To break stereotypes while imitating another’s art is tricky; the similarities may provide insight into universal truths or come off as mimicry.
In the regional premiere of Shadow Theatre Company’s “Plenty of Time,” playwright John Shevin Foster borrows on Bernard Slade’s stage and screenplay formula for “Same Time, Next Year” and creates an alternate history of African-American culture from the open ’60s to the security-ridden present.
Simone St. John and Quatis Tarkington redeploy the multifaceted characterizations of Ellen Burstyn and Alan Alda from the film and bring alive Foster’s open-minded take on the coming of age of a generation of black bourgeois youth.
Christina and Corey wake up together, after what they think is a one-night stand, at a private beach house in Oak Bluffs, a black resort on Martha’s Vineyard, and immediately give each other grief. She is posing as an experienced college girl from the Hampton Institute and he pretends to be a member of the Black Panthers.
How they manage to respect each other’s differences and provide support and comfort for each other whenever they get together to “catch up” at the same beach house for a brief respite every year for the next 35 years is both interesting and far-fetched.
Director Jeffrey Nickelson keeps it light, with St. John and Tarkington exuding a comfortable sexual tension and good-natured fun. If anything, the surfeit of nostalgic tunes and photo ops distracts from the subtle changes taking place in our protagonists’ hearts, where time is measured by spiritual progress.
“Plenty of Time” | *** RATING
DRAMEDY|Presented by Shadow Theatre Company|Written by John Shevin Foster|Directed by Jeffrey Nickelson|Starring Simone St. John and Quatis Tarkington|At Ralph Waldo Emerson Center, 1420 Ogden St.|THROUGH OCT. 7|8 p.m. Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays|$25 (2-for-$30 Thursdays)|303-837-9355
