[NEohioPAL] Berko: review of 'THIS IS HOW IT GOES' at Bang and Clatter's new Cleveland venue

[Roy Berko]

Bang & Clatter:  new venue opens with well produced
play

Roy Berko

(Member, American Theatre Critics Association)

--THE TIMES NEWSPAPERS--

Lorain County Times--Westlaker Times--Lakewood News
Times--Olmsted-Fairview Times	

--COOLCLEVELAND.COM--


The Bang and Clatter Theatre Company, which moved into
its new home in Cleveland, chose to produce a Neil
LaBute play as its premiere piece.  LaBute and B&G
have a lot in common.  They are both entities that do
not fade away from the “in your face” kind of theatre.
 

B&G, was founded by two modern day Don Quixotes
Sean
Derry and Sean McConaha, who in 2005  “dreamed the
impossible dream.”  They started a theatre with $4000
in Akron!  Sound like a sure highway ride to road
kill?   In spite of the odds, the unconventional
dynamic duo envisioned a venue for the production of
“innovative, challenging works of exceptional quality
and imagination with a particular emphasis on modern
American plays never have been seen in Ohio.”  And,
have they succeeded!  The plays have generally been
impressive, gaining many critical bravos.  (Including
almost a dozen Times Tribute Outstanding Theatre
Awards last year alone.)

The many Cuyahoga County residents, along with a few
Akronites, who have trekked out to the Rubber City to
attend B&G shows is impressive.  Last year their
production season operated on about a quarter of a
million dollars.  They sold over 500 season tickets
and charge only $15 per ticket.  And, if you can’t
afford that, you pay what you can.

Their new Cleveland home is the old Cole’s Shoe Store,
next to the vacant May Company Building on Euclid. 
MRN Ltd, the developers of the East 4th Street walking
street, downtown’s new entertainment mecca, with such
restaurants as Lola’s and Saigon and entertainment
venues, including The House of Blues and Pickwick and
Frolic, had such faith in the Seans, that they have
given them the space rent-free for five years.  Real
estate developer Cliff Hershman, the George Gund
Foundation and the City of Cleveland also are strongly
backing the project.  

Their opening show, ‘THIS IS HOW IT GOES,’ is a
typical B&G script selection.  
The Sean’s, who are fans of LaBute, produced an
amazing production of ‘FAT PIG’ last season.  

LaBute is noted for his realistic language, edgy
topics and unsettling portrayals of human
relationships.   It is impossible to be an impassive
viewer of his plays.  He sweeps you in, often with his
vivid language, his clear character developments, with
his blatant use of words (the “N” word has great
prominence in this script), and always with his
subject matter.

‘THIS IS HOW IT GOES,’ on the surface, is a play about
a love triangle between a white male and an
interracial couple.  The seed for the plot evolved
from a damning letter LaBute received after directing
the film, ‘NURSE BETTY,’ in which there is a kiss
between a white woman and a black man.   Yes, racial
hated is alive and well in this country, in spite of
all the strides that have been made to eradicate it.

The play confronts race, morality, and American ethos
through the use of humor, drama, intrigue, and a
clever plot twist.  Using the theatrical device of
alienation, in which the audience is constantly made
aware they are in a theatre, LaBute includes
multi-locations with all set changes being made in
clear view, and a narrator who not only guides the
journey but steps into the action, playing one of the
lead characters.    He does this because, as he
states, “Theater only needs someone to stand up and
say: ‘Listen to this.’” 

The play is set in a small Midwestern town.  Cody, who
is African American, was once the star of the high
school track team. He has become a successful
businessman.  His white wife Belinda, a former
cheerleader, stays at home with the baby. When a high
school acquaintance returns to town and rents the room
over their garage, he upsets the delicate balance of
their relationship, raising questions about who they
want to be, who they are, and what made them that way.

>From the audience’s standpoint, the question becomes,
“Which of the tales we are watching is real, truthful,
authentic?”  Who is fooling who?  Is it only the
characters who are playing with each other, or is
LaBute playing with us, the viewers?

B&B’s production, under the adept direction of Fred
Sternfeld, is on track.  Though a long sit at a little
over two hours with no intermission, the pacing is
appropriate and there is little time for the mind to
wander.

The cast is excellent.  Doug Kulak, who has a
wonderful way of playing with words and the mobile
face to amaze and amuse, is tremendous as Man, the
high school acquaintance.  The role was played by Ben
Stiller in the New York production, and it is
difficult to believe that he was any better than
Kusak.

Michael May, who was outstanding in Dobama’s
production of ‘TAKE ME OUT,’ again hits a homer as
Cody, a man driven by early-life demons.

Leighann Niles DeLorenzo, though she sometimes seems
to lose concentration, is believable as Belinda.

Rachel Zake moves the set pieces and highlights Cody’s
insecurities as the Waitress.

Capsule judgment:   Walking into the Cole Shoe Store,
where I had my very first job as a high schooler, and
seeing it transformed into an attractive and
functioning theatre space, was a surreal experience.  
Seeing a quality production of the show by the B&G
family was not surreal.  Clevelanders should open
their arms and pocketbooks wide to welcome Bang and
Clatter to the area.  Good luck Seans!!!!!

‘THIS IS HOW IT GOES’ runs through May 10 at The Bang
and Clatter Theatre, 210 Euclid Avenue. For tickets
call 330-606-5317.   Go early, eat dinner at one of
the E. 4th Street restaurants or stay down after the
show and hit one of the bars, comedy shows or
entertainment features.  The next Cleveland production
is ‘BLACKBIRD’ by Adam Rapp on May 23.

The Akron home of B&G  at 140 E. Market Street is
still in operation.  ‘CAGELOVE’ by Christopher Denham
opens on April 25. 

For more information go to: http://www.bnctheatre.com


Roy Berko's blog, which contains theatre and dance reviews from 2001 through 2008, as well as his consulting and publications information, can be found at http://royberko.info
      
His reviews can also be found on www.coolcleveland.com and NeOHIOpal (to subscibe visit http://mailman.listserve.com/listmanager/listinfo/neohiopal.)


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