When My Cue Comes

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When My Cue Comes is a show written by the director B Carty, and cast members Aaron Moore, Gabriel Ethridge, Madeline Parks, Natalie DeBoer, and Reid Watson, with apologies to W. Shakespeare, who is listed as a collaborator. It is a short, thoroughly delightful production with excellent performances by the whole ensemble and some interesting interpretations of the characters being depicted.

Suppose for a moment you are an actor standing in the wings waiting for your cue to enter a scene, but the cue never comes. Unbeknownst to you, the director cut your character to shorten a long play. They considered your character unnecessary for the dramatic arc. Now, take a step into a fantasy world where the minor, ancillary roles in a Shakespearean drama are played by a select group who are transported from venue to venue through dimensional doors. One actor could play the same character in multiple productions of the same play in many different locales. Suddenly, the roles are being cut, and the actors are thrown into “the Waiting Room,” a liminal space they have never experienced before. What do they do? Panic!

The Stage Manager (Madeline Parks) for the transfers is busy working at her desk as the audience is getting settled. When the show begins in earnest, she calls out the character’s name who appears through a doorway. She hands them a cue sheet and then assigns them to various doors that lead to theaters where Shakespearian productions are taking place. It is a rapid-fire process when Reynaldo (Reid Watson), a minor character in Hamlet, is suddenly held because the call has been canceled. While he nervously awaits, other characters are still being assigned. Finally, he is sent to the Waiting Room, a place he has never been.

He is in a panic and disoriented. He has never been denied a cue sheet. As he tries to make sense of what is happening, the stage manager is still assigning other characters to shows when unexpectedly another character, Jacques de Boys (Aaron Moore), whose home show is As You Like It, and who gives the closing speech in the show, is sent to the Waiting Room. He meets Reynaldo, whom he does not know but knows who Hamlet is, having gone to school with him, or so he claims.

In the background, the Stage Manager is handing out more assignments, and then it happens again. This time, it is to the Boatswain (Gabriel Ethridge) from The Tempest. The Waiting Room is as disorienting for him as for the others. All three begin to feed on their panic and desperation when a fourth character shows up. It is The Messenger (Natalie DeBoer), who does not have a home show since The Messenger appears in many of the plays.

All of the characters are relatively minor characters in their home shows or, in the case of The Messenger, are only on stage for a brief time. These are the types of characters that will likely get trimmed when directors shorten some of the longer Shakespearean productions. This is not something that the characters are initially aware of early in their time in the Waiting Room.

Interestingly, not only the characters have been suffering the disorienting effect of cancellations, but the Stage Manager has as well. She has never dealt with the number of cancellations that have recently been occurring. Her default position has always been, “Everything is going to plan,” but it is clear that something else is going on, and even she is beginning to be concerned.

The pivotal character in the room is The Messenger. While Reynaldo, Jacques de Boys, and Boatswain are stuck in the memory of their home plays, The Messenger has a much broader perspective on the nature of the productions since they appear in so many different stories. This character’s interaction with the others establishes the show’s central theme, “What are we to do now?” The question has been an essential element in the disorientation of the other characters, and it is The Messenger who provides focus.

She suggests that perhaps the other actors are so invested in their characters that they define themselves in those terms. They see themselves in what they do rather than what they can be. She guides them to try to explore other possibilities, in a sense, different roles. It is a liberating experience.

The cast does a beautiful job interpreting their characters. Watson plays Reynaldo as an anxious, emotionally fragile person ready to fulfill their employer’s slightest request. Moore imbues Jacques de Boys with the haughty imperiousness of someone who feels his position is one of substance and importance, even if only for a brief moment on stage. Ethridge puts an interesting spin on his Boatswain, giving him a laid-back, almost California surfer vibe. It is not quite what one may expect from a character in a 17^th century play but the characterization provides an interesting contrast. Parks embodies the Stage Manager with a flat-affect, matter-of-fact efficiency as expected until she reveals an inner child excited about trying new ways of being. DeBoer gives The Messenger an energy and perspective that delivers the play’s central theme by showing the other characters and the audience that it is possible to escape the limitations of a static definition of self and explore the wonders of imagination.

When My Cue Comes is one of seven plays in the 4^th Annual Little Shakespeare Festival presented by FRIGID New York at UNDER St. Marks. The festival runs from August 1 to 17. It is an annual celebration of independent theatre and performance inspired by the Shakespearean canon. This year’s theme for theater companies is “Camaraderie and Community.” If you enjoy theater in general and Shakespearean drama in particular, you will do well to experience this festival.

When My Cue Comes (through August 17, 2024)

Frigid NYC

Little Shakespeare Festival 2024

Hamlet Isn’t Dead

Under St. Marks, 94 St. Marks Place, in Manhattan.

For tickets, visit https://www.frigid.nyc/events?s=&venue=&event_type=&season=LS24

Running time: 60 minutes without an intermission