It is quite the theme these days for people to be survivors of life's great tragedies, probably none greater than the most recent attack on a vulnerable New York. However, imagine going the brave struggle on your own, where you are told what the outcomes might be and that yours is likely to be futile. Well, that's what thyroid cancer survivor, actress, and playwright, Jacqueline Miller faces in the battle for her life and has lived to tell the tale with a sophisticated and at times blaring clarity in Windmills. Amidst doctors, friends, and family that go from goof ball manic with little if any bedside manner to a dreamy doctor who is patient and informative to a supportive mom to self-absorbed friends, Jacqueline goes through the emotional roller coaster of a lifetime.
In this sentimental fourteen scene production, you are welcomed into the frayed state of a mind of a woman who makes light out of her situation by delving into the deep chasms of her psyche, sharing her fear of being radioactive, facing a dangerous surgery where she could become what she calls, "a pez head," and the return of the cancer, just when she started to feel normal again. When she finally overcomes the worst of her battle, Jacqueline holds onto the simple but effective philosophy to never forget to dream, like she did innocently as a child, blowing on her windmill.
Fellow actors, George Alvarez, Rico Simonini, Akisha Rundquist, Macain Treat, Sylvia Little, Michael Taggart, Alan Gale, Jabez Zuniga, and Ruth Strickland round out the zany cast of characters with Dennis Strickland directing, Steph-anie Reuler as assistant director and Ernesto Hinojosa as the integral choreographer to Jacque-line's self-discovery dance. Part of the proceeds from these performances at NoHo's own Secret Rose Theater will be given to ThyCa (Thyroid Cancer Survivor's Assoc., Inc.).
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Charm, the most prized quality a woman can possess, according to the heroine of James M. Barry's What Every Woman Knows, is also the hallmark of the revival currently playing at Theatre 40 in Beverly Hills. It's a gently old-fashioned charm, reflecting the play's 1908 date, but as staged by director Stephen Tobolowsky, it's a charm that rare-ly flags throughout.
Maggie Wylie's father and two brothers are concerned that the intelligent, perceptive, but "plain" spinster (at age 27!) will not find a husband. So when this Scottish family discovers that an up-and-coming scholar has been breaking into the house at night to read the books they themselves cannot understand, they coerce him into signing an agreement that will eventually lead to marriage. Young John Shand fulfills his promise in both senses - he becomes an MP and marries Maggie - but it takes him all of Act Two to discover just what a good bargain he's made.
Under Tobolowsky's able direction, all the actors in lead roles give fine performances, including Mark Bradford Hill as the iron-willed but humorless Shand, Drew Wicks as dimwitted James Wylie, and Fleur Phillips as Lady Sybil Tenterden, the potential homewrecker who finds herself in over her head.
Michael Gough poignantly captures the concern and anger of loving older brother David Wylie, and as Maggie, Ann Hearn beautifully reveals a woman of strong mind and soul who yet has the gift of unconditional love.
Some minor quibbles: the pacing of the 2-hour, 40-minute piece is sometimes slow. The two French characters do not appear to have mastered French especially well. The second act's drawing-room set in no way evokes the mass of luxurious bric-a-brac that would have filled the house of people of this standing. And modern audiences may have a hard time accepting the sentimentality of the ending. But these quibbles aside, those looking for a bit of gentle laughter and equally gentle satire will find just the recipe they want in What Every Woman Knows.
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“Everybody lies,” is the motif of Brad Fraser’s study of unrequited love, casual sex, and emotional violence amongst a group of friends in Edmonton, Canada in his play Unidentified Human Remains. Roommates David (an outstanding Jason Frost), a gay restaurant worker, and Candy (Roxanne Meyers), a bisexual waitress, are both struggling with their romantic longings, though David cannot bring himself to admit it; when asked about love, he sneers, “There’s no such thing.” Rounding out David’s inner-circle are his longtime best friend, emotionally troubled Bernie (Steven Shields, in an over-mannered performance), and his young new friend Kane (an impressive but uneven Taylor Newendorp). Although a bit overlong and disjointed, the play is compulsively watchable and never less than entertaining. Director Don Stewart has an instinct for emphasizing the right notes in a scene. Zingy one-liners are sprinkled throughout like nuts on a sundae and delivered in such a fashion that you actually start laughing harder the more you think about what was just said. Nice trick. The production also benefits from Melissa Abrahams' clever and economical lighting, the effect of which lends a fluid cinematic quality to the proceedings.
