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‘Blackest Battle’ an innovative hip-hop musical

Replacing feuding Montagues and Capulets with rival rap groups

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Out actor Jade Jones in Theater Alliance’s ‘The Blackest Battle.’ (Photo courtesy Theater Alliance)

‘The Blackest Battle’
Streaming through Aug. 29
Theater Alliance
$30
Theateralliance.com

Young rapper Dream carries a dog-eared paperback copy of Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet.” She’s an idealist and like the Bard’s star-crossed lovers, she’s willing to risk it all for true love. 

“The Blackest Battle,” the final offering of Theater Alliance’s digital season, is a love story set against a gritty urban landscape. Penned by talented D.C. artist Psalmayene24 with music by nick tha 1da, the innovative hip-hop musical explores romance and grudges in a new way. Rather than the feuding Montagues and the Capulets in Renaissance Italy, playwright Psalmayene24 serves up rival rap groups set in a future New York City.  

The layered production is helmed by Theater Alliance’s out artistic director Raymond O. Caldwell who with the assistance of digital producer Kelly Colburn, deftly brings together the work of designers, graphic illustrators, animators, and an appealing cast of actors. The results are raw, witty, and affecting.

The action is set in Chief County, an imagined all-Black enclave in New York City, where the N word has been replaced with Negus, the Ethiopian word for royalty. Unfortunately, a lot of what is bad today — gun violence and crime — remains the same. 

At the top of the show, we’re caught up on what’s in store for America. We can expect a lot of white nationalist terror and civil war followed by a neo-Reconstruction period with reparations for African Americans. 

Led by the Ringmaster (a vibrant Kelsey Delemar), we’re introduced to the future, Chief County, and some of its more musical residents. The storyline follows the fortunes of two warring rap factions, focusing on young lovers Bliss and Dream, played respectively by Gary Perkins and Imani Branch. 

The rap groups are Lock Crew whose hot new song “Raris and PCP” is garnering some attention, and the more message-driven Key Enterprises. 

Lock Crew’s members include gun-slinging Sergeant Pepper (Bayou Elom), front man Ty (Emmanuel Kyei-Baffour) who wears a frumpy dress, and Bliss, the most sensible and goodhearted member of the trio.                                   

Enterprises is headed by straight edge leader Do Or Die (Louis Davis). He’s supported on stage by his younger sister, the appropriately named Dream, and D.J., Bonita, a lesbian with a drug habit played by out actor Jade Jones. Bonita’s high of choice is called “hope,” a mind opening amalgam of technological advancement and botanical evolution that’s taken aurally. Its dangers and benefits are debatable. 

Major beef develops when due to spotty Wi-Fi both groups are mistakenly booked to open for headliner Jay Adonis at the same big show at Zoom Arena. Rather than correct the problem himself, Adonis suggests the dueling artists fight it out. 

Dream and Bliss first meet at a rent party on the Fourth of July, a noisy and often violent holiday in Chief County. Despite being from enemy camps, the pair are drawn together instantly. The chemistry is palpable. Soon after meeting, they slip out to watch the fireworks at the pier, a significant spot with a history that harks back to the slave trade.

The Ringmaster comments that humans are hardwired to fall in love at first sight. But it can’t be with just anyone. Referencing ‘70s sitcoms, she amusingly says George must find his Weezy, and Florida her James. 

Later that night Dream and Bliss seek refuge from the rain beneath a bridge poignantly graffitied with numerous names of victims of gun violence – it’s the same spot where their groups have chosen to rumble. This is also where the show’s sad but unsatisfying and abrupt ending plays out. 

Streaming through the end of August, “The Blackest Battle” screams plus ça change, the immutability of human nature, and does it in an entirely fresh and entertaining way.

