Decadent Acts

Written and directed by Ashley Marinaccio

The Robert Moss Theater

440 Lafayette Street, 3rd Floor

www.planetconnectionsfestivity.com

 

Review by Gena Hymowech

 

The year is 1988, and Jolene Shatila (Anna Savant) and Farah White (Hannah Rose Barfoot) are living the good life. The couple has a lovely, precocious daughter named Nicole (Beatrice Miller), a beautiful home on Morton Street, and fulfilling, good-paying work — Shatila is a college professor and White is a meteorologist. But all that happiness is shattered when White becomes terminally ill and Shatila is left to deal with the fallout.

 

Because the two are not legally married, Shatila is not allowed to visit the woman she considers her wife in the hospital. White also loses her job, quite possibly because the network now realizes she is gay. (The title of the show, Decadent Acts, comes from a clause in White’s contract that basically bans homosexuality.) And then there are White’s parents. They seemed to have accepted Shatila before White got sick, but now believe Shatila is unfit to care for Nicole and attempt to take her away.

 

Decadent Acts is an excellent drama — intelligent, sad, intense, bitter and, at times, surprisingly funny. It brings forth important points about the same-sex marriage struggle that even those who read the news daily may not be familiar with. However, there are times when the show is a bit too earnest for its own good, giving it the feel of a Lifetime movie. The actors are well cast, with the showiest role given to Savant. She is a true find, making us feel Shatila’s pain as she throws herself into the part, heart and soul. Miller, Barfoot and C. Rose Kearns — as college student Eve — also impress with their performances. As a writer, Marinaccio is reminiscent of Tony Kushner in that she wants to use theater to make a political point, but without sacrificing an ounce of entertainment value. She is definitely a writer to keep an eye on.

 

 

 

 

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