“Hope” is the thing with feathers -
That perches in the soul -
And sings the tune without the words -
And never stops - at all -
And sweetest - in the Gale - is heard -
And sore must be the storm -
That could abash the little Bird
That kept so many warm -
I’ve heard it in the chillest land -
And on the strangest Sea -
Yet - never - in Extremity,
It asked a crumb - of me.
Director Rose Jangmi Cooper read that Emily Dickenson poem as an intro, suggesting how Hope opened the door to a wide variety of stories, with serious drama as well as humor. She noted that the scripts are NOT presented in the order they are listed in the program. (We are HOPE-ing she will choose to announce the actual order before future performances, so we persnickety viewers won’t waste focus trying to identify each by title.)
Each story was brought to life by a two or three of a troupe of seven actors: Muthu Jayatissa, Jacquelyn Marks and Paul Schmidt were each new to me and refreshing new talents. The familiar Leo Poroshin, Sadonna Croff, and Lekeathon Wilson were very good, as usual. I particularly liked Ellie Weise, both as the military vet at the bus station (172 Pushups) and in Scripted by Mark Harvey Levine, which was, in my opinion, the most entertaining/thought provoking of the eight scripts. (It is the final one performed.)
I would have liked to have seen bios of the eight authors, and maybe some statement from them that would introduce each script. Chatting after, I was told that Be More 282 is by Rich Espey, from Baltimore, and 282 refers to the number of murders in that city in the year the script was written. That knowledge would have shed useful light on an otherwise interesting but mystifying story.
The staging was simple, with boxes rearranged to be a bus station, bookshelf, fishing pier, lunch table, bed… and sound effects (Clint Hoagland) and music between added atmosphere.
Three shows remain for this absolutely NEW theatrical experience. HOPE you can make it to the Robin Theatre 1105 S Washington Ave. Sundays at 2 and next Saturday at 8 - May 19, 25-26.
http://www.ixiontheatre.com