BLIND ANGELS by Dick Brukenfeld is a nail-biting drama in which a news reporter (inspired by Daniel Pearl) is taken prisoner by a group of cosmopolitan, integrated, successful, secular Muslims who are embarking on a terrorist attack. The twist is, he has long relationships with two of his three “hosts”–one is his ex-fiancee and the other was his college roommate. They are playing an endgame scenario that dwarfs what any small fry terrorist has tried before and they need him to tell their story. Theater for the New City, 155 First Ave., will present the play’s world premiere run February 6 to March 2, directed by Melissa Attebery.
Playwright Dick Brukenfeld is a former reporter for the Boston Globe and Lowell Sun who was a theater critic for the Village Voice for six years. He writes, “I felt a kinship with Daniel Pearl. He was out there doing what all of us dream of–getting the crucial story that wasn’t being written, finding out who the terrorists were and what was motivating them. Unfortunately, the people holding him were too dumb and vicious to recognize the opportunity he was offering.” In this play, they do.
The newsman, named Aaron Samzer, is the son of a rabbi who opposed his marriage to one of the Islamic cosmopolitans who are holding him. He is entrapped by friends he loves, who are planning hit New York City with “a small catastrophe to avoid a larger one.” All three are American citizens and not fanatics; two are Ivy League educated jet setters and all of them know they need this trusted, Jewish newsman to tell their story.
BLIND ANGELS is a work that seems to have a lot of things going for it. The creative team behind the show is to be congratulated for doing a lot with quite little. One thing I really appreciate about Theater for the New City is that it creates a space for more experimental work. Consequently, there are times when a show may appear to need some help. Given the fact that many productions at the venue have never had a public reading or workshop, that isn’t necessarily a bad thing. BLIND ANGELS, in many ways, shows up on stage as if it’s ready to go — possibly needing a few tweaks here and there.
Under the direction of Melissa Atteberry, the cast, Scott Raker, Qurrat Ann Kadwani, Francesco Campari, Alok Tewari, and Cynthia Granville, are all believable and real. The only issue here seems to be with some of the lines and pat phrases. The characters seem to pull some catch phrases and colloquialisms out of the 1970’s and 80’s that probably wouldn’t be used by hip 30-somethings in NYC today. This, however, isn’t an issue with the direction or execution from the cast, rather evidence that the script could use a bit of refining.Otherwise, the script is successful, pulling the audience into the story and creating a sense of drama and suspense quite successfully.
The creative team really made BLIND ANGELS work, with set design by Brandon McNeel that could rival many a larger-budget production. Also to be noted is the lighting design by Alexander Bartenieff. He does a magnificent job drawing the audience into the story, and has flashback and foreshadowing is defined in a very clear and creative way.
BLIND ANGELS has a limited run, closing March 2nd. Don’t miss out on this opportunity to see this play that just might possibly become a much larger ticket item in the near future.
