Interludes

VIEWPOINTS – Two young playwrights go to extremes: Anna Moench’s MOTHERS and Alexis Scheer’s DEAR DEAD DRUG LORD

• By drediman
• October 2, 2019
• No Comments

Over the last week, I had the opportunity to be exposed to two new voices – playwrights Anna Moench and Alexis Scheer – who in their respective Off-Broadway plays aren’t afraid to take audiences to extreme psychological and physical places. Timid writers, these aren’t.

Satomi Blair, Jasmine Batchelor, and Maechi Aharanwa in the Playwrights Realm production of “Mothers” by Anna Moench at the Duke on 42nd Street. Photo by Daniel J Vasquez.

First up is Ms. Moench’s Mothers (RECOMMENDED), which is currently enjoying its world premiere production at the Duke Theatre on 42^ndStreet, courtesy of director Robert Ross Parker and the savvy folks at Playwrights Realm. The ambitious premise is this – set in a baby play group facility (!) in the near future, a group of young mothers (and a father) must fend for their and their respective babies’ lives when society starts crumbling around them. Indeed, what starts off as a sort of “Mean Girls” for the young mothers set, eventually devolves (a compliment) into a violently graphic, apocalyptic survival saga. I’m still jarred by the contrasts in genres that somehow co-exist within the piece – sit-com meets sci-fi/horror thriller meets observant dark satire! – and was all-in-all gripped throughout by Ms. Moench’s gutsy vision. In my opinion, the play could have been even more effective had it left more to the imagination, but I applaud the chutzpah of the bold endeavor, which has been convincingly realized by a fearless cast and smart creative team.

Alyssa May Gold, Rebecca Jimenez, Carmen Berkeley, and Malika Samuel in Alexis Scheer’s “Our Dear Dead Drug Lord”, a co-production by WP Theater and Second Stage Theater. Photo by Jeremy Daniel.

Then uptown at the WP Theater in the upper west side, we have another world premiere (co-produced by Second Stage), Ms. Scheer’s Dear Dead Drug Lord (RECOMMENDED). The play revolves around a small group of high school girls who form an unofficial club that celebrates dead leaders of the past, regardless of history’s view on them. Their current object of interest is Pablo Escobar, the infamous Colombian drug lord, whom they attempt to revive via a number of séances in an abandoned treehouse (!). As their obsession with Escobar escalates, the personal stakes do as well, culminating in an outrageously visceral final séance that’s at once deeply disturbing and profoundly cathartic. As with Mothers, both the production (boisterously directed by Whitney White) and performances are commendable, particularly the band of four young actresses, who must be commended for their willingness to “go there” at the bidding of the play.

MOTHERS
Off-Broadway, Play
Playwrights Realm / Duke at 42^ndStreet
1 hour, 45 minutes (without an intermission)
Through October 12

DEAR DEAD DRUG LORD
Off-Broadway, Play
WP Theater / Second Stage Theater
1 hour, 30 minutes (without an intermission)
Through October 27