'Capers

at the Mead Theater Lab (Flashpoint), 1/12/2006

Saw an interesting new play called 'Capers last night at a special preview showing. It's a solo show written and performed by Anu Yadav. I don't know jack about her, but after seeing the show I think she can safely be referred to as a dynamite performer and highly successful writer of political theater. That's no easy feat. Most political art tends to collapse under the weight of the politics (in my opinion) - so making this work is a major challenge. I think in this case, it's definitely working.

'Capers is a one-woman show based on the stories of families at the Arthur Capper/Carrollsburg public housing projects - also known as 'Capers - in southeast DC who protested the government-funded relocation and demolition of their neighborhood.

Ms. Yadav spent several years as a volunteer and organizer at Arthur Capper/Carrollsburg and created a performance built around composite characters based on the people she met and worked with. Her performance is excellent, especially her voice work. A solo performance with a cast of characters could so easily be terribly confusing - but she clearly articulates each individual character using voice, gestures, posture, etc.

I'm no expert in theater, but I thought it worked well and it's easily worth an evening of your time and $10.