Theater
Out actor finds sustainable life, work in D.C.
‘Curve of Departure’ star Weaks enjoys play’s heavy themes
From left are Sebastian Arboleda, Justin Weaks and Ora Jones in ‘Curve of Departure’ at Studio Theatre. (Photo by Teresa Wood)
‘Curve of Departure’
Through Jan. 14
Studio Theatre
1501 14th St., N.W.
$52-90
202-332-3300
In the superbly acted “Curve of Departure” now at Studio Theatre, out actor Justin Weaks plays 20-something Felix. He and his partner Jackson (played by Sebastian Arboleda) are in love but facing challenges. The actors’ portrayal of the young couple sparks with chemistry and the feel of authenticity.
“It’s easy to play Sebastian’s boyfriend. He and I clicked when we first met and have become close friends,” says Weaks, 27. “We’re often mistaken for boyfriends when we’re out chillin’.”
Might life be imitating here?
“I’m single,” Weaks says.
Written by Rachel Bonds, the new work is about family, funerals and an uncertain future.
“It’s an honest look at the family today,” Weaks says. “The play breaks open what family means: It’s not about the same skin color or the same blood. We create families, and it’s important to see that on stage.”
The story unfolds in a New Mexico hotel room over the course of a couple days. After his father’s unexpected death, Felix travels with Jackson from Los Angeles to Sante Fe for the funeral. Money is tight so the couple shares a hotel room with Felix’s mother Linda (Ora Jones) and his paternal grandfather Rudy (Peter Van Wagner) who is grappling with dementia and incontinence. Biracial Felix, his black mother, and Jewish grandfather are a diverse group united by familial love and their dislike for Felix’s dad. Jackson, the latest addition to the group, is Latino.
“The play deals with heavy themes. Death and loss,” Weaks says. “There are intense emotional moments but the play is also lighthearted. The people are good people trying to do the right thing in less than ideal circumstances. But there’s a lot of hope in the play, and that’s what we need more of, especially at this time.”
Has Weaks ever played a gay character before Felix?
“I must have,” he says. “I know I’ve played characters that I feel are gay but may not be written explicitly as such. I draw those conclusions when I explore a character’s backstory.”
In Mosaic Theatre Company’s “Charm” about a transgender woman who gives deportment lessons to underserved LGBT youth Weaks played Jonelle who presented as female but identified as heterosexual.
“She was whatever she felt that particular day. Hers is a complicated gender identity.”
Weaks began working shortly after graduating with a theater degree from Greensboro College in his native North Carolina in 2012. His first professional gig was with Olney Theatre Center’s National Players which required nine months on the road.
In 2015 he become better acquainted with Washington while playing the title role in Theater Alliance’s “Dontrell, Who Kissed the Sea,” a play about a teenager who must convince his father that he’s doing the right thing.
“Being here for that show opened my eyes to what D.C. has to offer for union and nonunion actors alike, and its tightknit community of actors.”
But it was Theatre Alliance’s “Word Becomes Flesh” (an ensemble piece featuring a series of letters from a father to his unborn son) that sold Weaks on Washington, prompting him to make it his home.
“The production changed me a lot in terms of stories I wanted to tell,” he says. “I pushed myself and was pushed a great deal as an actor. It was scary but I knew I’d be a better artist for it.”
He collected a Helen Hayes Award for his efforts.
Weaks is one of the young African-American openly gay actors working in D.C. — others include Jon Hudson Odom, Freddie Bennett and Desmond Bing.
“Being gay isn’t something I run away from. There’s power in being at the intersection of black and queer. I have a responsibility to embrace myself. Being gay isn’t always on the front burner of my consciousness, but it definitely informs my work.”
Growing up, he says he didn’t think he’d be an actor. He was concerned about being able to find sustainable work. But that changed when he saw other successful actors.
“There’s something about seeing people like yourself living and thriving,” he says. “There’s a power in seeing that, especially in the time we’re living in which makes it all the more important to be visible.”
Theater
New D.C. theater season offers ‘Inheritance,’ ‘Vanya,’ more
Be sure to check out Baltimore, Rehoboth, Va. venues
As the crocuses burst, here’s some of what’s happening on the spring stage.
