REVIEW: Monumental Travesties (Mosaic Theater Company)
Preview: New from Mosaic is the world premier of homegrown playwright Psalmayene 24’s farcical Monumental Travesties (dir. Reginald L. Douglas), now playing at the historic Atlas Theatre on H Street. Having heard so much about his work, often rooted in the local DC experience, I was glad to finally catch a production (especially on a talkback night). It’s certainly a breath of fresh air to see a locally-produced show be about “DC” instead of being about “Washington”.
Book: Travesties is a (mostly) comedic piece surrounding the events of one night in Capitol Hill, whereas a Chance, a Black anarchist and performance artist, brazenly decapitates the controversial Emancipation statue in Lincoln Park under cover of night. From here, we’re introduced to Brenda, the culprit’s wife, and their white neighbor Adam. On his escape from the park, Chance dumps the newly-detached head into Adam’s garden to make for a quicker getaway. The ensuing hijinks, beginning when Adam returns the head to their home asking for any leads, take turns from bitingly funny to outright cringe. Chance’s artistic modus operandi seems to have earnest purpose in the beginning, aiming to educate his progressively (un)white peer about the Black experience in regards to the statue, but evolves into a madman shortly after. (Not helping the situation is Adam’s growing amnesia regarding the events.) The reactionary situational comedy starts solidly but grows weary. By the latter third, it begins to stumble over itself with new revelations that linger with unimportance and confusion by the time we reach its rushed ending. 5/10
Acting: Louis E. Davis makes noise as Chance, with plenty of snark and punchy cynicism to go around. Certainly, as the least level-headed of the group, Davis produces enough momentum to single-handedly move the plot forward, even at the behest of losing its empathetic vision. Jonathan Feuer skillfully shifts between ired adjacency and aloof servitude, with emphatically funny results. But where would the comedy be without an everyperson to bridge the disbelief? Renee Elizabeth Wilson’s Brenda is downright hilarious as Chance’s wife who REALLY would rather not be there dealing with all of this. Her reactionary humor and deliveries are the magnet of attraction for this production, and after her disappointingly low utilization in Radio Golf earlier this year I was so thrilled to see her thrive. 8/10
Production: Staging is largely static, featuring very little other than the living room of Chance and Brenda’s home. The main plot device, Lincoln’s head, looms in the center of the stage during most of the action as an entertaining reminder of the absurdity (great job from Deb Thomas). What surprised me most was Moyenda Kulemekas’s creative costuming: beyond Chance’s excellent DC-themed punk fit that begins the show, there’s comedy involving a “brief” Black Lives Matter bit, Adam…basically the entire second half, and Brenda in the final minutes, among others. All provided much more humor than I was expecting, which nearly makes up for the otherwise unexciting use of the main room. 6/10
VisDev: Program art is a basic pale background with Lincoln’s head superimposed, edited for him to have a red-white-blue punk mohawk. His stoic expression coupled with the whimsy of such a hairstyle is a comical peer into the nature of the show, though could lead the viewer in with more (if it were up to me). Pre-show staging, however, does not provide much evidence to the nature of the production: just a jewel-toned row house interior with Africanesque ornamentals and ambient go-go music. It’s vaguely Black, but generic. 6/10
