On angels’ wings
They Walk Among Us
Written by Nicholas
O’Neill
Directed and
Choreographed by Merete Muenter
Presented by Rene Bionat and My Own Delirium (http://www.myowndelirium.com)
Midtown
International Theatre Festival (www.midtownfestival.org)
WorkShop Mainstage
Theatre,
Non union (through
Review by Michael
D. Jackson
A great deal of reverence is
made for the playwright Nicholas O’Neill, whose heartfelt play was written one
year before his death in the Rhode Island Station Nightclub fire just after his
18th birthday. A choral explanation of this history is given by the cast as a
prologue, followed by a solo dance (performed by Anne Schroeder) and then a lengthy projected list of the names of
others who also died in the fire. All this before the “play” begins. It is
clear that O’Neill’s brother, who has his hand in the production, as well as
director Merete Muenter are
emotionally devoted to presenting this play as a kind of memorial. This aspect
may have been useful in a local Rhode Island production, but to an audience not
associated with Mr. O’Neill or the fire, this prologue is not useful and
detracts from an otherwise very interesting and thoughtful one act play.
After this first
narrated/multimedia/dance sequence, the play really begins by following a group
of misfit angels who step in and out of Earth people’s lives to lend a helping
hand and sometimes to give them comfort. Their main subject is a young man (who
might be gay, but we’re not sure) who feels lost and is searching for his true
self. He is saved by the angels through several life threatening incidents,
including a severe beating by a Christian evangelist spouting hate at an
antigay rally. This causes one of the angels, Cyrus (Anthony Martinez) to make himself known to the crowd and deliver a
lengthy speech about the true meaning of Christianity. This is the kind of
speech every gay person would like to give to Fred Phelps, and although it
drives the point into the ground, it does help to know that this message, which
is the climax of the entire piece, was written by a teenage boy. How many of
his age are able to so succinctly put such sophisticated views into words and
make it into a play for the stage––a work of art?
Intruding between scenes are
choreographed dances that don’t seem to add any particular meaning and only
stop the show from continuing. The dances aren’t even a great demonstration of
skill for the stage is too small to allow for anything very extensive. If the
dances had served to cover a more choreographed scene change, they might have
been more useful, but instead the dance would end and then we would wait for
the furniture to be moved in the dark before the next scene could begin. If
this company continues to work on this play, a tightening up of the scene
changes should be the first priority as it would help the over all pace
considerably.
The ensemble does durable
work throughout, but Anthony Martinez stands out with a bravura performance as
much from his own invention as from the fact that his is the best written
character of the play. The others, including the protagonist Adam (Jimmy Joe McGurl)
have surprisingly little to do, but they all work together to make the message
ring clear: keep hopeful and love your fellow man. It is inspiring that one
small voice is reaching out to say it, even after he’s gone to fly with his
angels.
Writing: 2
Directing: 1
Acting: 2
Sets: 0
Costumes: 1
Lighting/Sound: 1
Copyright 2008 by Michael D.
Jackson
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