Tag Archives: Greg Keller

Indian Princesses

Off-Broadway, Play May 20, 2026 Leave a comment

YMCA’s Indian Princesses was originally established in the mid-1950s.  The objective was to nurture the bond between white fathers and daughters with Native American heritage.  The good intentions that were behind the launch of the project are evident in Eliana Theologides Rodriguez’s play Indian Princesses, alongside the residual anger she felt after participating in the culturally deaf program with her sister.  The financial stresses that emerged in the aftermath of the global market crisis of 2008 had forced her father to uproot his family just at a time when she needed stability and connection.  The summer’s activities only added to her pain; resentment over the organization’s false narrative followed.

Fortunately for theater-goers, Rodriguez’s approaches her complex feelings about the appropriation that passed for honoring traditions with humor and compassion.  A carefully composed Playbill insert provides helpful background to her simmering creative process.  She has drawn on the similar experiences of other women of color to round out the narrative and included a Mexican American and an adopted African American in her cast of characters.

Five immensely talented adult actresses — Anissa Marie Griego (Lily), Rebecca Jimenez (Andi), Serenity Mariana (Hazel), Lark White (Maisey), and Haley Wong (Samantha) —  portray girls ages 9 to 12.  The audience is with them from the moment of their initial meeting at a YMCA somewhere in the midwest.  So expressive and open are their faces that the constant fidgeting under the direction of Miranda Cornell is an irksome distraction from the authenticity that radiates from their interactions.  The actors playing the white fathers — Ben Beckley (Wayne, adoptive father of Maisey), Greg Keller (Chris, stepfather to Lily and Hazel), Pete Simpson (Mac, widowed father of Andi) and Frank Wood (Glen, Indian Princesses program leader and Samantha’s grandfather) — are given narrower paths to tread, but each does so with commitment and warmth.  

Serenity Mariana, Haley Wong, Lark White, Anissa Marie Griego, and Rebecca Jimenez in Indian Princesses;
Photo by Ahron R. Foster.

The naive and questioning viewpoint of kids about identify, racism and family relationships is critical to the success of the piece.  In absence of true insight, they’ve each designed their own personal mythology.  While the girls approach their camp assignments such as decorating mini canoe paddles with colored masking tape with glum obedience they also draw ever closer to each other with genuine curiosity.  

Co-produced by Rattlestick Theater and Atlantic Theater Company, this comedic social commentary is playing in the Linda Gross Theater.  A converted church — its arched windows and wide beams still in view — has more than its share of staging challenges.  The creative team has served this production well.  Set designer Emmie Finckel gets the muted in-need-of-a-paint-job colors and multi-purpose arrangement of a Y room just right and adds a wildflower strewn strip downstage to serve as the more magical outdoor clearing.  A car interior is among the areas of focus defined by Mextly Couzin’s shrewd lighting. Sound design by Salvador Zamora is beautifully woven into the dialogue.  

Currently scheduled to run through Sunday, June 7, Indian Princesses is a comedy derived from discomfort.  Though there are dark memories behind its creation, the story is rooted in love and empathy, resulting in both warm laughs and distressing cringes.  Performances are in the Linda Gross Theater at 336 West 20th Street between 8th and 9th Avenues.  There is an accessible entrance through the courtyard to the west of the main door.  The house is shallow with a decent rake and staggered seating.  Tickets range from $56.50 for standing room to $131.50 for “Tier 3”.  Running time is nearly two hours without an intermission.  In related news, the restrooms are downstairs and the elevator is very small.  Visit https://atlantictheater.org/production/indian-princesses/ for tickets and further information.

Staff Meal

Off-Broadway, Play April 29, 2024 Leave a comment

A staff meal at a typical restaurant is an opportunity for the entire crew to be treated as equal members of a “family.”  However, in Abe Koogler’s Staff Meal currently being served up at Playwrights Horizons, there is something odd transpiring around the table.  While the enthralled servers moan in delight, what we see is unremarkable.   The true source of their reaction is imperceivable to outsiders.

At this same unnamed venue, Ben (Greg Keller) and Mina (Susannah Flood) are out on a what would strike most of us as a dreadful first date, though they seem quite comfortable with each other’s horror-tinged stories.  Their waiter (Hampton Fluker) is on a mesmerizing walk through the dark, deep, and disorganized wine cellar.  And the Servers (Jess Barbagallo and Carmen M. Herlihy) are just giddy to be employed by the elusive Gary Robinson (Erin Markey who is also — somehow — the chef and a vagrant) a man of wealth whose philosophy is what keeps them full.  Along the way, these characters don’t just break the fourth wall, they bulldoze it, build a fresh one, and then smash that one with a mallet as exemplified by Audience Member (Stephanie Berry).

Vagrant (Erin Markey) goes job hunting in Staff Meal; photo by Chelcie Parry

Similar to many artistic endeavors that were completed during the pandemic, Koogler’s piece is much more intent on capturing an unfamiliar mood than it is on telling a story.  The restaurant at its center is a unique universe with a distinct environment and even — it would seem — its own gravitation pull.  Individual scenes are like a Matryoshka Doll in reverse, with each character revealing a bigger, more colorful veneer without changing much of the plot’s shape.  Koogler imbues them all with astoundingly vivid and detailed memories and imaginations.  Poetic meditations on food, love, the past, and being of service are passionately delivered.  But while the people on stage search for common ground, you too might be casting about in hopes of feeling a connection. 

Under the hand of director Morgan Green, the artistic team functions in concert to support the absurdist tenor of the work.  Comparable to quarantine at COVID’s height, time spirals and sense of place becomes illusive.  Jian Jung’s papered walls are both elegant and nondescript.   The costumes by Kaye Voyce start off as commonplace and morph into outright bizarre.  As the players grow increasingly wary, Masha Tsimring’s lighting follows that tone.  Tei Bow’s sounds and music complete the vague and uneasy landscape.

Not unlike the restaurant that is Staff Meal’s home base, this play serves up some novel flavors. If you are willing to hover somewhere between drama and performance art, you might savor the experience without the need to define each morsel.  But also akin to dining in that central establishment, the undertaking might leave you feeling hungry for something more solid.

Staff Meal continues through May 19 at the Peter Jay Sharp Theater on the 4th floor of Playwrights Horizons at 416 West 42nd Street.  Running time is one hour and 35 minutes with no intermission.  Tickets are $51 – $91 and can be purchased at https://my.playwrightshorizons.org/events/staffmeal.