3rd
Annual New York International Fringe Festival  **Awarded
Audience Favorite**"The Phoenix" by Morgan Spurlock At WOW Café Reviewed by David Roberts for for Theatre Reviews Limited  Every
night at Joe's pub is Ladies' Night. That should give you a pretty
clear picture of Joe's (James Hanlon) clientele. The men who frequent
this Lower East Side grunge pub live out with panache the words to
the song "I only want the best thing for you, and the best thing for
you is me." This would be the credo of Nick (Bill Quigley) and Mick
(Don Reuter), two patrons of Joe's establishment who wander in for
a brew (or two) after work on an afternoon neither will ever forget.
Their visit to Joe's is the subject of the new play "The Phoenix"
which is currently running at the WOW Café as part of the 1999 New
York International Fringe Festival. Mick, in a bid for a raise, has lost his job and he and his buddy Nick come to Joe's for some spirits and end up with a large dose of Joe's home-spun philosophy about art, freedom, and life itself, including Joe's philosophical piece de resistance that everything, including tragedy, is variable. Sort of a drinking man's theory of relativity. All this boy banter seems to work well until Teresa (Monica Helm) and Maria (Blythe Baten) enter the pub. To say that Pandora's box lost its lid on their arrival would be an understatement. Teresa is an odd combination of Phyllis Schlafly ("The Power of the Positive Woman) and Robocop. Her sidekick Maria is Erica Kane ("All My Children") and Rosemary's Baby wrapped up in one pixie perfect package. You get the picture. Two very strong women with a mix of traditional values and a system of ethics from hell. Their drunken state is in celebration of Teresa's promotion from a toll booth collector at the Holland Tunnel to being in charge of her union's visitor hospitality platform. Welcome to New York, indeed!  When
Nick and Mick meet Teresa and Maria life changes for everyone, including
Mick's abusive boss Vince (Edmund Wrenn) and Mick's co-worker Leo
(Paul Ulloa) who also wander into Joe's pub. None of these men has
a clue how to deal with Teresa and Maria (except Vince who never has
the opportunity to even try to deal) and keep trying to relate to
these two powerful women from old paradigms. Paradigms which include
the assumed "superiority" of men and the relative unimportance of
women. Joe tries to teach Mick how to give his heart, soul, and mind
to Teresa. All Teresa wants is Leo's BMW. There is an incredible payoff
in "The Phoenix" and its impact would be lessened if more of the plot
were revealed. But here are some hints. Teresa and Maria re-name Mick
"Prick" and Nick "Dick." Someone ends up on ice. Shoes are burning
on the curb in front of Joe's pub. Warm beer is served. Teresa eschews
the moniker "nice" and when she perceives Maria becoming a bit too
nice says to her, "When did you become fuckin' Kathy Lee?" Oh, and
at the show's end Joe is heading to the basement with the pair of
smoldering shoes and a baseball bat. Joe, Nick, and Mick claim they want women "with balls," women who "take no shit." They end up with women who, in their own words, enjoy "fuckin' people and fuckin' heads." What happens in Morgan Spurlock's script is at once charming and alarming. And it is all very well written, directed, and performed with exceptional timing by this ensemble cast. Spurlock's play works on many levels, including levels with powerful symbol and allegory. It is ultimately on these deeper levels that it works best. Teresa and Maria are much more than women who reclaim power by emulating their oppressors (though it seems that way on the surface). These are characters in search of a new identity as women and as men. Their search is not simple, nor easy. But it is a search upon which depends the very future of healthy relationships between men and women. "The Phoenix" is what FringeNYC should be all about. A full play with a powerhouse of a creative team well worth the price of admission. Don't miss it. Reviewed on Thursday, August 19, 1999 (First Performance) "THE PHOENIX" Written and directed by Morgan Spurlock. Set design by Mark Hankla; costme design by Lia Ferreyra; hair and make up by Barbra Turiello; stage manager, Seth Downey. Presented by Morgan Spurlock at WOW (Women's One World) Café, 59-61 East 4th Street between 2nd and 3rd Avenues. In August at the FringeNYC Festival on the following dates: Saturday the 21st at 2:00 p.m.; Sunday the 22nd at Noon; Monday the 23rd at 7:45 p.m.; Tuesday the 24th at 10:00 p.m.; Saturday the 28th at 8:45 p.m.; and Sunday the 29th at 1:30 p.m. $11.00. For infomation and reservations visit http://www.fringenyc.org WITH: Blythe Baten (Maria), James Hanlon (Boomerang Joe the Bartender), Monica Helm (Teresa), Bill Quigley (Nick), Don Reuter (Mick), Paul Ulloa (Leo) and Edmund Wrenn (Vince). |