Now You (Should Go) See It: Nothing Up My Sleeve Review

Posted on February 21, 2026 by admin

I’ve been a fan of the magician Dendy ever since Round House’s 2022 The Tempest.  His portrayal of Ariel as a card-sharping fey made the production sing (figuratively – the folk-rock songs of Tom Waits provided the sound track), and magic designed by Teller combined for a transcendent experience of theater.

Now Dendy has collaborated with Round House’s Aaron Posner to present a one-man play of equal parts autobiography and wonderment.  Is magic just a system of lying to your audience and having them like it?  Or are illusions a metaphysical meditation on existence?

While waiting for the show to begin, you can watch a slide show of quotes about magic.  Look!  There’s one from Terry Pratchett!  Not known as a magician, except with words.

And Cherchez the Amazing Set While You Wait

Dendy has been practicing magic since the first set of tricks he received as a present at age three.  When he was six, he dared to show his father the first trick he thought was good enough – and never looked back.  We, the current audience, are treated to a reenactment of that stage of his life, as he performed tricks at parties, but, most of all, as he built an identity around “I’m a magician” as a defense against “growing up gay,…with a big forehead and tiny ears.”

The Genie in the Bottle Trick (credit: Margo Schulman)

Soon enough, he had a gig in what passed for a fancy restaurant in small-town Missouri, “Le Orange Elegante,” livening up the staid establishment with card tricks.

A Moody Pose, With Cards (credit: Margo Schulman)

His vocation was settled when he performed a trick to cheer up a stranger in a cafe. Afterward, he found out that she was Harry Houdini’s niece.

We Were Deceived and We Liked It (credit: Margo Schulman)

A series of tricks with audience participation followed.  One of them involved appearing and disappearing balls, climaxing with the conjuring of a couple of oranges out of thin air.  The volunteer couple who assisted with the trick got to keep the oranges.

Michael Beriss and Jean Carlson with Their Oranges

Is there a theme here?  No.  No more food-related tricks in the show, if you don’t count the two involving regurgitation of non-food objects.  The trick involving needles is viscerally involving.

The reception after the opening night performance featured Ryan Rilette, Round House’s artistic director, giving Dendy an amazingly thoughtful present: one of the cards which a famous 19th-century magician used to fling into the audience as part of his show, to keep as souvenirs.  Dendy was gobsmacked.

Surprise!
Ryan’s Card Trick

Round House’s specialty cocktail program continues with clever custom drinks for this production.  Among them:

The White Rabbit, Abracadabra, Penn and Teller Paloma, and The Houdini Appletini. 

Also, a Zero Proof tipple called Pick a Card.

Nothing Up My Sleeve: Simple Deceptions for Curious Humans, by Aaron Posner and Dendy, magic by Dendy, directed by Aaron Posner, is playing at Round House through March 15.

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The Days of Wine, Roses, and Olive Oil: Two Events with One Connection – Part 1: Kensington Day of the Book

Posted on February 13, 2026 by admin

Note: This post, being tardy, was intended to serve as advance notice for this year’s Kensington Day of the Book.  However, I have just learned that there will be no event this year.  I proceed to report on 2025’s festival with a heavy heart, and hope to see it return in 2027.

Happier Days in Kensington

The 2025 Kensington Day of the Book (DotB) was a literary, musical and culinary celebration.  Held at the end of April, just as the last frost date rolled around, it was one of the signs of spring in these parts (may it be again)!  Last year, it featured a Catalan cuisine workshop and several chef demos, one of which featured Amy Riolo, a proponent of healthy and delicious food.

Amy’s Dramatic Demo
And Passing around Samples

Amy has a line of products which she used to produce some delicious samples, an engaging presence, and appropriate apron.  She is a proponent of the Mediterranean diet to promote both health and pleasure.  She authors cookbooks and leads tours.

The next activity in the food program was part of the Sant Jordi Festival of Books and Roses, hosted by the DotB’s co-sponsor, the government of Catalonia.  They were featuring Pa amb Tomaquet,  Catalan tomato bread, and lessons in drinking from a porro, a glass jug meant to facilitate the sharing of wine.  The bread was consumed with cheese, ham, and cold cuts, and the porro-drinking attempts provided much amusement.