The play is a bit marred by a subplot involving a serial killer that’s initially intriguing before becoming obvious and distracting. Also, the character of Jerri, a young lesbian, is shallowly conceived, if well-played by Aomawa Baker. Nonetheless, these flaws (and others) are nearly all redeemed by a beautifully acted final scene in which tenderness and friendship prove strong enough to stare impending death straight in the face.
After an emotionally exhausting journey, it’s clear the characters are finally ready to at least stop lying to the most important person of all: themselves. See Guide for listing.

James Prideaux's The Last of Mrs. Lincoln, now at the El Portal Center for the Arts in NoHo, paints an endearing portrait of Mary Todd Lincoln. In a touching finale, her eldest son Robert states that she may not have been a great lady, but insists that she knew how to love. Based on that love alone, how could she be called anything less than great?
The deck was stacked against Mary when she fell in love with and married Abraham Lincoln. Her sister Elizabeth, a grand performance by Mimi Cozzens, calls Lincoln beneath her. Not only Mary's political views, but also her lavish spending habits in the White House as First Lady turned politicians against her. After Lincoln's death, she was denied a pension and was forced to live as a vagabond, frequently abroad. After her son Tad's untimely death, she suffered a breakdown which institutionalized her for months. The most horrible repercussion of all of this was her isolation from son Robert. He testified against her in court, charging her with insanity and took control of her assets. Despite adversity, Mary regained control and with formidable spirit, showed great compassion and forgiveness.
The staging of this production by Art Manke is top-of-the-line. Putting the actors in chairs on both sides of the stage as judges and jury of Mrs. Lincoln serves the play well. They, like the audience, become witnesses to all human folly. Great moments abound, as in a scene where Elizabeth expresses fear that she may turn Jesus away from her door. Here a character recognizes her flaws and Prideaux registers optimism.
Marcia Rodd makes a stellar Mary Todd Lincoln. Hers is a passionate and stunning tour de force performance. Also outstanding are Jack Betts, Robert Lee Jacobs, Nathan Anderson, and Michele Mais as Lizzie, who opens the show with a lovely acappella of "Amazing Grace." Dorothy Constantine lends superb comic relief as the obnoxious Mrs. McCollough.
The set by Don Gruber is an oversized flag which covers the back wall and stage floor. With the help of Mark McCandless' expert lighting design, it is vibrant or dull depending on the mood conveyed, but is still there like a steadfast companion.
One audience member was overheard extolling how much he had learned historically from the play and that he must read more about Mary Todd Lincoln. It is to James Prideaux that we owe thanks for this enrichment and to the El Portal for a most patriotic production. See Guide for listing.

Does anyone know how long we will be viewing plays through the prism of 6,000 murdered innocents? One hopes the theater will continue presenting new truths as playwrights and directors see them, and the old truths that still shake us from our sheepdom. Locked Up Down Shorty's by Mike Petty is a West Coast Premiere one from Freeplay, the Noho theater group ("Forsaking All Others," "92 Days") founded by Gary Dean Ruebesamen, presented with the newly-charged Powerhouse Theater Company on the Venice-Santa Monica border. It is a play about the borders between the poor and the rich, between laid off 1980's steelworkers who kidnap a 30-something bank president, and the worldview that alienates them.
There is excellent ensemble work here from Don Mandigo, Ron Bottitta, Jamie Denton, John Eric Montana, Stan Cahill and Erin J. O'Brien at Shorty's, a bar near Pittsburgh. From the #12 Terry Bradshaw jersey worn by barkeep Danny (Denton) to the workboots chunked with dirt worn by his wife Fiona (O'Brien), these actors are authentic as their dried-up and fading community. Bumbling through plans like some wannabe American buffalos, Bar-owner Mac (Mandigo) shows up with a blindfolded Hamilton Gimble (Tim Glenn), an indicted-but-found-innocent Fortune 500-er.
Playwright Petty's language varies from the sharp "Looks like stupidity's the American way" to the slick "It's business...you drink enough scotch with the right people, you'd invest in a napalm factory," but he sometimes uses three sentences where one would suffice. Akin to August Wilson's Pitt-ghetto denizens and their soaring historical arias, these wounded white folks powerfully describe wildcat strikes and frustrated desires. But Petty gets glib about Nixon, Bush, Lenny Bruce and Buddy Hackett, and with obligatory "getting out" dialogue.
"Who's the prisoner here?" asks Gimble after turning the pub tables on his captors. In this PA. purgatory, Petty shows how rich and poor are both part of a "new breed - the American refugee." Or as Dylan said, "Who aint homeless?" See Guide for listing.