Clear Space Theatre in Rehoboth Beach presents Rodgers and Hammerstein’s “Oklahoma!” (through March 23), the classic “where the wind comes sweeping down the plains” story about a bucolic love triangle circa 1906. This production of the always [to me] surprisingly enthralling musical makes for the perfect early spring uber gay-friendly getaway. Clearspacetheatre.org
Closer to home, try taking a break from the unpleasant everyday and see “Golden Girls: The Laughs Continue” (March 16) at Capital One Hall in Tysons, Va. Enjoy Rose, Blanche, Dorothy and Sophia, those beloved characters (here played by actors in drag) lifted from the beloved sitcom. Livenation.com
GALA Hispanic Theatre presents the world premiere of “Sucede hasta en las mejores familias (Choke)” (April 24-May 18), a timely story about an older couple and their adult daughter whose family medical crisis unleashes intergenerational conflict that mirrors the battle that they’re forced to fight against a corporation. Galatheatre.org
For one performance only, the Alden Theatre in McLean, Va., presents “Forbidden Broadway” (Sunday, March 16, 2 p.m.). Filled with Broadway talent and tunes, and off-Broadway humor, this long-running New York favorite parodies current plays and musicals. Mcleancenter.org
There’s still time to catch Sara Bareilles’s “Waitress” at Olney Theatre Center (extended through April 6). The show is headlined by the Helen Hayes Award-winning out actor, single-named MALINDA who plays Jenna, the show’s titular server/baker in this story about love and self-exploration. Staged by Tony-nominated director/choreographer Marcia Milgrom Dodge. Olneytheatre.org
At Arena Stage, it’s “The Age of Innocence” (through March 30). Helen Hayes-winning actor Regina Aquino (a queer-identified first-generation Filipino immigrant) plays society stalwart Mrs. Adelaide Archer in Karen Zacarias’s adaptation of Edith Wharton’s classic Gilded Age New York-set novel. Arenastage.org
Signature Theatre’s production of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s “In the Heights” (through May 4) stars esteemed queer actor Ángel Lozada as the pulsating musical’s protagonist, the hardworking and awkwardly appealing Usnavi. Signaturetheatre.org.
Baltimore’s Hippodrome Theatre presents the national tour of “Shucked” (April 1-6), a queer comedy poised to deliver laughs and big talent. Its publicity reads: “What do you get when you pair a semi-neurotic, New York comedy writer with two music superstars from Nashville? A hilarious and audacious farm-to-fable musical about the one thing Americans everywhere can’t get enough of: corn.” Hilarious.
At National Theatre, there’s “Kimberly Akimbo” (May 20-June 1), the Tony Award-winning musical that portrays a quirky teen romance with a supporting quartet of queer characters. Broadwayatthenational.com
Historic Ford’s Theatre presents a staged reading of out playwright Matthew López’s Tony-winning, two-part milestone play, “The Inheritance” (May 28-June 1) inspired by E.M. Forster’s complex novel “Howards End.” López’s critically acclaimed epic explores the lives of three generations of gay men as they chart divergent paths to forge a future for themselves in an ever-changing America in the decades after the AIDS crisis. The staged reading is helmed by out director José Carrasquillo. Fords.org
Round House Theatre presents the premiere of Sharyn Rothsteins’s “Bad Books” (April 2- 27), featuring out actor Holly Twyford and Kate Eastwood Norris as opposing forces. “Twyford plays The Mother whose genuine love for and concern about her children propels her to seek out the local librarian to discuss ‘appropriate’ reading material. Norris plays The Librarian, a woman who is equally committed to her calling and profession.” Round House artistic director Ryan Rilette directs. Roundhousetheatre.org
At Constellation Theatre, it’s “Head Over Heels” (May 1-June 1). A jukebox musical featuring music of 80’s rock band The Go-Go’s. This celebration of self-discovery and queer identity, weaving together Renaissance romance and Greek comedy. The company’s artistic director Allison Arkell Stockman directs. Constellationtheatre.org
The last time I saw Anton Chekhov’s “Uncle Vanya” was in 2011 at the Kennedy Center’s Eisenhower Theatre featuring Cate Blanchett in a stunning turn as Yelena, a glamorous young woman married to an older processor. And now, the Shakespeare Theatre Company (STC) presents the heartbreaking comedy “Uncle Vanya” (March 30-April 20) starring Hugh Bonneville from TV’s “Downtown Abbey” as Vanya, the besotted brother of the professor’s late first wife. Shakesearetheatre.org
And finally, here’s something from the department of silver linings. After Trump’s Kennedy Center cancelled “A Peacock Among Pigeons: Celebrating 50 Years of Pride,” a concert featuring the Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington, D.C., the International Pride Orchestra will present the same concert at the Music Center in North Bethesda on June 5. Let’s make it sell out. Internationalprideorchestra.org
Theater
‘Kunene and the King’ makes US premiere in D.C.