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Theater

Sexy, spooky werewolf tale comes to Congressional Cemetery

‘Lýkos Ánthrōpos’ explores story of men who live double lives

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Patrick Kilpatrick (left) and Nicholas Gerwitz in Lýkos Ánthrōpos at Congressional Cemetery

Lýkos Ánthrōpos
Oct. 31-Nov. 24
Thursday through Sunday at 8 p.m., 75 minutes without intermission
Congressional Cemetery
1801 E St., S.E.
Tickets: bob-bartlett.com

Just in time for Halloween, Bob Bartlett is reprising “Lýkos Ánthrōpos.” With his sexy, spooky werewolf tale, the gay playwright brings his passion for horror and site-specific productions to historic Congressional Cemetery on Capitol Hill.  

“Vampires are great and I love ghosts and kind of believe in the spirit world, but werewolves are my favorite,” he says. 

Bartlett is interested in the duality of men who turn into wolves and consequently live double lives. The character he’s written is on the queer spectrum but not particularly discriminating. However, one night a month when the moon is full, he reliably leaves his wife and kids and hooks up with a guy. The play’s conceit starts off with two men cruising in the dark outdoors. 

Before penning “Lýkos Ánthrōpos,” Bartlett believed “there isn’t a lot of horror theater, and what there is, isn’t particularly sophisticated. It’s kind of grand guignol, or tongue in cheek,” and he was — and remains — eager to expand on that. 

So, he spent a month in the summer of 2022 in Rhodes, Greece, immersed in lycanthropy. Based in an Airbnb far from any touristy hubbub, he explored the countryside and wrote his werewolf-themed play. 

“It was sunny, dry summertime, and I wrote a good deal of the play in ruins and ancient amphitheaters; I looked at classical texts, including Ovid’s ‘Metamorphoses,’ and included much of what I learned in my play.” 

His characters talk about rocky landscape, the heavens, and the effect of the moon on the Earth ranging from tides to our moods and, of course, its impact on werewolves. It’s all a bit more nuanced than the classic Hollywood take, i.e. Lon Chaney Jr’s 1941 horror hit “The Wolf Man.”  

In keeping with the playwright’s love for site specific locales, “Lýkos Ánthrōpos” premiered around Halloween in 2022 in a clearing in the woods on a farm near Bartlett’s home in Davidsonville, Md.  

The team that opened the two-hander in the woods, director Alex Levy and cast members Patrick Kilpatrick and Nicholas Gerwitz, remain on board for the Congressional Cemetery version. 

Moving the story from the farm to an urban cemetery in the Nation’s Capital presented some amusing challenges: “I definitely did some tweaking; rewrites include references to the city and all the dog walkers found in the cemetery. It’s been fun.”  

A horror fanatic since childhood, Bartlett cut his teeth on George A. Romero’s “Night of the Living Dead,” when his aunt let him stay up past his bedtime and watch the scary classic on TV, and though he only made it through the first five minutes, and didn’t didn’t sleep for a week, he was hooked.  

Growing up in Accokeek, Md., Bartlett was introduced to theater through his high school pit band. Later he acted, and did some directing at the community theater level. After returning to school for a second master’s in playwrighting, he took up writing. 

With his current production, he says “The gods had my back. We open on Halloween and its first weekend will be performed under a full moon,” says Bartlett. “People (about 30 per performance) are asked to bring a fold up chair, blanket and lantern or flashlight. They will meet as a group and walk together, with a guide, to the performance site at the cemetery where the actors will be in place surrounded by a circle of eerie light. Death metal will be pounding from the woods.  

“Sometimes it’s more terrifying if the violence is offstage. I believe in the mantra don’t show the monster, so there are moments when the characters turn off the lights.”

Also, a longtime professor of theater at Bowie State University, Bartlett is a semester from retiring after which he intends on becoming “a full-time creepy writer.”

Upcoming projects include a play about the controversial and closeted FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover and his longtime romantic partner Clyde Tolson, who not incidentally are buried just a few yards apart in Congressional Cemetery. Largely fictional, the play won’t be site specific, but, says Bartlett, will have its own monster in Hoover.

