"I didn't exist until I was 30," explains struggling writer Silas Park to his publicist Darren during a tense scene in "TBA," a new play staged by Second Generation theater company.
As Darren explains, the literary world just cannot get enough of Silas' work, but the author is stuck. He simply cannot create on command. Hoping to get rid of his client's writer's block, Darren tells Silas to write about his past. A frenzied Silas insists that he does not have one. As Darren discovers, there is some truth behind Silas' words. Silas does not have just one past - he has many. Over the course of the play, he is consistently asked to sort them all out.
Silas (Lloyd Suh) is "the real-life Rapunzel on Avenue A," a reclusive playwright who entertains guests from the safety of his window and retrieves food deliveries with a basket on a string. Silas self-imposes house arrest after the departure of his girlfriend Maya (Michi Barall). Devastated by the breakup, Silas starts composing a series of autobiographical short stories. His work catches the attention of Darren (Dustin Chinn), a literary agent who wants to give Silas his big break. Although Silas fears that he may be marketed as a mere curiosity, he allows Darren to represent him in the writing world.
Silas is an overnight success, and soon he and Darren are hard at work on a book deal. But before Silas can claim literary stardom, he is confronted by a problem from his own past. Silas' brother Finn (J. Julian Christopher) shows up at his apartment, claiming that Silas' autobiographical work may be more fiction than fact. Finn's challenge jeopardizes not only the upcoming book, but also Silas' personal relationships, including his new friendship with a local delivery girl named Maxie (Nedra McClyde). Both the characters and the audience are forced to ask one of the play's several "really hard questions" - is Silas Park an author or simply another character?
To answer this question, "TBA" provides two acts full of intriguing and plausible evidence. It is a compellingly realistic play on many levels. The stage design presents a space that looks and feels like a home, capturing the essence of Silas' run-down East Village apartment. The back wall is made of grimy windows and cracked frames, and the entire place is littered with yellowed papers and old postcards. The set also reinforces the theme of Silas' isolation, since the audience has the privilege of seeing when and how Silas allows guests into his secluded world.
The success of "TBA" is also due in part to Carla Ching's script and Denyse Owens' direction. The play's language is witty and observant. All of the dialogue, from Silas' sarcasm to Finn's bravado, is well-written and engaging. The staging gives further definition to the distinct personalities implicit in the script. Each character has his or her own way of interacting with the space. Darren, the neurotic literary agent, has his own corner of the stage where he parks his swivel chair. Maya walks behind the wall of windows, just outside Silas' reach.
Each of the actors appears to have a rich relationship with the text. All five use Ching's words to create their characters' individual personalities. Suh's portrayal of Silas guides the production. Suh's smart delivery and strong sense of Silas' emotions make clear the young writer's struggle for identity.
The rest of the cast gives standout performances as well. Christopher dominates the stage as Finn, with a larger-than-life stage presence and a physical style of expression that creates a memorable persona. Chinn as Darren and McClyde as Maxie both give genuine performances. Barall handles the role of Maya with skill and style, playing both the real Maya and Silas' vision of his absent lover.
All of the theatrical and dramatic elements work together to raise a number of important questions. Silas and the audience must determine the true relationship between fact and fiction, and recollection and imagination. For Silas, a career and an identity hinge on these distinctions. True to its name, "TBA" keeps the audience waiting for answers. Not much in this world is what it seems, and the machinery of the play reveals only fragments of the truth at a time. The anticipation is sometimes frustrating, but in the end, "TBA" provides a complete investigation into the creative mind and a breathtaking glimpse at the composition of the self.
Josh Harrison is a staff writer. E-mail him at theater@nyunews.com.