Play takes place in post-apartheid South Africa
‘Kunene and the King’
Through March 23
Shakespeare Theatre Company’s Klein Theatre
450 7th St., N.W.
Tickets start at $35
shakespearetheatrecompany.org
Yes, it’s an apartment redolent with nostalgia and gin, but beyond the clutter and disorder, there’s evidence supporting the existence of a celebrated career that hasn’t entirely ended.
Set in contemporary South Africa, famed artist/activist John Kani’s two-hander “Kunene and the King” (now making its U.S. premiere at Shakespeare Theatre Company), has a lot to say in a little over 90 minutes.
The play’s characters are vestiges of their country’s past, and in 2019, 25 years after the end of apartheid, they express reaction to change in markedly different ways.
Jack Morris is an esteemed white Shakespearean actor (played by STC stalwart Edward Gero) who’s focus is drink and work. After being offered and accepting the title role in “King Lear,” a longtime goal, he is diagnosed with terminal liver cancer.
Undeterred, the irritable actor quits the hospital for home (a flat in an affluent Johannesburg suburb) where he can learn Lear and imbibe undisturbed. Increasingly unwell, he’s compelled to employ Lunga Kunene, a black South African nurse (Kani) to provide live-in care.
From the start, it’s clear this isn’t going to be an easy relationship. Jack suggests Lunga sleep outside of the apartment in the cleaners’ quarters, and casually shoots off offensive terms like “you people” and “helper” rather than nurse, a title that’s a point of pride for Lunga.
Kani’s dramedy unfolds a little clunkily before hitting a smooth stride. And while the men possess very different temperaments, they make disparate yet well-matched adversaries and occasional friends.
Costume designer Karen Perry has thoughtfully outfitted both men for the ride.
Lunga first appears in teal-colored scrubs with red epaulets covered in badges signifying a long and accomplished career in care, while Jack wears a lordly, velvet dressing gown that might have been culled from an old costume shop, but conveys a shabby grandeur nonetheless.
When Lunga spies a framed show poster featuring a dashing younger Jack as Richard II, he’s impressed. It’s here where the two men experience a bit of bonding over their mutual admiration for the Bard. Lunga’s exposure has been minimal—in the segregated education system of his youth, the Shakespeare reading list was limited to “Julius Caesar,” an historical tragedy that can be interpreted as a warning against the dangers of rebellion.
At one point, Jack recites a famous bit from the play (“friends, Romans, countrymen”) in English, and Lunga repeats the monologue in his native Bantu language.
After learning that Jack aims to take on Lear, Lunga tackles the tragedy. Reading “King Lear” over several weeks serves as an entry into aspects of Jack’s life. They have never been closer.
Other times, the employer and employee revert to old habits. They’re often at odds with Jack unwarrantedly threatening to fire Lunga over mostly imagined infractions and affronts.
Director Ruben Santiago-Hudson brings out both the work’s comedy and the drama.
As Jack, Gero is mostly buoyed along by an enduring ambition and gulps of alcohol. There is humor along with harshness and the glaring indignities of ravaging illness. Kani’s Lunga is fully aware of the gravity required by his profession, but he can’t seem to resist lapsing into jokes and easy smiles. It’s a keen and interesting portrayal of a character who’s seen a lot.
There have been disappointments. Lunga was on his way to becoming a doctor when the apartheid government put a stop to those plans; he became a nurse instead.
Just when Lunga takes a day off from work to check on his tidy little home in Soweto, a predominantly black township, Jack shows up unexpectedly. And he’s more than tipsy—yes, he’s still drinking. Ostensibly he’s come to have his nurse snap a promotional photo for “King Lear.” Despite circumstances, Jack yearns for a final triumph– he’s hellbent on playing the old king before his ghost light goes out.
The scene is partly funny, but it’s here that aspects of the lack of parity in the men’s relationship goes on full display.
STC’s production incorporates exciting scene transitions with statuesque singer Ntebo, garbed in a vivid gown and headwrap, musically conjuring the spirit of Africa.
