Between the Bars

A new prison drama by Lynn Clay Byrne that benefits from fine acting and the immediacy of an intimate theater.

Posted on October 1, 2021 by Joel Benjamin in Off-Broadway, Plays

Nowani Rattray, Chad Carstarphen, Juan Arturo, Katie Mack, Akeil David and Carol Todd in a scene from Lynn Clay Byrne’s “Between the Bars” at HERE Arts Center (Photo credit: Mati Gelman)

Joel Benjamin, Critic

Between the Bars, the new drama by Lynn Clay Byrne at HERE Arts Center, tests its characters’ limits of loyalty and love, using the visiting room of a prison as a microscope slide to study, a microcosm of life’s losers. Seven actors portray fourteen-plus characters: inmates, guards and visitors, all full of twisted emotions, greed and lust.

The action takes place in Bryce Cutler’s stark prison meeting room set. Mary Ellen Stebbins’ lighting amplifies the dreariness of the room while also flashing off and on to indicate scene changes, helped by Adrian Bridges’ frightening sound design.

The mood is set with the reading, in the dark, of one of McGee’s (Juan Arturo) poems ruminating on his inner turmoil. The entrance of two female visitors starts the drama rolling.

Arlene (Carol Todd) is the loudmouth, outrageously flirtatious mother of the slightly childlike Chad (Christopher Mowod). Arlene has dragged the much younger Sorrell (Katie Mack), her hairdresser, as a peace offering for McGee. Chad is jealous of Sorrell’s attention to McGee and is also disappointed that his mom didn’t bring him any drugs.

Mack and Arturo later morph into a far more dysfunctional couple: a fearfully passive Eve and Zeke, a mucho possessive Latino. This inevitably leads to outbursts of violence due to Zeke’s jealous rages.

Carol Todd and Christopher Mowod in a scene from Lynn Clay Byrne’s “Between the Bars” at HERE Arts Center (Photo credit: Mati Gelman)

Also passing nervously through the not-so-secure security check post is Tisah (Nowani Rattray), the mother of Attis (Chad Carstarphen), imprisoned because he refused to betray his brother. These two actors also take on other characters: Kaley, a wannabe teacher, and Massud whose young cousin, Mohawk (Akeil Davis), is having a particularly hard time.

Plates of home baked cookies seem to be especially valued by the prisoners even though they are usually stolen by the dishonest guards (Davis and Mowod) who wield their power injudiciously. Drugs are surreptitiously and freely passed around.

The characters are sometimes difficult to distinguish because the changes often involve nothing more than the addition or elimination of headgear (perfect costumes by Devario D. Simmons), but the skilled cast swiftly makes all these shifts distinguishable.

Why should anyone be interested in a rehash of characters and behaviors that have become the basic ingredient of procedural police dramas and reality crime TV shows? The answer is one word: immediacy.

Chad Carstarphen and Nowani Rattray in a scene from Lynn Clay Byrne’s “Between the Bars” at HERE Arts Center (Photo credit: Mati Gelman)

Benjamin Viertel directs Between the Bars brilliantly finding the balance between theatricality and reality. Each character emerges as distinct and multidimensional, even the guards who sit passively until they show their savage sides. This is a cast of fine actors who communicate both the indignities of confinement and its ultimate tragic toll just feet away from the audience.

Between the Bars (through October 30, 2021)

HERE Arts Center, 145 Sixth Avenue, in Manhattan

For tickets visit http://www.BetweentheBarsPlay.com

Running time: one hour and 40 minutes without an intermission

About Joel Benjamin (553 Articles)

JOEL BENJAMIN was a child performer on Broadway and danced with leading modern dance and ballet companies. Joel has been attending theater, ballet and opera performances ever since childhood, becoming quite opinionated over the years. He was the founder and artistic director of the American Chamber Ballet and subsequently was massage therapist to the stars before becoming a reviewer and memoirist. He is a member of the Outer Critics Circle.