Gentrifusion 
reviewed by Jody Christopherson

Walking toward the subway at 12:45pm in my Crown Heights neighborhood on the way to Red Fern Theatre Co’s production of Gentrifusion, a dude on the street offered to personally gentrify me, intimately and specifically. 

This made me angry (as it usually does) and I said a few things, and he said a few things, followed by gestures while police looked on, very little got accomplished and I went on my way to a Sunday matinee in the theatre. I have no idea who this man is, I probably couldn’t recognize him on the street tomorrow it happened so quickly. My impulse was to shut him out, protect myself. But I live there, not separate from him or our neighborhood.

At these intersections of interaction are the difficult places we have the opportunity to listen . . . even change. This is what theatre, unlike life can do for us, allow us a context in which to observe as we explore deeply personal issues. Gentrifusion is such a experience- 6 skilled writers (Jon Kern, Crystal Skillman, Michael John Garces, Joshua Conkel, Carla Ching, Janine Nabers) create realistic scenarios in which many perspectives exist and can be given equal weight, displaying destructive and constructive interconnectedness without sentimentality or safety.

Here’s a brief synopsis of the work:

Michael John Garces’ ghost story inhabited- 3 inhabitants (Molly Caden, Gio Perez, Michael Schantz) of haunted building witness their presence becoming a part of a buildings history, playing on fear of the past and the way the present informs the future. 

Crystal Skillman’s Crawl,- two brothers (Sheldon Best and Nathan Hinton) selling their Crown Heights family home after their real estate broker father passes away, look to move towards something better. A hilariously heart breaking search for home, based on a true story from a Crown Heights broker.

Joshua Conkel’s Robert Mapplethorpe Doesn’t Live Here Anymore- Andre St. Claire Thompson plays a acerbic vulnerable and gorgeous pre-op transvestite opposite Devin Norik’s adopted chinese baby toting affluent gay doctor, broaching the changing class scape between “queer people and gay people” in a gentrifying chelsea neighborhood losing and regaining it’s fierce authenticity. 

Janine Naber’s ominous play (2)11 is rife with stand out performances from Andrea Day as a young recently divorced mother ( ex-park slope dweller) who is held up at gun point with her newborn in a baby bjorn and Federico Trigo the police officer who interviews her and escorts her home (to his old and her new neighborhood, 11211).

Jon Kern’s Ours is the Future, Ours is the Past- couple, Lucy (Megan Tusing) and Max (Eugene Oh) relocate to 11211, their apartment is robbed. A violent and ultimately honest interaction ensues with local mechanic (Salvador Chevez) as they break the cycle of violence and separateness. 

Carla Ching’s First of the Month- with the talented trio- Rajesh Bose, Wayne T. Carr and Tiffany Villarin- everybody broke in broke neighborhoods, even people who seem like they have cash don’t. Most of us who have the money to live here without personal wealth have a few jobs and are lucky to be scrimping by while sharing a place with room mates. We really need each other to survive hard times. 

Would be truly exciting to see this is a collection of work travel into the communities represented; crown heights, chelsea, etc encouraging people who regularly attend theater and those who do not regularly attend to experience the piece together.

Gentrifusion: : an installation of new work

Playwrights include: Carla Ching, Joshua Conkel, Michael John Garcés, Jon Kern, Janine Nabers and Crystal Skillman

Directors include: John Giampietro, Colette Robert, and Moritz von Stuelpnagel

Artistic Producers: Andrea Day and Kel Haney

Executive Artistic Director: Melanie Moyer Williams

Full Cast List in Alphabetical Order:
Sheldon Best *, Rajesh Bose *, Tim Cain *, Molly Carden, Wayne T. Carr *, Salvadore Chevez, Gilbert Cruz *, Andrea Day, Nathan Hinton *, Devin Norik *, Eugene Oh, Gio Perez*, Casey Robinson, Michael Schantz, André St. Clair Thompson, Federico Trigo *, Megan Tusing, Tai Verley, and Tiffany Villarin

January 27 - February 13, 2011
The LABA Theatre At The 14th Street Y
344 East 14th Street between First and Second Avenues
4/5/6/N/R/Q to Union Square; L to First Avenue

Thursdays at 8 p.m. 
Fridays at 8 p.m. 
Saturdays at 8 p.m. 
Sundays at 3 p.m. (Super Bowl Sunday, February 6 at 2pm)

Additional performance on Monday, February 7 at 7pm.

Tickets are $25 and are now available online atwww.theatermania.com or by calling 866.811.4111. Tickets may also be purchased in-person at the theater box office ½ hour prior to the performance.

