Barbecue by Robert O’Hara

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L - R Elyse Mirto, Frances Fisher, Dale Dickey and Travis Johns - Photos:  Jeff  Lorch Photography 

By Joe Straw

I came wanting to laugh hard on this night.  It’s not really hard for me to laugh; still I wanted it to be a hard laugh.  I did.  Mission accom… No, I don’t want to say that. – Narrator

The Geffen Playhouse presents the West Coast production of Barbecue written by Robert O’ Hara and directed by Colman Domingo in Westwood through October 16^th, 2016. The Off Broadway play was presented at the Public Theater in 2015.

Robert O’Hara’s Barbecue is wondrously funny in ways you can or cannot imagine. Joyfully engaging and infinitely enlightening, this is a play that both dramatically reawakens the senses and delights in meaningful ways as it pokes fun at the trials and tribulations of a family in crisis.    

Barbecue also speaks an honest truth, exposing the lives of iniquitous characters while also splashing a sudsy dose of our own reality all over our face. It is a comedic two-sided vinyl record, one side is black, and the other side white, but still playing the same great music.

(Bare with me on the colloquialisms.)   

The dew had not yet dried off the foliage that morning when James T (Travis Johns), beer in hand, arrived a little early, well earlier than the rest, to grab the spot in the park, just in case someone else had their own plans.  One gets the feeling that his sisters, who are set to join him, are not even out of bed yet. When they finally get there, there’ll business to attend to.     

James T sets his backside to a wooden park bench claiming the space and other things in the park.  An ice chest warns that this spot is taken.  So he sits along the two park benches, which are nestled under a wooden awning.  The sturdy post, holdin’ up the awning, is a nice place to secure someone should it come to that.   

Near the awning is a happy metal sliding board with peelin’ yellow lead paint, something delicious for the kids to enjoy were they’re any, and shrubbery to protect against prying eyes.

(Sibyl Wickersheimer, Scenic Designer, crafted a wonderful space for the actors to create their magic.)

James T (his mother was probably a Star Trek fan.), with his man bun, looked around like he had everything under control and appearing confident as though he had a phaser strapped on his belt.   

All okay, but the phone wasn’t working to James T’s satisfaction, talkin’ to his sister Lillie Anne (Frances Fisher), like he’s talking to his mama and not sparing any of the profanity that goes along with it. G*d D*mn this and G*d D*mn that. 

James T tells Lillie Anne that he has faith that their sister, Barbara (Rebecca Wisocky), will show up.  He just doesn’t know if she’s gonna’ show up all liquored up, cracked up, or something else up, and he doesn’t know if she’s going to be violent.   

“We’re not a normal gatdamn family.” – James T.

Well that much is true and there’s a lot more “not normal” coming up.

“‘shorts make me look fat?”  Lillie Anne

Lillie Anne shows up with a few nasty lawn chairs and wantin’ to know why no one’s been decoratin’.  It’s it a party, for GD sake, and there’s got to be decorations at least to fool the one who needs to be fooled!  

But, there’s no decorative ribbon, and it looks like no one has the will to decorate or even try.  All this for their sister, Barbara, a.k.a. Zippity Boom, who has major problems, including alcohol, drugs, mental illness, and prostitution just to name a few.   And that’s just the tip of the iceberg, or ice chest.

Adlean (Lisa Rothschiller) and Marie (Elyse Mirto) show up, two more sisters to Barbara, James T, and Lillie Anne.  (Two of their other siblings are dead and won’t be attending this gathering.) Adlean leaves her kids out in the burning hot car because she knows there’s more to this barbecue and they don’t need kids underfoot.

There’s nothing like watching trailer park trash at a barbecue.

Overweening big sister Lillie Anne says there's going to be an intervention. And as soon as that’s said there is a black out, or black in, depending on your perspective.

Cherise Boothe, Yvette Cason, Omar J. Dorsey, Kimberely Hébert Gregory and Heather Alicia Simms.

