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Show goes on, virtually

by Jules Becker
Thursday Dec 3, 2020

This article is from the December 3, 2020 issue of South End News.


Show goes on, virtually

The maxim "Necessity is the mother of invention" is taking on fresh new meaning for Hub area theater without audiences. New Repertory Theatre has commissioned two virtual new plays to begin its Showstopper Virtual Play Series. Presented through December 13, the one act premieres (75 minutes total with a brief intermission between them)—written and directed by female BIPOC playwrights and directors—share a creative approach to internet realms in dealing with very different concerns.
The opening "A Very Herrera Holiday"—smartly written by Colombian-American actress-writer Alexis Scheer and sharply directed by Sarah Shin—takes the form of an online how-to show with the kind of advice about making crafts and mixing drinks familiar to Martha Stewart fans. Boston-based hostess Emma Herrera—played with high energy and comic skill by Amanda Figueroa—details a recipe for coquito, a tequila-based drink. While sitting on a kitchen stool, she also provides a "super unique take on gift wrapping" and advice on making eco-friendly holiday cards with pens and markers. Her instructions include such basic materials as butcher paper, yarn and twine.
If she seems very cheery despite COVID-19, that ostensible nonchalance gradually recedes as she speaks of her husband Kevin. Has he driven to his New Haven office on business? Could he be cheating with Lauren, the mother of Emma's goddaughter—whom she is gifting mittens? Is his unseen duffel bag a matter of alarm?
Playwright Scheer cleverly peppers Emma's disarming banter with revealing clues. Call "A Very Herrera Holiday" a rich mix of flavorful guidance and edgy marital insight.
Where the concerns of "A Very Herrera Holiday" are personal, the disturbing areas of the following play "[keyp-ing]" (blindly defending someone no matter how wrong they are) are strongly racial. Playwright Miranda ADEkoje has intriguingly turned this intense drama into an Instagram live posting during which African-American freelance commercial producer Monica Jenae powerfully denounces white supremacy. As Jenae (wearing a Harriet Tubman T-shirt} awaits the arrival of her director husband and three fellow film crew members—all of whom are testing for COVID-19 in `nearly 98 per cent white Norwell, she bewails the apathy of Americans with white privilege and racial inequities. At the same time, she hopes that her baby will remain asleep as her angst and anger increase.
Jasmine M. Rush, under Dawn M. Simmons' driving direction, commandingly captures Monica's emotional conflict as she vents about the unfairness of the commercial's contract in the age of COVID-19. She also displays sharp timing battling Instagram postings that challenge her claims about racism and white privilege. Playwright ADEkoje has her unrelenting play ask audience members "What do you think happens at the end?"
"[key-ping]" provides no easy answers. After all, racism continues to prove as widespread and lethal in its own way as COVID-19. Still, ADEkoje's timely drama should provoke Zoom viewers to brutally honest discussion and real action.