culture special

Writer's Block, really four events in one, opened to a sellout crowd on March 5 at the Ancon Theater. The first Theatre Guild event of 2009, it featured two one-act Woody Allen plays (Riverside Drive and Old Saybrook), jazz by the Danilo Pérez Foundation Jazz Quartet and an exhibition of Barbara Dove's paintings. It was not just another Theatre Guild event, but rather the new generation at the Guild coming into its own as a community force.

This writer never personally got into thespianism, and the art of directing remains mysterious. It is said, however, that when everything goes off apparently without error, that's a sign of good directing. When this photographer was backstage snapping photos, director Kimberly Hall was fairly oblivious to that activity, with her head down poring over printed pages. It wasn't a time to interrupt. Hall is not a "new" director, unless one wants to restrict one's view to just the Theatre Guild. She's a veteran of many years doing many things on the Nashville theater scene. Tennessee's substantial loss is Panama's windfall gain, as those who were there on opening night could see, and those who weren't who can make it to the Ancon Theater on the evenings of March 6, 7, 12, 13 or 14 will also be able to see.

The first play, Riverside Drive, takes the form of a conversation between a writer and a madman in a park along New York's Hudson River, but symbolizes a war between the two halves of one tormented writer's brain. Both of the principal actors here, Varoon Anand playing the nut case to Matthew Addis's straight man, put on an excellent show. Vicky Colorado ably played a smaller but central role as the predatory female monster of the variety that tends to stalk Woody Allen's tales of male angst.

This play, and this night, were Varoon's. It may have been a multi-show extravaganza, but Varoon Ananda's inspired performance alone made the small price of admission a very good deal.


Intermission time (and after the second play) was dedicated to jazz --- of which clarinetist Woody Allen is a veteran practitioner. Danilo Pérez has dedicated much of his time and energy to promoting musical excellence in Panama and the Danilo Pérez Foundation Jazz Quartet is one of the proofs.

Intermission, like before and after the show, was also an opportunity to see, and maybe even buy, some of painter Barbara Tuan Yu Dove's paintings. Outside, some of her jazz scenes were on display. But people shopping for a painting need to stick around for the second play, because hanging on the set for that there are several more of Dove's works and somebody might want to buy one of those.

The second play, Old Saybrook, is an ensemble thing for which it's very hard to designate "leading" actor or actress, is another strange tale of a writer's torment. If the conflict around which Riverside Drive revolves is a sexual situation, Old Saybrook has multiple, even weirder ones.

This particular production is an interesting Panamanian-style English-language mix of performances with, for example, Rita Banús --- her character the most innocent among the play's wronged women --- playing in a style informed by the Latin American telenovelas, while Anthony Loew --- his voyeuristic character arguably the most perverse among the males of Old Saybrook --- acted in a style more in line with US standards. It all worked well. Although one could notice different styles, everybody did well and it's hard to pick out a particular "star" from this play.

This reviewer's favorite performance in Old Saybrook? Jesse Choquette as David, the dumb jock.

Amit Nathani, the entire night's producer, played the relatively small role of Max Krolian, the tormented writer, in Old Saybrook. Also in the cast, in addition to those already mentioned, were Ricardo Agurcia, Maria Thoktitsto and Kari King.