Norton and Whitfield Lead the Pack in the BEST OF THE BEST

Teco Theatrical Productions has reached a milestone with its Annual New Play Competition. Now in its 10^th year, this staple of the Dallas theater community celebrates six (6) local playwrights selected by a reading committee who compete for an opportunity to win $1,000 by audience vote of their favorite 1-act play.

This year’s competition entitled “Best of the Best” is unique in that the pool of playwrights represented are former audience favorite winners or winners of the Literary Prize offered by Teco for best written play as determined by the reading committee.

This year’s finalists include Purgatory by Seneca Wills, Untitled or How to Trip the Light Fantastic by Phillip John Morales, Everybody’s Got A Little Light by Jonathan Norton, The Exit Strategy by Willie Holmes, Puberty by Laterras R. Whitfield, and The Agnes and the Ecstasy by Paula J. Sanders.

Opening the Act One is Will’s “Purgatory”, which is a comical look at the space between heaven and hell prominent in Catholicism and features some notable figures such as former presidential candidate Herman Cain, Nene Leaks of Housewives of Atlanta fame, professional golfer Tiger Woods, and a lesser known blind man played with comedic finesse by James Casarez. Presiding over the entrance to the Pearly Gates is a sexy angel, played to the hilt by Rachelle Wilson, who determines via the ‘Book of Life’ if each of the candidates seeking entry into heaven is worthy based on their earthly deeds. Chanin Mwikuta in the role of Cain was comedy at its best, with perfectly nuancEd Mannerisms of the elder statesman complete with variations of the line “I don’t know that woman!” Eyona Lewis plays a hyper-glamorized version of Leaks, which was entertaining.  Casarez doubles in the Tiger Woods role, adeptly demonstrating how his former wife was successfully in landing him square on heaven’s door. Line for line, joke for joke, this cast delivered the best ensemble effort of the evening.

“Untitled” or “How to Trip the Light Fantastic” by Morales used the play within a play format and centered on two actors, male and female, who are in rehearsal trying to nail their scenes and without much success. The most interesting element of this play short was the emergence of the director from the audience, played with tenacity and near perfection by Barret Lewis, who completely embodied directors who desperately try to help actors see their ‘artistic vision’. However, the energy in this play was too fluid and often fell flat, except when Lewis re-entered the scene. Blocking appeared very awkward, with the female actor upstaging her companion often. The best scene involved a video collage of a diversity of couples depicting the complexity and symbolism of intimate relationships, with Lewis’s passionate voice serving as the backdrop to help his actors connect with their characters, which they eventually do but too late for theatrical purposes.

“Everybody’s Got A Little Light”, written and directed by Jonathan Norton, former literary and new play competition winner, closes the first act and shut it down it did. Adult actor JuNene K. convincingly plays the role of a young 17-year old black female named Tawana, the only character in this riveting play, complete with a solitary chair as her only prop. Set in Sunny South Dallas, Tawana is the typical urban teenager who dreams of leaving the humdrum setting of her community, including an emphatic declaration “I can’t wait until I graduate so I can leave South Dallas…and go to college at Prairie View!”, which drew enormous audience laughter. Through JuNene K’s masterful performance, we follow Tawana through a series of characters as she navigates the terrain of her life. One of the most interesting characters is a minister named the Prophetic Evangelist Tobias Bell, which JuNene K. plays with exuberance including a call and response soul-stirring mini-sermon that ends with a fatigued Tawana exclaiming “I wish I had a praying church”, and a lewd physical stance that had the audience rolling in their seats. Equally engaging is Tawana’s chance meeting with former Dallas mayor pro-tem Dwaine Caraway, who tries to help Tawana understand and forgive her mother who is unable to properly parent her due to her own relationship woes with a former incarcerated man on house arrest and missing with a monitoring anklet intact, to which Tawana says with awe-inspiring wonder “Dwaine Caraway is a deep m**** f****”, which left the audience in stitches. Throw in an impressive lighting sequence and retro 70s music, Norton delivers a knockout punch that is virtually unrecoverable.

Kicking off Act Two is Holmes “The Exit Strategy”, featuring a 4-member ensemble. In this story we find Ronnie a pro athlete played by William Massey, at odds with the love he has for his girlfriend Taylor, played by Whitney Tucker, and whether or not he should have her sign a pre-nup prior to signing a lucrative deal. Taylor is eager to seal the deal and has plans of her own that will firmly cement her place in his life. A conniving femme fatale by the name of Pretty Kitty, played with coquettish appeal by Kamille McCuin, is in on the deception to snag Ronnie even though she has motives of her own. Although the plot was clear from the very beginning, this play somehow didn’t feel complete. There were too many music cues that were inconsistent and/or took away from actor dialogue, and character interaction didn’t feel authentic.

“Puberty” was a real family affair written by Laterras R. Whitfield, national touring producer and winner of the 1^st New Play Competition, featuring the acting talents of Whitfield himself and his real life teenage daughter Laterria Whitfield in the role of Taylor, with wife Lisa B. Whitfield directing. In an opening video montage of Taylor on her cell calling everyone in her phone directory desperate to speak to SOMEONE, Laterria nails the emotions associated with teenage insecurity and angst. In scenes with her father, Laterria proves she’s no novice, matching him laugh for laugh with impressive comedic chops. As a playwright, it is clear Whitfield understands the importance of strong dialogue, which lends an immediate feel of authenticity to the stepfather/stepdaughter relationship dynamic. With so few African-American situational comedies on the market today, including those that showcase hollow, under-developed characters and storylines, the husband/wife producing duo should step out of their comfort zone and seriously consider creating a TV pilot based on this play.

Closing the evening is Sanders “The Agnes and the Ecstasy”, a play about a young musician who want to die because he has cancer and wants the nurse in the rehab center he’s in to assist him. She has unspoken feelings for him and doesn’t want this to happen, so she gives him some ecstasy instead to keep him occupied. During his ‘high’, he is reunited with his grandmother, Malcolm X, Martin Luther King, Jr., his idol Tupac Shakur, and Biggie Smalls. If JuNene K. holds the award for Best Performance by a Female in a Leading Role, Hobson definitely wins Best Performance by a Male. Hobson is a character actor extraordinaire and to watch him effortlessly transition from meeting each of the individuals he idolized was a joy to watch, particularly his meeting with Tupac where he bursts out in an improv rap of a popular Tupac hit with the glee of a fan-crazed school girl. With the exception of Rodney Miller in the role of a rehab patient named Gonzo, who nearly steals the show in the opening scene with a short but laugh out loud performance, Hobson carries this play with a strong mix of drama, comedy, and sensitivity to his character, which he completely connects with.

I didn’t vote but if I had, Norton would have definitely received my vote for best play of the evening hands down, due to an exceptional well-crafted script and storyline, which was brought to life through the superb acting talents of JuNene K.

The 10^th Annual New Play Competition “Best of the Best” runs Feb. 16 – Mar. 4 at the Bishop Arts Theatre Center, located at 215 South Tyler Street, Dallas, TX 75208. All Seats $15 in advance, $20 at the door (plus service fee). General Admission Seating (Friday, Saturday evening performances @ 7:30 nightly). Call the box office at 214-948-0716 for group rates. The competition contains adult language. 

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