Comments & critiques on cultural events and New York City happenings.
Wednesday, February 6, 2013
Water by the Spoonful, 2012 Pulitzer Prize Winner
Water by the Spoonful at 2ST is the 2012 Pulitzer Prize Winning play by Quiara Hudes. Are there any other awards out there to bestow on this brilliant and moving theatrical masterpiece? There is plenty to extol in this play: exceptional writing, characters we're drawn to & great acting. Act I has two separate plots. The play begins with 2 cousins, Yaz a music prof. & Elliot, a returning Iraqi vet, who are caring for their dying, beloved aunt while dealing with their own turmoils. Yaz is going through a divorce and Elliot is dealing with physical & emotional damage from the war. The scene shifts to two women & a man, connected via internet to an online support group for crack addicts. The 3 maintain nom de plumes: Odessa (the driving force of the site) Haikumum, Orangutan and Shutes & Ladders. The banter between the 3 is clever, sharp & heartfelt. They are soon joined for the 1st time by another male, Fountainhead. The caring, understanding & supportive connection is apparent. What isn't clear until the very end of Act I is the link between the 2 storylines. Odessa is the sister to the dying Aunt. In Act II, a hostile confrontation between Elliot & Odessa reveals Elliot as Odessa's son. Elliot was raised by his aunt because of Odessa's crack addiction. The play is overflowing with shimmering allergories. Yaz discovered the harmony in John Coltrane's music; cohesion in dissonance. While water is essential to live, life has no sustainance in anonymity. Orangutan asks Shutes & Ladders for his friendship. When they meet face to face, give their real names & hold each other's hand, the waterworks flowed. What greater praise can there be, than this play melted this heart of ice & brought on the tears?
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