By James V. Ruocco
"The building was closed. The other kids had long since packed up their school bags. The librarians had gone home. It was just 8-year-old Sharon, alone, in the shush-less quiet of an empty building on Amsterdam Avenue." (Sharon Washington)
It's a personal story told from the heart.
It is one that is very beautiful whether you're seeing it for the first time. Or in this case, the second time, which, as the saying goes "is quite the charm."
And, it's a true one.
Really?
Yes, really.
She actually lived there....in the caretaker's spacious, vast, three-bedroom apartment...with her father (he was the custodian for the library), her mom and her grandmother. And what a wonderful and interesting life it was!
In "Feeding the Dragon," the intuitive, exciting and very personable one-woman show, which she wrote and stars in, the actress turns back the clock in time to retrace those early years and others with loving, determined and honest affection.
She laughs. She cries. She dances. She dazzles. She excites. She conjures up one memory after another. And, lastly, she leaves no stone or remembrance unturned.
It's all here: the books, the books and the more beautiful 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.
With Washington, as both guide and auteur, the audience is also privy to life on New York City's Amsterdam Avenue, the stores, the restaurants, the people and the shop owners and what is was like "being colored" or "Negro" in the late '60's and '70's. The actress also sheds light on how she became a scholarship student at the prestigious Dalton School, why her dad became restless and dependent on liquor and how her mom coped with everyday life living above the library and how she often wore thrift-store dresses to school meetings.
"Feeding the Dragon" also comes packaged with lots of clever, well-orchestrated banter about relatives, road trips, buying fresh watermelon and shrimp off passing trucks, wearing Fiorucci jeans, Piggly Wiggly grocery stores, 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 choice topics and lovely, beautifully-written 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. It can be suicidal from a professional standpoint. And, it can be completely disastrous if the bond between actor and audience is broken...just for a second or two...causing complete separation.
Luckily, for us, that was not the case when "Feeding the Dragon" was staged earlier this year at Hartford Stage. And at the Cherry Lane Theatre, the experience itself is similar, heightened by the theater's quaintness, closeness and intimacy. The production itself fascinates at every turn.
The enlistment of Maria Mileaf as director of "Feeding the Dragon" is a stoke of genius. She's brilliant. She's creative. She's cheeky. She's intuitive. She's crafty. She's focused. She's dynamic. She's original. She is respectful. She is appreciative. She is full of surprises. And that, in a nutshell, is why this production, in terms of staging, is bloody, 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. And so much more.
Her directorial take on the play is clever from start to finish. Everything that happens on Tony Ferrieri's colorful, 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 very accomplished 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.
Again, the intimacy of the Cherry Lane Theatre heightens that experience.
Pretty unique, don't you think?
Timing, of course, is everything.
That said, "Feeding the Dragon" also benefits from Mileaf's seamless teamwork with her lighting designer Ann G. Wrightson (great atmospheric touches) and original music/sound designer Lindsay Jones (very moving and heartfelt sound and music cues). All three work effortlessly throughout the play's 90 minutes to create a storytelling process that is real, raw, timely 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.
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. She knows exactly how to keep you riveted and spellbound.
As actress and storyteller, Sharon Washington is genuine. She is real. She is uplifting. She is passionate. She is fiery. She is affectionate. She is childish. She is wild. She is satiric. She is dramatic. She is sassy. She is fascinating. She is beguiling. She is a natural-born entertainer. And finally, she gives "Feeding the Dragon" its dramatic sweep, momentum and fire. I just can't say enough.
The Primary Stages production of "Feeding the Dragon" is being performed at the Cherry Lane Theatre (30 Commerce St., New York, N.Y.), now through April 27.
For tickets or more information, call (212) 352-3101 or 866-811-4111.
website: primarystages.org.
