VIEWPOINTS – Exploring the black dilemma: A pair of brashly stylized (if flawed) new plays by Jonathan Payne and Geraldine Inoa explode with anger

Currently in New York, there are a pair of new plays running that explore the black dilemma in this country – Jonathan Payne’s The Revolving Cycles Truly and Steadily Roll’d and Geraldine Inoa’s Scraps. Both Off-Broadway productions are bound to each other in ways beyond their tough subject matter. Mr. Payne and Ms. Inoa’s plays, both flawed but exciting, respond in anger to this country’s seemingly hopeless, endless cycle of oppression in ways that are brashly stylized and explosively theatrical (very much in the mold of Soho Rep’s sold out stunner Fairview by Jackie Sibblies Drury this summer).

The company of Jonathan Payne's "The Revolving Cycles Truly and Steadily Roll'd" at The Duke on 42nd Street, courtesy of The Playwrights Realm.

The company of Jonathan Payne’s “The Revolving Cycles Truly and Steadily Roll’d” at The Duke on 42nd Street, courtesy of The Playwrights Realm.

Mr. Payne’s The Revolving Cycles Truly and Steadily Roll’d (RECOMMENDED), which opened last week at The Duke on 42nd Street under the guidance of The Playwrights Realm,  is the more overtly stylized of the two works. Set in a bleak and blasted fictitious urban landscape called The Oblong, the play is a “grim” fairy tale of sorts about a black teenage girl who embarks on a quest in search of her missing foster brother. Through a series of increasingly uncomfortable, menacing encounters, she uncovers and exposes a system that’s rigged against her kind. It’s through Mr. Payne’s darkly satiric tone that the play acquires its venomous bite, which director Awoye Timpo and his accomplished, game cast have skillfully and stylishly realized. Even though The Revolving Cycles would have been even more effective as a focused ninety minute play – it’s slightly overlong and redundant at two plus hours (with one intermission) – I applaud the playwright for tackling his frustrations around our tragic state with ambitious theatrical flair.

The company of Geraldine Inoa's "Scraps" at The Flea Theater.

The company of Geraldine Inoa’s “Scraps” at The Flea Theater.

Downtown at The Flea Theater in Tribeca, you’ll find running Geraldine Inoa’s new play Scraps (RECOMMENDED), which depicts the devastating ripple effect the death of a young black man – who was shot by a white cop – has on his immediate circle of family and friends. For the first hour or so, the play operates primarily on a naturalistic level. If not totally successful at conveying authenticity, this first portion functions as a serviceable prelude to the piece’s devastating, highly stylized last third. The final thirty minutes of Ms. Inoa’s play explodes the naturalism that was employed up until that point and delves headlong into the hallucinatory dream world of the deceased man’s child. What must the boy be thinking in the midst of his elders’ sadness and angst? Well, we get a glimpse into his subconscious in a phantasmagorical series of fluid stage pictures, spiked with pointed dialogue, that combines childish pursuits with his predecessors’ ominous, self-perpetuating fate. The production is helmed by Niegel Smith (The Flea’s artistic director) and features urgent performances from actors culled from the young, fearless acting collective The Bats. They do Ms. Inoa’s vision proud.

 

THE REVOLVING CYCLES TRULY AND STEADILY ROLL’D
Off-Broadway, Play
Playwrights Realm at The Duke on 42nd Street
2 hours, 15 minutes (with one intermission)
Through October 6

SCRAPS
Off-Broadway, Play
The Flea Theater
1 hour, 30 minutes (without an intermission)
Through September 30

Categories: Off-Broadway, Theater

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