Review: Program 2 of Chain Theatre's Summer 2024 One-Act Festival

The Heat

Written by Andrew Donnelly-Yunga

Directed by Giovanna DiSanto

Power 1996

Written by Rishi Chowdhary

Directed by Tyler Riley

Memoryville

Written and directed by Philip Cioffari

The New Year

Written and directed by Max Rosenblum

Closed Opening

Written and directed by Robert Cantillon


Presented by Chain Theatre

312 W. 36th St., Floors 3 & 4, Manhattan, NYC

August 8-September 1, 2024

Chain Theatre's summer 2024 One-Act Festival, which features more than 50 new plays and runs through September 1st, brought Program 2, composed of five short plays, to its feet last Sunday, a welcome respite from the muggy summer heat.

In fact, the first play of the 5 PM program was entitled The Heat, written by Andrew Donnelly-Yunga. Director Giovanna DiSanto stages a restaurant shift-break conversation between newbie chef Martin (Ethan Alexander Horbury) and Dante (Sam Sinnott), the old-hand chef. Horbury plays his role vulnerably and with a palpable innocence, until his secret isn't secret anymore. Sinnott convincingly portrays Dante, the probing questioner who's been there and back, annoying in his interrogation, but hoping to help and heal the reveal.

Power 1996, penned by Rishi Chowdhary, explores family relationship. Mother Mrs. Perez (Nancy Katheryn Gomez), her daughter, Cristina (Diana Buitrago), and son, Armando (John Lara), wrangle with shortages—and some limited access to the world beyond. Cristina's pinned her hopes on winning a radio contest, and Armando eventually steps up to help while Mama Perez keeps the fighting to a minimum. Directed by Tyler Riley, Power 1996 is a play about connection to each other and the wishful world beyond this insular 1996 Miami household.

My favorite play in the late Sunday afternoon program was Memoryville, by playwright, novelist, and filmmaker Philip Cioffari. Cioffari directs his own dark slice-of-life drama, about a seemingly chance meeting—that isn't. Carl Berger (Jerry Ferris) seems jovial up front, drawing us into a coincidental encounter with John Keller (Supreet Mahanti). Berger unearths high school history with the memory of an elephant. He never forgets. The unsuspecting Keller is forced to confront a mind town of memories, tons of years later. Cioffari explores the karma of revenge with the support of two strong actors. Ferris delivers Berger to the bone, complete with snappy dialogue and a bold Bronx attitude, taking Keller on a trip back in time to a past that Keller had long ago shelved. Mahanti plays his moments thoughtfully, his face registering a fate he's destined to face.

The New Year comically plays with imagination, loneliness, and isolation. A clever piece by Max Rosenblum, The New Year gives us May (Ari Richardson), a small-town lonely girl who conjures an imagined meeting with famous actor Matt Smith (Tori Oatway) on the world's most loaded date night. May's monologues are aptly expressed by Richardson, with built-in laughs, and Oatway's character plays off May's quirkiness with aplomb. This splendid little play is unconventionally goofy, leaving the audience to wonder if this New Year's Eve timeout is simply a party in May's own mind.

Closed Opening, written and directed by Robert Cantillon, played last in the evening, admirably showcasing the talent of Aiden Hall Moore as Carter. Moore believably captures the just-beneath-the-surface frustration of food service workers everywhere. He's actually the cashier, assigned the undesirable duty of opening and closing a coffee shop. Carter is having a doozy of a day. Opening, his day begins with Susan (Ariana Skokan), an early riser looking to cool her heels, insistent and annoying. Carter's day is just about complete when a customer (Dorothea Miller) straggles in at closing time. As the late-arriver, Miller plays persistent with a dangerous penchant for time pieces in a play where time gets no respect.

-Yvonne Tutelli

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