LIKE A LADY Teaches Life Lessons: We Have The Power Of Hitting The Reset Button To Change Our Lives For Good

By Kristopher Karcher

A few days ago on the N train during my daily commute between Manhattan and Queens, I met a woman in her late 50s. She hopped on the train with her parents beaming in a graduation cap and gown. She announced to the car that she just completed her associate’s degree in criminal justice. After 25 years as a correctional officer, she decided she needed a change. She went back to school so she could move up the latter in her career. The woman got many pats on the back and a few “congratulations” (including one from me). One woman sitting across from her who was currently working in criminal justice gave her some advice on working in the field. I had to get off a few stops later, but I didn’t stop smiling all day after that encounter.

As I reach the age of adulthood, I see that many of the people who had a hand in raising me are now making efforts to make some sort of change in their life. Two of my aunts are in the middle of downsizing and one is completely changing the direction of her occupation. My mother is currently putting herself back on the job market to start a whole new career.  Change at any age is difficult, but that’s the beauty of life. Every day we wake up with the ability to hit the reset button. Although I cannot understand what it is like to try to start over at that age, I know that it takes courage to pick yourself out of a rut and try something new.

Jorge Franco’s Like a Lady introduces Orlene and Alexander, two human beings on completely different paths who meet at a figurative and literal crossroads, a London Tube station. Alexander, a young man struggling with his new career is introduced to Orlene, a middle aged homeless woman, after she saves him from getting hit by an oncoming train. She gives him a second chance. Alexander has hit rock bottom. He is doing a pretty poor job at work, something he thought he would be amazing at, and he feels so isolated. Many people who suffer from depression feel like they cannot communicate with the outside world, but in Alexander’s case, that’s literally the problem. He’s living and working in France without ever learning a lick of French. There’s no one at work he can talk to, he can’t communicate with the locals, and the one thing he felt he was truly good at is blowing up in his face. It’s enough to put anyone into a slump. So what do you do when you’re in a slump? You get drunk. You almost fall onto train tracks, and some homeless woman saves you.

At rock bottom, you’ve got a choice to make: you either stay there, or you pick yourself up and change whatever in your life got you to that point. Orlene gave Alexander a second chance to pick himself up and for the next half hour, teaches him many life lessons. We can’t all have a guardian angel, but I think we can all offer ourselves the opportunity to switch the direction our life is heading at any point. Putting aside financial and family obligations, we as humans are limitless. We are not ever really stuck, we just oppress ourselves. Today I challenge each and every one of you to look at your life and find something you want to change and do it. What would you like to change? Reply below or @RiantTheatre, #LikeALady #ResetButtonChangesLives #EveryDayNewBeginnings #StrawberryOneActFestival

LIKE A LADY will be performed in the Riant Theatre's Strawberry One-Act Festival on Saturday, August 23, 2014 at 1pm at the Theatre at St. Clement's, 423 West 46th Street, NYC. For tickets go to
www.therianttheatre.com

Listen to an interview with Jorge Franco IV, playwright of LIKE A LADY on THE VINE, featuring host Kristopher Karcher.

From NBC’s RESURRECTION, the Novel, ROOM to the play, STRANGER WITH A GUN: What’s Love Got To Do With It?

By Catherine Daigle

It’s nearly impossible to avoid hearing about the crime and heartbreak plaguing the world around us. Newscasters speak of murders and war and kidnapping every time they’re on air, Twitter keeps us up to date with tragedies trending around the world, and more. This generation is deeply involved in the traumas of our day, constantly trying to take steps toward a more peaceful world.

In particular, abduction has a recurring presence on the news. We’re always learning of cases such as that of Carlina White and discussing the importance of trauma and loss through conversation and common culture, resulting in books such as Room by Emma Donoghue and NBC’s Resurrection.

But here’s an important question: could these terrible abductions be forgiven and justified if we truly understood the individual motivations for them? Can they be forgiven if we knew of the criminal’s traumatic past?

Carlina White was only 19 days old when she disappeared from her crib in a hospital in Harlem. 23 years later it came to light that Ann Pettway, a woman emotionally wrecked by multiple miscarriages, had kidnapped Carlina and raised her as her own. Can she be forgiven because we sympathize with her previous trauma?

In Room by Emma Donoghue, a child narrates a story of captivity. He and his mother are locked in a small room with no access to the outside world. Readers never learn details about their tormenter, Old Nick, and his past and motivations, but if they did, could he potentially be sympathized with in any capacity?

