime minister who looms over all. He is fiercely loyal to the king and loves him deeply as well as truly respects the man, not only the kind. It is a potent and convincing performance.

The two young men who play the boys, Anna’s son and the king’s son, Connor Buanoccorsi and Andrew Faria, respectively are wonderful. They both have strong singing voices which they use to fine effect.

Adam Ryan Tackett is winning as Captain Orton and Sir Edward a former beau of Anna’s, with two very distinct performances.

They received a well earned standing ovation at the end for a job well done. There are so many gems in this packed throughout.

Producing director Aimee Turner delivers and taut, classy and classic show, full of poise, style and passion. Her choreography is neat, clean and effective. Particularly satisfying was her choreography of “Shall We Dance.” And of note also was the fable tale of “Uncle Tom’s Cabin, which was rich is lush visual moments with flowing veils and ritualistic movements.

Musical Director John Jay Espino is superb leading the cast with some excellent musical finesse and the fin orchestra which is always poised and perfect.

The Bert Scott set is clever and handsome, deftly combining rich palatial elements with a depth of garden at the rear. The David Costa-Cabral costumes are perfect, exotic and elegant as needed.

There are so many wonderful musical numbers here, sheer classics that still shine brightly after all these years. This is a must see show, a real classic done with style and flair. It is a true theatrical treat.

"The King And I" (24 April - 19 May)

            OCEAN STATE THEATRE COMPANY

@ 1245 Jefferson Boulevard, WARWICK RI

1(401)921-6800

“Race” at Ocean State Theatre

By Richard Pacheco

           

David Mamet has built a reputation as one of the most provocative and visceral contemporary playwrights.  This play continues that tradition of his that dates back to plays like “American Buffalo” and “Glengarry Glen Ross” with its stimulating look at three attorneys, two black and one white who are confronted with the chance to defend at high profile case of a wealthy white man charged with raping a black woman. The case and its quest for more and more evidence to prove their client’s innocence ignites their own deep feelings about race and how they and others fit into it in society.

The play, the third in Ocean State’s presentations, marks the Rhode Island premiere of this Mamet work. The work shows the Pulitzer Prize winning Mamet’s carefully crafted dialogue, full of spark and passion. The play opened on Broadway where he directed it in 2009 and reveals Mamet’s attitude towards contemporary attitudes regarding race. In a New York Times op-ed published at the time, Mamet stated his intention for the play to be a part of the nation’s racial discourse, alongside such historical events as the 2008 presidential election, which saw Barack Obama sworn into office as the nation’s first black president, the Kansas-Nebraska Act, and the Dred Scott decision. This play examines the self-consciousness that descends on American white people when they talk about, or to, black people.

The question of Strickland’s guilt leads to a larger examination of cultural conscience and race paranoia. All the while Mr. Mamet delivers a topical detective story, with sequins among the prime evidentiary clues. There are many twists and turns here along the way.

Christopher Swan is Jack Lawson the white attorney. It is the most fully written character in the play. He shifts from superciliousness to boyish charm to volcanic anger with equal skill and finesse. This is a man who tried being poor once, but didn’t like it. He is used to having the upper hand and you can see him shift gears when his attitudes and opinions are questioned or challenged.

Damron Russel Armstrong is the black attorney, Henry Brown. He is boisterous, outspoken and passionate, but at times the role seems almost a caricature of racial antagonism. Mr. Armstrong is energetic and passionate, at times too much so. He makes us feel an appropriately icky mix of guilt and shame, evasiveness, defensiveness and self-righteousness.

The character of Susan the young black associate of the firm might evoke the cry of Mamet detractors that in writing women he makes them naïve and ultimately self serving and devious and you will find that here. Nakeisha Daniel handles the role with an almost mousy beginning that grows into more passion and vehemence.  She is at times too restrained in the beginning and the transition does not seem to grow which has much to do with the writing.

Sean Maguire is the white client, Charles Strickland.  He is a man with a confused and messy past. Despite that he is a man of overriding self confidence and arrogance, pompous wherever he can be. Mr. Maguire is convincing in the role evoking the right mixture of a man concerned about his choices and yet still overbearing and pompous, self righteous.

Though the first act of “Race” is propelled by barbed one-liners, its second act offers reassuring evidence of Mr. Mamet’s sharp intelligence. And the issues it raises, particularly on the varieties of shame and the universal nature of guilt are countless.

“You want to tell me about black folks?” says Henry, baiting the distressed but indignant Charles as the play begins. There follows a list of the stereotypes that dare not speak their name when it comes to the contemplation of African-Americans by their Caucasian counterparts, and Mr. Mamet runs with increasingly elaborate riffs on that theme. Mamet has said that the "theme is race and the lies we tell each other on the subject."

It is directed with an eye towards pacing and passion by artistic director Amiee Turner.

The scenic design by Kimberly V. Powers delivers a chic look at a fancy attorney office with some nice details.

It is always a pleasure to see a premiere and this is no exception. There are twists and turns here, and Mamet’s searing language.

"Race" (27 March - 14 April)

OCEAN STATE THEATRE COMPANY

@ 1245 Jefferson Boulevard,, WARWICK RI

1(401)921-6800