Samuel D. Hunter is among my favorite contemporary playwrights. His plays often focus on characters on the margin of American society, but he presents them in ways that tap into deep wells of audience empathy. It is rare that I leave one of his plays dry-eyed.
On stage now at Rattlestick Playwrights Theater are "
Lewsiton" and "
Clarkston," two Hunter plays that have interweaving themes of connection, isolation and ancestral burdens. These two plays are lovingly presented in a single evening with mutually exclusive expert casts, separated in time by a shared meal or snack. I had seen and loved "Clarkston" previously in a more traditionally staged production at Dallas Theater Center (also directed by the Rattlestick production's director Davis McCallum), but "Clarkston" gains resonance when staged with its companion piece "Lewiston." Together these two plays make for one of the best nights of theater I have experienced this year. If you like serious theater you owe it to yourself not to miss this exquisite production.
There are things to admire in both "
American Son" on Broadway and "
The Thanksgiving Play" at Playwrights Horizons (including Kerry Washington's performance in the former and humorous dialogue in the latter), such that a decent evening of theater can be found at both shows. However, both suffer from being a little slight even though they both adeptly address (albeit in very different theatrical styles) important issues regarding racism, representation and inclusion. That is much more than I can say for "
Mother of The Maid" at the Public Theater, an absurd play for which I would have to strain to say anything positive, despite the fact that it stars Glenn Close.
