Roundhouse Theater's "Permanent Collection" earns my praise

One of the things I love most about DC is the amount of affordable theater readily available.  Part of what makes it so affordable is the wide-spread participation in the "30-and-under program."  As participants in this program, theaters select performances to offer cut rate tickets.  The seats are seldom the best in the house, but since many of the venues are more intimate settings, having a seat slightly to the left or right or in the balcony doesn't detract from the viewing experience.

Taking advantage of the $10 tickets, Nicole and I hit The Roundhouse Theater in Bethesda tonight to see Permanent Collection, an intense production about race, influence and art.  Set against the backdrop of an Arts Foundation with an expansive and impressive impressionist collection, the show explores the racial themes that emerge when the new-on-the-block Director of the foundation, appointed at the behest of the foundation's eccentric and recently deceased founder, challenges the founder's willed vision that the foundation's permanent collection remain static in favor of adding 8 additional pieces of African Art.  Bucked by a long-time staffer, the proposed addition quickly becomes a divisive force that, in the end, nearly destroys the foundation both the Director and staffer seek to preserve, each in their own way.

Built on the back of a small but powerful cast, the show spectacularly highlights the tensions that bubble just under the surface in today's society and the mutual destruction that often ensues when tensions bubble over.  Particularly poignant in this production was the actress who played Kanika, the new Director's African-American assistant who inadvertently becomes the arbiter of the conflict.  Her ability to lure in the audience with her warmth and exuberance and to keep them with her ferocity will, I hope, make her a staple in the Roundhouse Theater's casting repertoire.

A win with this production makes the Roundhouse Theater two for two this season.  Nicole and I also checked out their production of The Picture of Dorian Gray, the stage adaptation of Oscar Wilde's 1890 novel.  Here as well the Theater succeeded, this time bringing to life Gray's depravity in ways that actually made my skin crawl.  Next up, My Name is Asher Lev, assuming the $10 dollar ticket option is available for the next performance of course!