Barrington Stage Company, Pittsfield, MA
through March 16, 2025
by Shera Cohen and Jarice Hanson
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| Barrington Stage |
As per usual, the “10 x 10” features 10 new works, each 10-minutes long. This year’s acting troupe includes regulars, like Matt Neely, Peggy Pharr Wilson, and Robert Zukerman—all accomplished artists who are like old friends on stage. They are joined this year by Raya Malcolm, Xavier Reyes, and Lori Vega, three younger actors who prove they too, can master the art of capturing a character and establishing a fully realized show in 10-minutes. The plays are crafted by writers who really understand the challenges of producing a fully realized play in only 10 minutes—a superhuman feat. All shows are directed by either Alan Paul or Matthew Penn, who are masters of the craft. Each act has five shows that vary in substance from laugh out loud funny to deep, and sometimes poignant stories.
Every year, the opening number is a clever parody of a major Broadway musical, and this year the lyrics were penned by one of the company, Matt Neely. The entire acting team performed a version of “Les Misérables” that had the audience roaring with laughter, thereby setting up the non-stop entertainment to come.
Act I opened with one of the most satisfying plays that established the humor and fun of the purpose of 10 x 10. In “Ordained,” by Mark Harvey Levine, a newly ordained minister from a dot.com church, has decided to practice the craft of marrying people—even though the two people she chooses to marry don’t even know each other. Her obliviousness to their concerns is hilarious -- Peggy Pharr Wilson, Raya Malcolm, and Xavier Reyes are wonderful together as this short play reaches toward a very happy ending.
In “Wheel of Fortune Reversed,” Reyes along with Robert Zuckerman play chess, but the stakes are high. One character is clearly death, with his black hooded robe, and sickle. The other, a younger man opines on what he wants to achieve before dying. In this philosophical, but funny play, Scott C. Sickles weaves a number of themes together to question whether fate is inescapable.
“The Friendship Dynamic” with Malcolm, Reyes, Vega, and Neely, written by Alex Dremann, explores human relationships, and “A Happy Child” by Melinda Gros with Wilson and Malcolm, delves into the sorrow of mothers and daughter interaction. Act I concludes with “Poetry, Prose and…Pirates!” by Ken Preuss which situates Vega, Wilson, Zukerman, Neely and Reyes in a writing group where everybody steals ideas and formats from each other. The clever wordsmithing in this show is a wonderful capper to the first act.
Short intermission. The final five plays in Act II balance humor, angst, and sometimes a bit of both in each scene. The versatility of the actors is top-notch, with none outshining the others, and the comedies just as strong as the dramas.
"Senior Prom," the best script and best acting prowess of the quintet, stars Wilson and Zukerman -- the Barrington Stage Company (BSC) stalwarts of the cast. Some 50 years since the two classmates were only passers-by in the high school corridors, they unexpectedly meet and reminisce. What has consistently separated the "10x10" series apart from similarly structured multi-plays strung together, is to expect the unexpected. BSC preps their audiences without spoilers.
Not every play is for everyone. That's okay. Without a doubt, patrons will enjoy the majority. Perhaps equally important is the concept that a very short play (none exceed 10-minutes) is as real as all others mounted on the BSC stage; complete stories, developed characters, set & lights & sound, and audience.
