REVIEW: A Bright Room Called Day (Nu Sass)

The 2024 election is less than a week away and naturally, nobody’s got the fever like DC.

I do use fever in the “illness” sense. It seems like everyone is sick of the hullabaloo, but obviously can’t just ignore it. Naturally this creates a lot of anxiety, and the arts of DC are channeling it differently: Washington Improv Theatre is putting on a debate facsimile with cutely improvised candidates on 14th Street, and places like Arena Stage are producing pieces that directly deal with immigrant experiences, a key talking point in this election cycle. Then there’s feminist-forward art house Nu Sass, with Tony Kushner’s 1985 political calzone A Bright Room Called Day. Like his more well-known Angels in America, it utilizes several uniquely layered characters to ridicule, and cower from, the forces of fascism that take over 1930’s Germany. (Seems appropriate to me.)

Book

Kushner is well-known for his rich dialogue and marathon pacing, but the formula that was perfected in Angels feels like a rough draft in Room. In this play, which takes place over the course of a few years in one Berlin apartment, actress Agnes and her husband Husz often host their friends Paulinka (another actress), Annabella (graphic designer), and Baz (openly gay intellectual) for drinks and chit-chat. (They’re the kinds of leftists, artists, and socialites you’d find at Suns Cinema in today’s DC.) And much like modern leftists, this chit-chat includes constant disagreement about the direction the Revolution is taking—to an exhausting degree. Were it not for its committed cast, the preaching of their doctrine (often Reddit-worthy in dialectics) would bore to tears. Is it too much to ask for characters that develop beyond their politics, or even some of Kushner’s signature dry humor? There is nonetheless a smidge of intent to this cyclone of cynicism, as the Nazi Party aggressively gains power over the former Weimar Republic in the background. The audience watches with informed confusion as the group blathers about what the Revolution truly “is” while Nazis are literally setting the Reichstag on fire outside their window. In between this fly-on-the-wall view of disunited leftists are modern interjections from Zillah, a 1980’s conspiracy theorist who writes hate mail to Ronald Reagan and compares his inaction on AIDS to Hitler. (This comparison was particularly lambasted after its premiere in 1991, but it’s honestly one of my lesser concerns.) Slowly we watch this group represent a fractured Left that does not stand up against the looming evils of Nazism, in a way that is intended to be introspective to us as the current election hovers over our heads. I understand Kushner’s intent here, but I think the piece is in over its head in hand-holding the audience through its dogma. 4/10

Acting

The great thing about DC performers is that they make shows worth seeing, from the plush seats of the Kennedy Center to humble rooms like the back of an Adams Morgan art space. The cast that brings the neurotic characters of Room to life are no exception, with each giving us plenty of emotion and stage presence to make up for a bloated book. Stealing most scenes, though, was Aubri O’Connor (also Nu Sass’ Artistic Director) as the towering Communist Annabella, and and the punchy comrade Baz by Joshua Poole. John Stange only has limited time onstage as Herr Swetts, but is instantly memorable with his delivery of the show’s most impactful monologue. 9/10

Production

Aria Velz directs, using a macro lens to showcase the piece. The DC Arts Center black box is one of the most intimate spaces in town, with front row basically being on top of Reuben Rosenthals’s well-worn apartment set, but I love how both individuals have committed to the political claustrophobia. What might be my favorite part is the skylight that serves as both a canvas for E-Hui Woo’s effusive lighting and for Hailey LaRoe’s cinematic projections — though I wish the captions on the latter, which narrate some of the time differences and major events, were easier to read on the moving image behind it. 7/10

Viz

I thought it was just me at first, but none of the people in my audience that I asked had any idea what the play would be about from marketing alone. The main promotion that Nu Sass uses is a dark, warm photo of Agnes holding a candle, barely illuminated by it. The room you walk into is decidedly not bright at all, in fact shrouded in cool light that practically makes it feel underwater — but there is an ethereal element to it that alludes to some of the more spiritual elements. 2/10

Verdict

A Bright Room Called Day is a poignant political treatise that could use some serious trimming, but attractive direction and a capable cast keep you in the action in spite of it. 22/40