It's a morning-after nightmare that many sexual adventurers know only too well. Alcohol-fueled flirtation leads to a night of crazy sex. As night gives way to day, the details of that wild tumble turn fuzzy as the world's worst hangover gets deadlier by the second. You want to be alone, just you and your misery. But there in your space, snoring in your bed or taking a shower or drinking your coffee, is that other human reminder of just how impulsively insane you were. Thus begins Buck Fever, a deliberately weird but undeniably intriguing first play by Juan C. Sanchez. Developed as part of the Downstage Miami program and in a workshop at New York's terraNOVA Collective, the script is finally getting its fully produced world premiere as the leadoff production of The Promethean Theatre's second season. As with Promethean's previous shows, Buck Fever is clearly the work of theater pros from South Florida's ever-deepening talent pool, beginning with director Margaret M. Ledford, who guides her strong four-person cast through a drama that juggles black humor, agonized secrets and sexuality coupled with violence. The design team -- including Morgan L. Little, creator of the soul-sapping Miami efficiency apartment; M. Tate Tenorio, whose gracefully colored lighting makes a crummy bathroom look almost beautiful; costume designer Ananda Keator, who dresses a key character in a baby-pink tank top adorned with a black skull and crossbones, commenting on her internal struggle through clothing -- does first-rate work. So do the actors, especially Michaela Cronan as Mary Jen, a brand-new 21-year-old who drinks too much, peppers her conversation with f-bombs and now must rid herself of the smothering near-stranger in her apartment. The guy is Gabriel (David Perez-Ribada), who has watched -- stalked? -- Mary Jen for most of the two weeks they've worked together at a restaurant. Though his very presence is making her uneasy, there's more. He has availed himself of her already-used towel and toothbrush while she's out at the market. He lets her know that he has been celibate for five years, ever since his college girlfriend died in an awful accident as he stood helplessly by her side. And he makes it clear that, despite her ongoing love-hate relationship with a guy 30 years her senior, Gabriel now considers Mary Jen his girl. Uh-oh. Things get way dicier when Mary Jen's mom Estelle (Pamela Roza) and stepfather Aaron (Pete Rogan) pay a surprise visit to celebrate her birthday. They have driven to Miami -- all the way from South Dakota -- and have no intention of going home empty-handed. But Gabriel, both protective and threatening, has no intention of letting them make off with his beloved. Sanchez, who sometimes overreaches for his imagery -- particularly in the play's ending -- has written a very watchable but strange play, one that tries delving into Harold Pinter territory for its jolts of mystery. Mama displays both tenderness and a judgmental condescension toward her daughter, who has inherited or mimicked Estelle's indulgence in vulgar, violent outbursts. Her lengthy retreat into Mary Jen's bathroom -- to smoke, chug gin, listen, rant, ignore -- symbolizes the blind eye she has long turned toward the abusive violence in her own home. The other invaders -- Aaron, with a domineering personality to match his physical heft; Gabriel, with his own not-to-be-denied demands and hint of lethal potential -- could also slip easily into a Pinter play. But Sanchez's fullest, most engaging character also seems the most real. Thanks in large part to Cronan's easy yet edgy performance, one that hurtles from rage to bossiness to damaged vulnerability, Mary Jen moves the play from an absurdist treatment of an important subject into an experience that feels heart- breakingly genuine. © 2005 Herald.com and wire service sources. All Rights Reserved. http://www.miami.com |
| South Florida Sun-Sentinel Miami playwright's debut shines in Buck Fever BY BILL HIRSCHMAN October 11, 2005
against emotional vulnerability. Yet despite crippling demons within and a treacherous world without, they courageously strive to make connections that will fulfill their yearning. Such is the case for a Miami waitress and dishwasher in this affecting drama at the Promethean Theatre, both a world premiere and the debut for promising Miami playwright Juan C. Sanchez. Hangover-afflicted Mary Jen (Michaela Cronan) is regretting that she brought home co-worker Gabriel (David Perez-Ribada) to spend the night -- an attempt to erase an affair gone sour. He is a puppy dog in love, and even in her vodka-anesthetized state this morning, she is terrified to realize he wants more than a one-night coupling. For half the play, the 21st century courtship stumbles forward as Mary Jen parries Gabriel's entreaties with rue-tinged humor and he responds with light banter.Gabriel inquires solicitously, "Are we all right about last night?" She shoots back with wry fatalism, "We can't turn back time." Revelations tumble out as the play takes several left turns in the second half. The catalyst is the surprise visit of Mary Jen's provincial parents from South Dakota (Pamela Roza and Pete Rogan), whose own secrets shift the action into harrowing territory. Sanchez's earnestness and the production's passionate execution successfully propel the play over the schematic ruts -- maneuverings that seem a little too mechanical and predictable. The playwright skillfully creates believably prosaic banter for his Gen X couple and their occasional lyrical reveries. But his real achievement is a compassionate depiction of damaged people struggling to escape the weight of their baggage. Margaret M. Ledford's deft direction elicits strong performances from her adept cast, charting the herky-jerky mating dance and illustrating the resonances between the two couples. She and her team have sprinkled grace notes throughout, such as super-slob Mary Jen stirring her coffee with the closest item she can find -- a steak knife .Cronan in particular excels in portraying a woman who deals with people as if she expects to step on a land mine at any moment. The sole miscue is that Mary Jen's parents initially seem like outright cartoons rather than a dysfunctional Stepford couple. Buck Fever is another success for this young company that refuses to accept theater is a dying art meant solely for Boomers and seniors. Their work speaks directly to sensibilities of audiences in their 20s and 30s wise enough to take a night off from the multiplex. Bill Hirschman can be reached at 954-356-4513 or bhirschman@sun-sentinel.com. |
