REVIEW: Fairview is an Unexpected, Theatrical Masterpiece
5/8-5/11 @ Albany Masonic Lodge
Photos by David Quińones Jr.
“It is a brilliant piece of theatre that will make you think, react, and feel differently”
It’s a beautiful thing when persistent playgoing is rewarded with an unexpected gem of a show. I’m reminded of Blanche saying, “Sometimes there’s God so quickly.”
It was the last play of a nine show week for me, which started off shakily. May is when most theatre companies in the Capital Region are finishing up their seasons. Fairview is under the guidance of a director who has struggled in the past to get his shows to production but happily, it turns out that one of my favorite plays of the year is Fairview by Jackie Sibblies Drury. It was produced by Confetti Stage, directed by Aaron Moore, and runs through May 11 at Albany Masonic Lodge.
The Pulitzer Prize-winning play offers a triptych of variations on a theme which challenges the way you encounter race in theatre. The play opens with a Black family making preparations for Mama’s birthday while a white quartet takes lawn chairs in front of the audience to observe the action.
Beverly (splendid Earth O. Phoenix) is running the house in this family comedy scene and sending Dayton (the very funny Hasson Harris) out to shop for root vegetables. Neyonna Watson is Auntie Jasmine and the incomparable Eliana Rowe is daughter, Keisha.
Act II shifts focus from the Black family over to the non-Black actors—Roger Kennedy, Monica Vilela, Peter V. Miranda & Beverly Swimm—watching the show. They prattle on with sometimes derisive or dopey commentary, and always from a perspective of privilege and distance.
In the third act, they join the action as members of the family with racist tropes attached. Roger has a lot of fun playing a b-boy with a ball cap, chains, and bulletproof vest. The play works exceptionally well because the entire cast is having a great time playing with each other. Peter, Monica and Beverly especially so, all trying on different guises and running around with them. Jennifer Bart was able to show off her flair for costumes in this section as well.
As the action is taken over and diminished by the interlopers, the Black family struggles to maintain their equilibrium. Keisha especially is increasingly distraught, can’t make peace with what has happened to their story and must put an end to it.
From her first syllable onstage, Eliana Rowe commands attention, respect, and belief. With her closing speech, she will make sense of all that has come before and does so plainly, urgently, and with feeling.
Aaron Moore has taken us on Drury’s trip, literally forcing us to reconsider what it is we are watching and how we are responding to it. It is a brilliant piece of theatre that will make you think, react, and feel differently than when you walked into the space.
Congratulations to Confetti Stage–who make do with their converted Masonic stage, well-lit by Laura Darling–for choosing this fascinating play.
Fairview plays through 5/11 at Albany Masonic Lodge (67 Corning Place, Albany 12207). Tickets: www.confettistage.org
