J.C. Lee: A Most Promising Playwright

Staged readings and workshops have become a standardized part of the dramatic incubation process -- a chance for playwrights to hear how their words sound when spoken by voices other than their own. These readings bring two very important sets of contributors into the dramatic arena:

• Actors (working with a stage director) who start to put their imprint on the text.


• Audience members who can offer constructive feedback on where the playwright needs to tighten things up, make certain facts clearer, or rework some text for greater impact.

One of the most interesting plays to get a reading at the recent 2010 Bay Area Playwrights Festival was J.C. Lee's rowdy comedy, Pookie Goes Grenading. Directed by Nicholas C. Avila, it introduced the following cast of characters:

• Pookie, an overly dramatic high school student in suburban New Jersey who wants to become a star. Pookie also wants to exact revenge on the manager of a local Krispy Kreme (whom she is convinced has boiled down some illegal immigrants so he can use their skin in his donut glaze).


• Benny, the school's most popular athlete who is also moody and gay. Despite his limited intellect, Benny dreams of being a contender in, like, maybe a reality show or something cool.


• Dynamo, Pookie's best friend. Loyal to the core, Dynamo has trouble thinking things through and is quick to dismiss some of Pookie's brainstorms by saying "Dat's just stoopid!" When discussing dramatic structure, he keeps referring to the "douche machine" (deus ex machina) from Greek tragedy. Without Pookie, Dynamo has no friends. Although he is not gay, he's decided it would help his visibility if he could be perceived as Benny's boyfriend.


• Larry, the unfortunate guidance counselor who has been kidnapped by Pookie and her accomplices.


• Greta, a local radio personality who has good reason to hate Pookie's guts. On a dare, Pookie once took a dump in Greta's oatmeal at school. Now Pookie needs Greta's help.

One of the joys of attending a staged reading is seeing what actors can bring to a new character. The silent interplay between the shuffling body language of Craig Piaget's Dynamo and the muscle flexing, eye rolling performance of Adrian Anchondo as Benny during the scene where the two young men decide to break up had the audience roaring with laughter.

While most young playwrights would be thrilled to get one staged reading during the summer months, J.C. Lee has the rare distinction of having recently had Pookie Goes Grenading read before audiences on one side of town while another piece was in rehearsal for its world premiere at Sleepwalkers Theatre. An extremely prolific talent, Lee's writing demonstrates a wild sense of fantasy combined with a desperate grip on reality. His linguistic strengths help him create unforgettable characters who occasionally speak with poetic eloquence. His gift for capturing today's vernacular and using it to support a bizarre sense of humor makes this 27-year-old Berkeley resident a talent to watch.

Whereas Lee's hilarious characters in Pookie Goes Grenading show little if any self awareness, the people who populate This World Is Good (which takes place during the Clinton administration) have a great deal more introspection.

• Sam (Shoresh Alaudini) is a teenager who imagines a meteor on a collision course with the Earth. A gifted young artist, he has been drawing sketches for a comic book based on a new-age superhero -- someone who has no superpowers but is just an average guy. When his older sister leaves for college, Sam becomes depressed and eventually commits suicide.
• Ally (Dina Percia) is Sam's sister, a talented editor who is getting ready to quit her job. Since leaving home, Ally has tried to distance herself from her mother's constellation of neuroses. When her mother arrives at Ally's office to tell her of Sam's first suicide attempt -- and begs her daughter to move back home -- Ally refuses to take the bait. Although an extremely independent soul, Ally is terrified of Y2K.
• Emmy (Tessa Koning-Martinez) is Sam and Ally's distraught mother. She hates technology so much that, after a particularly annoying telemarketing call, she disposes of her telephone. Ever since Sam's death -- and her subsequent loss of contact with her daughter -- Emmy has been tormented by a combination of parental guilt and empty nest syndrome. She finally breaks free of it all and hikes across the United States in her bare feet.
• Doug (Damian Lanahan-Kalish) is Ally's geeky boyfriend. An academic who acquires a set of washboard abs, he is idolized by his students. He is also the only friend Ally can turn to in a crisis.

Despite some clumsy set changes in a tiny performing space, director Tore Ingersoll-Thorp has managed to stage Lee's play so that his writing can shine (particularly during Sam's monologue about what it is like to be "a boy in a box" and Emmy's monologue about leaving town and embarking on a new life). The play's strongest performances come from Tessa Koning-Martinez and Shoresh Alaudini (who impressed local audiences in Crowded Fire Theatre Company's recent productions of Drip and Forever Never Comes). Lee notes on his blog that:

Comments

[The Morning Dish]

12:55 PM on 08/11/2010

Check out this great article about a great friend of mine. The most talented, J.C. Lee. He is the next big playwright­, about to take over the theatre world! Check out his Work, you can also read about all of his on goings on his blog, Rants Raves and Rethoughts­.

But definitely check out what The Huffington Post is saying about an the talented dude!