Catalan Food Prep
Use That Porro!
More Porro Slinging
The Audience Is Rapt

Wandering up the street, past the author’s booths inviting you to chat about their works, the music and performance stages, the community booths eager to inform you of their services, food trucks offering an array of ethnic cuisines, and FREE BOOKS available from the Bookcrossing folks, one arrived at the booth of the Big Head Brigade.

Having Fun with the Heads
Heads with a Towering Local Figure, Edgar Allen Poe
The Parade, With Mr. Poe Included

This artists’ collective based in Virginia makes heads out of papier-mache, in the old European tradition, and then parades them down the street.  And so they did at the DotB.

Other highlights included chocolate from my favorite local makers, Open Book (“Telling Stories through Chocolate”).  Their specialty bars are replete with literary allusions.  I tried one of their new ones, Frankenstein (Raspberries and Icelandic Lava Salt in Dark Chocolate with Milk).  It’s monstrously good.

Also, among the food trucks, Kuk’s Tribute Cuisine was selling their own bottled Pineapple Ginger Drink.  Made in Clarksburg Maryland, its ingredients are listed as pineapple juice, ginger, orange juice, lemon, and cloves. It’s pungent and powerful stuff. 

Fairings, Food-Related

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The Street Fair and the Ceremony: Sakura Matsuri and the Blessing of the Fleet, 2025

Posted on January 24, 2026 by admin

Another catch-up post in service of my New Year’s resolution!  I can always find new things to report about these two events, which coincide each year.  In 2026, the Sakura Matsuri is scheduled for April 11th and 12th, while the Blessing of the Fleet will be held on April 11th, just a block away.

There isn’t much of an overlap of attendees, but I find both events equally attractive.  They can’t really be compared – one is blocks-long and attracts thousands, while the other is an intimate event with an audience of those with a connection to the U.S. Navy – but both have fascinations for a foodie.

Sakura Matsuri

Walking toward the Matsuri from the Metro stop, you could catch a glimpse of the Cherry Blossom Parade.  A cheery (cherry) sight on a gray day!

I Love a Parade – Even From a Distance

There was a long row of Japanese cultural organizations at the Matsuri.  You could go origami fishing at the Washington Japanese Heritage Center; try your hand at a ball-cup game; say hello to the Japanese campus of Temple University (my alma mater, although I attended the boring old Philadelphia location); and goggle at the Japan Rail Modelers of Washington DC’s setup, which included an eclectic selection of kaiju menacing the trains and buildings.  Their business card features a monster swallowing a train, with the legend, “Got shinkansen?”

Something Fishy About This Origami
It’s Harder Than It Looks
Go Get’em, Godzilla!

If you by chance forgot to wear your kimono or happi coat, you could buy one.

She’ll Take That One

The crowd was full of cosplayers and other colorful characters.  Some were eating.

Soldiers From Two Eras
Fabulous Characters
Mommy, I Want a Pirate Hat!
Eating While Kimono’d

Which brings me to another great attraction of the Matsuri: the food offerings.  There was the Taste of Japan section,

Street Eating – A Capitol Idea!
The Chicken Griller’s Chicken Mascots

The sake tasting tent,

Sake Tasting Tent

and the koji demonstration.  This year there was, alas, no big hunk of meat, but a tutorial on making kimchee, along with many helpful suggestions for the creative uses of ferments.  One can add koji to chicken broth to make pho, and shrub makes a nice vinaigrette.  There was a sales table to help you actualize your koji experience.

Vegetarian Koji This Time
Behold the Cabbage!
And Some to Take Home

Blessing of the Fleet

Every year at the Navy Memorial, the waters rise.  The ceremony is accomplished by smartly-turned-out sailors who empty canisters of water from each of the seven seas and the Great Lakes into the fountain.  On cue, the subdued cascades rise to full height and capacity, symbolizing the renewal of the blessing for protection of “those in peril on the sea.” 