Running Time: 120 minutes (with intermission)

BWW Reviews: GENTRIFUSION - Stoop to Conquer
by Duncan Pflaster
With Gentrifusion: an installation of new work, Red Fern Theater Company continues its community-conscious theatre work with six new plays by New York writers on the theme of gentrification. The elderly Jewish couple next to me were debating all evening what the word actually means (without much help from the program, which talks about it but never defines it); so, "gentrification" means the restoration of run-down urban areas by the middle class, resulting in the displacement of low-income residents.

Red Fern commissioned six playwrights- Jon Kern, Carla Ching, Joshua Conkel, Michael John Garcés, Janine Nabers, and Crystal Skillman- to write short plays addressing the topic, and produced them with their usual high-quality style.

The first play, Jon Kern's Ours is the Future, Ours is the Past, directed by John Giampietro, is a tribute to the style of Thornton Wilder, but in Brooklyn. The Student (Molly Carden), stands in as a Stage Manager, telling us about the personal lives of Mr. Douglas (Tim Cain) and Rogelio (Salvador Chevez), who run a failing auto body shop, and Max (Eugene Oh) and Lucy (Megan Tusing), a young couple who've just moved into a walk-up next door. When Max and Lucy's apartment is broken into, accusations fly. The stylization is quite effective in delving into the characters backstory, to let the audience see all sides of the characters' lives.

First of the Month, by Carla Ching, directed by Moritz von Stuelpnagel, is a sweet piece about subletting; Jakob (Wayne T. Carr) and Sam (Rajesh Bose) are moving out, while Jakob's co-worker Muriel (Tiffany Villarin) is moving in. Unfortunately Sam's still hungover, and Jakob picked up another shift at the bar, so the packing isn't done yet.  A sweet piece about hipsters, with a very funny turn by Bose.

Robert Mapplethorpe Doesn't Live Here Anymore, by Joshua Conkel, directed by Moritz von Stuelpnagel, is a hilarious and riveting piece set in the gay ghetto of Christopher Street, with a confrontation between a homeless drag queen (André St. Clair Thompson) and an upwardly mobile Gay doctor (Devin Norik) with a husband and a baby. The script tackles the not-often discussed conflict between "Queer" and "Gay" men. Unusual and consistently surprising, it's a fantastic tour de force for the two actors, and is a highlight of the evening.

After intermission was inhabited, by Michael John Garcés, directed by John Giampietro. This is a supernatural piece, with blu (Molly Carden) and galvez (Gio Perez) being haunted by ghosts of the previous owners of blu's new apartment, as well as by blu's ex-boyfriend spider (Michael Schantz). The actors handle the rapid-fire and stuttering dialogue with aplomb, making their terror very real.

Next was (2)11 by Janine Nabers, directed by Colette Robert, which illustrates the conflict some police officers having patrolling a neighborhood where they have familial roots. Sara (Andrea Day), a white woman with a baby, was harassed on the street, and she doesn't get much help at the police station from black officer Riz (Tai Verley), though "good cop" Dario (Casey Robinson) takes pity on her and drives her home, only to reveal to the audience that street punk Ernesto (Federico Trigo) is actually his brother. Their father Jorge (Gilbert Cruz) also makes an appearance. The play sets up some great characters and tension, but then doesn't do much with them.

And finally was Crawl by Crystal Skillman, directed by Colette Robert. A lovely two-hander about two black brothers, one of whom is about to sell their childhood Brooklyn home. Alex (Nathan Hinton) is ready to be rid of it, while Ty (Sheldon Best) still has fond memories of the place. Touching, and at times very funny (especially in a discussion of the movieAvatar).

Katherine Akiko Day's scenic and costume design is quite impressive; a realistic front stoop of a dilapidated brownstone serves as background for all the plays. Colin J. Whitely's sound design is a potent mix of city sounds. Marie Yokoyama's lighting is evocative of many different moods. Between-scene projections by photojournalist Dennis W. Ho illuminate the real-life settings of the scenes to come.

Gentrifusion not only provides a wonderfully multi-racial and talented cast, and a great evening of theatre, but each of the plays is paired with a philanthropy (all of which Red Fern has worked with before on previous projects). If you like provocative new urban theatre, this is not to be missed.

Gentrifusion: an installation of new work
January 27 - February 13, 2011
The LABA Theatre At The 14th Street Y
344 East 14th Street between First and Second Avenues
4/5/6/N/R/Q to Union Square; L to First Avenue

Thursdays at 8 p.m. 
Fridays at 8 p.m. 
Saturdays at 8 p.m. 
Sundays at 3 p.m. (Super Bowl Sunday, February 6 at 2pm)

Additional performance on Monday, February 7 at 7pm.

Tickets are $25 and are now available online at www.theatermania.com or by calling 866.811.4111. Tickets may also be purchased in-person at the theater box office ½ hour prior to the performance.

