Interludes

VIEWPOINTS – Recent streaming adventures: NAATCO premieres Caryl Churchill’s WHAT IF IF ONLY and Breslin & Foley strike again with THIS AMERICAN WIFE

• By drediman
• June 17, 2021
• No Comments

As theaters slowly (plan to) bring back in-person performances, many of them have also continued to stream content online. Here are my thoughts on a pair of recent – and worthwhile – on-demand viewings.

WHAT IF IF ONLY
The National Asian American Theatre Company (NAATCO)
On-demand through June 20

NAATCO recently scored a notable coup by presenting, via live-stream and on-demand viewing, the American premiere of Caryl Churchill’s latest play What If If Only (HIGHLY RECOMMENDED). Ms. Churchill’s short work (the running time is just a scant 14 minutes) depicts a woman grappling with the death of her longtime partner. In the process, she’s visited by ghosts of the future and present, all the while intensely consumed by memories of the past. Yes, there are obvious shades of Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, but the legendary playwright is less interested in moralizing as she is causing intellectual havoc. Ms. Churchill is not one to shy away from addressing big questions (as exemplified by such classics as Far Away, Top Girls, A Number, and numerous other plays), and here she does so with dizzying rigor as she ponders upon more profound losses than our petty personal ones – namely, futures that never happen and pasts that can never truly come back. “Realized” by Les Waters and Jared Mezzocchi, NAATCO’s virtual production is a masterclass in how to artfully leverage Zoom technology in the service of the play. Anchored by the great veteran stage actress Mia Katigbak as the grieving woman, the all-Asian cast (which also includes Paul Juhn, Kylie Kuioka, Jon Norman Schneider, and Bernard White) prove exemplary as they navigate this Pandora’s box of a play.

THIS AMERICAN WIFE
FourthWall Theatrical (in association with Fake Friends and Jeremy O. Harris)
On-demand / Closed

One of the most fun times I’ve had streaming theater during the pandemic was when I watched Michael Breslin and Patrick Foley’s Circle Jerk, which was recently named a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. The duo of Breslin and Foley (who also star in their shows) have followed up that inspired work with another ambitious comedy entitled This American Wife (RECOMMENDED), which I caught towards the end of its virtual run. The new piece takes its inspiration from the long-running “The Real Housewives of …” series and the obsession that it has generated among gay men. Most of the production has been shot on-location at a spacious northern New Jersey McMansion, allowing the play’s fabulous and committed trio of actors (Jakeem Dante Powell completes the set) to live out their Real Housewives fantasies to the fullest. Like Circle Jerk, the new play is at its most fascinating when flaunting its meta-theatrical trickery (kudos to director Rory Pelsue for making it all come off seamlessly across multiple cameras). Indeed, as reality is increasingly blurred, the actors’ vulnerabilities (e.g., with respect to body image, desire, and racism) face off with extreme escapism in potent, sometimes unsettling ways. One caveat, however – less avid fans of the underlying television series (like myself) may find their minds wandering during the generously portioned re-enactment segments. Nevertheless, as an absurdist dissection of queer identity, it largely succeeds and gets under the skin.