A New Play ‘Lands’ at Delaware Theatre Company

By Charles "Ebbie" Alfree, III

Harry Hamlin & Stefanie Powers play three roles
in Joshua Ravetch's play, One November Yankee.
Photo by Matt Urban.

The second production of the 2019-20 Delaware Theatre Company (DTC) season is Joshua Ravetch’s engrossing new play, One November Yankee. The playwright, who also directs the two-person production, explores the unique relationship between three sets of siblings through three interwoven stories.

Stefanie Powers and Harry Hamlin play the siblings. Maggie and Ralph contemplate their respect and loyalty toward each other as they prepare a major art exhibit; Margo and Harry confront a life-and-death situation as they travel to a family wedding; and while on a hike, Mia and Ronnie come to terms with a past family tragedy that has fractured their relationship. Through the stories, Ravetch skillfully writes of the love and rivalries that typically occur between siblings and the joys and tribulations that come with being in a family.

Although Powers and Hamlin are best known for their film and television work, both are superb on stage. Playing multiple roles requires both actors to demonstrate a range of emotions during the 90-minute performance. Powers plays a staunch art museum curator (Maggie) and a strong-willed amateur pilot (Margo); Mr. Hamlin plays an eccentric artist (Ralph) and an aspiring author (Harry); and they both play bereft hikers (Mia and Ronnie). Powers and Hamlin exquisitely convey vulnerability and strength, making their performances heartbreaking and powerful. However, they also find humor in their characters, helping alleviate the play's heavy subject matter. Scenic designer Dana Moran Williams has created a startling and effective set. A small yellow plane 'crashed' into the middle of the stark stage serves as a constant reminder of not only the situation that binds the characters, but also a symbol of when their lives are crashing down, they must depend on each other. In addition to some other minor set pieces, a screen on the side of the stage projects videos and pictures of the characters’ current setting and state-of-mind between scenes, which prepares the audience for the next act.

Coping with the pressures of working together, comforting each other during a catastrophic time, and reconciling a strained family relationship, Ravetch does a remarkable job conveying the ups and downs siblings face during a lifetime. It’s not often we have such a distinguished playwright and director work on a new piece in the First State -- and have two extraordinary actors bring it to life every night, so get your tickets today before One November Yankee closes on November 10!

For tickets and additional information, visit www.delawaretheatre.org or call 302.594.1100.

DelShakes' "Romeo & Juliet" Community Tour Commences

Wilfredo Amill plays Romeo in Delaware Shakespeare's Community 

Tour of Romeo & Juliet. Photo courtesy of Delaware Shakespeare.

By Mike Logothetis
Mike Logothetis grew up in North Wilmington, performing in school and local theater productions. He lives in Newark, but you can find him wherever the arts are good.

The Delaware Shakespeare Community Tour returns this autumn with a touching performance of Romeo and Juliet, William Shakespeare’s classic tale of teenage love gone horribly wrong.

Community Tour productions play in non-theatrical settings such as multipurpose rooms, homeless shelters and gymnasiums. The production values are scaled for those spaces with live music, minimal sets and whatever lighting is available. In this way, the tour exposes live theater to many people who’ve never experienced it.

Producing Artistic Director David Stradley looks for spaces that can hold a seated audience between 40 and 120 people in a four-sided arrangement. Stradley says that the audience will “...never feel the power of Shakespeare’s vital romantic tragedy more immediately than in our Community Tour production, where every audience member is within ten feet of the performers.”

Stradley stressed that Delaware Shakespeare searches for communities which may be underserved by the arts and whose residents might find difficulty traveling to Rockwood Park for its annual Summer Festival. The Community Tour performs for very diverse audiences and the cast reflects that diversity. African-American actor Wilfredo (Freddy) Amill plays Romeo opposite Argentine Sol Madariaga as Juliet. The two have real chemistry as “star-cross'd lovers” whose feuding families make their budding romance taboo.

Romeo and Juliet is a well-known tale of two dreamers awakening to love in a world trying to tear them apart. Director Lindsay Smiling has instructed his cast to be passionate and physically show their feelings, while speaking Shakespeare’s famous words. He has extracted stellar performances from all the actors without them appearing to overstep their roles.

