Category Archives: Studio Theatre

Delicate dances

Alex Mills, Jon Hudson, 2-2 Tango, Studio Theatre, theater, gay news, Washington Blade

Actors Jon Hudson, left, and Alex Mills in ‘2-2 Tango.’ (Photo by Igor Dmitry; courtesy Studio)

‘Pas de Deux: Plays from New Zealand and Canada’
Through May 19
Studio 2ndStage
1501 14th Street, NW
$30-$35
202-332-3300
studiotheatre.org

Jim only likes to do it with the lights off. And when it’s the first time, he likes to go to the other guy’s place. But James, the interested guy that Jim just met at the club, doesn’t like to bring new guys home either. Sometimes it’s hard to get them out in the morning. This could be problematic. But despite the many little bumps that might derail their destiny before it even gets going, they become a couple — for a while anyway

Out playwright Daniel MacIvor’s “2-2 Tango” (now at Studio 2ndStage) hastily moves through the arc of Jim and James’ brief love affair beginning with their nocturnal meeting, an early passion, the blissful honeymoon to discontent and ultimate parting. Told mostly from inside the respective guys’ heads, MacIvor frames the same-sex romance as an ongoing dance with varied steps (disco, jazz and a seductive tango), beats and counts. And smartly director Eric Ruffin has cast a pair of appealing actors who can really dance as the lovers — Jon Hudson Odom plays Jim, the needier of the pair, and Helen Hayes Award-winning out actor Alex Mills is the more resilient James.

Not long after they meet, James says he’s independent and values an independent partner. Eager to please, Jim hastily nods in agreement, but his actions indicate otherwise. For him, independence isn’t a priority. James wants space. A cloying boyfriend isn’t what he had in mind. Things don’t look good.

But along the way, there are sexy exchanges, some songs and a lot of rug cutting (choreographed by Nancy Bannon) and quality hip shaking. And while McIvor’s one act flirts with the too cutesy, he captures the disparities of love with laser-like precision. The depiction of the couple’s not mutually sought breakup is uncomfortable to watch. It’s also the play and actors’ most honest moment.

“2-2 Tango” is one of two relationship-exploring plays that make up Studio2ndStage’s aptly-titled “Pas de Deux” (dance for two). The evening’s first one act is “Skin Tight,” a couple’s rough tumble down memory lane by New Zealand playwright Gary Henderson. Unlike McIvor’s piece, which focuses more on how people get together, Henderson’s play starkly reveals the details and intimacies of a longer union. But just because we’re dealing with a presumably more settled couple here, don’t expect the action (staged by Johanna Gruenhut) to be desultory or slow moving. Henderson’s one act opens with husband and wife wrestling wildly — a scene that initially reads more violent crime than playful roughhouse.

Tom and Elizabeth have been together forever. Recently they’ve lost their farm and now Elizabeth plans to go away. Together they reminisce: meeting as youths, the horrors of war, Elizabeth’s uneasy relationship with their daughter. Intermittently throughout the long conversation, they romp and wrestle (these kinetic antics belie the characters’ true age and reality). She shaves him with a straight edge razor. He peels an apple with a pocket knife. They engage in erotically charged knife play — the usual stuff. Led by the more emotional and impulsive Elizabeth, the married couple reveal the most tender and painful details of their relationship.

Henderson’s funny and heartfelt script is a stunning mix of poetic and plain language. As Tom and Elizabeth, Jens Rasmussen and Emily Townley are at home with the words and action; they give terrific, fearless performances.

JD Madsen’s simple sets are pleasingly spare: a patch of Astroturf and rusted bathtub for “Skin Tight” and a sleek sunken dance floor for “2-2 Tango.” Jedidiah Roe’s evocative lighting — quiet to fiery, and James Bigbee Garver’s ably done sound design add to the effect.

“Pas de Deux” is all about being with someone. And though dissimilar, they both convey the complexity and universality of relationships. So different, yet so well coupled.

