365 Days Plays - Week 44

Having studied Suzan-Lori Parks at the University of Florida under a very well-known instructor of African-American Literature and Theatre, I was kinda stumped at what I saw in this 45 -minute production. I was glad it was only 45 minutes, really. I guess I had expected something different, definitely with a message - not that they didn't have messages. Maybe something else came across. It was good to see Miss Kimberly Geter on stage again after so long. Her facial expressions were excellent - she should do more comedic roles in the future. Miss Rachel Bodenstein was very energetic and moved fluidly on the stage. Clary Martin was also a delight to watch in his all-black suit. Clay hasn't been on the scene a lot in Atlanta, so his presence was definitely welcomed. Miss Erin Weller's mask in one of the plays was so incredibly haunting that eyes couldn't look anywhere else but at her: she utilized the mask in with great physical expressoin that it made the scene that much more enjoyable. Weird, but enjoyable. Youth Creates was a apart of this ensemble piece of work and, while they were children ages 10-15 or so, I think they would have benefitted more being on stage with professional actors than being cast as ants. And ants don't really make noise. It was cute the first time they came out to do a scene change and clear the stage, but throughout the other plays - the "meeping" was kinda annoying - like the child out in the hallway of the apartment building where I live at. Her yelling echos. It's annoying. All in all, the evening could have been better. Really. I expected more from Ms. Parks' work and the use of children on stage. It's always so important to utilize talent at an early age and being ants was not something they could really expand on in front of an audience. Perhaps the other 51 weeks of Ms. Parks' work is better than this.