2008 Winners

Marissa Greenberg, review, June 21, 2008, Albuquerque Journal:

In Jen Silverman’s The Education of Macoloco, Anessa teaches her son bizarre trivia and the so-called “facts of life.” But Anessa withholds the truth of Macoloco’s paternity and, until the play’s conclusion, of her inner life. Such silences befit the winner of the Jury Prize of The Seven: Something Left Unsaid, FUSION Theatre Company’s New Works Festival.

Now in its third year, the festival received 417 short works from 41 states and 6 countries. The jury reads submissions “blind” and chooses 7 for performance. This year’s winners suggest a bright future for the international stage. In particular, expect to hear again from Silverman. Silverman, who graduated from Brown University in 2006 and begins the MFA program at Iowa Playwrights Workshop this fall, had 2 plays in the festival.

Like Macoloco, Silverman’s Notes on Drowning (For the Man Who Cannot Make the Journey) withholds essential information until the end. The final revelation belittles mundane suffering yet proves oddly life affirming. Strong direction (Jen Grigg and Elizabeth Huffman) and solid performances energize Silverman’s learned, witty and affective scripts. Laurie Thomas gives an especially impressive performance as Anessa, a physically and emotionally demanding role.

Other plays invite the audience to deduce what is left unsaid. The title of Craig Abernethy’s That Day refers to September 11, 2001. Kirsten and Toby (compellingly performed by Ravenna Fahey and Michael Finnegan) never specify the date, but as they describe an exhibition of photos taken in the tragedy’s aftermath, the audience can fill in the blank. Despite its intentional evasions, That Day is rawly honest. Like the exhibited photos, it demonstrates that art can render reality “too real.”

Perhaps the most amusing play, Teddy Knows Too Much by Matt Hanf (Jacqueline Reid directs), also includes a profoundly disturbing silence. A mustached and uproarious John Hardman stars as 3-year-old Billy, who surreptitiously torments his family in order to secure his parents’ attention. Mom and Dad (Lou Clark and Bruce Holmes are hilarious) look for simple solutions to Billy’s behavior. First they give him a stuffed teddy bear who becomes privy to all Billy’s secrets and therefore must be silenced. Teddy’s flushing is followed by medication. In a final tableau, Hanf’s implicit commentary on parenting in America ceases to evoke laughter.

What ought not go unsaid is that The Seven is worth seeing.

Barry Gaines, review, June 23, 2006, Albuquerque Journal :
"The FUSION Theatre Company presents "The Seven: Games People Play," 10-minute plays selected from more than 70 submissions nationwide— an intriguing theatrical smorgasbord.

The one-acts are connected by theme and linked by Brent Stevens' clever sound design. Some plays are better described as sketches.

In Jenice Gharib's "The Dressing Room," we witness the rapid-fire exchange between a long-suffering Jewish mother (Kathy Millé Wimmer) and her 30-something unmarried daughter (Kristin de la O). The character types are familiar, but Gharib has a good ear for guilt-laden dialogue ("It's not a mother's place to like or not like."). Under Lou Clark's direction, the actors look and sound right.

Also familiar from "The Maltese Falcon" are the hard-boiled private eye (Aaron Worley) and his double-crossing moll (Rachel Tatum) in "Film Noir" by Brooklyn's Adam Szymkowicz. Costumed by Kate Kennedy in cinematic black and white, the actors have fun with the Dashiell Hammett-esque dialogue and situations. John Hardman ably directs.

"Relax" is by Aaron Jewell from Seattle. An actor (Michael Finnegan) and actress (Alli Bivins) rehearse a love scene in her apartment. In their underwear. The scene considers the intersection of role-playing in theater and in life. Director Brent Stevens doesn't help us distinguish one from the other, but perhaps that is the point.

A stranger scene is Californian Erin Phillips' "The Tea Party," directed by Shelley Epstein. In this surrealistic drama, a woman (Jen Grigg) and a man (Michael Finnegan) converse at a table set with a child's plastic tea service. Their costumes are bizarre: his a tuxedo jacket, tuxedo T-shirt, tie, and shorts; hers, a mismatched floral print blouse and skirt plus straw derby. The dialogue has a hallucinatory weirdness, the verbal equivalent of a Salvador Dali painting.

"Surreal Estate" by Santa Fe's Lori Romero is less surreal. House rental agents (John Hardman and Cyndy Noll) manipulate a client (David Lang). Director Jacqueline Reid works to make the material funny: Hardman plays the agent-from-hell with exaggerated expressions, and Lang is reduced to blubbering; the two join in a slow-motion ballet at play's end.

"For and Against" by Mark Witteveen is ambitious in its character development. Hotel workers Alice (Leslie Joy Coleman) and Becky (Shelley Epstein) tease young Theresa (Lauren Myers) about writing to Darryl (Justin Lenderking). Darryl was a dishwasher but is now a soldier in Iraq. The horrors of war are juxtaposed with the silliness of the older ladies' arguments for and against this romance. Under Robb Sisneros's direction Myers gives Theresa complexity, and we want to know more about her.

The last piece is the best. "The Near Life Wax and Smudge of True Clown Love" by John Catron from Minneapolis features the return of local favorites Ed Chavez and Kate Costello as clowns— a tramp and a female Pierrot. Directed by Jen Grigg, they tell stories, relate dreams and court each other in a piece that combines imagination, charm, and wit.

This annual competition is a welcome opportunity to see the latest work of emerging playwrights."