From the Desk of Jim R, Take 2, Column 53, A Review: "Feeding the Dragon" (Hartford Stage)

 

By James V. Ruocco

The astonishing Sharon Washington grew up in the St. Agnes branch of the New York Library on Manhattan's upper west side.
Really?
Yes, really.
She actually lived there....in the caretaker's spacious, vast apartment...with her father (he was the custodian for the library), her mom and her grandmother. And what a life it was!

In "Feeding the Dragon," the thought-provoking, mesmerizing one-woman show, which she wrote and stars in, the actress turns back the clock to retrace those early years and others with loving, determined and honest affection.
She laughs. She cries. She dances. She conjures up one memory after another. And, she leaves no stone or remembrance unturned.

It's all here: the books, the books and more books. Plus the wealth of knowledge that they provided including Dr. David Reuben's "Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex (But Were Afraid to Ask)," the 1969 bestseller she began reading at the tender age of eleven.

The audience is also privy to life on Amsterdam Avenue, the stores, the people and the shop owners,  what is was like "being colored" or "Negro" in the late '60's and '70's, how Washington became a scholarship student at the prestigious Dalton School, her dad's dependence on liquor and how her mom often wore thrift-store dresses to school meetings.

There's also lots of clever, well-orchestrated banter about relatives, road trips, buying fresh watermelon and shrimp off passing trucks, wearing Fiorucci jeans, the Piggly Wiggly grocers, Pentecostal Church going, Christmas hams, disco, family confrontations, coal furnaces, period hair styles, her pet dog Brownie, his bout with peanut butter and dozens and dozens of other topics and conversations .

But first, let's backtrack.

Staging a one-woman show can be especially problematic, especially if the director is not up to the challenge of the material, the actual staging and the mechanics of keeping the entire project afloat while using only one actor...and one actor only....for the play's allotted running time. It can be dangerous. It can be daunting. And, it can be completely bonkers if the bond between actor and audience is broken...just for a second for two...causing complete separation.

Luckily, for us, that is not the case at Hartford Stage. The enlistment of Maria Mileaf  as director of "Feeding the Dragon" is a stoke of genius. She's brilliant. She's cheeky. She's intuitive. She's crafty. She's focused. She's dynamic. She's original. And that, in a nutshell, is why this production, in terms of staging, is bloody marvelous.

Think about it, for a moment.
One actor. One play. A 90 minute running time with no intermission. Crikey! How do you get the ball rolling? And keep it rolling and rolling and rolling.
Mileaf does just that.

For starters, her directorial take on the play is clever from start to finish. Everything that happens on Tony Ferrieri's handsomely designed set is beautifully planned, executed and exhibited, with some neat, choice one-on-one touches that beautifully underscore the play's underlying themes, its well-paced shifts in time and place, its dialogue and its many, many exchanges and memories.
Yes, we are in a theater. Yes, we are watching a play. Yes, we are watching an actress bare her heart and soul. But with Mileaf as orchestrator, we are so attuned to what is actually happening, we forget all of that and bond so closely with Washington and her story, it's as if she's talking only to us. Just us.

Pretty unique, don't you think?

Timing, of course, is everything.

That said, "Feeding the Dragon" also benefits from Mileaf's seamless teamwork with lighting designer Ann Wrightson and original music/sound designer Lindsay Jones. All three work effortlessly throughout the play's 90 minutes to create a storytelling process that is real, raw and awe-inspiring. A sound cue, a light cue, a music cue, a change in the play's gorgeous color palate...all of this heightens the aura and dynamics of the piece at every single twist and turn. Nothing is lost. Nothing ever stops. It just keeps evolving and evolving until the play ends and Washington takes center stage for the standing ovation she so rightly deserves.

"Feeding the Dragon" star Sharon Washington is a force to be reckoned with. The fact that she is able to commit to a role that asks her to play not only herself, but so many other characters of different ages and genders is a mammoth undertaking indeed. But the piece itself is so endearing, personal and revelatory, she is completely at ease no matter what the situation is, what the dialogue is, what the character is and what the remembrance is.
No matter what she say and does, she gets the message across with an evident style and relish that is truly amazing. She can shift gears within a split second. She can jump back and forth into the voice and body of every character she creates with a snap, crackle and pop that is absolutely incredible to watch. She knows how to get a laugh. She knows how to make you shed a tear or two. She knows how to bring a smile to your face. 

Sharon Washington is genuine. She is real. She is uplifting. She is passionate. She is fiery. She is wild. She is satiric. She is dramatic. She is sassy. She is a natural-born entertainer. I just can't say enough.

In conclusion, Hartford Stage is to be commended for adding "Feeding the Dragon" to their already stellar 2017-2018 season of plays, which included the brilliant "A Midsummer Night's Dream," the edgy drama "Seder" and the breathtaking "A Christmas Carol."
"Feeding the Dragon" reaffirms the theater's long-running commitment to theater. It is a fiery, powerful, passionate and entertaining work. It is well-written and directed. And the chemistry between Washington and her audience makes it a production not to miss.

"Feeding the Dragon" is being performed at Hartford Stage (50 Church St., Hartford, CT), now through Feb. 4)

For tickets or more information, call (860) 527-5151.

website:  hartfordstage.org.