HASHTAGS AND LOVE // A THEATRE REVIEW OF "MEN AND WOMEN TALKING LOVE AND SEX"

BY DEREK JORDEN

Men and Women Talking Love and Sex. For once the title says it all. John Paul Porter wrote, produced and directed this relevant play featuring three men and two women discussing matters of the heart and affairs of the loins. It’s not relevant to all (no play ever is), but certainly will be to the 30 something crowd that’s either on the prowl, dating, marrying or procreating. 

#MAWTLAS and a "Selfie Gallery" are both signs that times are changing and phones/hashtags are becoming more a part of our everyday life. The first and second acts begin with a cute mini-scene of the characters reminding us to put our phones away, and even instructing us on how to shut them off before we do. We realize there are some conversations that should occur more intimately, one of them being the one that’s about to unfold before our eyes. It is not going to be over the cellular waves. It needs to happen face-to-face. Or five-faces-to-150 (the audience at Midtown's Davenport Theater). 
 

The quick-paced dialogue was well-managed by the team of actors and reminded me at times of an Aaron Sorkin scripted show. A cast of five moves quickly on and off the stage in this no frills production. The sparse set consists of three archway doors which are versatile enough to set us in a bar or a house but made me think a few times I was lost at the Alamo. The number of props could be counted on one hand: beer bottles, laundry basket, computer keyboard, stack of scripts, and a bed sheet. Six or seven years pass and our storytellers remain in the same clothes throughout and though the set is very minimalistic it doesn't distract from the story at hand and allows us to look at some real issues that plague couples in our everyday busy lives.

MEN AND WOMEN TALKING LOVE AND SEX features a strong cast, including Nicolas Greco, a Blackwood native playing the fist-pumping, hip-thrusting part of Tom to the T. Zane Johnston’s Pete was funnily affable and awkward, even boisterous. Rounding out the tenure committee peanut gallery was Karen Stanion as Clarinda, an honest woman...when she needs to be; independent and sexy. Aaron Ballard played Annie, the sweet girl with a heart of gold and a dream she may not have shared with the one person who should have mattered most.
 

Good theater makes me further realize what theater is and can be. Sometimes it is sheer entertainment, designed to make you forget your worries and relish in the wonder that is something else. Sometimes it can be a dialogue with the audience in which the audience is provoked and entreated to think more deeply or differently about a theme. Sometimes, as is the case here, it is a simple yet specific example of life for certain characters in a certain moment, however brief or extended, a day or a decade. The more you see, the more you listen, the deeper your understanding will become. With this show, in this simple example, as you listen to Men and Women Talking Love and Sex, you might find both of your current understandings challenged. MAWTLAS is a decent play that creatively brings to the stage an accurate account of what it's like riding the up and down roller coaster of a relationship in today's world, helped and hindered by friends and careers, deadlines and dreams. 

DEREK'S GRADE: B-

Written, Produced and Directed by John Paul Porter

Starring:Nicolas Greco, Zane Johnston, Karen Stanion, Ben Kahre, and Aaron Ballard

Final Thoughts:  A realistic point of view for all the 30-something's out there watching more and more of their peers make the leap from adolescence to adulthood with marriage and family. Enjoyable but may fade away with the Pizza slice you have immediately after.

W. DEREK JORDEN is an actor currently living and working in New York City. He and his wife live on a Spaceship on the top of a building, which makes for some interesting dinner parties.

ALL YOU NEED IS THE SOUL // A THEATRE REVIEW OF "LENNON: THROUGH A GLASS ONION"

REVIEWED BY DEREK JORDEN

What if Mark David Chapman, the obsessed Beatles fan holding a copy of Catcher in the Rye, hadn't fired those bullets into John Lennon's back almost 35 years ago?  Maybe the man who penned "All You Need is Love" (his self-proclaimed greatest lyric) would still be alive, having just turned 74 last week. And maybe, just maybe, he'd be a little or even a lot like John R. Waters is on stage in LENNON: THROUGH A GLASS ONION.

You won't find a wavy mop top or tiny circular spectacles at the Union Square Theater, but instead a marvelous version of what if Lennon the Man, not just Lennon the Legend, was still with us. Accompanied on a rather bare stage only by his microphone, his guitar, and a tremendous piano player (Stewart D' Arrietta). Waters rocks and talks all things Lennon for an uninterrupted ninety minutes. It's not a tribute band concert or storytelling hour, but a well-crafted blend. Pieces and parts of over thirty recognizable Beatles and Lennon's solo tunes are woven together with thoughtful vignettes written by Waters that illuminate realities about Lennon's life. Since it's not Lennon's actual words, perhaps you could call it speculation, but the autobiographical anecdotes give a very valid glimpse into some possible motivations behind the music.

