Theater Review: ‘Spinning The Times’

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NEW YORK—Five lonely people trying to make sense of the circumstances in which they find themselves is the basis for the five-world premiere one-person plays, which comprise "Spinning The Times," presented by The Origin Theatre Company at 59 East 59 Theaters.

These plays have more than that in common—all are written by women, and the women are all Irish; a part of the 1st Irish, a five-week-festival of Irish works being performed in various venues in New York City.

Things start off with Rosemary Jenkinson's "The Lemmon Tree." The play looks at the Catholic/Protestant conflict in Northern Ireland, with parallels drawn to the Arab/Israeli situation in the Middle East. Kenny (Jerzy Gwiazdowski), a Protestant teenager, regularly engages in battle with his Catholic neighbors. These newcomers, in Kenny's eyes, continually come into the area and drive the Protestants out—just like what's going on half a world away, with Israeli settlements being built on land the Palestinians claim as theirs; the two sides are so diametrically opposed to each other, compromise seems impossible.

As the play unfolds, the story's message of hate begetting hate becomes all too clear. While not all that likeable, Kenny is certainly interesting. Gwiazdowski gives the character a devil-may-care attitude and a gigantic chip on his shoulder. Filled with stark realism, the play is a sobering portrait of a young man who lashes out because that's all he knows how to do.

In terms of depth and visual imagery, the most well defined tale is Lucy Caldwell's "The Luthier." In Gaza, Dawood (Ethan Hova), a luthier, (a maker and repairer of stringed instruments) lovingly describes his sometimes painstaking but ultimately joyous work. The conversation is punctuated by continual sounds of shelling outside his home, his words tinged with the hope the artillery will strike somewhere else. In the midst of the chaos, he remembers a time in his youth when—for just a moment—the shelling stopped, and he and his friends could become children once again. The text is rich and multi-layered, with Hova's delivery allowing the past to come alive in quiet and haunted tones. (His explanation of the luthier's craft is quite fascinating.)

Love gone wrong is the theme of Geraldine Aron's "Miracle Conway." Here, the title character (Rosemary Fine), an Irish woman at loose ends, becomes a personal assistant to a songwriter named Paul Flint—with whom she quickly finds an emotional connection. However, there is a major obstacle in her way, that being his wife. Painting a verbal picture of Paul's seemingly empty marriage, Miracle begins to look for a way to embrace the love and happiness she truly believes she has found. Fine does a decent job with the material, but the play covers no new ground, with plot twists that are rather obvious.

The quirkiest work of the five is Rosalind Haslett's "Gin in a Teacup." Set in a New York bar, Romayne (Aysan Celik) is getting ready for another lecture from her sister about how she has no life, no job, and no marital prospects. The sisters also have a mother in the final stages of Alzheimer's, which is taking an emotional toll. Romayne's one passion is restoring vintage clothes from the 1920s and 30s, wearing the outfits and, eventually, selling them on eBay—indeed, she looks like she stepped out of a vintage magazine cover. "I sell things because there’s no point in getting too attached," she notes—a comment that describes the way she moves through life. She speaks with a timeless quality, relating stories (even one about a near-death experience) without letting anything touch her.

There's also an ethereal quality to the story, leaving the audience to wonder just who Romayne is. (A time traveler, a ghost, or someone stuck in her own memories are all possibilities.) Celik's performance makes the work enjoyable, with the character's costume (by Sandra Alexandre) adding to the ambiance.

The final selection is Belinda McKeon's "Fugue," which provides a bookend to "The Lemon Tree," which started the show. In "Fugue," David (Mark Bryne) is an Irishman, living in New York, who fled his native country barely one step ahead of being killed by the IRA. However, his fortunes don't seem to be improving in America, and his despair and disgust is evident. The play offers an interesting look at family ties. David may try to break those ties, but finds they go much deeper than expected—for both good and bad. In one of the many similarities to "The Lemon Tree," "Fugue" presents a bleak worldview, with the character exuding hopelessness and anger in almost everything he does.

One common theme running through almost all of the stories is that no matter how bad things are for the characters, there are always those who are less fortunate. The question then becomes, what does one do with this knowledge? Like many collections of stories, the impact in "Spinning The Times" varies from piece to piece, but none are heavy-handed or one-sided enough to make the audience feel as if they're being preached to, offering instead five different snapshots of people whose choices have been limited by their current situation.

Spinning The Times
59E59 Theaters
59 East 59th Street
Tickets: 212-279-4200 or www.ticketcentral.org
Running Time: 1 hour, 40 minutes
Closes: Sept. 20

Judd Hollander is the New York correspondent for the London publication, The Stage.