Tell Hector I Miss Him

This is a slice through and through of one small ally in Puerto Rico but represents so much more.  An entire ethnic cast with a uniquely ethnic subject.  The bowels of Puerto Rico - old San Juan it says, but frankly it could be the corner of 118th and Lexington too. A finer casting of purely ethnic actors is rare to be found.  At home in their accents and culture, these actors are free to explore the dialogue and the emotions translated from Playwright Paola Lazaro's head to the page and back onto the stage.  And a remarkable job they do.

Done in vignettes, the play has a large cast and many story lines some of which overlap, others do not.  Ideas of hope and despair, escape and entrapment, and love and family vs abandonment and homelessness abound.

The fine cast includes Victor Almanzar (Jeison), Sean Carvajal (Palito), Alexander Flores (Tono), Yadira Guevara-Prip (Isis), Juan Carlos Hernandez (Mostro), Selenis Leyva (Samira), Talene Monahon (La Gata), Flaco Navaja (Hugo), Dascha Polanco (Malena), Lisa Ramirez (Mami), Luis Vega (El Mago), Analisa Velez (Tati).  

Be warned this play leaves no topic un-touched.  when a play opens up with two people having sex - you know you're in for a bumpy ride - just how bumpy and who these two people are I will leave un-spoken in this review.  Plenty of smoking.  Drugs and alcohol abound.  There's even a gun.  Life on the bottom rung is a tough one and these fine actors do their best to show you just how tough it is to live here and even more so to leave.

Between Riverside and Crazy

As its namesake suggests - Second Stage Theater has given a second chance to a first rate off-Broadway production, Stephen Adly Guirgis' Between Riverside and Crazy, originally seen last season at the Atlantic Theater just a few blocks south.

Aptly directed once again by Austin Pendleton and acted by almost all the original cast in it's debut production, this incarnation seems to pick up just where it left off - even growing and gelling as it ages.  The ingenious rotating disk set by Walt Spangler transforms a small stage into an entire apartment plus a rooftop off to the side.  I d not know the history of the production at the Atlantic but would assume, after experiencing it first hand (the second time around), that there was likely much interest in this work and the Atlantic just couldn't house it under its own roof.  I applaud 2ST for snatching it up and extending its life.

Pops (Stephen McKinley Henderson) helms the ensemble piece like a old pro.  The aging retired and injured black police officer navigates his tumultuous life (The Riverside part) after the force with his less-than-stable family situation (The crazy part) ever-present in his life.  Supporting his fine performance are Oswaldo (Victor Almanzar), Detective O'Connor (Elizabeth Canavan), Lieutenant Caro (Michael Rispoli), Church Lady (Liza Colon-Zayas), Lulu (Rosal Colon), and his son, Junior (Ron Cephas Jones).

Mr. Guirgis' characters are real and present.  Most are complex rather than one-dimensional.  The story he weaves is both specific and modern.  However, because Pops is complex, he is able to weave an air of mystery into Pops' motivations and actions which mostly succeeded.  If I had to point out one thing which may need to be improved it is the speed at which the ending comes out of nowhere and concludes the show.  Somehow this probably needs to be slowed down an backed up into the show with a bit more so the effect is smoother.