Photo (LEFT - RIGHT): Sabrina Gore, Jordan Armstrong, Marquise Rogers, Lawrence Buzzeo, Rita Joe.Photo credit George Wentzler.
Oh, my, it's short play season once again and the halls are filled with pounding music and bounding actors, exuberance unleashed with manic smiles and all that big whoop.
Talking here about "Shorts Gone Wild," fifth edition, co-produced by Island City Stage and City Theater, and currently on stage at Island City Stage in Wilton Manors.
It's been 21 years since City Theater brought the Shorts concept to South Florida and in that time there's been one constant: inconsistency. Excellence some times, let me out of here wailing, other times.
Photo (LEFT - RIGHT): Christina Groom, Jordan Armstrong, Lawrence Buzzeo, Marquise Rogers. Photo credit George Wentzler.
So the good news is that "SGW5" has the cherished excellence, but in only one of the eight pieces in play. It is “Clarity,” written by Korde Tuttle, performed by Marquise Rogers and directed by Gladys Ramirez. It's a beautifully written, brutal piece set in Georgia on the eve of an LGBT wedding. Rogers shows his exceptional talent in this lengthy monologue.
Seven more plays are delivered, none, unfortunately, of “Clarity” calibre.
It's no secret that the ten minute format is a trap. It's short, ergo it must be easy to write. Take a couple of people, sex immaterial, park them at a table and talk love. Enigmatic ending essential. Over and over done.
So let's remove the table. Now we've got “Valkyrie in the Roller Derby” with, naturally, a Valkyrie god with white wings, a winged helmet and a white broadsword, talking love with a Jammer from the roller derby. On skates. Same old love you, love me. Sabrina Gore is the ethereal Viking and Rita Joe the Jammer. Directed by Gladys Ramirez.
Rita Joe gets the star part in Michael McKeever's “Carley's Last Call,” showing good stuff as she drunkenly mourns her dead lost love, Lawrence Buzzeo reincarnated beside her at a bar. Jordan Armstrong is trying to close up the joint while Christina Groom face plants on the wooden top. Directed by Matt Stabile.
Photo (LEFT - RIGHT): Sabrina Gore, Rita Joe. Photo credit George Wentzler.
A funny bit from Michael Leeds who directed his own piece, “So a Rabbi, A Priest and a Minister Walk into a Bar,” with Christina Groom as a Rabbi, Jordan Armstrong as a Priest and Lawrence Buzzeo as a Minister, in a God's quotes cutting session. Marquise Rogers is the bartender.
Unsurprisingly, “Deja Vue” is quite repetitive, with Marquise Rogers, Lawrence Buzzeo, Jordan Armstrong, Sabrina Gore and Rita Joe muttering about love etc. Again. And Again. They coulda stayed at the table. Directed by Michael Leeds.
Which leads me to another sleeper: “Give Me Space,” in which a couple of astronauts lust/love in space. Lawrence Buzzeo and Jordan Armstrong are the slow walking, slow talking unfortunates. Directed by Margaret Ledford.
Photo (LEFT - RIGHT): Sabrina Gore, Christina Groom. Photo credit George Wentzler.
Christina Groom finally gets a chance to remind us she's a good actor in the quiet, lesbian inveigling “Persona,” with Sabrina Gore right in it as the nervously beguiling newbie. Margaret Ledford directed.
“The Adventures of Gay Man – Birth of a Hero” is the wrapper. The entire cast is on stage as Rita Joe is a bombastic Super Heroes' talent agent, with Christina Groom as her grim secretary, and Jordan Armstrong excelling as an I Can Fly, I Can Fly wannabe. Directed by Matt Stabile.
Andie Rogow is the artistic director for Island City Stage and Margaret Ledford for City Theater.
Lighting and set by Ardean Lanuis, costumes by Peter Lovello and sound by David Hart.
Good directing, good acting with Jordan Armstrong and Marquise Rogers standing out, an average mix of writing with Korde Tuttle being the exception.
See “Shorts Gone Wild 5” through Sept. 10 at Island City Stage, 2304 North Dixie Highway, Wilton Manors. 954-519-2533 www.islandcitystage.org