It’s an occasion of fellowship, patriotism (the well-deserved kind), and refreshment.  Specifically, Navy bean soup, cupcakes, and themed cookies.  Also, goodies courtesy of the White House Mess, which is staffed by Navy personnel.

May We Serve You?
Presidential Candy
Soup and Cupcake and Recipe
Navy Mess Mates Pose for Picture

The ceremony was moved inside last year because of the threat of inclement weather.  It was still impressive.

Conveying the Waters

And on the way out, I noticed some folks, who were not deterred by the weather, taking pictures next to the Lone Sailor statue.  Another brand of cosplay?

One For the Folks Back Home

Here’s hoping for fair breezes and following seas for this year’s event!

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MoCo Eats (and Drinks, and Schmoozes) Expo

Posted on January 15, 2026 by admin

My 2026 New Year’s resolution is to catch up on my backlog of stories from 2025.  So, here is an account of the March MoCo Eats Food and Beverage Showcase Consumer Expo, with a few words on the associated Hospitality Conference.  Consider this an advance notice of this year’s event, scheduled for March 15, 2026.

At the Consumer Expo, eighty-seven food and drink purveyors, with a sprinkling of state and county agencies and civic-minded sponsors, stood ready to introduce themselves to a crowd of 600 eager patrons.  The Hilton Rockville atrium and surrounding meeting rooms were filled with tables and smells of food being prepped.

Atrium Full Of Food Tables

Most food businesses were handing out samples of their craft.  It was great fun to meet new entrepreneurs and munch my way through their offerings.  By some measures, Montgomery is the most culturally diverse county in the country, and certainly many cultures were represented at this event.

Here are some of the highlights.

Oysters!

The King Street Oyster Bar was shuckin’ away.   The only local King Street I know of is in Virginia, but this restaurant’s eponym is not in Alexandria.  This is the first Maryland location of a chain with four places elsewhere in the area.  Their oysters come from all over the continent; some of them are from nearby waters. 

Everything’s Better with Oysters

Silver Wheel Cellars

Chris Lanning, the founder of this new cidery, used to be the chief winemaker for the Olney Winery.  He now produces cider, mead, wine, and red wine vinegar in Silver Spring, but leads with his cider.

Chris Lanning (left), founder of Silver Wheel, with Some Offerings

Seventh State by Marriott

One of the biggest hospitality presences in the county was well represented by a nice display, and very photogenic samples.  Cookies that look like tiny pizzas, and even presented in cute little pizza boxes!  How could I resist?

May I offer You A Cookie?
Pizza Cookie in Pizza Box

The Hospitality Conference

Held the day after the Expo, it was aimed at entrepreneurs and culinary professionals.  A morning of speakers and panels addressed topics including small-business startup processes, restaurant profitability, and innovation in the age of AI.

I welcomed the chance to renew acquaintance with Seth Goldman.  He describes himself on his business card as “Co-Founder and Chief Change Agent” of Just Ice Tea.  Fellow locals may remember him as a founder of Honest Tea, and its subsequent purchase and deep-sixing by Coca-Cola.

Seth Goldman Speaking

The Just Ice Tea flavors are reminiscent of the old Honest tastes, and the name suggests an even more liminal interpretation: Just Ice Tea – JU(st)ICE Tea – Justice Tea.  He continues to apply enlightened principles to running a corporation, but with twenty-five years of experience.  Here’s to twenty-five more!

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Wild and Wicked Holiday Entertainment, and Commerce

Posted on December 30, 2025 by admin

Food and Spectating

It’s been quite a holiday week here in the snow-free mid-Atlantic.  We celebrated Jewish Christmas with Chinese food at Peter Chang’s in Columbia, then saw Wicked: For Good, which was enjoyable, but paled in comparison to Hello, Dolly! at the Olney Theatre.

Honestly, if you want to be thoroughly charmed by a live production this season, I highly recommend this new staging of the classic Broadway musical.  Most people (myself included) can sing at least a verse of the title song, but would be hard put to conjure up any other details of the play – the plot? Other musical numbers?  Nope.  But I couldn’t stop myself from smiling, cheering, and applauding all through this production.