Running Time: 120 minutes (with intermission)

www.RedFernTheatre.Org

Photo Credit: Jordan Popalis

1. Andre St. Clair Thompson and Devin Norik in "Robert Mapplethorpe Doesn't Live Here Anymore".
2. Nathan Hinton and Sheldon Best in "Crawl". 

Gentrifusion
nytheatre.com review
Rachel Merrill Moss · January 28, 2011
Pictured: Nathan Hinton and Sheldon Best
 in a scene from Gentrifusion (photo © Jordan Popalis)To many, May 1st each year lives in infamy as the one sweaty, frenzied day of moving that signifies a fresh start. But vacating is no such thing for so many across the city: forced moving and displacement are the harsh realities of gentrification. The Red Fern Theatre Company has gathered six playwrights to showcase pieces delving into the g-word, presented as Gentrifusion: an installation of new work, now playing at LABA Theatre.

With six playwrights and three directors at the helm, and less installation than installments on a theme, Gentrifusion explores the ongoing gentrification throughout New York's boroughs. Though disparate in content, dialogue, and character, the plays appropriately all touch on overlapping issues of displacement and disavowal versus ownership of the past.

Much like the boroughs, each of the six pieces has its own rhythm and flavor. The evening covers Brooklyn, the Bronx, Harlem, the Lower East Side, and the West Village, all offering a sampling of the types of previous tenants who occupied the areas but have now been forced out. Ranging from the turn of the last century to the recent turn of the calendar, Gentrifusion briefly delivers six pinpricks of this oft-pejorative process. With an urbanized, colloquial take on Our Town, Jon Kern presents a Brooklyn neighborhood on the cusp of inevitable change, for better and for worse, in Ours Is the Future. Ours Is the Past. Bedroom-mates Sam and Jakob still can't make ends meet in Carla Ching's First of the Month. Transvestite Chantelle reminds privileged gay man Stephan of the struggle for acceptance and autonomy their neighborhood and orientation dealt with for so many years in Joshua Conkel's Robert Mapplethorpe Doesn't Live Here Anymore. Michael John Garcés explores the physical presence of history within each building's walls in his supernatural piece, inhabited. A single white female and her baby are held up at gunpoint, though it is her motives that are questioned in Janine Nabers's (2) 11. And rounding out the evening, Crystal Skillman deftly delivers two brothers' struggle to justify selling their familial home in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, in Crawl.

While displaying the disparaging truth that such "progress" does not come without suffering and sacrifice, the most compelling pieces of the evening are accompanied by hope. Conkel's Robert Mapplethorpe makes a case for the need for compassion when it comes to a shared neighborhood or personal history, that so often gets swept aside in the fray of the move to the top or an area "clean-up." Garcés's inhabited displays the inescapability of the past when it comes to the spaces we occupy in the city, and the beauty of embracing that now-shared history.

But the drearier side of gentrification that emerges from this composite indeed merits discussion as well. This dark side is one in which grown men must take roommates to be able to afford rent and hate crimes are trivialized. Where people who have lived in their neighborhood homes for an entire lifetime have nothing more tangible to hold on to than their emotional roots when priced out.

A life-size, decomposing brick walk-up exterior creates the backdrop for all the pieces. Prior to curtain, during intermission, and between the pieces, projections of quintessentially New York streets, people, and subway scenes play upon the face of the decrepit building. Scenic designer Katherine Akiko Day has smartly captured the very true sense of the all-seeing, all-knowing buildings throughout the city, which have sat idly by as the neighborhood changes around them. In a rather lovely way, Day has given this one façade a means to talk.

The three directors have wisely chosen a talented group for their vignettes. Standouts include Andre St. Clair Thompson as an incredibly charming tranny in the West Village and Nathan Hinton as an older brother ready to sever his Brooklyn roots.

Often times, living in New York is made possible by focusing on the microcosm of the life we've carved out for ourselves, so as not to be overwhelmed by her powerful diversity and boisterous vibrance. Gentrifusion is a proper reminder to be mindful of those who have come before, those who have sacrificed everything to stay here, and those who are as painfully passionate about the neighborhood and city (and that special bodega) as you are.

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To write a very short play is a challenging assignment. To create characters and a storyline with enough substance to make an impression, while at the same time making them recognizably real and interesting without taking Drama 101 shorcuts, is hard enough in two hours; accomplishing it in 20 minutes is that much more difficult. The Red Fern Theatre Company asked six playwrights each to write a short play about gentrification, a subject near, if not dear, to the hearts of so many New Yorkers. The six tried a variety of approaches; some work, some don't.

