Image via Renaissance Theaterworks
As life returns to the city and pours out onto the streets, live performance returns, reinhabiting dormant spaces. The pandemic has brought about all sorts of change and that includes Renaissance Theaterworks’ move to its new home at the Next Act Theatre space. For its new home debut, the company delved into its past, culling five short plays from three seasons, entitled The Best of Br!nk Briefs.
The topics are as diverse and entertaining as they are comic and dramatic: A house dog contemplating its 15 minutes of fame; a young man tormented by his guilty conscience; a pig determined to fly. With wings, no less.
The 68-minute production (no intermission) showcases the work of women playwrights from the Midwest and features a tightly knit quartet of actors whose consistency and fluidity with these shorts enhances and elevates the material: Libby Amato, Cereyna Bougouneau, Adam Qutaishat and Ashley Rodriguez
In particular: Bodies by Rachel Bykowski features a tough, determined Marine (the excellent Cereyna Bougouneau) back from war but the battle still plays out emotionally as her “military assault weapon” (seductively played to the hilt by Ashley Rodriguez) tries to convince her to take back the weapon. It is a perverse yet fascinating game of cat-and-mouse, at times evoking the serpent tempting Eve over that apple.
Rodriguez slithers about in shiny silver and black leather, waiting to pounce as Bougouneau’s Marine desperately tries to stay on task and atone for her sins. It’s a short 10 minutes. But its packs in an entire act of war, framed within the edgy, taut direction by Mallory Metoxen.
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On the lighter side is the comical and delightful Dog Heroes by Lillian Schley which mocks short lived Internet “stardom.” Coco the dog is a viral hero having saved puppies from a burning building. How to follow that up? Her fellow dog mate, Bandit just wants to play with her. But Coco has other ideas to maintain her viral hero status. Schley’s clever writing from the dogs’ POV gets the social satire across while showing that a dog’s life in the age of social media can be just as complex as, well, their human counterparts.
The Br!nks Briefs also include: Amanda Schumacher’s Smart Girls, Two Truths and a Lie by Emily Elliott and Juniper Flies by Maria Pretzl.
Plenty to choose from. Live. Virtual. The choice is yours.
Live performances of The Best of Br!nks Briefs runs through June 20 in the Next Act Theatre space. Streaming on demand available June 11–June 30. For more information, call 414-278-0765 or visit r-t-w.com
