Review: THE CONVERSATION ABOUT THE KEYS PART I: TIM WITHOUT THALIA and CASH FLOW at Kranzberg Black Box

First Run Theatre opened its mainstage season on Friday evening with the world premiere of two one-act plays, THE CONVERSATION ABOUT THE KEYS, PART I: TIM WITHOUT THALIA by Yu-Li Alice Shen and CASH FLOW by Marjorie Williamson. Both new plays were directed by Phil Wright and take a humorous look at relationships and interactions between women and men.  

THE CONVERSATION ABOUT THE KEYS, PART 1: TIM WITHOUT THALIA takes a wry look at the various stages of a couple’s relationship and how friends might influence the relationship. Tim (Tom Kessinger) and Thalia (Camryn Ruhl) have been dating for an unspecified period of time. They meet at their regular watering hole where Tim’s college friends Albert (Mason Ramsey) and Greg (Justin Panacchia-Schisma) also hang out.  

Both Tim and Thalia question if their college friendships are worth maintaining as they mature and change. But the real question at hand is, will Tim and Thalia’s relationship outlast Tim's friendships with his college buddies? Playwright Alice Shen provides a bittersweet look at the stages of young romantic love. She packs a lot into a short play, perhaps a bit too much, creating a story that can get a bit murky.  

Marjorie Williamson’s CASH FLOW is a much different look at the banter between a man and a woman. Rebecca (Amie Bossi) and Roger (Mason Ramsey) find themselves alone in the kitchen of a luxury condominium. Both are escaping a party for different reasons. The situational humor in Williamson’s script is like working your way through a labyrinth, there are surprises around every corner right up until the end. It is a tricky little clever script that cannot be described further without spoiling the fun.  

Director Phil Wright paces both plays with a brisk hand. THE CONVERSATION ABOUT THE KEYS required more deliberate blocking due to the number of quick entrances and exits each of the characters makes. Joel Wilper's lighting design added some additional complexity as the action moved across Brad Slavik’s static set of the bar interior. As the players moved from bar to table, the lights followed illuminating only the spot where the action was. The actors were forced to maintain the rhythm of Wright’s complex blocking to ensure they stayed in the lighting hot spot. This is a heavy lift for Tom Kessinger who is on stage the entire time. Kessinger did a fine job of keeping up with both the blocking and the lighting design.  

Brad Slavik’s set designs maximized the space in the small black box theater. His minimalist neighborhood bar set for THE CONVERSATION ABOUT THE KEYS consisted of a bar and a high-top table with two barstools flanking the performance space. The back wall was lined with three rectangular panels with artwork to give the tavern a back wall. Most of the action, except for Tim's short monologues, happened at either the bar or the table.  

His design of the condo kitchen for CASH FLOW engulfed the actors into more of a confined space with a center island in the middle of the kitchen. Slavik created a room that afforded the director (Wright) the opportunity to block a snaking choreographed dance between the two characters that enhanced Williamson's sneaky script. 

The ensemble cast works nicely together to tell the two stories. Kessinger’s heavy lift as Tim was balanced by Camryn Ruhl’s strong work as his girlfriend Thalia. They each brought authenticity to their relationship. Mason Ramsey and Amie Bossi’s playful chatty banter in CASH FLOW provided some frivolity, but both stumbled a few times with Williamson’s scripted patter.  

First Run Theatre continues with their misson to give St. Louis audiences an opportunity to see new works that have not been staged before. Their production of Alice Shen and Marjorie Williamson’s new plays will continue at the Kranzberg Black Box through August 11, 2024. Click the link below for tickets.  

PHOTO CREDIT: John C. Lamb

To post a comment, you must register and login.