Queery: Serge Seiden

Serge Seiden, Studio Theatre, gay news, Washington Blade

Serge Seiden (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

Serge Seiden is having a good week. His latest directing effort at The Studio Theatre, “The Motherfucker With the Hat” has been extended for two weeks and now runs through March 24 (details at studiotheatre.org) and Friday night, the playwright, Stephen Adly Guirgis, is visiting from New York to see the production.

For Seiden, it’s the latest in a long string of successful Studio productions including “Grey Gardens,” “My Children! My Africa!,” “Souvenir: A Fantasia on the Life of Florence Foster Jenkins,” “The Long Christmas Ride Home” and many others. He has also appeared as an actor in many productions both at Studio and at other theaters in the area. He’s worn many hats there but is currently associate producing artistic director. He started there as an usher in 1986, a year after arriving in Washington.

“I just became a Studio groupie,” he says.

More seriously, though, he’s ponderous about his career.

“I would say what has fueled me is devotion to a craft and it’s really like any other kind of craft, painting, pottery or even a sport,” the 50-year-old Searsmont, Maine, native says. “When you become devoted or fueled by a need for achievement, of artistic, I don’t want to say success, but you really know what your standard is and you have your own aspirations for excellence and you know what excellence in your craft is, you become kind of obsessed with getting there and that takes a long time. It’s definitely not something where you think, ‘Oh, I think I’ll go work there for awhile.’”

Seiden is enjoying “Motherfucker” but says he’s finding the piece is not really what audiences think it will be going in.

“It’s something you can laugh at and laugh with but by the end, you find you’re really drawn in,” he says. “People are saying, ‘Oh, I can see myself in that situation.’”

Around the time he was 40, Seiden and a colleague (Studio’s education director Roma Rogers) decided to have a child together. Son Gavin is now 9. They share a three-floor home in Columbia Heights (he’s on the top floor, she’s on the second floor and they have common space on the first). With many of his nights spent working at the theater (she works mostly days), he says it works well.

He and Gavin enjoy reading the morning comics together, making up voices for the various characters.

Seiden is single and enjoys gardening in his spare time.

How long have you been out and who was the hardest person to tell?

I’ve been out since the early ‘80s when my roommate and I came out to each other at Swarthmore College. I remember I was literally physically shaking. And then there was some, ahem, “sexual healing.” Telling my parents was depressing because they were so worried that I’d have a miserable, lonely life.  Luckily, that didn’t happen.

Who’s your LGBT hero?

Lypsinka. I just adore John Epperson’s shows (three of which we’ve done at Studio Theatre).  I would also include Glenna Plaisted, the headmistress of an elementary school my sister attended. She encouraged me to apply for a high school scholarship.  Glenna typically wore jodphurs, riding boots, tweed jackets and smoked a pipe. And she pretty much saved my life. I guess she knew me better than I knew myself at the time.

What’s Washington’s best nightspot, past or present? 

Mmmm … The Studio Theatre!

Describe your dream wedding.

It would be set in the Caribbean on a very un-developed beach. There would be a lot of guests — friends, colleagues and family. The food would be spicy. Everyone would wear sandals and linen (with bathing suits underdressed — or not). The ceremony might just have to involve Shakespeare and the actor Ted van Griethuysen. Joy Zinoman would direct the whole thing, of course. The music would be classical guitar. Romance Anonimo would have to be included. Could we get Christopher Parkening? There might have to be some a cappella singing, too. After the ceremony there would be swimming and caipirinhas until sunset and when everyone was sufficiently relaxed, batala drummers would call everyone to some ecstatic beach dancing under the stars.

What non-LGBT issue are you most passionate about?

The environment.

What historical outcome would you change? 

Any outcome that would relieve human misery and death. It’s hard to pick just one outcome to change, right? How do you prioritize?

What’s been the most memorable pop culture moment of your lifetime?

Rock Hudson on the cover of Newsweek in 1985.

On what do you insist?

Empathy.

What was your last Facebook post or Tweet? 

From Las Terrenas in The Dominican Republic: “Last drinks on the beach …”

If your life were a book, what would the title be?  

“Two Boys in Art”

If science discovered a way to change sexual orientation, what would you do?

