Interludes

THE HANGOVER REPORT – Lydia R. Diamond’s TONI STONE is a rich portrait, especially as led by the utterly compelling April Matthis

• By drediman
• July 18, 2019
• No Comments

April Mathis and the cast of Roundabout Theatre Company’s production of “Toni Stone” by Lydia R. Diamond at the Laura Pels Theatre. Photo by Joan Marcus.

This week, I caught Roundabout Theatre Company’s Off-Broadway production of Lydia R. Diamond’s Toni Stone, which has been playing at the Laura Pels Theatre. Set during the 1950s, the work tells the true story of the titular Ms. Stone, the first woman to play professional baseball in the Negro Leagues when she was brought in by the Indianapolis Clowns (Toni Stone is inspired by Martha Ackmann’s biography Curveball, The Remarkable Story of Toni Stone).

I’ve been following Ms. Diamond’s playwriting career for a while now. I first came across her work in Chicago – the city where she honed her craft – as the author of plays such as the affecting 2007 stage adaptation of Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye. Since then, her profile has been ascending steadily (her Stick Fly surprisingly made an appearance on Broadway in 2011). After the unfortunately labored Smart People (which I saw at Second Stage in 2016), I’m happy to report that Toni Stone marks a return to form and may just be her best work to date. Indeed, her latest play is the work of a mature, confident playwright in total control of her theatrical voice. It’s a rich portrait that thankfully mostly stays away from cloying melodrama and obvious stereotypes, very much like the undeterred title character herself.

Similarly, Pam MacKinnon’s staging draws you in with its understatedness and calm but proficient pacing. There’s nothing flashy about the play nor the production, although at times I thought the staging could have benefited from just a tad more punch. As the unassuming but steely Ms. Stone, April Matthis is a quiet knockout. Her portrayal is fully-inhabited and unexpectedly disarming in its unadorned frankness. I’d go as far as to say that it’s one of the most utterly compelling performances I’ve seen in my recent theatergoing. Ms. Matthis is backed by an all-male ensemble (who skillfully shift between her fellow baseball players to various characters in Ms. Stone’s life, regardless of gender), all of them sensational character actors.

RECOMMENDED

TONI STONE
Off-Broadway, Play
Roundabout Theatre Company / Laura Pels Theatre
2 hours, 10 minutes (with one intermission)
Through August 11