On the Faultlines

Watching "On the Faultlines," a new offering from the brand-new Ruffled Feathers theater company, one can't help but think: "It all happens so fast." The play was developed by 16 actors during three weeks of improv exercises last summer, in response to Geoffrey Canada's memoir "Fist Stick Knife Gun: A Personal History of Violence." Playwright Vikas Menon has distilled the fruits of that labor into a 90-minute piece that fervently asks, per the program notes, "In a rapidly gentrifying neighborhood in Harlem, who will pay the price for change?"

Jenny Tibbels-Jordan's crisp direction drives the piece forward. While moving a few chairs and tables around on stage to create the streets, homes, and shops of the play, the actors shed little sweat. But while inhabiting those locales, they shed a lot of blood and tears.

The best performances come from actors whose characters would likely appear unsympathetic on the page. Andre Dimapilis gives a compelling turn as Rashid, a woefully misguided gangbanger who tries to fix his mom's eviction troubles in the only street-approved way he knows. Dana Martin successfully makes Jennifer more than just the white wife of a white real estate developer who overreacts to every stickup in their new neighborhood. Monica Risi's performance as Mary, the wife of a bodega owner who constantly quarrels with his ungrateful son, is the emotional core of the play.

Many of the characters are not so richly painted, largely because there are simply too many of them. Thirteen have been pulled from the work of those 16 original actors, a number that leaves some playing little more than names. That Dimapilis, Martin, and Risi rise above this clutter is both a testament to their skill and to the raw visceral power of Menon's script at its best.

Ruffled Feathers' self-described mission is to "address issues of justice [and] facilitate intercultural exchange." In that sense, "On the Faultlines" is a success.


Presented by Ruffled Feathers at New Song Community Corporation, the Triangle Building, 2230 Frederick Douglas Blvd., NYC. April 8–18. Thu.–Sat., 8 p.m.; Sun., 5 p.m. (800) 838-3006 or www.brownpapertickets.com.