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A contemporary take on ‘Romeo and Juliet’ at Folger

Creating a world that appeals to young audiences

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Fran Tapia as Lady Capulet, Caro Reyes Rivera as Juliet, and Luz Nicolas as Nurse in William Shakespeare’s ‘Romeo and Juliet,’ directed by Raymond O. Caldwell at the Folger Theatre through Nov. 10. (Photo by Erika Nizborski)

‘Romeo and Juliet
Through November 10
Folger Theatre
201 East Capitol St. S.E., Washington, D.C.
$20-$84
Folger.edu

In out director Raymond O. Caldwell’s production of “Romeo and Juliet” currently playing at Folger Theatre, the Capulet family are Puerto Rican except for Lord Capulet (Todd Scoffield) who is white with a Southern accent. 

Fran Tapia (Lady Capulet), Luz Nicolas (Nurse), and Caro Reyes Rivera (Juliet) all speak Spanish when they are together. Rosa Garay López (Translator and Interpreter) translated certain scenes into Spanish. The Montagues are played by a cast of multiracial and multiethnic actors.

Tapia, a Helen Hayes Award-winning actor, identifies as part of the LGBTQ community. She says, “I am Chilean, Latina, queer and a proud immigrant.”  

After receiving her acting degree in Santiago de Chile, Catholic University, Tapia started working professionally as an actor and a dancer with contemporary dance companies.

The newly single actor has been living in D.C. since 2019 and plans to remain based here. Recently, she shared her experiences playing Juliet’s mother in Shakespeare’s story of the star-crossed lovers, a play she first read as a girl in Santiago. 

WASHINGTON BLADE:  Typically, Lady Capulet is portrayed as detached, a woman who can’t even remember her daughter’s age. What’s your spin on the Capulet matriarch?

FRAN TAPIA:  From what I’ve read and seen, including productions and films, she’s a woman who has distanced herself from her daughter.

I see the part differently. I want to make it special, to get away from the hard mother. She does care about her husband and daughter. Her expectations are shaped by society more than anything, she has conservative goals, but that doesn’t mean that she doesn’t love her daughter.

BLADE: What else about your Lady Capulet is unique?

TAPIA: First of all, she’s Puerto Rican. She speaks in Spanish and English. She loves to sing. She’s a party girl. She’s a devoted wife and partner in crime with Lord Capulet, sharing both his ambition and devotion to family. 

Lady Capulet wants to look pretty and she loves money. And she wants to be blonde, of course. I wear 26-inch blonde extensions for the part. I’m giving so much drama to it. It’s fun and dramatic and over the top.

She can share secrets with the Nurse played by Luz [Nicolas]. There are nuances with how she speaks to her. Lady Capulet speaks English when she wants to be formal. Luz brings the comedy. She’s also, a very good dramatic actress.

BLADE: It’s a contemporary take on the Bard’s masterpiece. 

TAPIA: It’s super contemporary. Raymond [Caldwell] is looking to create a world that appeals to young audiences. He’s working with so many designers doing projection, lighting, and sound. There are so many surprises for you. 

BLADE: Am I right in guessing it’s not set in Verona.

TAPIA: It’s set in a fictionalized Washington, D.C., inspired by the election year. The Capulets are a conservative political family based on nobody in particular. They’re struggling for power through the marriage of their daughter. Unlike the source material, they’re not trying to marry off a teenager. It’s more about preserving a legacy. That’s scary to lose when you’re used to having it.

BLADE: How is working with Raymond? I’ve heard so many good things about him. 

TAPIA: Prior to joining the cast, I’d heard from friends that he was good, but I had no idea how good. When I got this part, I gave myself the opportunity to offer my resources like singing. And he’s been super receptive. 

Raymond is very clear and bold. Lady Capulet has problems with addiction more intense than I imagined. I won’t specify but we’re diving into all of that. There are so many kinds of addiction including social media for instance. In real life, I’m addicted to Diet Coke as anyone in the cast can tell you. 

BLADE: Is Lady Capulet a part you’ve longed to play? 

TAPIA: Not really, but under the direction of Raymond I’m loving every second of it. His view of things has given me a lot of freedom that I didn’t expect.

