Kai Heath Archives - TheaterScene.net

Kai Heath

Mary Gets Hers

September 23, 2023

From the playing style, as directed by Josiah Davis, the play seems to be a spoof. Unfortunately, it is not funny though the actors cheerfully mug their way through Horwitz’s text as though they find it hilarious. Its Middle Ages protagonist Mary played by Haley Wong is so naïve and unsophisticated that it is difficult to believe her portrayal. Much of the dialogue is very repetitious and becomes tedious while the plot is so emaciated that it is a wonder that it takes 80 minutes of playing time. [more]

Amani

February 25, 2023

Denise Manning as Amani is totally believable as a 9-year-old who has had to grow up quickly without parents and her naiveté about love as she maneuvers through growing pains is touching. Her scenes with her father move from precocious to acutely heartfelt to ultimately switching roles when she has to lay down tough love right back at him. It is a performance layered with so many emotions all at once. Although the play is performed without an intermission, it is clearly broken up into three acts, with the second act culminating in a “I deserve to live” soliloquy for Amani that, as performed by Ms. Manning, is breathtaking in its scope. [more]

38th Marathon of One-Act Plays: Series B

November 6, 2022

Ensemble Studio Theatre’s "38th Marathon of One-Act Plays," their first since 2019, is split up into two programs of five plays each, with an eleventh play, Vera Starbard’s “Yan Tután,” streaming free on-demand, in collaboration with Perseverance Theatre. Each of the plays in Program B is successful in telling us enough about the characters to make the audience care for them and empathize for what they experience in their short time on stage. ... The Marathon is a great venue for up-and-coming writers to hone their characterization skills. Some of these writers have already had full productions of other plays in their resumés, so for some their success is in full swing. Program B is a definite tease towards coming back to experience Program A. [more]