Ashes&Ink.

"Ashes & Ink" at AMT on West 45th st has a lot of nice things working for it. The story is a unique one in that Molly (Kathryn Erbe) has a sound media business with her sister, Bree (Tamara Flannagan). Molly listens to the many sounds of birds, can decipher which bird is which, can quote their learning patterns and other fun facts.

The staging for the most part was warm, although there were quite a few manual scene changes, it doesn't really hurt the play to badly. Tim McMath gave us simple designs, but useful and interesting. The sound was spectacular by Alex Attalla; as was the lighting by Paul Hudson. The underlying plot of this play required both great sound and the lighting needed to fill the mood as well as the flow of the play. Both were perhaps the best part of the play!

It is not to say that "Ashes & Ink" is not a good play, it has some great moments with some good actors. Both Erbe and Julian Shatkin as Quinn are both very good in their roles; they also interact very well between the two of them as mother and son. Quinn has vast problems and his mother questions her role in all of them... the could have, should have, what if haunt her for the 90 minute intermission-less show.

The direction too has some admiral appeal. Director Alice Jenkell blocks the actors well. Even when writer Martha Pichey gets long winded in some of her dialogue, Jenkell keeps the audiences attention by the body language of the actors.

The most obvious drawback to this play is the range of all five actors. While the mother and son are excellent, Molly's boyfriend, Leo (Javier Molina), his son, Felix (Rhylee Watson), and Bree (Tamara Flannagan) are so-so. As a young boy, Watson, is passable in his believability, however, their range is limited. Another huge drawback is the casting for this play. It is not believable that Molly, with her gentile manners and classic Angelo style would fall for someone like Leo. Leo is very rough around the edges, never is it believable that he is a PhD,candidate, nor a teacher.

"Ashes" has a lot of symmetry to it. Both Molly and Leo lost their spouses. Both children yearn for their missing parent; each child, although 12 years apart in age, have big dreams about their future. Felix likes to write out his future; Quinn wants to be a big time actor, and why not, he already has been cast in four movies as a child actor. Even though he has completed three in total (he was fired from the forth), he struggles with his memory as well as shaken confidence.

In the well appointed costumes (Kaitlin Feinberg), the actors are always believable, somewhat effective with the script that wavers from time to time. Pichey tries to give us to many things rather than focusing on the main-core problems that arise on the stage. Too much attention is paid to the rhetoric between Molly and Leo and not enough action is being given on the subject. Words are being spoken but we never know how they truly feel until it become obvious. In Molly and Quinn's case as well, too much is said and the writing never gets to the heart of the matter.

"Ashes & Ink" is a solid C grade. It never rises above average. Not to say that with some tweaking this couldn't be a very good play, it could. As is, it has to many flaws, too much of a difference in the acting talent and too many words in the play.

Off Broadway, Obie Awards, New York City, Broadway Bob, Tony Awards, Hollywood.