Back for its fourth year, Down for the Count was a shocking, funny, savvy, fearless one-act play festival featuring six daring women playwrights: Emily Mann, France-Luce Benson, Kat Ramsburg, Kiana Rivera, Gabrielle Denise Pina, and Blue McElroy. From a family of slaves that will be scattered (Under the Liberty Trees) to a young girl despondent over her parents divorce (Cardboard Box) to a Jehova’s Witness navigating life outside the closet (Puzzy) to a grown daughter explaining a vibrator to her very proper mama, Down for the Count was a veritable feast of brash, bright, stunning and deeply human narratives.
Under the Liberty Trees, didn’t address women’s issues, but gave us Emily Mann’s perspective on a dire situation. A family of slaves that has been kept together (thanks to the kindness of their “masters”) is now faced with the very real possibility of separation. The couple they’ve served has died suddenly and they have very little time to plan. The patriarch of the family starts giving his very young son, Nathaniel, instruction on surviving in the world. “Don’t let on how intelligent you are, don’t use any more words than necessary…” As papa continues his litany a spotlight falls on his son, is contrast to advice that is clearly more practical than lofty. Simple but powerful.
Blue McElroy’s Cardboard Box explores the ordeal of Mary, a young girl who cannot find the motivation to pack up her things for moving to another city. She is forced to choose a parent in the midst of a divorce that is wounding and devastating her. The mom and dad are too busy pushing her around, attacking each other and fussing to grasp the depth of their daughter’s pain. There’s a punchy, frenetic beat to this script that holds our attention and captures the jabs and blows at the heart of Mary’s suffering. It’s almost as if they despise each other more than they love her.
Kiki Rivera’s Puzzy shares the journey of Mele, a young woman who has decided to no longer hide the fact that she is a lesbian. Strewn throughout the play are various women extolling, rather extravagantly, the joys of female genitalia, and making love to other women. Rivera’s use of this purposeful excess is understandable. Though it goes on a bit long, it serves as a counterbalance to the stigmatizing, persecution, disparagement and misogyny attached to those who have a problem with lesbianism. As Mele explores the queer culture of woman to woman eroticism, she discovers the politics, pretensions, and limitations of that dating scene. She also agonizes about her family and church’s response to her orientation. Dropping the facade of heterocentrism is a profound decision, but Mele realizes it isn’t answer to all her problems.
France-Luce Benson’s The Talk, involves Manu, a mother who comes to stay with her daughter Claire. The night before she returns home, Manu comes to Claire, asking for advice. Manu and Claire come from a very conservative, traditional family, and Manu doesn’t communicate very well with her husband. Not that Claire’s dad encourages that. Assuming that her daughter is far more emancipated when it comes to Western culture, Manu initiates a woman-to-woman dialogue on the use of a vibrating sex toy. Benson, naturally, makes great theatre from the mutual and intense embarrassment this conversation provokes. Beyond that, Claire begins to comprehend her mother’s predicament. Love making is disappointing for her mother and she’s merely making a good faith effort to change that.
Benson uses her ingenious premise to amuse and create a moment of sublime understanding between the two women.
The First Step by Kat Ramsburg is a brief, if compelling piece. There is nothing like the first steps you take, whether leaving the train or plane or bus, the very first time you visit New York City. Callie is leaving the bus, all starry-eyed and stoked, but the world-weary bus driver is a decided buzzkill. Nick, another passenger, opts to intervene in a playful way, salvaging Callie’s optimism.
Gabrielle Denise Pina’s Uncommon Revelations bears witness to Delilah Green, a woman gathering the courage to leave her husband, Mustard Green, and his toxic masculinity, and subsequently reconciling with her gay son. The name Delilah suggests perhaps a woman who subversively robs the man of his overwhelming strength, while “Mustard Green” evokes the ridiculousness of stiff, soulless one-dimensional machismo.
The Down for the Count festival has always provided an evening of compelling, absorbing entertainment. We are invariably challenged and asked to engage our intellect as well as our emotions.
Ever vigilant to fulfill the need for a play to provide a premise, a triggering event, escalation, and some kind of resolution, the playwrights follow this paradigm with imagination and aplomb. Sometimes the pieces that don’t necessarily address the endemic issues of womanhood, fare better than the ones that explore them faithfully, but perhaps are a bit prolonged. Some felt a bit more like works in progress, making the same points more than once, for the sake of clarity and completion. All this being said, Down for the Count always features poignant, unorthodox stories with intense emotion and memorable performances. The actors are often cast in multiple, demanding roles, and everyone involved is clearly giving 100% + .
The Down for the Count festival played at The Bishop Arts Theatre Center From March 21st-April 7th, 2019. 215 South Tyler, Dallas, Texas 75208. 214-948-0716. www.bishopartstheatre.com