All the characters are now black: Lillie Anne (Yvette Cason), James T. (Omar J. Dorsey), Adlean (Kimberly Hébert Gregory), Marie (Heather Alicia Simms) and they don’t miss a beat continuing the same story and exposing everyone’s problems.

“You probably don’t even remember waking up this morning with all them damn pills you poppin.” – Marie

“Heifa, you wait till you get you a disease in yo’ t*tty.” – Adlean

“I was the one who told you not to go eating no damn corn out no damn can.  It’ them damn canned goods that gave you that damn cancer.” – Marie

Suddenly quiet, everyone wonders if, during the intervention, Barbara (Cherise Boothe) is gonna get violent. They talk about Barbara as though she was a legend and legend has it that after Barbara lost all her teeth, she’s been known to carry around razors in her gums, and they are worried something like that might happen during the intervention.

They are all terrified at what she might do.

James T, sitting on the lawn furniture, says he has a Taser should things get a little out of hand.

The whole family has got problems and it’s a back and forth blame game as to how they all got into this situation.

Marie, pointing fingers, gulping down a Jack Daniels, looks in Adlean’s bag for all types of pills she’s got. Adlean, despite the cancer, is puffing a cigarette, and doesn’t want Marie looking in her stuff.

“There’s a lot of shit in my purse that ain’t mine.” – Marie

Somebody’s looking to get tased.

Blackout.

White in.

“We love you even though you’re a crackhead.” – Lillie Anne

Lillie Anne has got a plan and it’s a plan about getting Barbara into rehab.  She’s serious and she asks everyone if they have written their letters?  No, they haven’t since they’re not one for doing homework.  Lillie Anne is the smartest of the bunch going back to school to get her G.E.D.

Anyway, Lillie Anne has got Barbara a plane ticket to Alaska for this rehab center that does hypnosis, acupuncture, yoga, and horses. She shows them the fold out pamphlet. To the others, it sounds like a bad idea, and maybe they can ask Siri if there is a rehab center nearby.

A car horn beeps and they all start dancing.

“Get ready, when I do the fish tale dance…” -  Lillie Anne

Unexpectedly Barbara is upon them.

One can’t go farther than this without giving too much away.

The splash of reality hits when one cast is replaced with the other.  It was at this moment the audience gasped, a great magnificent audible breath, in delight, or horror, I can’t say, but it sure is great to be in the theatre when that happens. Also, for me it is at this time when momentary confusion sets in and there is suddenly a grand visceral, emotional and cerebral engagement, one that locks characters in the respective roles and slowly eases me into another perspective.

Colman Domingo, the director, has a splendid understanding of the material and slips us in and out without missing a beat. The second act moves into material that gives us a sincere truth about who these people actually are and why they behave the way they do. It takes us away from the legends and into a demonstrative reality. There is a deep emotional connect with the characters in the second act.  Even reality is never the complete truth. Overall, the execution is superior.

Travis Johns (James T) gives an interesting and credible performance. There’s more to be had with the opening telephone conversation and his relationship with the other person on the phone. Also, strengthening the relationships with his siblings would add to an already fine performance.

Frances Fisher is superior as Lillie Anne and also very funny. Fisher’s craft is excellent especially her relationship with all four of her siblings which is commanding in a traditional big-sister way. She is the organizer who sees value in saving a life worth saving if only she could get the others on board. And getting them all on board is what is amazing about Fisher’s performance.

Lisa Rothschiller does justice to Adlean, the one with cancer who has a ravenous appetite for canned corn, cigarettes, and popping pills. This is a role where Rothschiller has multiple opportunities to define the relationship with each sibling showing us the similarities and the differences.

Elyse Mirto also does well as Marie.  Marie has a mean streak in her and has to be controlled in one fashion or another. Marie is an alcoholic and in taking part of the intervention, she knows that she has some hard choices to make starting with the bottle she carries around with her, if only she would listen to her inner voice.

