THE BASICS: LET’S PLAY HOUSE: EIGHT SHORT PLAYS. ONE EMPTY HOUSE, offers eight plays/skits by playwrights Drew Fornarola, Jeff Goode (2 plays), Adam Hahn, Donna Hoke, Samantha Macher, Wendy Marie-Martin, and Avery LaMar Pope, presented by First Look Buffalo. Opening on February 3, there are only 6 performances scheduled, Fridays-Saturdays at 8:00, Sundays at 2:00 at The Park School of Buffalo Theatre, located on the school’s campus at 4625 Harlem Road in Amherst, NY. Parking is free. Visit FirstLookBuffalo.com
Runtime: 90 minutes, no intermission
THUMBNAIL SKETCH: This production features eight short world premiere plays that all take place in the same setting, an empty house, and are all written by members of First Look Buffalo’s playwright wing. The 90-minute fast-paced event features a variety of both comedies and dramas, with topics ranging from the loss of a loved one, the paranormal, ghosts, and time travel.
THE PLAYERS, THE PLAY, AND THE PRODUCTION: The evening opens and closes with music, first “Burning Down the House” by The Talking Heads (“Ah, watch out / You might get what you’re after / Cool babies / Strange but not a stranger…”) which seemed just right in hindsight and it closes with Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young’s “Our house, is a very, very, very fine house…” which also resonated with me.
LPH | Kelly Mongan, Austin Gallego, Madison Sedlor
LPH | Nick Lama, Sarah Wsechter, Kathleen Rooney
LPH | Tony Grande, Susan King
LPH | Nikita Williams, Shawnell Tillery, Steven Maiske
When I write “fast-paced” I mean partly that there are no long gaps between performances, none of the interminable set-ups which often plague short play showcases. One play ends, they dip to black, then bang, the next play starts. That’s thanks in part to First Look’s vision and in part to Stage Manager / Sound Designer Kayla Victoria Reumann. Nice job, especially with the sound cues.
THE EIGHT SHORT PLAYS ARE AS FOLLOWS:
JUST SIGN by Wendy Marie-Martin, directed by Vanessa Shevat stars Susan King as a widow and a bit of a crazy cat lady (but not in the usual way) and Anthony J. Grande as an IRS agent desperate to collect back taxes. It has a very clear set-up and a nice arc with two very much opposed people of different ages, genders, and stages in life coming to a sweet conclusion.
THE MEAN BOY ON MOVING DAY by Donna Hoke, directed by Vanessa Shevat stars Jesse Zappia, Madison Sedlor, Shanda Gardner, Nick Lama, Kari Becker, and Jacob Applegate. It’s the first, but not the only play of the evening with a “what’s really going on here?” vibe.
RECIPES ON USED NAPKINS by Avery LaMar Pope, directed by Kayla Victoria Reumann stars Steven Maiseke, and Shawnell Tillery. Like the play JUST SIGN it’s also a very sweet two-hander, with brother and sister, about to leave their childhood home, negotiating over mom’s recipes.
THE FUTURE FORMER HOME OF THE TIME TRAVEL MUSEUM by Jeff Goode, directed by Mike Doben, stars Weston Young, Kari Becker, Shanda Gardner, and Jon Cesar. This was a fast-paced hoot and another fine example of time travel stories but one with many twists and turns. And it’s funny, especially as we learn how those futuristic blasters we see in Star Wars (“pew – pew – pew”) actually work.
QUIET CONNECTION written and directed by Drew Fornarola stars Kaylie Horowitz and Jacob Applegate was all physical and completely wordless. I don’t want to say “pantomime”’ since so many of us hate mimes and it didn’t present as such. I’ll say “modern dance” in the sense of dance companies such as Pilobolus or Mummenschanz. It’s a boy and a girl shyly building to a moment. Very sweet but also very funny.
DO THE SPIRITS CONVEY by Samantha Macher, directed by Drew Fornarola stars Madison Sedlor, Kelly Mornan, Austin Gallego, Jon Cesar, Sarah Waechter, Shawnell Tillery, Anthony J. Grande, and Kari Becker. As did a couple of other plays, this deals with ghosts, or did it? The play starts with three young people “breaking in” to one of their parents’ houses to hold a séance using candles and a Ouija board. Noises are heard but are they the ghosts of former homeowners who may have perished during some yoga sex night gone wrong? There is some kinky sex going on, but not what the kids think.
OPEN HOUSE OF THE DAMNED by Adam Hahn, directed by Mike Doben stars Steven Maiseke, Kaylie Horowitz, and Weston Young. This was hilarious as a realtor (Maiseke) tells prospective buyers that the house is haunted, and as the buyers keep guessing as to why that might be, they keep stumbling into all sorts of “PC? Or not PC?” discussions. It’s a wonderful send-up of “woke” gone off the rails. It’s also a perfect example of the use of interrupting phone calls that are not at all “stagey” by being quite organic to the plot.
ELF SPACE by Jeff Goode, directed by Kayla Victoria Reumann stars Nick Lama, Sarah Waechter, Kathleen Rooney, Shanda Gardner, and Jesse Zappia. Another realtor play, this time with Nick Lama casually confusing the word “elf” with “shelf” and sending the two prospective buyers over the edge.
First Look Buffalo is a company of thirty-seven ensemble actors, seven directors and nine playwrights. Its founders, Bob Rusch and John Patrick Patti, continue to present a series of staged productions, readings, and workshops throughout the year in the 110-seat theatre.
A note on the Buffalo rating. Over time we’ve gone with rating each short play versus an overall rating. This time I’ll go with an overall “Three and a Half Buffalos” because “I still have my issues, but this is a pretty darn good night at the theater.” Still, for some “If the genre/content are up your alley,” in other words, if you like short play festivals, if you like new plays, or if you like sci-fi or ghost stories or general goofiness, this might be a Four Buffalo event for you. Whatever the rating, I want to congratulate everyone for a really well-run evening.
*HERD OF BUFFALO (Notes on the Rating System)
ONE BUFFALO: This means trouble. A dreadful play, a highly flawed production, or both. Unless there is some really compelling reason for you to attend (i.e. you are the parent of someone who is in it), give this show a wide berth.
TWO BUFFALOS: Passable, but no great shakes. Either the production is pretty far off base, or the play itself is problematic. Unless you are the sort of person who’s happy just going to the theater, you might look around for something else.
THREE BUFFALOS: I still have my issues, but this is a pretty darn good night at the theater. If you don’t go in with huge expectations, you will probably be pleased.
FOUR BUFFALOS: Both the production and the play are of high caliber. If the genre/content are up your alley, I would make a real effort to attend.
FIVE BUFFALOS: Truly superb–a rare rating. Comedies that leave you weak with laughter, dramas that really touch the heart. Provided that this is the kind of show you like, you’d be a fool to miss it!
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