The choreography is amazing, performed with charm and boundless energy; the singing is enchanting; the staging and costumes are spectacular.  Nova Y. Payton is a knockout as Dolly, and every one of the supporting cast is top-notch.  Go see it if you can; it’s playing through January 4.

Other Entertainment

I consider food shopping a form of entertainment, especially when I find products which appeal to my sense of the absurd.  These are usually movie or other media tie-ins, which often have an air of desperation to them.  This shelf of Wicked cake-pop/cupcake mixes is a prime example of the genre.

Eat, My Pretty!

The gimmick to these mixes is that, until you buy them and cook them, you don’t know whether you are on Team Galinda or Team Elphaba.  Pink or green?  Either one would be equally unpalatable, IMHO. 

So, wandering into Harris Teeter the day after Christmas, we were greeted with row after row of reduced-price leftovers, ranging from the sublime to the who-would-ever-buy-that?

Cartsful of Jolly Calories

I had no idea how diverse Hershey’s kisses had become until I saw these.  Not to mention the variety of Reese’s and other kinds of chocolate.

Are They Grinches, or Just Moldy?
More Kisses, With Some Reeses’

But I did indulge in a box of discounted Lindor truffles and, Stop Press! A pair of gloves with little LED lights built in!!  Now I can flash with the best of them!

Seasonal Swag

My Neighborhood, and I’m Not Ashamed to Admit It

Two houses directly across the road from each other in Sandy Spring have indulged in rival displays.  I don’t know them, so I can only speculate about the level of rivalry going on here, but you’ve got to give the award to the house with the Abominable Snowmonster.

This Way to the Snowmonster!
Oh, and Santa’s There. Too
Across the Road, It Looks Better at Night

Now, both these displays are lit at night (and the inflatables blown up), so the daytime pictures can’t show the full effect, but I’m not dedicated enough to brave the cold and dark.  You’ll just have to imagine the lit Bumble (that’s the Snowmonster’s nickname, according to my daughter).  Trust me, he’s impressive.

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Review of Rules for Living at Round House

Posted on December 12, 2025 by admin

Yet another play about a dysfunctional family!  This one’s got a terrific ensemble cast, crackling dialog, and a glorious melee as the climax to hours of slow-build snark.  What more could you ask for in holiday entertainment?

Two brothers and their significant others, parents, and one briefly appearing child assemble for Christmas lunch.  Hilarity ensues, as long-simmering resentments and new-relationship misunderstandings are presented for the audience’s delectation.  The acting is uniformly excellent, with each portrayal of a family member skating perilously close to the edge before losing it in a knock-down, drag-out food fight catharsis.

The “rules” of the title are literally displayed as a set of projections above the stage for a kind of meta commentary to the action.  It adds a little zing to have each character’s coping mechanisms on full display.  Younger brother Matthew (Will Conard) “must sit and eat to tell a lie…until he gets a compliment.”  And he does eat, stuffing his face ever more frantically as the play progresses.

Dina Thomas, Naomi Jacobson, Will Conard, Dani Stoller, John Lescault, Jonathan Feuer

Mother Deborah (Naomi Jacobson) “must clean and self-medicate…to hold her tongue” until, near the end, every surface in the admirably-detailed set has been scrubbed clean – just in time for all hell to break loose.

Naomi Jacobson, Jonathan Feuer, Will Conard, Dani Stoller, Dina Thomas

That Christmas lunch, and all the nosh leading up to it, could be considered a character itself.  Watching the play, I was admiring its verisimilitude to the fabled holiday meal on the table of every red-blooded American family: roast turkey, green bean casserole, potatoes two ways, etc., etc., but was too busy laughing or commiserating to consider the mechanics of producing this food.  (This, of course, is the ultimate compliment I, as a food obsessive, can give the production.)

But luckily for me, the program includes an interview with Annamae Durham, Round House’s props supervisor.  Her first thought was “how was I going to find 36 turkeys, for the run of a show[?]”  But that was only the beginning of the questions. “I’m trying to figure out recipes for green bean casserole and everything else that will taste good. …and how we keep that food temperature-safe.”  She goes on to describe how they Macgyvered the turkey to produce the least amount of food waste while still looking realistic. (It fooled me!)

