Opening Acts

Jamal Williams is a playwright with a point of view, an angry stance, and a clear-eyed, brutally honest voice. His Eulogy for the Black Man, which bracketed Series A of the Workshop Theatre Company's One-Act Play Festival, suffered only from being placed at the beginning and end of the evening with other works of varying quality sandwiched in between its four brief, eloquent, sometimes hilarious and sometimes heartbreaking scenes.

As directed by Randy Frazier and presented in this festival, Eulogy for the Black Man seemed like part of a larger work, showcasing as it does the experiences of blacks in the last 40 years, from '60s bible-thumping revivalist ministers, to '70s Vietnam vets, to the enlightened Cosby-style sensitivity of men in the '80s and the driven buppies of the '90s, who are losing touch with their own sense of self. Frazier directed with simple touches that enabled the three fine performers, Roz Davis, L.B. Williams, and especially Antonio D. Charity, to shine.

Life Support, written and directed by Donald Steele, suffered from excessive length, slow pacing, and mismatched performances from two otherwise fine actresses. Set in a hospital cafeteria, two sisters argue about their memories of their father while debating whether or not to pull his life support. Nicole Taylor was superb as Michelle, the practical younger sister, and in her own way so was Linda Sheridan as Roberta, the flaky older sister. Yet each actress's distinctive performance style differed so greatly from the other's (Taylor was subtle, clear and filled with tiny detail; Sheridan was no less detailed but in a broadly funny sit-com way) that there wasn't any sense that these two were even remotely related.

Conversely, Kevin Barry, Jim Doyle's account of forced martyrdom in a Dublin Pub circa 1925, benefited from its sharp brevity, taut direction (Manfred Bormann), and exceptional performances from Munro M. Bonnell and Eric Walton.

History Ends Here, Jerry Polner's polemic about responsibility for the shape that the world is in, took a slightly more original twist by having a member of the older generation blame the younger, and then beat that point of view into the ground with sit-com theorizing. Rahti Gorfien directed with a broad, rambling hand, although the piece was salvaged somewhat by deftly charming performances from Cheryl Monroe, Ivan Sandomire, and Lawrence Paone. (Also featuring Jill Kotler and Gerrianne Raphael.)

No one was credited for the sets, lights, and costumes, which were unexceptional but functional and allowed the important aspects of the evening (writing, acting and direction) to hold the stage unimpeded by fussy physical trappings.