Ameriville

Ameriville, written and preformed by 4 members of the Bronx based theater group Universes, was a blistering performance that blended music, politics and drama into a compelling piece of theater. The piece was made up of many segments- some entirely music and dance focused, some strict monologues, and others in between- to create a overarching narrative of life in post-Katrina, and post-Bush America. Ambitious and sometimes polarizing, the political subject matter ranged from gun violence to the KKK to health reform. As each segment presented a new problem, or different views of the same probable, I became more aware that the play had no motive in answering of the questions it posed. Perhaps that was our job- to go forth and start solving the county's problems- however, if that was their intent it might have been more effective to only address key issues. Musically, the show was gripping. The blend of gospel, hip hop, soul and pop was very entrancing from the audience's perspective. Also the the singing and acting was great from all four cast members. After reading in a review of the show that the performers also wrote the piece, I am not surprised at all. Their passion on stage was not missed by the audience, who gave them a standing ovation at the play's conclusion.

Will the songs and stories of Ameriville stick with me? Probably not. While I found the performance entertaining and undeniably original, I feel that the play presented many opened ended, ambiguous questions. Some segments were particularly moving, however many also fell short from striking a real chord in me. Overall , I liked the play, I feel they may have tried to do too much.