"Prophet in Pink" at The New York International Fringe Festival
“Prophet in Pink” By Nick Robideau Directed by Brian Sanford Lady Reviewed by David Roberts Theatre Reviews Limited
When riffing aspects of an epic like “Angels in America: A Gay Fantasia on National Themes” and an iconic playwright like Tony Kushner, the playwright, creative team, and cast of a new play venture onto very thin ice and take extraordinary artistic risks.
Those risks meet with limited success in Nick Robideau’s “Prophet in Pink” which enjoyed a successful run in this year’s New York International Fringe Festival, particularly in the engaging and touching first act. Whereas “Angels in America” is a ‘fantasia on national themes,” “Prophet in Pink,” is a fantasia about all things Brooklyn, particularly in the microcosm of Nate, Cara, and Dean’s Greenpoint apartment where relationships, jobs, and life in general are not fulfilling. Nate characterizes himself a failed artist and stand-up comedian; Cara has just lost her job; and Dean is Dean.
Zander Meisner plays the whining but lovable Nate. Ariel Reid portrays Cara whose character is less defined and seems to grasp for a clear identity in the second act. And Vincent DiGeronimo perfectly characterizes Dean as the tag-along roommate who has a crush on Nate. Nate claims to be straight. Cara is appallingly uber-straight. Nate is comfortably gay and probably the most grounded of the three. All heaven breaks loose when Julia Campanelli’s prophet in pink speaks to Nate, convinces him to visit the statue in a nearby park wherein the prophet is embodied.
After the prophet convinces Nate he is really in love with Dean, Nate accepts the message and tries Dean out. There is too much plot here to summarize and there is no need to rehearse it any further. The prophet in pink is a trope, here an extended metaphor, for the issues of sexual identity, friendship, intimacy, and hope for the future. This works well in the first act where Nate honestly questions what it means for a straight man to truly love a gay man. This is an important theme and an important question and the playwright handles it all well.
However, the second act, at least for this critic, fails to measure up. Dean decides he is indeed straight after submitting to Cara’s annoying and inappropriate badgering of her former boyfriend. Why anyone, straight, lesbian, bisexual or transgender would want to be with this horrid character is a mystery. Surely the fine actor Ariel Reid played this character as directed: if so, this is the play’s weakest link. The second acts falters and flails about as it attempts to find itself. Had the play ended with the first act and the characters using the prophet’s intervention as sign and symbol of hope as the universe moves forward, “Prophet in Pink” would have made more sense.
PROPHET IN PINK
Presented by Playsmiths (Ann Farthing) and the New York International Fringe Festival. Written by Nick Robideau; Directed by Brian Sanford Lady; Scenic Design by Jasmine Vogue Pai; Lighting Design by Ann Sitzman.
WITH: Julia Campanelli as The Prophet, Vincent DiGeronimo as Dean, Zander Meisner as Nate, and Ariel Reid as Cara.
For more information about The New York International Fringe Festival, visit www.fringenyc.org For more information about “Prophet in Pink,” visit www.prophetinpink.com
Permalink | Posted by David Roberts on Monday, August 27, 2012
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