Stranger with a Gun by Joseph Lizardi, a play selected for the Riant Theatre’s Strawberry One-Act Festival, confronts these fascinating questions. James, a man in his 60s haunted by distant memories, kidnaps a woman, Jenny, at gunpoint, hoping just to talk to her and resolve his haunts. Jenny discovers his motive and forgives his threats, ultimately giving him the closure to continue with his life.

TV shows like NBC’s Resurrection explore the value of closure. When people appear to come back from the dead in a small town in Missouri, the citizens have a hard time wrapping their heads around the miracles. They slowly start to embrace the opportunity given, asking questions and finding conclusions that were previously unattainable. It shows the value of confronting old memories.

Lizardi’s play meets all these ideas head on and encourages us to truly question whether or not abductees and criminals such as James deserve any sympathy. Everything that happens to a person influences their developing identity, so if we examined people’s life paths, would we find reasons to be empathetic towards them even in their darkest hours?

Let us know what you think by commenting below or tweeting us at @rianttheatre.

STRANGER WITH A GUN by Joseph Lizardi, will be performed in the Riant Theatre’s Strawberry One-Act Festival on Sunday, August 24, 2014 at 4pm at the Theatre at St. Clement’s, 423 West 46^th Street, NYC.  For tickets go to www.therianttheatre.com

What THE NORMAL HEART, MOTHERS AND SONS, and Afrika Brown’s THE OUTING all have in common.

By Kristopher Karcher

What began as just an issue with the homosexual community, HIV/AIDS is now an epidemic that exists in every part of the globe in every sexual orientation, race, gender, and culture.  Not only is HIV/AIDS an incredibly important topic to have in the media, but very relevant thanks to the recent airing of The Normal Heart on HBO. The new adaption of the 1985 play by Larry Kramer, sheds light on the earliest cases of HIV/AIDS in the gay community. A silent killer, no one really knew what it was; just that it was mainly in the homosexual community. Some guessed it was sexually transmitted, but many thought you could get it just in the air. After a while, the disease was nicknamed the “gay cancer.” Gays at the time had just found their sexual freedom, and they were now losing it to some invisible force picking them off one by one. The epidemic made them afraid of the government, the medical system, and each other.

The 1980's were a terrifying time for the community.  And some are still scarred.  Recently I saw TONY Nominated Mothers and Sons, a beautiful play by acclaimed playwright, Terrence McNally.  The story follows a mother (Katherine) surprising her late son's (Andre) old lover (Cal) with a visit.  Cal now has a husband and kids, but is still obviously haunted with thoughts of his old partner, who died of AIDS.  Though many themes (such as LGBT acceptance) run rampant through the play, I did not expect McNally to touch on HIV/AIDS when I sat down in that theatre.  McNally examines 3 different generations and how they dealt-or didn't deal with-the AIDS crisis.  Katherine, of whom rejected her son's sexuality and didn't know how to deal; Andre, who was older and experienced the crisis of the 80's; and Cal, who was younger and didn't really experience the crisis until the 90's, when people had an idea of what they were facing.  The different experiences each of the three characters faced beautifully defines different generations dealing with the disease.

THE OUTING, like many plays in the LGBTQ genre, deals with the AIDS epidemic, but on a more modern timeline, somewhere around the late 90s early 2000s.  Salome, one of Jizelle's best friends, is infected by her ex, who left her and told her by writing it on her bedroom wall.  Salome announces she's going to retire for a bit to take care of her health, and then, theoretically, she's going to be okay.  At the time the play takes place, AIDS is no longer a death sentence, but it still blacklists a person.  There is still that rejection.  But in her community, Salome finds acceptance and support.  New plays about HIV/AIDS are just as important as the old ones, because they are documenting the experiences we have with the disease now as well as further educating those who know too little about the epidemic. 

In today's world there are documented cases of patients being cured of this disease.  Though nothing is set in stone and there is no set vaccination, we are progressing in ridding of this plague.  Unfortunately, not enough people are talking about this.  If there was a vaccine that cured cancer, it would make world headlines for a month.  Why do you think so many people talk so little of the HIV/AIDS crisis?  Yes, President Kennedy ignored using the word like Voldemort for quite some time, but it's 2014, why is this still an issue?  AIDS will continue to be a problem until it's just as heavily funded as breast cancer or leukemia.  So why don't people care?  Is it because it's primarily an STD or attained by drug use?  Do you think that's fair?  Comment below or @RiantTheatre.

THE OUTING by Afrika Brown will be performed in the Riant Theatre's Strawberry One-Act Festival in Series E on August 24th at 2pm at the Theatre at St. Clement's, 423 West 46th Street, NYC.  For tickets go to www.therianttheatre.com