While Lunga is able to embrace tradition, the ancestors, and modern medicine, Jack regards deference to that kind of cultural custom as so much hokum, beneath the dignity of an educated nurse.
Their worlds are different. While Jack’s ethnocentricity may prevent him from tangible change, there’s a lot here for the rest of us to consider.
Theater
‘Figs’ reminds us that we are imaginative beings — and stories have purpose
Doug Robinson’s immersive production at Rorschach through March 16
‘The Figs’
Through March 16
Rorschach Theatre
1020 Connecticut Ave., N.W.
$20-$50
rorschachtheatre.com
“Sometimes playwrights can get a bad rap for being difficult,” says out dramatist Doug Robinson. “In truth, all we’re saying is that we wrote something with intention, please hold space for that intention.”
The local playwright continues, “I’ve been really fortunate in finding some amazing directors who want to work in concert with me. And now I’m lucky again.”
Robinson’s latest work “The Figs” directed by Randy Baker, is playing at Rorschach Theatre in downtown D.C. The story surrounds “a fig-obsessed king’s bizarre contest sets off a whirlwind adventure featuring quirky farmers, a lovesick innkeeper, and a chaotic storyteller.”
Robinson, 32, who earned his MFA in playwriting from the Yale School of Drama, was introduced to theater at River Bend Elementary in Virginia as a member of the “Hello, Dolly!” ensemble. Instantly smitten, he has been acting, directing, and writing ever since.
An immersive experience, Rorschach’s production of “The Figs” is performed in what used to be a big and tall store and is now a big and tall performance space. “I’m confident that it’s a good play that can sustain some experimentation,” he says.
WASHINGTON BLADE: I’ve read your play “deconstructs traditional storytelling with self-aware humor, queer characters, and unexpected twists.” How would you describe it?
ROBINSON: I’d call it a folktale comedy. The big inspiration is that I love the fairytale adventure film “The Princess Bride” and TV’s animated show “Over the Garden Wall.” I like things kind of weird and lovely. As if the Brothers Grimm were told as they’re supposed to be, but with a hopeful finish.
A friend describes my plays as “bloody whimsy” There are real stakes in what’s going on; nothing I write will shy away from what is hard, but it also will explore what is lovely and earnest in the most difficult situations.
BLADE: Beyond entertainment is there an aim?
ROBINSON: For me, “The Fig” has two purposes: to remind audiences that they are imaginative beings and stories have purpose; and secondly, while I love “The Princess Bride,” there are no POC in the film, so there’s that.
This is definitely a play that’s representative. For the D.C. regional premiere there’s a Black woman playing Princess. The previous Florida production featured an Asian woman in that role.
BLADE: Are you involved in casting?
ROBINSON: I don’t get too specific about who plays what part, but I want to ensure that when a company is doing this play, they’re asking themselves “How do we fill out this world? How is that world representative of the world we currently live in?”
BLADE: As a playwright can you ensure that?
ROBINSON: Yes, it’s about trust and also about contract. As a playwright I will always have some level of access to whatever production is happening based on my choice. I can choose not to be too involved or I can choose to be very involved in things and that might include casting.
Not to say that I’ll dictate, but I might ask to see the headshots of actors they’re considering. I might say that it doesn’t feel like a diverse group and I need them to honor what the play is and if they can’t do that, they’re in breach of contract.
BLADE: Would you say you’ve built a queer play?
ROBINSON: Princess Sadie is in love with another woman, a bartender named Lorna. I grew up in an openly queer space. To me a lesbian romance isn’t unique; after all, that wasn’t unusual in high school, it was everywhere. For me, these are simply queer women in a play. It’s just like how they exist in life. And of course, I’m going to uplift the people and community I love.
BLADE: What was your way into theater?
ROBINSON: Here’s how I tell it: I’m five years old and I’m watching “Power Rangers.” I want to be a Power Ranger. And my mother tells me Power Rangers aren’t real. What are they? Actors. OK, I want to be an actor.
BLADE: What’s something you like and something you want in theater?
ROBINSON: I believe in ensemble and I believe in actors doubling and tripling roles. In “The Figs,” there’s upwards of 20 roles played by eight actors. It demands a nimbleness in the performers and it’s a skill I want to see more of in theater.
I love theater that doesn’t pretend not to theater. We need to be as theatrical as possible in what we’re doing. I want it loudly imaginative and physically exhausting for the actors involved. I want that.
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Array of queer events on tap for D.C. this spring