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‘Acting their asses off’ in ‘Exception to the Rule’

Studio production takes place during after-school detention

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Cast of ‘Exception to the Rule’ at Studio Theatre (Shana Lee Hill, Khalia Muhammad, Jacques Jean-Mary, Sabrina Lynne Sawyer, Khouri St.Surin, and Steven Taylor Jr.) (Photo by Margot Schulman)

‘Exception to the Rule
Through Sunday, October 27
Studio Theatre
1501 14th St. NW, Washington, D.C.
$40-$95
Studiotheatre.org

After-school detention is a bore, but it’s especially tiresome on the last day of classes before a holiday.  

In Dave Harris’s provocative new play “Exception to the Rule” (now at Studio Theatre) that’s just the case. 

It’s Friday, and the usual suspects are reporting to room 111 for detention before enjoying the long MLK weekend. First on the scene are blaring “bad girl” Mikayla (Khalia Muhammad) and nerdy stoner Tommy (Steven Taylor Jr.), followed by mercurial player Dayrin (Jacques Jean-Mary), kind Dasani (Shana Lee Hill), and unreadable Abdul (Khouri St.Surin). 

The familiar is jaw-droppingly altered by the entrance of “College Bound Erika” (Sabrina Lynne Sawyer), a detention first timer whose bookworm presence elicits jokes from the others: What happened? You fail a test? 

Dasani (who’s teased for being named for designer water) dubs Erika “Sweet Pea” and welcomes her to the rule-breaking fold. Together the regulars explain how detention works: The moderator, Mr. Bernie, shows up, signs their slips, and then they go. But today the teacher is tardy. 

As they wait, the kids pass the time laughing, trash talking, flirting, and yelling. When not bouncing around the classroom, Dayrin is grooming his hair, while Dasani endlessly reapplies blush and lip gloss. At one point two boys almost come to blows, nearly repeating the cafeteria brawl that landed them in detention in the first place.  

It’s loud. It’s confrontational. And it’s funny.

Erika is naively perplexed: “I thought detention was quiet. A place where everyone remembers the mistakes that got them here and then learns how to not make the same mistakes again.” 

For room 111, the only connection to the outside world is an increasingly glitchy and creepy intercom system. Announcements (bus passes, the school’s dismal ranking, the impending weekend lockdown, etc.) are spoken by the unseen but unmistakably stentorian-voiced Craig Wallace. 

Dave Harris first conceived “Exception to the Rule” in 2014 during his junior year at Yale University. In the program notes, the Black playwright describes “Exception to the Rule” as “a single set / six actors on a stage, just acting their asses off.” It’s true, and they do it well. 

Miranda Haymon is reprising their role as director (they finely helmed the play’s 2022 off-Broadway debut at Roundabout Theatre Company in New York). Haymon orchestrates a natural feel to movement in the classroom, and without entirely stilling the action on stage (makeup applying, scribbling, etc.), the out director gives each member of the terrific cast their revelatory moment. In a busy room, we learn that Tommy’s goofiness belies trauma, that Mikayla is admirably resourceful, and most startling, why Erika, the school’s top student, is in detention.   

Mr. Bernie is clearly a no-show. And despite his absence, the regulars are bizarrely loath to leave the confines of 111 for fear of catching yet another detention. Of course, it’s emblematic of something bigger. Still, things happen within the room.

While initially treated as a sort of mascot, awkwardly quiet Erika becomes rather direct in her questions and observations. Suddenly, she’s rather stiffly doling out unsolicited advice. 

It’s as if an entirely new person has been thrown into the mix.  

Not all of her guidance goes unheeded. Take fighting for instance. At Erika’s suggestion, St.Surin’s Abdul refrains from kicking Dayrin’s ass. (Just feet from the audience gathered for a recent matinee in Studio’s intimate Mead Theatre, Abdul’s frustration resulting from anger while yearning for a world of principled order is palpable as evidenced when a single tear rolled down the actor’s right cheek) 

Set designer Tony Cisek renders a no-frills classroom with cinder block walls, a high and horizontal row of frosted fixed windows that become eerily prison like when overhead fluorescent lighting is threateningly dimmed.  

Still, no matter how dark, beyond the classroom door, a light remains aglow, encouraging the kids to ponder an exit plan. 

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