Left to right Jose Joaquin Perez, Jason Bowen, Brian Qjuijada, Reza Salazar (Photo: Matthew Murphy)
Perhaps as important as is my positive response to Elizabeth Irwin's play My Manana Comes — super charged with the chaos, conflicts and camaraderie among the busboys at an upscale, upper East Side French restaurant— is acknowledging the commendable on-going mission of an organization called The Playwrights Realm . Irwin is this year's recipient of their Page One Program , dedicated to supporting an up and coming playwright for one year with "a sweep of services to aid in the advancement of their career. These include a competitive stipend, health insurance, travel/professional development funds, a full Off-Broadway production, readings of script(s) in development, theatre tickets and midtown office space."
Under the artistic direction of Katherine Kovner, The Playwright's Realm also provides (as it states) more than just the "development of one play as it provides a comprehensive tool kit a playwright can use to build his or her entire career." CurtainUp reviewed last year's recipient The Hatmaker's Wife http://curtainup.com/hatmaker13.html.
The action, or rather the activities that keep the four busboys in My Manana Comes in constant motion could easily be reconceived as a ballet as they criss-cross, swerve, dodge each other and maneuver their way around the kitchen. Delivering the dishes with panache through the swinging doors to the unseen waiters beyond is as impressive as the characters that have been created by four terrific actors, under the direction of Chay Yew.
Except for the African-American Peter, the three Mexicans are inclined toward motor-mouthed discourse, a perfectly comprehensible mixture of Spanish and English. Looking spiffy in their all-black uniforms (designed by Moria Sine Clinton), they enjoy exchanging compliments as well as ribbing each other's idiosyncrasies. We can see why buoying up each other's spirits is necessary and how it eases the stress of their job, the long hours and pitiful pay.To read the complete review originally posted 09/04/14 please go to http://curtainup.com/mymanana14.html
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