Anjoli Santiago and Hasan Malik star in THE BOY WHO SEES, part of the Philadelphia Urban Theatre Festival running at the Adrienne.

Posted in: Community Theatre on September 28, 2011 at 9:23 pm

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Nova D Arts Collective Offers Intense Story for Urban Theatre Festival

Posted by Walter Bender

Anjoli Santiago and Hasan Malik star in THE BOY WHO SEES, part of the Philadelphia Urban Theatre Festival running at the Adrienne.

Nova D Arts Collective opened a very limited-run production, THE BOY WHO SEES on September 27th. This show is a very raw look at a young single mother with a blind 14-year old son.

Claire Peterson (Anjoli Santiago) is living in a home with her son, working as a waitress, and struggling to make ends meet. Her friend and would-be lover Frank (Langston Darby) assists her financially and helping her with her son, but cannot fully commit to her because he’s married with two children of his own.

Dr. Douglas (Bob Stineman) home schools and counsels James (Brett Gray), but may have ulterior motives in suggesting to Claire that she send James to his boarding school. Add to this David (Hasan Malik), Claire’s ex-boyfriend who may be James’ father, who appears after 14 years to ask Claire to leave her life and join him.

THE BOY WHO SEES is performed in one act, with several scenes depicting a passage of several weeks in time. Interspersed between some of these scenes are looks into the mind of James…recorded thoughts with the Sun/Son (Justin S. M Bryant) performing interpretive dance movements with the introspective James.

The performances in this production are all first-rate. None of the characters are saints, none total sinners, and the cast does a fine job of bringing out the character flaws in each person.There is no hero, no villain, no one to root for…a slice of real family drama. The interplay among all of the characters is very believable, and the emotion raw and exposed. Director Jesimiel R. Jenkins keeps the audience guessing as to what Claire may ultimately decide to do until the very end. The choreography by A. C. Gilmore in the introspective scenes is very good, enhancing the action in the “real” scenes.

THE BOY WHO SEES is part of the Philly Urban Theatre Festival, a three-week showing of predominantly African American theatre companies at the Adrienne Theatre, 2030 Sansom Street. Over the course of the festival, the works of fourteen different playwrights will be on display at the Adrienne, and two of the outstanding productions will receive $1000 awards. Tickets and information are available through http://www.putf.org. THE BOY WHO SEES closes September 28, 2011, but other productions run through October 9. Hopefully you will find the time to see this stark production, and others from this great addition to the Philadelphia theatre scene.

THE BOY WHO SEES
Playwright – Davon Williams
Director – Jemimiel R. Jenkins
Choreographer – A. C. Gilmore
September 27 & 28, 2011
Nova D Arts Collective
Philly Urban Theatre Festival
Adrienne Theatre
2030 Sansom Street
Philadelphia, PA
http://www.putf.org/

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Walter Bender

Walter Bender is a veteran of over 35 years performing all over the country. He attended Texas Lutheran University as a Theatre Arts and Vocal Performance major. While in college he toured much of the Southern and Western states with various acting and singing groups. He appeared briefly on radio in San Antonio and on TV in Miami while in college. Moving back to PA, he has performed in well over 100 amateur and professional theatrical productions, and directed dozens more throughout the Mid-Atlantic region. Among his favorite roles are Lt. Colonel Jessup (A Few Good Men), Daddy Warbucks (Annie), and most recently he was George in Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? Arguably his favorite theatrical memory was creating the role of Alan Frick in A Fast Train to Heaven for Bill Gottshall Productions. He is co-founder of Spring-Ford Community Theater, has served as Managing Director of 2 different theaters, Artistic Director of a third and President of another. He worked for the Delaware Valley Arts Institute, where he worked with many wonderful artists and instructors, culminating in being selected to facilitate a post-graduate course at St. Joseph’s University in Philadelphia. Currently he serves on the board of directors for dcp theatre as their Director of Corporate Communications.