The Audit & The American Dream

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Urban Stages conducted a Dynamic Duos playwriting competition for one-act, two-character stories covering any subject during their 2023-24 season. Eight plays out of over three hundred submissions were chosen for staged readings. Two were selected for a full production as part of the current season. Those shows, The Audit by Lynda Crawford and The American Dream by Juan Ramirez, Jr., opened on February 27 in a twin bill. They are both interesting stories told well with solid performances.

Crawford’s The Audit, directed by Leigh Selting, is listed as a comedy, but the presentation has more drama, although there are some humorous moments. It is a tale of an aging hippie songwriter, Sam (Joel Ripka), who is living a hand-to-mouth, somewhat chaotic lifestyle and is undergoing a tax audit by the IRS. It seems that Sam has been deducting his kitchen as a home office. The IRS agent is a young woman in her early 30s, Edie (Disnie Sebastien), who happens to be a military veteran of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Her opening scene reveals that she has a child, and the remainder of her family life is shown later.

The two characters share a period of uncomfortable conversation, with Sam trying to be friendly and open out of his nervousness about something governmental happening in his kitchen. Edie tries to be official and matter-of-fact as an IRS auditor. Each time Edie asks Sam for documentation, the fact that his record keeping is anything but meticulous is clear as he rummages in boxes and drawers for receipts and other documents. His disconnection with the formality of record keeping is meant to be funny, but it is only mildly humorous. When asked about his work, he shows what he does by playing various instruments and singing, which Ripka does skillfully.

When the discussion turns to more personal things, the emotional state of the characters becomes more clearly defined. Each reveals aspects of their personalities that have impacted their lives. Edie’s experiences in Iraq and Afghanistan have left her with emotional scars she works hard to hide. Sam’s struggles with the ups and downs of the music business are revealed. Ripka and Sebastien effectively embody their characters, and Ripka is solid from the start. His guitar playing and keyboard work are strong, as is his singing voice. Sebastien’s performance is tentative in the first third of the play. Still, she gains firm footing as the interactions between the two characters become more connected on a personal level.

Crawford’s writing and Selting’s direction touch on the core feelings of belonging, acceptance, and understanding. Ripka and Sebastien touch these things in a gentle, introspective way, leaving one satisfied with the resolution of the dramatic conflicts that were exposed. It is a play worth spending time with.

The other winning play of the Dynamic Duo competition is The American Dream by Juan Ramirez, Jr. He created a story drawn on the real-life experiences of people he has known and stories he has heard to bring to life a moment in the lives of two people, each looking for a resolution to their dream of a new and better life. It is an exploration of the high stakes involved in illegal immigration, from the emotional and ethical issues attached to it to the physical journey. “I wanted to write a play that was raw and unapologetic,” Ramirez explains, and as directed by Maria Mileaf, he achieves that goal.

The story opens with Corina (Libe Barer), a young woman in her 20s from Guatemala, being led into a bare room by Efron (played by the author), a smuggler of people who is favoring his right leg with a limp. The opening scene establishes who the characters are and the reason they are in this place. Efron is the guide, and Corina is the traveler. They start speaking in accented English but say that they will speak to each other in Spanish, although that is not what the audience hears. One of the issues with this particular device is that speaking English with an accent does not give the impression that the ensuing conversation is in Spanish. It would be better to continue to speak in accented English as if they were fluent in English. Barer speaks almost accent-free lines, so the illusion of speaking Spanish is lost. Ultimately, it doesn’t matter to the dramatic arc.

The situation at hand is a missing final payment for Corina to be released into the United States. It appears that her boyfriend has not made the final payment, and there are only 20 minutes left for him to pay, or there will be consequences. The tension the money issue creates reveals important details about the two characters. These revelations develop into what appears to be a mutual understanding of the things that have brought them to this moment. Without the payment, Efron is supposed to kill Corina and dispose of her body. One of the things impinging on Efron’s concern about carrying out the instruction is the thing that happened to him the last time he did not do what he was told, the reason for his limp.

Corina is better educated than Efron, and she uses her knowledge and speaking skills to manipulate Efron into giving her boyfriend more time to deliver the money. She skillfully raises issues that have increased the conflict Efron appears to be struggling with.

Ramirez gives a solid portrayal of a man in conflict over being tough and unfeeling while trying to hide his sympathy and concern for the people he is charged with guiding to the USA. Barer effectively inhabits her character as a strong, intelligent woman trying to manage a situation that is spinning out of control. The exchanges between the two characters reveal more about each other to the point where they discover they came from the same town in Guatemala and attended the same church. It is information that works to Corina’s advantage in the emotional and, ultimately, physical struggles that bring a surprising conclusion to this well-told tale.

The two shows use the same design team, and all of the elements work effectively in both shows. Benny Pitt’s scenic design uses only a change of props. Elena Vannoni’s costume design helps define the characters. Sinjin Reinhard’s lighting design guides the action and is a solid complement to David Margolin Lawson’s sound design, which is an important element in The Audit.

The Audit & The American Dream (through March 16, 2025)

Urban Stages Theater, 259 West 30^th Street, in Manhattan

For tickets, visit https://www.urbanstages.org/doublebill

Running time: two hours including one intermission