"Blindness", "Tennessee Rising".

In an epidemic year what better play than one about another epidemic that plagues an entire country seemingly overnight? In a sound extravaganza, Blindness, which was first produced in London’s Covent Garden and written by Simon Stephens (The Curious Incident of the Dog In The Night Time) is as imaginative, as anything I have seen in a long while.

The show is presented by way of headphones for each audience member; the premise is to give us superb sound effects and a genuine feel of what it is like to be blind. Ben and Max Ringham – Chris Cronin in the US gives us surreal sound effects: we are consumed by this innovative and marvelous surround sound that has us twitching in our seats.

As we start to welcome back live theater, The Daryl Roth Theater has put forth a great opening act with Blindness. For 70 minutes we are mostly kept in the dark and have to imagine what it is like to be blind; blinded by a pandemic much like the one we have today, only much worse. People who have come in contact with Doctor X have been infected and become mysteriously blind; hospitals fill up, food becomes a luxury and bad people take advantage of a very bad situation and life has been plundered into dystopia. In the darkness, we are patients at a hospital, either we are eavesdropping or the staff is talking directly to us and telling us just how grim life is; some people can still see, most can’t.

Director Walter Meierjohann seeks to keep the tension rising throughout the performance, even though the writing at times can lose your attention, the directing is able to continually reel in the show.

Juliet Stevenson’s narration is both mystical and downright intimidating; she hovers around your ears, face, and your back like a witch who is trying to laud you into a trans. For the people who like traditional plays, Blindness is a whole different type of show; the penetration of this show may be to intense for a passive theatergoer. The headsets are so life-like that the volume and pace in the pitch-black may be too much. For the adventurous and the theater lover who is willing to see different productions, Blindness is something very different as well as fun.

The Signal Through The Noise/ Tolerance Party #4B put forth by The Cell Theater's virtual recent project "Waiting for I Dunno" is a mish-mosh of absurdism that goes nowhere important. Based on the play: "Waiting for Godot", Joseph Handel and Kira Simring write an incoherent play.

The play starts off slow and both actors seem awkward together. The familiar breakout room with instructor Brian Reager telling the actors what needs to be done in a short period of time. while the breakout room has worked for some play, it is senseless here.

The play has no plot to speak of- the play tries to be edgy but instead succumbs to "Row Row Row Your Boat". The actors ask ad nauseum "did he come yet? I dunno". It boggles ones mind as to what is trying to be accomplished here. Adding to the perplexes is actor Peyton Row leaving to zoom to change outfits for different occasions. The first, she has rehearsal and it was cancelled... "everyone got vaccinated". Yeah and? The second or third time she comes back (who really cares) she tries to dress sexy and goes into some mantra.

If this play wasn't confusing enough, we have Richard Viquiza doing Robert DE Niro in "Taxi" and Joe Pesci in "Goodfellas". If all fails, the actors resort to calling each others assholes. If that hasn't lost the audience, they then argue over who the actor is. This all adds up to rhetoric but no meaningful rhetoric. If you put this together with bad acting you get a wasted thirty-five minutes of your time. To try to make the show more meaningful, twenty-eight minutes into the show it tries to get philosophical (kind of like whip cream on horse shit).

I am sure that Vladimir and Estragon are rolling over; I know Beckett is.

Samuel Beckett was a minimalist writer; Beckett wrote novels, short stories poetry, and was a theater director. "waiting for Godot" was by far his most popular work. Beckett also wrote "Endgame', "Happy Days", "Play", "Not I", "Quad" and more. In 1945, Beckett would receive the Nobel Prize in Literature.

Beckett was born in Dublin, Ireland, however, he lived in Paris for most of his adult life and was highly celebrated there.

The Cell Theater has been putting on virtual theater throughout the pandemic. Live theater at the Cell is now taking place at the back patio. Limited seating and masks must be worn while the show is being performed. Currently, "Tennessee Rising' is playing- a one-man play about a young Tennessee Williams. Jacob Storms is both the writer and actor in this very informative play (see my review in both Metropolitan Magazine and My Life Publications).

"Waiting for I Dunno"

Many on and off-Broadway houses are slowly beginning to open. It will be, however, September when Broadway begins to reopen.

Both Frances McDormand and Sir Anthony Hopkins win their third Oscars each. McDormand for "Nomadland" and Hopkins for "The Father'. Both actors were well deserved for winning; both films were equally as good as the two Oscar winners. "Nomadland would go on to win Best Picture.

The much-hyped "Mank" would win Best Cinematography. "Mank ' was up for Best Picture and the great Gary Oldman was up for Best Actor. Oldman won his first and only Oscar in the role of Winston Churchill.

Tennessee Rising is a warm play that goes through the early years of Thomas Lanier Williams (Tennessee Williams). Writer/actor Jacob Storms has Williams moving through life with such grace and ease. Williams, a Southern gentleman with all the breadth and depth of a great writer; Storms captures the cadence of Williams brilliantly. Listening to Storms brought the recollection of eloquent speakers of many past performances, particularly movies such as “Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil” and Clay Shaw in the movie “JFK”.

In seventy minutes, Storms takes us through the early years of the man many consider to be the greatest American writer of all time; his many vast relationships with other writers, how he was inspired by the Group Theater, his relationship with his family and the many lovers that were in his lifetime.

"Tennessee Rising"

Tennessee Rising is as inspirational as it is informative; the show is not short of poignant and comical moments. The master of Southern Gothic writing is as common as Corn Pone and yet he forged ahead to get out from under the mayhem of having a drunk for a father and a schizophrenic for a sister. The one-man play informs us how Williams came about writing his early plays: Rose tattoo, The Glass Menagerie, and Battle of Angels.

With deft direction by Alan Cumming, Tennessee Rising takes the audience from Mississippi to St. Louis, The French Quarter in New Orleans, Provincetown, Boston, and New York. Throughout William's journey in his young life, Storms makes it an eventful evening at the cell theater/ the back patio. in a small outdoor setting, it makes us feel that we are invited into Williams’s life for a short time where he shares stories just for us. Although Storms was difficult to hear at times, the show was entertaining and informative.

Tennessee Rising runs Sundays, April 11 (canceled due to rain), 25, May 9 & 23 at 6 pm, and Sundays, June 6-27 at 7 pm. Running time is 75 minutes. Patrons are required to follow all city-mandated COVID-19 precautions including mandatory mask-wearing, limited capacity, filling out a contact-free survey for symptoms and potential exposure, and a digital temperature check upon entry. Nancy Manocherian’s the cell theatre is located at 338 West 23rd Street. Tickets are $20 April 25 – June 27, 2021, at the cell theatre

OFF-BROADWAY APRIL 27, 2021 ROBERT MASSIMI

Robert Massimi is the Chief Drama Critic for Metropolitan Magazine. Chief Drama Critic for Nimbus Magazine. Chief Drama Critic for My Life Publications. Member of The Dramatists Guild. Member of The National Arts Club. Former Member of the Board of Directors Metropolitan Playhouse. I Have produced 14 shows both on and off-Broadway. A graduate of Manhattan College. Alpha Sigma Lambda and Triple Major: English, Government, and Psychology.