Review: THE NICETIES at CATF

Featuring a tour de force performance from its' two female stars, cutting dialogue and presenting the strongest of both social questions and CATF performances this summer, The Niceties is a show not to be missed.

A modern day intimate drama. The Niceties occurs in the office of an American History professor at an unnamed elite Northeastern liberal university. Professor Janine is reviewing a paper with a promising young student, Zoe. The mundane office hours visit soon turns into a high stakes game of victor and victim as the student questions the professor on the issue of race in both history and present day society and takes a drastic course of action when Zoe reveals she plans to publish their private conversation on social media.

As the college professor Janine, Robin Walsh gives an incredibly nuanced and relatable performance. Walsh has mastered the more mature mannerisms and her educated, though unintentional, snobbery is evident in most of her delivery and stage presence. Walsh has the audience support throughout most of Act I, until a dramatic twist, and her ease at interactions with Margaret Ivey as Zoe is natural.

As an African American college student there to eventually provoke the professor during office hours, Margaret Ivey gives an equally standout performance in her complicated role as Zoe. Ivey begins as an eager, hardworking student who suddenly reveals a very passionate and aggressive nature in regard to her support of social justice and racial equality. Ivey has the more difficult job of keeping an audience's sympathy and support in the more unlikeable role of the pair as the character sometimes comes off as an entitled or whiny millennial while campaigning for her causes. Ivey shows an impressive versatility in her character shift from Act I to Act II.

Walsh and Ivey share an exceptional chemistry throughout the show. Their scenes together are electric onstage, crackling with the generational gap conflict and strained racial relation conflict at the heart of the drama. Both actresses have incredible comedic timing and deliver rapid fire arguments and deadpan witty delivery on many one-liners or sly humorous references.

Brought to life by the exceptional performances is the true star of the show, a phenomenal script by Eleanor Burgess. Similar to Mamet's Oleanna, with the conflict focusing on racial tensions this time as opposed to sexual, Burgess' script is astounding, with a constantly shifting balance of power between teacher and student. The conflicts of modern day technology in education and the differences in generational responses to events cleverly set the stage for the hot button issue of debate onstage; the under-representation of African-Americans and other ethnicity groups in modern day American History courses, and the systematic underlying racism present in higher education opportunities in the present day.

In a play focusing on language and debate (with multiple sparkling grammar and language jokes to satisfy the hardcore grammar nerds in the audience), the differences in language between Janine and Zoe serve to highlight not only their character differences, but enormous generational gap and their polar opposite personalities as well. The physicality of both actresses nicely contrasts the heightened focus on language. As one female or the other gains the upper hand throughout the office visits, their physical stances often expand or shrink to make it absolutely clear where the power balance is shifting next.

The only imperfection in the play is the stark shift in tension from Act I to Act II. Extremely similar to the Act I Finale of Sondheim's masterpiece Into the Woods, which nicely wraps up the first act story line and left original audiences bewildered that an Act II even existed, the second act of The Niceties almost seems unnecessary. After ending Act I on a powerful dramatic punch, Act II never seems to meet the same level of dramatic intensity as Act I. While it almost serves as a nice footnote to find out what happens to the two ladies in the aftermath of the shocking Act I cliffhanger, the extra time spent on the second office visit never reaches the same crescendo as the arguments and drama in Act I.

The Niceties continues to run as one of the six plays in rotating repertory at the Contemporary American Theater Festival. The Niceties performances occur in CCA 112 on the campus of Shepherd University in Shepherdstown, WV. The final performance occurs July 30 at 12:00 PM. For more information about the show schedule, the 2017 season or to order tickets, please visit www.catf.org.

Photo Credit: CATF Media Gallery

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