Round House has continued its specialty cocktail program with this production.  Rules for Spritzing, Partridge in a  Pear Tree, and Holcroft Hot Toddy (a shout-out to the playwright), are among the offerings at the Fourth Wall Bar and Café.  And, to complement the food-forward holiday show, Round House has partnered with Interfaith Works Food Pantry to accept shelf-stable food item donations.

Cast and Crew on Opening Night
Holiday Spirit
List of Spirits – and Opening Night Treats

Rules for Living plays through January 4, 2026 at Round House Theatre.

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Going Walkabout at the NGA

Posted on December 1, 2025 by admin

Even though I have been to Australia several times, I was unprepared for the wide range of artworks now on display at the National Gallery.  In fact, the only things that came to my mind about Australian Indigenous art before viewing the exhibit were traditional “dot” paintings. “The Stars We Do Not See: Australian Indigenous Art,” with nearly 200 works by 130 artists, contains art derived from those paintings, and a whole lot more.

There are artworks produced from the late 19th century to the present, most clearly revealing their origins in earlier indigenous culture, many commenting on the present day by putting new spins on old forms.  Many of them are being displayed in North America for the first time.

There were over 600 cultural groups and over 250 languages in Australia when the first Europeans arrived in the 18th century.  The art has continued to evolve.  Media include ochre bark paintings, sculpture, jewelry, and experimental weavings, as well as the work of new-media artists who dialog with tradition using neon, video, photography, and sound. 

“It is impossible for any exhibition to fully capture the diversity and complexity of Australian Indigenous art. Since long before the invention of the written word, First Nations people have transmitted important cultural knowledge through a combination of art, song, dance, and story,” said Myles Russell-Cook, Artistic Director and CEO of the Australian Centre for Contemporary Art (ACCA), and former Senior Curator at the National Gallery of Victoria (NGV). “These works represent 65,000 years of culture, sharing the unique and special qualities of First Peoples art in Australia with the world. Both the [exhibition catalog] and the exhibition represent a significant community effort, which I hope will foster greater connection and understanding of First Peoples culture and art.”

Here are some works that stood out to me:

Fish Fence Repurposed as Ceiling Hanging (With Calder Peeping Through)
Exhibit View with Painted Poles

A set of bark paintings skewed towards the traditional notions of Indigenous Australian art.

Bark Painting Group by Nyapanyapa Yunupiŋu

This grouping of paintings reminded me of quilts; specifically of the Gee’s Bend quilts, which have the same spirit of subversion of traditional tropes within a constrained format.

Art from the Antipodes, Strangely Familiar

And for subversion, the set of painted skateboards stood out within a collection of modern media.  So did two necklaces on display: a ferocious-looking set of kangaroo teeth juxtaposed with a “lei” of traditional material plus metal clearly repurposed from beverage cans.

Rollin’ with Claudia Moodoonuthi’s Skateboards

Maree Clarke and Leonard Tregonning’s Kangaroo Tooth Necklace
Shirley Daniel, Theresa Shirley Clermont, Dadib Elam Ingui, Bonita Kaida: Our Family Lei

The Stars We Do Not See: Australian Indigenous Art will be on view at the National Gallery of Art until March 1, 2026, and will subsequently travel to the Denver Art Museum in Colorado, the Portland Art Museum in Oregon, and the Peabody Essex Museum in Massachusetts.

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Is It Soup (Dumplings) Yet?

Posted on October 22, 2025 by admin

I’m somewhat ashamed to admit that I wasn’t aware of the new branch of Nan Xiang Soup Dumplings opening in Westfield Montgomery Mall until my friend Jim proposed a visit.  What’s more, he’d been there already.

“The pork chop soup is very good,” he said.

“But didn’t you get the soup dumplings?”  It’s right there in the name.

“We’ll get them on this visit,” he said.  Darn tootin’ we will.

