Cappie review of “Awake and Sing!” by Luc Restivo, South Lakes High School, Reston, VA

Arena Stage in the heart of Washington, D.C. had much to “Sing” about after a performance of their newest show Awake and Sing! by Clifford Odets. The show originally opened on Broadway in the Belasco Theater by the Group Theatre in 1939. Awake and Sing! sang to the people and ended up coming back to Broadway three more times in the years of 1938, 1939, and 1984.

The story follows a Jewish family in the time of the Great Depression just trying to get by on the little money they get from their youngest son. The family tackles such obstacles as a pregnant daughter, low input financially, marrying outside their own culture, and even an unfortunate death.

The virtually flawless technical aspects of the production added to the great experience of viewing of the production. The lighting design by Allen Lee Hughes and the sound design by Marc Gwinn seemed to be right on. When the players used light switches to switch on working lamps and switches to switch on and off a radio the cues seemed to be non-existent and seemed that the set worked on its own. Being a Jewish family set in the Bronx, the show called for dialect for each character. The actors and actresses each had unique accents that were realistic all thanks to the vocal, speech, and dialect coach Deborah Hecht.

The mother just trying to keep her family together and live a good life, Bessie Berger, played by Jana Robbins, wore the heavy pants in the family. Her dominant presence took over the stage with her comical lines but still topped her dramatic moments with ease. After being told about her pregnant daughter, she took the lead and forces her to marry a “good” Jewish man who has fallen madly in love with her, when Hennie’s heart is in another place.

Hennie, played by Miriam Silverman, is the daughter of the boisterous Bessie. The youthful woman brought life to character in act one, but transformed her character in act two into a tiresome mom. Dealing with a huge change, such as finding out you are two months pregnant and trying to break the news to your family, her character used vivid body language to extenuate the emotion her was trying to convey.

However, the standout performer of the night was Adam Green, who played Ralph. Having dealt with Jacob’s death, he had to rise up to be the wise one of the family. Going from the love-sick young man who has fallen for a girl who isn’t Jewish to losing his father figure to having to rise to be this father figure was a tremulous leap; he tackled it effortlessly.

After a flawless viewing of Awake and Sing!, the audience leaves in thought but still feeling uplifted; enough to leave you with a feeling of singing through the streets of Washington.

This highly recommended show can be viewed through the Arena Stage website at www.arenastage.org where you can purchase tickets and see what’s next for the group.