MilkMilkLemonadeAstoria Performing Arts Center at Good Shepherd United Methodist Church
Reviewed by
Jason Fitzgerald
November 01, 2010
The set, designed by Jason Simms, belongs in a fifth-grade play, dominated by a bright red farmhouse and a coop with cardboard chickens. A narrator (Nikole Beckwith) in a black leotard and quaking with stage fright introduces us to Emory and Elliot, young boys confused by what they like to do when they play "house" in the barn. While bright-eyed, show tune–singing Emory (Andy Phelan) can't muster a sincerely hateful thought, Elliot, a punk with a permanent black eye (played in drag with remarkable sympathy by Jess Barbagallo), has to bully Emory to protect himself. They are joined by Linda, a cynical talking chicken who is Emory's friend, and Nana, Emory's oxygen-toting, cigarette-smoking grandmother, who, as played by Michael Cyril Creighton, is a rip-off (but a hilarious one) of the drag queen Divine. Nana tries to socialize her grandson into his proper "social role" as a "boy," which in her definition involves dating women and killing chickens. Conkel's play, which had a brief, sold-out run with the same cast at Under St. Mark's last year, is one of the smartest I've seen about how bullying and cruelty, whether from children or adults, infects a child's psyche. It's impossible to be "true to yourself" if you're not allowed to figure yourself out in the first place. The production has a new director, José Zayas, who finds all the right comic notes in a camp-infused style that is rarely seen, or so effectively employed, on stage these days. And Zayas' production is made more charming for being housed in a public school–style auditorium at Astoria's Good Shepherd United Methodist Church. They even sell cookies and candies for a dollar. Though it's a welcome complement to the sentimentalism of most treatments of abuse against children, the show raises the same question as the "It Gets Better" YouTube parade: When, exactly, does it get better? "MilkMilkLemonade" ends with Emory and Elliot dancing together while they imagine the farm burning behind them. The image is meant to be poignant, but smiling doesn't quite seem appropriate. Presented by Astoria Performing Arts Center at Good Shepherd United Methodist Church, 30-44 Crescent St., Astoria, Queens, N.Y. Oct. 30–Nov 13. Thu. and Fri., 8 p.m.; Sat., 2 and 8 p.m. (212) 352-3101, (866) -811-4111, www.theatermania.com, or www.apacny.org. |
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