Eric Coble should be added to the list of wonderful things in Cleveland. He has the most astonishingly accurate—and wicked—eye and ear on society and it's foibles of any current writer, in the opinion of this reviewer. This particular effort is really a set of ten short (ten-minutes or less) vignettes that take place within one twenty-four hour period. One day—a Wednesday in April—in the City of Cleveland.
The colorful multi-purpose set designed by Todd Krispinsky—based on a gorgeous graphic by Hector M. Vega’s “Cleveland in Motion for the Millennium” was versatile enough to encompass settings as diverse as under the Detroit-Superior Bridge and Legacy Village; the Clinic and Jacobs Field; plus the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, Tremont, the West Side Market, the Flats, Lakeview Cemetery and on board the Red-Line of the RTA.
Six actors; an older white couple—Nan Wray and Marc Moritz; a younger Black couple—Kimberly L. Brown and Jimmie Woody; and a young white couple—Sadie Grossman and Nick Koesters, play a multitude of people who are our neighbors, our doctors, our friends, our bankers. And overall, like a broken record, (possibly reminiscent of the recent record-breaking winter) there is a litany of complaints about the weather.
If you’ve ever stood beneath one of Cleveland’s many large bridges, and looked up, you’ve probably wondered why it was it still up there? Marc Moritz is determined that the Detroit-Superior Bridge won’t be up there for long. “It’s physics” declares the former professor at CASE.
Trying to stay alive and competitive isn’t easy in this day of political correctness and other attacks on the way we’ve always done things. Nick Koesters thinks his parents have gone too far, however, when they come out with “Lo-Carb Pierogies” and ‘organic kielbasa’ at their stand in the West Side Market.
Jimmie Woody and Sadie Grossman meet cute on an RTA rapid car. He’s heading to Tower City for his second job—he doesn’t have a car, but he does have a small daughter about whom he cares very much -- while she’s a freelance financial planner heading for the airport. Stereotypes fly thick and fast in this poignant short drama. Rich and poor, black and white, urban and suburban. But underneath, these two are more alike than they’re different, as they share stories of piano lessons and hopes and dreams that that know no boundaries.
Legacy Village is a village unto itself. It has everything one needs, including Desmond (Koesters) and his girl friend (Grossman). When Lucille (Wray) happens along, a shopping intervention convinces her she doesn’t 'want to go back to Parma.'
Kimberly Brown was an overworked physician at the Cleveland Clinic, although she could have been just as harassed at any medical center, trying to treat three patients (Grossman, Woody and a tubercular-sounding Koesters) while dealing with phone calls from patients and an impatient aide (Moritz) plus a pharmaceutical rep with ‘something for everyone’ (Wray).
Fun and funky Tremont was the setting for a confrontation between yuppie Koesters and low-brow clutterbug Moritz, resulting in a duel between a weed-whacker and a chainsaw, interrupted by the advent of Lolly the Trolley.
An Indians game early in the season brings out all kinds of fans. Coble accurately skewers them all in this priceless vignette: the drunk (Koesters), the girlfriend who’s bored out of her mind and just wants to go home (Grossman), the superstitious guy who put his watch on backwards once and the home-team won, so he wears it that way since (Moritz), his wife the statistician (Wray), the with-it young urban guy who’d probably appreciate the game if he was allowed to see it (Woody) and his young funky wife (Brown) more interested in food and the fans around her than the game. Absolutely dead-on!
Janis Joplin’s Porsche at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame attracts an aging hippie couple from Trenton New Jersey (Wray and Moritz) who have interesting memories from various concerts. He wants to create another one; she complains of her arthritis. Then Woody appears to tell the story behind Joplin’s overdose, and Grossman appears as a spaced-out fan.
Wray and Koesters share the emotional high-point of the evening at Lakeview Cemetery. She’s the dutiful daughter who places carnations on her mother’s grave every year on mom’s birthday. He’s a graffiti artist who wants to be remembered for something after he’s gone.
The final scene is a downer, unfortunately, set in the Flats at a party for Key Corp employees. Moritz is a sales rep who repeats his pitch for each new person, as if he was a recording. Koesters is the boss “just call me Skip, okay?” he asks of his employees. Brown is ridiculed for not driving, finally protesting she’s the ‘designated driver.’ Wray is the lonely middle-aged woman with no family, who, after a friendly conversation with a co-worker, promptly asks the much-younger Woody to marry her. Grossman is the company pop-tart, a cheap drunk, who slithers and slinks around the stage. The party is outdoors—it’s been warm all day, but now, at 11:54PM, it starts to snow! And in the middle of the snow, the anchor bolt falls from the bridge overhead.
Eric Schmiedl directed with a steady, sure hand, keeping the pace brisk throughout. The exceptional sound design was by Richard Ingraham and incorporated recordings of local radio personalities, as well as Cleveland musical artists. Lighting was by Andrew Kaletta and costumes were by Kimberly Castle. The show runs through May 8, and this is the last regular production of Dobama at its home on Coventry. Next season they become a wandering troupe. To keep up with their activities, call 932-3396 or visit http://www.Dobama.org
from Cool Cleveland contributor Kelly Ferjutz ArtsWriter@Adelphia.net
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