To be fair (to me), they were only two weeks into their soft opening.  Nevertheless, there was a 30-minute wait for a table at lunchtime on a weekday.  (They weren’t taking reservations.)  Jim had been there on Saturday; although he had to wait then, he didn’t expect to on a Tuesday.  Silly him!

The Line As We Were Leaving. It Was Twice As Long When We Got There.

This outpost is the furthest south for the chain, founded in Flushing, New York in 2006.  They are proudly “Michelin Guide Recommended,” and they deserve it.  When we were there, a high proportion of the patrons were Asian; many, like the folks we became acquainted with during our wait in line, having eaten at the New York branch in the past, were anticipating dumplings.  And, indeed, most tables were adorned with at least one steamer basket of the house specialty.

Interior Partial View
Happiness is Triple Dumplings

Food

There is a full menu as well as a large assortment of dumplings, ranging from the familiar (potstickers) to the exotic (durian puffs).  I had a terrible time deciding what to order.  “One of everything, please!”

Meatball, Dumplings, Durian Puffs. Sauce Bar on Left

We decided on two orders of Soup Dumplings (Abalone, and Crabmeat and Pork), those Durian Puffs, and Braised Pork Meatballs, Shanghai-Style.

Everything comes as soon as it’s ready.  We were willing to forgive a certain lack of pacing since it was so soon after opening, even though the meatballs hit the table well before the puffs, and the dumplings a few minutes after; but soon enough we couldn’t complain because our mouths were full.

I ordered the durian puffs because I’d never seen them on a menu before, but they were unremarkable custard inside flaky pastry – nothing special.  The meatballs were delicious – tender, well-flavored meat under a tangy, slightly-sweet sauce.  (My only request would be: just a ladle more sauce, please!)

As for the soup dumplings, they had the proper proportion of soup to solid; the abalone was a touch too bland, but the crabmeat and pork was perfect: the pork did not overwhelm the crab, but complemented it beautifully.  And the mildness of the abalone could be remedied by adjusting proportions of ingredients with the mix-it-yourself dipping sauce tray on every table.

Almost Everything Has The Name Of The Restaurant On It

Entertainment

That sauce-mixing exercise can occupy a few moments of waiting for your dumplings.  So can watching the delivery robot roaming the dining room laden with bamboo steamers.

Dumplings Coming Through!
Front View Of Robot

A cute digital face appears on the screen when it’s not registering the table it’s bound for.  We had encountered one of these robots in a conveyer-belt sushi joint about a year ago.  They seem to be a popular novelty.

If you are lucky enough to be seated in the large dining room, you will have a good view of the open kitchen.  Alas, we were off to the side.  When Nan Xiang starts taking reservations, I expect they will honor a seating location request; meanwhile, we counted ourselves lucky to get a table after our appetite-sharpening wait.

There’s That Open Kitchen!

And our neighbor appreciated the Instagrammable dumpling assortment in rather garish colors.

Instagrammable Dumplings

 Nanxiang Westfield Montgomery

7101 Democracy Blvd Suite

2350 Bethesda MD 20817

Open Hours

Everyday 12:00 pm – 8:00pm

Walk-In Only During Westfield Soft Opening

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Review of The Inheritance, Part 2 at Round House Theatre; The Conclusion

Posted on October 2, 2025 by admin

We returned to the Round House for Part 2 of The Inheritance a week after viewing Part 1.  As the play opens, E. M. Forster (Robert Sella), as narrator and commentor, is absent from the stage.  Although the cast does its best to fill in as a Greek chorus, it isn’t quite the same.

But!  He reappears in a dream to deliver a stunning monolog, one among several declaimed by different characters.  They tend to slow down the headlong pace of this installment, if only by a little.  In one outstanding performance (among many), Jordi Bertran Ramirez plays two characters who bear a remarkable resemblance to each other.  At one point, he inhabits both simultaneously.  It is breathtaking.

Robert Sella (Morgan, Walter Poole) and Jordi Bertrán Ramírez (Young Man 1, Adam McDowell, Leo) in THE INHERITANCE, PARTS ONE AND TWO at Round House Theatre. Photo by Margot Schulman

The story continues to follow the lives of Eric, Toby, and their friends and lovers, from a wild interlude on Fire Island (downright athletic depictions of drug-fueled parties) to the long-delayed occupation of the country house willed to Eric but deviously withheld from him by his future husband.