Nothing

What do you believe in beyond the physical world? 

That we can’t know and it’s OK not to know what’s beyond the physical world. The physical world is plenty mysterious enough for me.

What’s your advice for LGBT movement leaders?

The struggle is international.

What would you walk across hot coals for?

My son.

What LGBT stereotype annoys you most?

Forced frivolity.

What’s your favorite LGBT movie?

“My Beautiful Laundrette”

What’s the most overrated social custom?

Are there any social customs left that rate at all?

What trophy or prize do you most covet?

More leisure time.

What do you wish you’d known at 18?

That I should have kept practicing the piano.

Why Washington?

I came to D.C. to work on the Hill. I was a chauffeur and mail clerk for Sen. George Mitchell. I stayed in D.C. because of The Studio Theatre, which has been my artistic home since 1986. The rewards have been innumerable.

Profane and profound

Drew Cortese, Gabriela Fernandez-Coffey, Studio Theatre, the Motherfucker With the Hat, gay news, Washington Blade, theater

Drew Cortese, left, and Gabriela Fernandez-Coffey in Studio’s ‘The Motherfucker With the Hat.’ (Photo by Teddy Wolff; courtesy Studio)

‘The Motherfucker With the Hat’
Through March 10
Studio Theatre
1501 14th St. NW
$48-$72
202-332-3300
studiotheatre.org

“The Motherfucker with the Hat’s” catchy title is mild when compared to its dialogue. Yes, the characters in Stephen Adly Guirgis’ latest play like their language raw (don’t even try to count the f-bombs — you’d run out of fingers and toes within minutes) and very often hilarious. But there’s nothing stilted about what’s being said onstage. Guirgis faithfully channels the words of their world, allowing these hardcore New Yorkers to tell their stories in their own way and it couldn’t be more authentic.

Now playing at Studio Theatre, “Hat” kicks off with Veronica (Rosal Colón), a 30-ish Nuyorican spitfire talking on the phone with her mom while cleaning her grungy studio apartment and doing the occasional line of cocaine. Veronica advises her mother to drop her new no good man who has a head like fish, saying, “Take a moment. Take a breath. Take a real good look and just ax yourself in all honesty, ‘Do I wanna fuck him or fry him up with a little adobo and paprika?’” Instantly, we know this girl — not terribly eloquent, but makes her point, and her heart is in the right place.

Enter Veronica’s longtime boyfriend Jackie (the excellent Drew Cortese) bearing good news. A newly sober parolee who’s recently finished a two year stint upstate for dealing drugs, Jackie has just landed a job with UPS. But what was supposed to be a celebratory evening of Carvel ice cream cake, lovemaking and movies for the passionate couple goes awry when he spies an unfamiliar hat in the apartment — a dark fedora, plain except for a small fiery red feather on the side. He suspects infidelity. A huge fight ensues, and Jackie, unsure whether to seek wisdom at an A.A. meeting or revenge, storms out.

His support system — such as it is — consists of his best friend and AA sponsor Ralph (Quentin Maré), a charmingly slimy guru-wannabe who runs a successful health drink startup with his also sober but embittered wife Victoria (Gabriela Fernandez-Coffey). And while Ralph talks a lot of self-improvement, in his defense, he never claims to have anything to offer anyone other than sobriety. And then there’s Jackie’s seemingly gay cousin Julio (smartly underplayed Liche Ariza), a fastidious foodie/bodybuilder who’s married to a woman and harbors a secret passion for violence. Typically Jackie goes to him only when he needs something.

A wordy two hours without an intermission, “Hat” could potentially be tedious, but it’s not. Director Serge Seiden, who is gay, keeps things moving at a brisk clip. He also maintains an enviable balance of laughs and pathos. Debra Booth’s set is nicely subtle and serviceable — it works well, but never gets in the way. And the terrific five-person ensemble cast is especially strong. Each of the actors brilliantly embodies the play’s message: people aren’t always what they seem.

