Wanzie’s latest ‘Ladies’ play gets sidetracked by nation’s problems
Playwright Michael Wanzie, like most of America, has racial injustice on his mind. That’s good news for the nation, but it sucks some of the fun from the latest entry in his hit “Ladies of Eola Heights” series. The online production premiered Saturday night.
It’s always enjoyable to watch Beth Marshall, Peg O’Keef and Blue Star sink their teeth into the three saucy (or just plain sauced) Southern sisters of the Locksdale clan, an old Orlando family that uses humor to cope with its dark secrets.
But part of the delicate balance in Wanzie’s “Ladies” plays is how the pain that lurks just under the humorous surface is intensely personal: child abuse, unwanted pregnancy. That current of darkness serves to illuminate his deliciously memorable characters.
In this sixth installment, titled “Zoom Reunion,” Wanzie forgoes intimate struggles for big issues: Black Lives Matter, the Confederate flag, the toppling of Civil War statues. As a result, the play is less a fascinating and humorous character study and more a debate done in drawl, with sisters Pearl and Ruby tearing down Opal’s antiquated views.
As the “Zoom Reunion” title indicates, Wanzie wrote the play to be performed through the online videoconferencing service. In the story line, Pearl has arranged a Zoom meeting for the sisters, who now live in separate states and haven’t spoken in nearly a decade.
These are mighty fine actors, particularly for this style of production, and director Kenny Howard pulls out their strengths. Not only are they all masters of finding the nuance in any given phrase, all boast expressive eyes and the ability to smirk, pout and look askance with flair — essential when that is about all the movement you see in a play broadcast to your computer screen.
Just watch these women land a zinger or score a laugh with merely the right look and tone of voice. “Reel yourself in,” Star’s Ruby berates O’Keef ’s Opal after the latter goes on one of her racist tangents.
Truth be told, the play could use a few more of those moments. Marshall and Star spend a lot of time reacting to
O’Keef in horror and explaining why certain actions, words and beliefs are racist.
That leaves O’Keef to do the heavy lifting, with brilliantly wheedling monologues that careen between self-delusion and self-pity. It’s masterfully written and performed. You absolutely believe that Opal — proudly flying the Confederate flag in her front yard — is convinced she’s not racist. And O’Keef gives her just enough sympathetic edge that you even understand why she feels that way.
The comedy revs up when Pearl drops a big surprise on her sisters that I won’t reveal, and another fine actor joins the trio. And in “Ladies” fashion, there’s a bombshell cliffhanger, as well. The good news? It looks like Episode 7 will once again focus on the family life of these squabbling siblings. Find me on Twitter @matt_on_arts or email me at mpalm@orlandosentinel.com. Want more news and reviews of theater and other arts? Go to orlandosentinel.com/arts.