Time loops in on itself as the house, previously a refuge for AIDS victims during the last century, becomes the healing destination for the current generation of wounded souls.  Nancy Robinette delivers one of those bravura monologs as Margaret, the house’s caretaker and living memory.  She breaks our hearts as she describes her son’s death.

Jordi Bertrán Ramírez (Young Man 1, Adam McDowell, Leo), David Gow (Eric Glass), and Nancy Robinette (Margaret) in THE INHERITANCE, PARTS ONE AND TWO at Round House Theatre. Photo by Margot Schulman

The play concludes on a sweet, almost sentimental note.  With the unhappy exception of one character’s willful self-destruction, the seven-hour juggernaut we witnessed delivered a satisfying denouement.

The Inheritance, Parts One and Two in repertory at Round House Theatre through November 2.

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Review of The Inheritance, Part One at Round House Theatre; and Lagniappe at the Bar

Posted on September 26, 2025 by admin

Howard’s End, a novel written by E.M. Forster in 1910, has been turned inside-out and shaken to produce The Inheritance.  It’s a thought experiment which poses the question: If E.M. Forster hadn’t been a closeted gay man all his life, but instead owned his queerness, would he produce a work like this one?

Well, let’s find out!  Forster is written into the play as a highly metaphoric device, acting both as sounding board and narrator of the action.  He scribbles in a little notebook as if rewriting the book in real time.  It provides both a level of abstraction and a source of clever commentary on the bevy of self-absorbed twenty-somethings we’re watching.

The cast of THE INHERITANCE, PARTS ONE AND TWO at Round House Theatre. Photo by Margot Schulman

The Inheritance transforms the three straight couples in the novel to gay men, then transports them to the twenty-first century.  The result is a play full of empathy, humor and human foibles; it’s one of the best I’ve seen at Round House.  The ensemble cast is uniformly excellent, the dialog is snappy, and the plot moves right along – so well paced that you almost don’t mind the length (over three hours!) – and that’s just Part One.

In conversation with an usher, when I mentioned the play’s unusual length, she said, “Think of it as the whole series of episodes in two parts,” and yes, it does resemble a limited series on, say, Masterpiece Theatre, being performed right there in front of you.

The action begins in 2015, when gay marriage becomes legal and optimism for the acceptance of queerness as a natural part of American society is abounding.  The characters are haunted by the possibility of losing the specialness of gay culture to mainstream acceptance; but then the election of 2016 rolls around to put paid to that!  We live through the AIDS epidemic in a five-minute flashback just before the first intermission.  It will return to haunt us at the play’s conclusion and provide a dramatic final curtain.

Jamar Jones (Young Man 6, Tristan), David Gow (Eric Glass), Hunter Ringsmith (Young Man 7, Jasper, Paul Wilcox), Jonathan Atkinson (YoungManJasonand John Floyd (Young Man 2, Jason

Our lead couple are Eric Glass (David Gow), a sweet guy in love with Toby Darling (Adam Poss), who returns Eric’s affection but also lives with his eye to the main chance.  Eric’s rent-controlled Manhattan apartment almost functions as another main character, especially when Eric learns that he is being evicted.  This news becomes the final straw in their breakup.  The seven-year relationship had already been strained by each being attracted to other men.  Those other affairs provide an exploration of both the lives of the top one-percent and those who must sell their bodies to scrape by.

The cast of THE INHERITANCE, PARTS ONE AND TWO at Round House Theatre. Photo by Margot Schulman

The Fourth Wall Bar and Café has on offer a flight of six specialty cocktails celebrating the production.  The rainbow runs from the red Diana Daiquiri through Goodbye Yellow Brick Road to Violet Eyes. Rainbow Pride never sipped so fine!

Drinking Rainbow (Picture From Round House’s Website)

The Inheritance, Parts One and Two in repertory at Round House Theatre through October 19.  Stay tuned for my review of Part Two, coming soon.

Late news: Now extended through November 2.

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