Love Potion #5 & Gender Specific dominate 1st Annual Cyberfest

As patrons sat in the audience at the Dallas Hub Theater waiting for the start of the 1st Annual "Cyberfest", an electronic play festival collaboration between the Hub and the DFW Playwright's Alliance, you could sense the anticipation of start of something groundbreaking and unique: a marriage between traditional theater and technology.

Fingers were busy texting in "dallashubwebcam" on their iPhones and other similiar devices and sound checks were being made by the production staff to ensure the voices and applause of those in other cities tuning in via Yahoo messenger could be heard.

Applause was the standard of the evening which showcased 5 world premiere play shorts, especially when the actors of Dallas-based playwright Donnie F. Wilson's play  "Love Potion #5: Tribal Musk" took the stage.

Running slightly under 15 minutes, Love Potion #5 dealt with the usual trials and tribulations of African-American dating, with Bruno a black man played with amazing finesse and candor by Atseko Factor engaged in a revolving door of one night stands while being relentlessly pursued by Juanita, played by the equally talented and beautiful Angelica Jackson, a slightly full-figured black woman who could have easily inspired by Anthony Hamilton's R&B hit "Sista Big Bones" , with curves and style to match.

Juanita is attentive in preparing Reno his favorite meals and cleaning his apartment but he still rejects her advances. Unsure what to do about his "problem", he confides to his friend Jake, played outrageously by the delightful Antonio Wright who resembled an super-size Steve Urkel of the hit TV sitcom Family Matters that Juanita "may be a demented soul."

When Juanita finally has her way with Bruno with a little assistance from a condom and a candle, she turns him out and all he can say is "damn!" Bruno starts to develop some intense feelings for Juanita, only later to develop what he believes to be an STD. Jake comes to the rescue and discovers the root of Juanita's deception is in the candle, a love potion so potent that Jake has to fight Bruno off!

Given the back and forth battle of the sexes within the African-American community, Wilson should consider developing a full length version of this play, which I believe would be well-received by audiences.

Mary Humphrey's "Gender Specific" was a sci-fi riot, with Humphrey leading the cast of 3 as a character named Dalik, a woman who has developed "co-entrancing" technology that renders humans devoid of any knowledge of sexual attraction but provides plenty of sexual stimulation. Creative sound design by Joseph Humphrey, who is Humphrey's son, gave the play an authentic futuristic feel. 

Dalik starts her day with a healthy dose of simulated sex joined by her friend Nari, played by newcomer Karen Strickland, who initially started off with low volume and energy but in minutes rose to meet Humphrey's enormous stage energy.

As Dalik expounds on the virtues of her co-entrancing technology, Nari isn't convinced and accuses her friend of being unfair to her boyfriend by not acknowledging that she has always had feelings of same-sex attraction towards women, particularly another female named Reyna.

Dalik tries to thwart the conversation, stating a society that is sexually equal poses no problems, with the exception of the "lesser ones", a group of humans responsible for every societal ill imaginable. Dalik is resolve in her determination to make sure this sub-group upgrades.

As Dalik ponders whether this is possible and if she needs to manufacture new people in order to save the species, in walks her boyfriend H1, a metal helmet-strapped being with no emotions like Dr. Spock of Star Trek fame played by Terren Humphrey, who is also Humphrey's real life youngest son.

Created by Dalik as well, the younger Humphrey is hysterical as H1 as he tries to understand why Dalik doesn't need him or how two vaginas can create the "ooh-ahh" feeling. He implores Dalik to implant him with "your penis technology chip so I can better assist you." 

While the remaining two shows were not on the level of the first two plays, they were enjoyable as well and had some bright moments. Third in the lineup was "Cut Your Loss" by Rosie Arrelle McGee that also focused on male/female relationships.

Opened with narration provided by Robert Peacock, which seemed unnecessary to introduce the story, we find the lead character Aaron played with comedic flair by Erik Berry, a black man from Ithaca, New York who is having relationship issues with his girlfriend Sarah, played by the graceful Amy Bryant.

Despite there issues, Aaron has a habit of keeping a pair of Sarah's panties close to him in his jacket pocket. As in the first play reviewed, Aaron starts to experience a lot of itching and scratching himself which also extends to his buttocks. When Aaron finds himself on a bus with Sarah and her best friend Gloria, played by the hilarious Kristal Jamison, Gloria notices Aaron's behavior and asks with street attitude "what is wrong with your boyfriend? Looks serious to me!" Actors like Jamison who command the stage with non-verbal communication in the absence of lines are always a pleasure to watch. 

Aaron soon meets a fellow male traveler, played by Richard Perkins, who has had the same syndrome for 2 years. As the story unfolds, it is revealed that the source of all the itching and scratching is not sexual indiscretions but laundry detergent.

Concluding the festival was "Almost Ithicaid" by Troy Camplin, an effective collision of Homer's Odyssey with modern day realities. In this play, we find Odysseus, played by Matt Clark being confronted by his wife Penelope, played by the convincing Rebecca Jonson of giving her an STD as well as no real love.

As if they didn't have enough problems, in walks in their son Telemachus, played well by Valerie Huston in a last-minute casting change and his gal-pal Helen (of Troy), a femme fatale played by the alluring Meg Sullivan. An allusion to infidelity with Odysseus is made, followed by Helen rattling off a list of her conquered men, including former president Bill Clinton. Odysseus implores his son to not "bow down to her wantoness" but Telemachus is resolute in his love for Helen.

The problem with this play is themes the playwright attempted to illustrate would be best achieved in a full stage production to adequately flesh out the issues crammed into a 15 minute stage segment.

For more info: Call the Dallas Hub Theater at 214-749-7010 or contact Tim shane at tim@shane-arts.com. The Dallas Hub Theater is located at 2809 Canton St., Dallas, Texas. Sat. May 30 is the final "Cyberfest" show. Showtime is at 8:15 pm. All tickets are $10 and can be purchased under the name of the show you want to support.  Admission to any one show gets you into all 5 shows for the same $10 ticket. To purchase, call the Smart Tix Box Office toll free at 1-877-238-5596, visit www.dallashubtheater.org, or clicking this link.

The show lineup is as follows:

"Love Potion #5: Tribal Musk", written by Donnie Wilson, directed by Atseko Factor

"Gender Specific", written by Mary Humphrey, directed by Joshua Bridgewater
 
"Cut Your Loss", written by Rosie Arrelle McGee, directed by TD Ballard 
 
"Almost Ithicaid", written by Troy Camplin, directed by Melissa Flower
 
"The Wait", written by Tony Hawkins, directed by Matt Salter