As Doak Bloss points out in his Director’s note, “… the subway is a metaphor for the way people come and go in each other’s lives. It is about our deep longing to connect to each other, and perhaps the impossibility of doing so in this life, in these fragile but often impenetrable bodies we occupy.”
And it’s a lot of FUN.
Each short playlet jumps in with both feet, introducing us to distinct and varied characters well played by Jessie Frawley, Anasti Her, Cassie Little, Ndegwa McCloud, Heath Sartorius, and Anna Szabo on a simple but evocative subway set (Doak Bloss) enhanced by Steve Lee’s subway sounds.
An interesting “Entr’acte” leads us out of intermission with the actors, as themselves, “reading” from the scripts quoting lines you will remember from the first act, and ones still to come in the second act. This must have been developed by Doak and the cast, as it quotes from these seven specific A-Train Plays. It’s almost like a play of its own, portraying the actors as “real people” making their own brand of connections through this performance and the rehearsal process.
All the actors did a great job. My personal favorites were Cassie Little and Heath Sartorius in the “Tourist Attraction” play. Heath also made a particularly endearing Jesus in “Howard Hopped the A-Train.”
The A-Train Plays continue at Riverwalk Theatre’s Black Box through Feb 24 - 7pm Thur, 8pm Fri/Sat, 2pm Sun.
$12/$10 - Bargain Thursdays $10/$8
General Seating - Arrive early for best seats; reservations guarantee admission in case of a sellout
517-482-5700
http://www.Riverwalktheatre.com