Rebecca Wisocky has a powerful presence on stage as Barbara aka Zippity Boom. Barbara seems to be the sanest one of the bunch.  Wisocky brings an authoritative history of the character on stage and one that suggests a woman who is very worldly, a woman who has overcome great adversity to get where she is today. It is, at this point in her life, when she knows who she is, who she was, and what she wants to become.  Her craft is subtle and commanding all in the same breath and a privilege to watch.  

Cherise Boothe was also Barbara on the night I was there. Without giving too much away, Boothe was solid in her craft switching from one character to another, with a variety of accents, style and grace.  She is very funny and holds her own on stage.  She is a solid performer.

Yvette Carson as Lillie Anne has a quiet presence during her first moments on stage sometimes giving away what little power she has over to her siblings.  But during the course of the play, she manages to secure herself as the head of the family especially during the intervention scene where she is reading of the letter. A lot of love, hard love went into that scene and was very enjoyable.

Omar J. Dorsey was also James T and was wearing a wig, a small fro. Dorsey’s James T was a little low keyed but managed to make his voice heard in the simplest of ways. This James T was methodical on the grill, low keyed, mellowed by the stuff he was smoking in his pipe. And what is it that makes a man want to join another man when he’s grilling?  

Kimberly Hébert Gregory also plays Adlean and aside from all the bickering back and forth between her siblings there seemed to be a deeper understanding of her character, a quiet simplicity that struck a tremendous chord, a display that showed a willingness to love and create the best for her sister despite all of her own problems. Gregory’s work was fantastic.

Heather Alicia Simms shows us a strong resolve as Marie, a woman who will not let go of her bottle of Jack Daniels but will point out the fault of others, namely the sister with cancer. The aftermath of the zapping was about the funniest things I have seen in a long time.  Well done!  

Dale Dickey (Adlean) and Maya Lynne Robinson (Barbara) did not perform on the night I was there.

Robert O’Hara’s play rings in a solid truth in theatre.  It is honest in the way it finds a certain kind of family expressing a familiarity and using that expression to get to the meat of the matter, pun intended for this barbecue.  No beating around the bush for this family, they say what’s on their mind and they don’t care who they hurt.  You’ve got to wonder, if the drugs lessens the pain as siblings speak the truth. I’m not sure if I got the three million dollars and the sinisterness of Barbara splitting one million.  

The Geffen is a special place in Westwood, a wonderful space with generous parking, and plenty of places to dine all around. The Geffen also offers a magnificent space for theatre professionals to continue to work in their craft. Those crew-members that contributed to the magic are as follows:

Randall Arney – Artistic Director

Gil Cates, Jr. – Executive Director

Kara Harmon – Costume Designer

Lap Chi Chu – Lighting Designer

Lindsay Jones – Composer & Sound Designer

Anne L. Hitt – Production Stage Manager

Cate Cundiff – Assistant Stage Manager

Phyllis Schuringa, CSA – Casting Director

Regina Miller – Chief Development Officer

Rhonda Kohn – Assistant Director

Dave Bova – Hair and Makeup Designer

Heather Roach – Associate Wig Designer

Yuri Okahana – Assistant Scenic Designer

Kaitlyn Aylward – Assistant Costume Designer

Rose Malone – Assistant Lighting Designer

Corinne Carillo – Associate Sound Designer

Jenny Foldenauer – Wardrobe Supervisor

Bryce Potter and Danielle Richter – Wig Supervisors

Alex Norkus – Stage Crew

Ashley Nichole Henley – Production Assistant

Hazel Kuang – Properties Assistant

Cami Viand – Properties Artisan

Philip Rossi – Lead Carpenter

Bryce Gill – Lead Carpenter

Lael Osness – Draper

Run! Run! Run! And take your relative from Georgia.  You’ll love the GD heck out of this one.

Reservations: boxoffice@geffenplayhouse.org or at 310-208-5454