The biggest problems come when writers smash characters with disparate backgrounds together and force them to interact in ways that seem wholly artificial in order to get the emotional action going. This dooms Jon Kern's Ours Is the Future. Ours Is the Past, in which the apartment of a yuppie couple in a "transitioning" neighborhood has been broken into and the husband suspects two mechanics who work in a neighboring garage of knowing something about it. These two likable men, on the verge of losing their garage to high rents, have been bantering about whether the hedgehogs or baby seals they've seen on TV are cuter; but the yuppie husband, blinded by prejudice and fear, barges in and accuses them of involvement in the burglary, acting as if he really knows them. The wife comes by later to apologize but, bizarrely, opens up emotionally. It makes zero sense.

The same problem ruins Janine Nabers' (2) 11. Mugged by local street thugs, a young white woman with a baby gets the runaround at the police station, but one sympathetic cop bonds with her. This cop bears so little resemblance to real New York City policemen that I wondered whether the playwright has ever met one. "Why have you been so nice to me?" the victim asks. "'Cause no one else around here will," he replies with mild empathy. Sorry, no; by and large, our police are helpful and professional, but they don't resemble this guy in the least. A surprise ending isn't enough to rescue the play.

Carla Ching's First of the Month fares better, mostly because its three characters are more colorful and interesting. It, too, ends up relying on a sudden bond between two people who've never met before, but that's less bothersome here because these young protagonists, charged up by the emotions of moving day, are actually recognizable New York types we can imagine getting it on in conversation.

Most colorful of all, and funny, is Joshua Conkel's Robert Mapplethorpe Doesn't Live Here Anymore, which frames gentrification as a matter of gay vs. queer; excellent performances by Devin Norik as a gay yuppie with a baby and Andrée St. Clair Thompson as a homeless, transgendered heroin addict who find they have more in common than they thought help make the play a compact delight.

Crystal Skillman's Crawl brings together two estranged brothers to argue over the sale of their childhood Brooklyn home; the playwright skilfully reveals their characters and backgrounds in a satisfying way. Taking the most liberty with the theme is Michael John Garcés, who spins a manic haunted-house tale that seems—though its stichomythic dialogue is a bit hard to follow—to borrow its twist from the movie The Others but has a scare-tastic time getting there.

Gentrifusion, presented by the Red Fern Theatre Company, runs through Feb. 13 at the LABA Theatre at the 14th Street Y, New York.

Photos by Jordan Popalis. 1) Nathan Hinton and Sheldon Best in Crawl. 2) André St. Clair Thompson and Devin Norik in Robert Mapplethorpe Doesn't Live Here Anymore.

Arts
Spare Times for Jan. 28-Feb. 3
By ANNE MANCUSO
Published: January 27, 2011
Around Town

‘Gentrifusion’ (through Feb. 13) The positive and negative outcomes of gentrification in New York are explored in “Gentrifusion,” a collection of short plays presented by the Red Fern Theater Company. Performances are Thursdays through Saturdays at 8 p.m.; Sundays at 3 p.m. (on Feb. 6, the show is at 2 p.m.); there is an additional performance on Feb. 7 at 7 p.m. LABA Theater at the 14th Street Y, 344 East 14th Street, Manhattan , (866) 811-4111, redferntheatre.org; $25.

Joshua Conkel and Robert Mapplethorpe...Gentrifusion

RED FERN THEATRE COMPANY
Proudly Presents 

GENTRIFUSION
An installation on 
New York's dynamic cultural shifts

LIMITED ENGAGEMENT
JANUARY 27 – FEBRUARY 13, 2011
THE LABA THEATRE AT THE 14TH STREET Y

In GENTRIFUSION, playwrights Carla Ching, Joshua Conkel , Michael John Garcés, Jon Kern, Janine Nabers and Crystal Skillman, explore the different truths surrounding the gentrification of New York’s neighborhoods. The playwrights were charged with breaking down the cliched idea of "gentrification".  

Their pieces dig deeper to address the ways that change both improves and diminishes a community.  All residents are given voice in this series, ultimately discovering that both long time residents and the new crop of gentrifiers benefit and suffer in different measures and different ways.

Joshua Conkel's short play is , 
Robert Mapplethorpe 
Doesn't Live Here Anymore

Is the "gay ghetto" dead? Some queens just can't agree on anything.

According to Josh, "My piece is about a war of words between a trans street person and a well-to-do gay man whose just adopted a baby. It's about assimilation vs identity within the gay community and the death of "gay ghettos" due to gentrification."

Tickets are $25 and are now available online at Theater Mania  or by calling 866.811.4111. Tickets may also be purchased in-person at the theater box office ½ hour prior to the performance.

 LABA Theatre at the 14th Street Y
 344 East 14th Street between First and Second Avenues
 4/5/6/N/R/Q to Union Square; L to First Avenue