Without warning, Guirgis’ agile writing turns sharply from insults and slams to moments of stunning poignancy. When a drunken Jackie shows up at Veronica’s apartment eager to punish her for hurting him, she responds with her own hurt, reminding him of their shared dreams of children, a home in Yonkers, a future — all crushed by bad timing, poor decisions and drugs. Or when cousin Julio’s bouncy walk down memory lane morphs into an explanation of why he remains so very loyal to Jackie, citing a heartfelt memory from his early outcast adolescence when Jackie had his back. Heartbreaking moments.

A native of York City’s Upper West Side, the playwright is known for using the neighborhood’s urban mix in his work; and with “Hat,” an interesting cross section of these foul-mouthed, angry but hopeful, hurting and seriously funny folks are present and accounted for. They’re damaged people, in pain, masking hurt with bravado and humor, looking for love and trying to find their way.

“Hat” is a resonant play and Studio’s deeply affecting, always engaging production is alternately stinging and poignant.

Interrogating circumstances

‘Contractions’
Through Jan. 27
The Studio Theatre (Studio 2ndstage)
1501 14th Street, NW
$30-$35
202-332-3300
studiotheatre.org

Holly Twyford, Alyssa Wilmoth Keegan, Contractions, Studio Theatre, theater, gay news, Washington Blade

Holly Twyford (left) and Alyssa Wilmoth Keegan in ‘Contractions.’ (Photo by Scott Suchmann; courtesy of Studio Theatre)

With “Contractions,” British playwright Mike Bartlett takes the horrors of corporate servitude to the nth degree.

Now making its American premiere at Studio 2ndStage, Bartlett’s workplace satire is laugh-out-loud funny and menacingly dark at once. It unfolds through a series of increasingly uncomfortable meetings in which Emma (Alyssa Wilmoth Keegan), a newly hired sales professional at an unnamed corporation, is relentlessly and methodically questioned by a bizarrely inquisitive manager (Holly Twyford). Both clad in sleek black suits (pants for the manager and skirts for Emma) and super-high heels, the pair review employee regulations giving special attention to the sections pertaining to romantic and sexual relationships among employees.

Any suspicions that the manager’s obsessive inquiry into the most minute details of Emma’s sex life is driven by prurient interests or perhaps her lustful designs on the new, younger employee are rather quickly put to rest when it becomes abundantly clear that her every move — even the most perverse — are done to benefit the company’s bottom line.

More and more, the manager’s inquiries and directives grow ludicrously outrageous. Initially Emma is her superior’s match, but not for long. Volleys build into one-sided brutal attacks and it’s soon evident that Emma can’t compete with a company-backed opponent. After being frequently reminded about the sluggish job market and that there are more than a hundred applicants ready and willing to fill her corporate position, Emma surrenders to HR’s demands. She devolves from confident and sexy to broken and bereft. At one point, Emma asks the heartless boss if she bleeds. And while we never get that answer, we do become acquainted with some of Emma’s bodily fluids. And no wonder with the battering she goes through.

British director Duncan Macmillan ably helms the top-notch production and Twyford and Wilmoth Keegan both deliver knockout performances. With a frozen smile, glazed eyes and hilariously placed pauses, Twyford (who is gay) is at the top of her game as the corporate automaton. Wilmoth Keegan is equally terrific and wonderfully natural as Emma.

“Contractions” is not the first time Twyford and Wilmoth Keegan have successfully joined forces. In the fall of 2011, Wilmoth Keegan played the victim of a brutal gay bashing in “Stop Kiss,” Diane Son’s play about women friends turned lovers. The well-received No Rules Theatre Company production marked Twyford’s directorial debut.

Bartlett, the playwright, is best known for “Cock,” his hit play (in London and New York) about a happily partnered gay man who falls in love with a woman.

“Contractions” is set entirely in the manager’s stark office. Designed by Luciana Stecconi, it’s a minimalist’s wet dream: white walls, white floors, white light (compliments of Colin K. Bills), and two white office chairs positioned at opposite ends of a long, white conference table. Discreetly built-in cabinets contain scarily detailed personnel files. No clutter. No art. No signs of life at all really. It’s a sterile space, perfectly suited for surgically excising what makes an employee human.