The excellent Cameron DelGrosso plays a spirited Mercutio – riding a crest of bawdy independence until his best friend Romeo settles him down with tales of his budding love. DelGrosso expertly shows that fraternal loyalty and elan are imbued in Mercutio.

Tai Verley also shone as the wise, but dutiful, Nurse to Juliet. Verley was stern when required, but ultimately loving and devoted to her charge.

As previously mentioned, Amill and Madariaga display tenderness toward each other while showing resolve to make their future together a reality. Both are easy to watch and place the audience quickly on their side – the side of true love.

The multiple fight scenes were well choreographed (Jacqueline Holloway) on the small set with only two pieces of scenery. The audience felt right on top of the pithy swordplay. In the same vein, the dance during the party at the house of the Capulets made it feel like the stage was a bigger space than it was. Both were clever illusions.

Cassandra Alexander, Newton Buchanan, J Hernandez, and Maria Konstantinidis round out the top-notch cast, who often play multiple roles.

The Community Tour of Romeo and Juliet takes place in venues throughout Delaware from October 23 through November 17. (Performances at Baylor Women’s Correctional Institution, Howard R. Young Correctional Institution, Sussex Correctional Institution and Ferris School are not open to the public.) 

Admission is free with RSVP at info@delshakes.org or 302.415.3373. There will be two ticketed performances ($18-25) on November 16 and 17 at The Siegel Jewish Community Center. These performances have only 125 tickets available for each show. The running time is approximately 2 hours and 15 minutes with one 10-minute intermission. 

Information can be found at https://delshakes.org/community-tour/.

“A thousand times good night!”

Christina Cultural Arts Center Opens Concert Season with World Music

Photo by Shervin Lainez.

Live @ Christina, Christina Cultural Arts Center’s (CCAC’s) annual concert series held in its intimate Clifford Brown Performance Space, will kick off this season on Saturday, Nov. 9 at 7:30 p.m. with noted world music ensemble Ajoyo. 

Each season, CCAC has been fortunate to welcome performances by noted artists like Gregory Porter, Delfeayo Marsalis, Snarky Puppy and Christian Sands.

Headed by French-Tunisian saxophonist, clarinetist and composer, Yacine Boularès, Ajoyo blends sounds of African tradition, jazz and soul with the silken vocals of Sarah Elizabeth Charles. Tickets for the performance are $23 and are available at ccacde.org.

“Our music stems from West and North African rhythmic traditions — Fela Kuti, Salif Keita, Oum Kalthoum and many more,” says Boularès. “But we also bring a lot of our individual experience as musicians. The sum of it all is an upbeat, eclectic brew of jazz, soul, African rhythms and indie rock.”

Last appearing at CCAC in May 2018, Ajoyo happily returns to downtown Wilmington for a repeat performance. “On tour, we tend to develop special relationships with certain audiences, and CCAC was definitely one of them,” Boularès says.

Ultimately, he says, Ajoyo is about creating music for the mind, for the heart, and for the body. “You’ll definitely want to stand up and dance,” he says.

This engagement is made possible through the Special Presenters Initiative program of Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation with support from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Delaware Division of the Arts.

ABOUT CHRISTINA CULTURAL ARTS CENTER
The mission of Christina Cultural Arts Center Inc. (CCAC) is to make affordable arts, education, career training, exhibitions and live performances accessible to youth and adults in a welcoming learning environment. For more than 70 years, CCAC has been an anchor in the Delaware arts community and Wilmington's Creative District, focusing on the tenets of Hope, Knowledge, Inspiration & Passion by providing instruction and performance/exhibition opportunities in music, dance, drama, visual arts and poetry. Christina offers one of the only integrated arts and academic programs in Delaware, utilizing the power of arts to promote school success, career training, and positive social behavior. We collaborate with local and national partners — business, educators, and artists — to promote the creative industry and advocate for the socio-economic impact of the arts in our community. Christina Cultural Arts Center is a member of the Mid Atlantic Foundation Jazz Touring Network. 

For more information visit ccacde.org.