| WDNA 88.9 FM BY MARK HAYES October 13, 2005 The Promethean Theatre began its second season last weekend with the world-premiere of Buck Fever, written by Juan Sanchez. This dark, clever, and, well, perverted tale is an ambitious opener for the highly-regarded Prometheans, who established a reputation for daring material and tight ensemble acting with last year's Orange Flower Water and Desdemona. With Buck Fever, audiences will witness a company that is now confident in the talent it always had, and moving forward in its ability to bring something truly special to the stage. Without revealing too many of the secrets the plot has buried away, Buck Fever unfolds in the morning after a one-night stand between the crass, reckless waitress Mary Jen, played by Michaela Cronan, and her earnest pickup Gabriel, played by David Perez-Ribada. In Mary Jen's grungy Miami apartment, the two twentysomethings attempt to build some sort of friendship – maybe a relationship – out of their insecurities, suspicions, and hangovers. Both are hiding secrets about their respective pasts, and neither will quite come clean about the truth. Quite expectedly all the way from South Dakota, Mary Jen's mother Estelle, played by Pamela Roza, and stepfather Aaron, played by Pete Rogan, drop in to stir up some excitement, stir up the past, and stir up trouble. Rogan's performance as the arrogant, possessive, creepy stepfather is precise and appropriately understated. Pam Roza, who is a close personal friend of this reviewer, adroitly plays Estelle as a glamorous-but-battered dame who, in the end, will still fight for her daughter Mary Jen. And although all the performances are strong, the play is ably carried by Cronan's Mary Jen, who is charming, mercurial, and frustrating for her lover Gabriel, whom Perez-Ribada presents as well-intentioned guy whose moral compass can do little but spin in the presence of his new girlfriend. Director Margaret Ledford has done a superlative job in getting excellent individual performances from each of her actors, as well a wonderful piece of ensemble work. Technically, even on opening night, the show was flawless, all credit to Promethean producers Deborah Sherman and Beth McIntosh and their skilled crew. But in many ways the star of the show is the play itself, written by Juan Sanchez. Buck Fever, for a first play, demonstrates a sophisticated sense of figurative meaning – one that does not interfere with the basic development of the plot and the unveiling of character. Although Buck Fever could probably be trimmed in parts, in director Ledford's hands the play is paced swiftly and never loses its focus. In Sanchez's world, it seems, most of us are animals of one sort of another, struggling in for survival and gratification in ways that are sometimes beautiful, sometimes brutal. In Buck Fever, everybody's a freak, but Sanchez moves his characters forward with enough humor and intelligence that the audience will be well-caught before the real nastiness begins. What else is there to day? In its third production, the Promethean Theatre has arrived: original, bold, and full of talent. It is a company, so far, that shoots and does not miss. |
PASSION RUNS HIGH by Drury Lane
demons that feed them are gradually exposed. In this dynamic production, the cast is more than up the task of riding these tigers, and under the sharply paced direction of Margaret M. Ledford, we see the human side of waitress Mary Jen, well-played by Michela Cronan with the body of an athlete and the face of an angel, as she and co- worker Gabriel (David Perez–Ribada) recover from a night of sex and revelry. Perez-Ribada holds our attention throughout in a complex and difficult role. The work begins as a two-hander, like the plays "Beirut" or "Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune", but midway takes on fresh momentum as two visitors intrude with soul-searing results. Carbonell winner Pamela Roza plays Estelle with polished charm and underlying angst, and Pete Rogan plays Aaron with the keen enthusiasm of an experienced dissembler. The connections between the characters are brilliantly executed, and bring to vivid life the pretenses and posturings of four humans with hardly an ounce of real self-esteem among them. The acting alone should draw patrons to the theatre, but young playwright Juan C. Sanchez has given them a drama filled with sharp ripostes, the potential for violence, and moments of expressive poetry. He is a playwright to watch. Morgan L. Little has created a believable set - and -bathroom - that clearly establishes the priorities of Mary Jen The Promethean Theater can add "Buck Fever" to its list of triumphs, after the successes last year of "Orange Flower Water" and "Desdemona". This new producing troupe, founded by Deborah L. Sherman and Beth McIntosh, has garnered a well-earned reputation for interesting plays and accomplished actors. "Buck Fever" is at the Main Street Playhouse, 6766 Main Street, Miami Lakes, and runs through Oct. 30, Friday and Saturday at 8, Sunday at 2 and 7. Tickets are $20, seniors $10 and students $8, and reservations are at 786-317-7580. There is ample free parking, and several fine restaurants at a range of prices nearby. But the real treat is the rich fare offered onstage. Don’t miss it. Drury Lane writes frequently on the Arts in South Florida. |
| THE MIAMI HERALD CRITIC'S PICK | STAGE October 07, 2005 BY CHRISTINE DOLEN Booze and impulsiveness lead to a late-night coupling by co-workers in the world premiere of Juan C. Sanchez's Buck Fever, the season-opening production by the Promethean Theatre. Yet as Mary Jen and Gabriel (Michaela Cronan and David Perez-Ribada) discover when two surprise guests arrive, sometimes the afterglow is anything but glowing. The play runs through Oct. 30 at the Main Street Playhouse, 6766 Main St., Miami Lakes. Performances are 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, 2 and 7 p.m. Sunday (additional performance 3 p.m. Oct. 22). Tickets are $20 ($10 seniors, $8 students). Call 786-317-7580 for information or reservations. |
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| THE MIAMI HERALD THEATRE REVIEW BY CHRISTINE DOLEN October 11, 2005 'Fever' strange but catching A South Florida playwright reached into Pinter territory for a world premiere about a woman with a scary new boyfriend and worse parents. |
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