Jeremy Keith Hunter has secured himself a "carpe diem" role, and trust me, he's seizing the comic day. As Devaun, the risibly unschooled but tremendously compassionate ladies' man of Cori Thomas's "When January looks like summer," Hunter is getting the sort of muscle-stretching showcase for which some actors wait half a lifetime.
His isn't the handiest admirable performance in Thomas's sweet, if at times cloyingly overwritten, Harlem-set comedy, receiving its regional most fulfilling because the last entry of Mosaic Theater company's freshman season. The 4 actors working with him below director Serge Seiden's expert suggestions — Vaughn Ryan Midder, Lynette Rathnam, Shravan Amin and Jason B. McIntosh — inhabit their greater reserved roles just as compellingly. And within the case of Amin, taking part in a South Asian immigrant making a gender transition from Ishan to Indira, the actor's projection of quiet, brave resolve offers a touching counterpoint to Hunter's bravado.
In "When January looks like summer season," working on the Atlas Performing Arts middle on H road NE, Thomas explores with gentle humor the construction of a pair of romances — one among them peculiarly not likely — throughout an ethnic chasm. The Harlem deli run by Ishan's sister, Rathnam's Nirmala, is a breeding ground for love as lonely garbageman Joe (McIntosh) fixes his sights on equally lovelorn Nirmala, while oblivious Devaun takes a liking to the deeply flattered, in-transition Indira.
The advantage for patronizing mechanics hovers over this undertaking, in regards both to Ishan/Indira's fervent embrace of womanhood, and the outrageous homeboy antics of Devaun, who makes use of phrases like "particularily" and doesn't quite grasp the trigger-and-impact aspects of world warming, as explained to him by way of his ally, Midder's Jeron. If firstly Devaun is portrayed as loudly, clownishly perplexed — he becomes satisfied that Antarctic penguins are death directly because the outcome of individuals no longer appropriately setting apart their recyclables — the playwright finally reveals a redeeming generosity of spirit in the character.
Midder and Hunter's herbal magnetism, mixed with their wry grasps of the realm Jeron and Devaun come from, finally mood any unease an audience may additionally improve over facets of the characters that border on cartoon. A linchpin of the plot is a naively hatched plan through Jeron and Devaun to position up warning posters within the regional about an older gentleman who propositioned Devaun in another deli. The scheme reeks of homophobic overreaction, but in one of the play's more ironic (and contrived) twists, their campaign proves oddly really helpful, and because of this, their fortunes take a flip for the greater.
Thomas's comedy is all about unintended penalties: The title refers back to the alteration in ny climate patterns introduced on by using human-instigated local weather change. In its widespread depictions onstage of radical shifts in temperature and atmospheric circumstances, the play underlines the theory a little too transparently. It's not handiest Devaun, although, who shows a potential for boom and alter: Shamed, inhibited Nirmala, consumed with guilt over her anger toward the husband who lies comatose in a health facility, strikes with the encouragement of forbearing Joe toward a perception that she is priceless of love.
As he does with the other actors, Seiden ably steers Rathnam and McIntosh to the form of tender resolution that appeals to the tacky sentimentalist in every person. The play is carried out with essentially no visible embroidery: Debra sales space's spartan set incorporates readily a couple of seats in a subway car, a deli cashier's counter, and a picket table and chairs. The greater crucial theatrical function right here is the commitment Mosaic Theater makes to a quintet of actors of color who get the possibility to play full-bodied characters with abundant coronary heart — and act their hearts out in the technique.
When January appears like summer season through Cori Thomas. Directed by means of Serge Seiden. Set, Debra sales space; lighting fixtures, Max Doolittle; costumes, Robert Croghan; sound, David Lamont Wilson. About 2 hours quarter-hour. Tickets, $40-$60. consult with mosaictheater.org or name 202-399-7993 ext. 2.
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