The rock n' roll is awesome. Stewart D'Arietta hits hard on the keys, even harder on the kick drum, and gets the room in the groove while Waters jams on his six-string. It's just two men, but they generate a lot of wonderful noise. Waters tells us about the misunderstanding turned controversy of Lennon's claim that the Beatles were more popular than Jesus which leads to "All You Need is Love". We hear "Julia" after Waters, as Lennon, talks about his dear mother's premature passing and "Beautiful Boy" after he tells the story of trying with Yoko for kids unsuccessfully for so long, then the miracle of life he and Yoko were given with Sean. In this story, D'Arietta provides comic relief as the Chinese acupuncturist that gave them hope. The songs aren't replicas of the studio recordings, but genuine live renditions by these two great artists.

Fog fills the cavernous stage throughout the show, and dramatic lights that cut sharp lines through the smoke lend to the possibility that we might be looking at an apparition, that maybe Lennon came back to visit us to tell us how it all went down through his eyes. A couple of sound and light cues are jolting like a life in rock n' roll might have been. One brilliant technique makes Waters nothing but a floating head and was quite impressive to see. As is the show itself, a clever meditation that's part tribute, part speculatative hearsay, and all together wonderful evening.

DEREK'S GRADE: A-

Written and Conceived By: John R. Waters Starring: John R. Waters, Stewart D'Arietta. Content Advisory: Language

FINAL THOUGHTS: LENNON: THROUGH A GLASS ONION is a wonderfully done show. It is apparent the Waters and D'Arietta have spent a long time working on this (It was conceived more than twenty years ago!). Though many of Lennon's lyrics are simple, we are shown here how they are based in deep philosophy and that Lennon was a poet that put his life into his art.

W. DEREK JORDEN is an actor currently living and working in New York City. He and his wife live on a Spaceship on the top of a building, which makes for some interesting dinner parties.

NYFF52 REVIEW: GONE GIRL

BY MATEO MORENO

For anyone and everyone who is worried that the new film adaptation of GONE GIRL won't live up to your memories of the novel let me reassure you: Director David Fincher has crafted one hell of a film here. Sleek and mysterious, pulsating and riveting, it's truly a mark of filmmaking wonder. Luck for us, the film adaptation is done by the novel's writer herself, Gillian Flynn, and she captures the wonder that sat on those pages with sharp and clear strokes. To those who haven't yet read the thrilling page turner, the story follows Nick Dunne (Ben Affleck) and his wife Amy (Rosamund Pike) as they move from Manhattan to Nick's childhood home of Missouri. One evening, Nick returns home to an open door, shattered glass, and Amy is nowhere to be seen. Amy has suddenly disappeared. The police, led by Detective Rhonda Boney (Kim Dickens) and Officer Jim Gilpin (Patrick Fugit), begin searching for answers and Nick turns to his sister Margo (Carrie Coon) for support. But what exactly, if anything, is Nick hiding? What will the police find? What did happen to Amy? Well if you've read the novel, you may think you know, but Flynn has shaken up the third act here, so even you are in for a treat.

Fincher creates a world and atmosphere here that is intoxicating; thrilling, bleak, and simmering with mysteries at every turn, with a swelling media circus encompassing everyone. Switching between each day Amy is missing and pages of her diary recounting their life together, GONE GIRL captures you from minute one. Affleck is perfect; quiet and powerful here as a smug man who has trouble convincing the public of his compassion. Pike's performance brims with wonder as we piece together who Amy really was. Carrie Coon turns in fantastic work here as Nick's twin sister Margo. And the large supporting cast, from Kim Dickens to Patrick Fugit, Neil Patrick Harris and Tyler Perry (yes, THAT Tyler Perry) all shine from each moment to the next. Kudos as well to Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross for their haunting score. Even as you learn this town's dirty little secrets, Fincher and Lynne keep you guessing and keep their narrative hand gripping your throat. GONE GIRL does not disappoint, it transcends.

VERDICT: A MUST SEE

Based on the novel by Gillian Flynn Screenplay by Gillian Flynn Directed by David Fincher Starring Ben Affleck, Rosamund Pike, Carrie Coon, Kim Dickens, Patrick Fugit, Neil Patrick Harris, Tyler Perry. CONTENT ADVISORY: Adult Situations, Adult Language, Graphic Violence, Nudity

BOTTOM LINE: Fans of the novel will be pleased and those who haven't read it will go pick it up. Another excellent offering from the master that is David Fincher.