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The Pavilion

By Craig Wright; Directed by Michael Kostroff

Off Off Broadway, Play Revival
Runs through 11.22.15
The Producers' Club, 358 West 44th Street

 

by Shoshana Roberts on 11.11.15

The PavilionJeffrey Delano Davis and Ayesha Adamo in The Pavilion. Photo by Melissa X. Golebiowski.

 

BOTTOM LINE: This revival shows us a funny and classic storyline of past lovers at their high school reunion.

Does time heal all wounds? I am of the opinion that that is not always the case. Sometimes even if we do heal eventually, we do not necessarily heal properly. Whether we have a skin laceration, a bruised collarbone, or a broken heart, even if we are on the road to recovery it might be an immense journey to make it to the end of the road. Often times we are impatient to return to our normal routines and wounds are re-opened. If we let ourselves heal properly we can move on, but that is not always in our control. For instance, in Craig Wright's The Pavilion Peter (Jeffrey Delano Davis) rips open a wound that Kari (Ayesha Adamo) thought she no longer had.

Time is a major theme in this wonderfully funny yet introspective revival directed by Michael Kostroff. Taking place at the class of 1987's twenty-year reunion, Peter returns to see his old Pine City, Minnesota comrades in hopes of rekindling a flame with his high school sweetheart. Jon Adam Ross serves as the Narrator to help facilitate Peter and Kari's interactions. Peter is attempting to go back in time and start over with Kari, but she wants nothing to do with him, after he left her pregnant at the end of high school. After terminating the pregnancy, she has worked on mending her soul with a golfer for a husband and a job at the local bank's safety deposit vault. It does not seem like much, but Kari assures her friends that she is content and will not forgive Peter. He cannot rewrite history. Second chances are hard to come by, though I'm sure we have all wanted a “re-do” at one time or another.

Despite the empathy-inspiring puppy-dog eyes Davis makes as Peter, and the amusing mannerisms Adamo adds to her character Kari, Jon Adam Ross steals the show as the narrator. He is not only an omniscient being guiding us through the evening, but takes on the roles of probably a dozen different people who walk in and out of conversations with Peter and Kari. From snotty women to stoned husbands, Ross embraces each part with a playful vigor, and keeps the evening moving. In fact, when Charles Isherwood reviewed The Pavilion for the New York Times back in 2005, he made the astute comparison of this narrator character to the one in Thornton Wilder's Our Town. Not only do we have the actor who serves as a tour guide, but there is also an Average Joe, a Plain Jane, and a small town that could really be located in Anywhere, USA.

This time of year, when the leaves are falling off of the trees and the air is getting nippy, it is nice to reminisce. At this reunion Wright and Kostroff provide us with an inspection of time and relationships past. It might be just the show to help you relax as you bring in the hectic family season.

(The Pavilion plays at The Sonnet Theatre at The Producers' Club, 358 West 44th Street, through November 22, 2015. The show runs 90 minutes with an intermission. Performances are Mondays, Thursdays, and Fridays at 8; Saturdays at 2 and 8; and Sundays at 2. Tickets are $18 and are available at paviliontheplay.com or by calling 800.838.3006.)

 

The Pavilion is written by Craig Wright. It is directed by Michael Kostroff. Set Design and Construction is by Zoey Russo. Lighting Design is by Dylan Friedman. Sound Design is by Zach Berkman. Projection Design is by Javier Molina. Associate Director is Ben Liebert. Stage Manager is Tyler Winthrop. Publicity is by Melissa X. Golebiowski.

The cast is Ayesha Adamo, Jeffrey Delano Davis, and Jon Adam Ross.