Renee Davis Brame in Victory Blues
New plays like Victory Blues can be a difficult prospect. On one hand, original scripts are the lifeblood of live theater. On the other, they lack the name recognition that puts butts in seats, and regional producing bodies often lack the resources to do anything about that. But forward-thinking local playhouses shouldn't underestimate the value of their own brand, or the trust and goodwill they’ve hopefully built in the theater-going community. Not every play selected by Playhouse on the Square's NewWorks@TheWorks series has been a diamond in the rough, for example. But production quality has been high, for the most part. The new play competition has attracted real talent, and strong creative teams that have, in turn, attracted audiences. Although the play's second act never fulfills the promise of the first, Victory Blues — a drama of life in the wake of WWII — is one of New Works' best offerings yet.
From my review at the Memphis Flyer’s theater blog Intermission Impossible:
“I'm going out on a limb and guessing that [playwright Alan] Brody's read a little Arthur Miller. Victory Blues plays out like a working class sequel to Miller's WW2 aftermath drama All My Sons. It tells the story of three young couples — old friends living in the same apartment building, adjusting to life after wartime in the greatest, most prosperous country the world has ever known.
Only one friend isn't prospering. While his buddies enjoy the fruits of winning, poor shoe salesman Jerry Greisinger just barely gets by. Jerry saw combat, and he's still struggling with that. His friends didn't, and they don't get why their old pal's worried about other people's problems when he could be out there getting his big fat slice of winner cake. They don't get why America's red scare bothers him so much, since he's not a commie. (Or is he?) They don't get why he won't forgive a friend's terrible betrayal, since it was motivated by love and concern for him, and was going to make his life so much better in the end.”
Victory Blues wrestles with contemporary themes but places them in such a classic context i'’s not hard to imagine it as a Pulitzer winner from some bygone decade. It's a terrific alternative to typically light summertime fare.
Victory Blues is at TheatreWorks through July 30th.
Speaking of original shows...
Theatre Memphis is also trying out a new work… sort of. Three Tenors... and a Baritone is an original cabaret performance featuring familiar music, and four Theatre Memphis mainstay performers: Philip Himebook, Charles McGowan, Joseph Lackie, and Charles “Chuck” Hodges. It's a mix of Broadway and opera inspired by The Three Tenors. But, you know, with a baritone. Compiled by music director Jeff Brewer.
Three Tenors... and a Baritone is at Theatre Memphis through July 23rd.
Also of note: Inner City South concludes a series of original plays following the character Kingston Blackman. Guilt, Lies & Lust… Nowhere to Hide opens at the Evergreen Theater this weekend and tells a gritty story of life in the kill-or-be-killed Chicago Underworld.
Guilt, Lies & Lust… Nowhere to Hide is at the Evergreen Theatre through July 23rd.
For those who prefer something a little more familiar,
A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum is currently running at The Harrell in Collierville. Steeped in mid-20th-century burlesque and based on similarly naughty Roman sex farces, Forum has been titillating audiences since it landed on Broadway in 1962 with Zero Mostel as the wayward slave Pseudolus. Starring local musical comedy powerhouses like John Hemphill and Annie Freres, this Forum promises to bump and grind in all the right places.
