Theater Is Easy Review: Rocco, Chelsea, Adriana, Sean, Claudia, Gianna, Alex

HERE's main theatre is stripped to the bones, and folding tables covered with crumbled pages of the New York Times are aligned along the perimeter. We are invited to take one of the numbered seats at the tables, facing inwards like at a college seminar. The actors of Rocco, Chelsea, Adriana, Sean, Claudia, Gianna, Alex are seated amongst us but, due to modern-day costumes (by Liz Toonkel), it’s not evident until they start their scene.

Newspapers rumble and fly up in the air filling the room with a thick smell of ink as introductory scenes follow each other in the first act. First we are at a Thanksgiving dinner where Sean (Adrian Baidoo) gives a passionate speech about his struggle to be thankful for the stigma of HIV. We meet shock-jock Rocco (Chuk Obasi), faced with the necessity of commenting on his on-air partner’s sexual assault allegations. Young professional Chelsea (Kaelyn Ambert-Gonzalez) stalks her romantic interest online. Gianna (Emily Jackson) relives the nightmare of losing her brother in 9/11 while working as a tour guide on the memorial to the tragedy. Claudia’s (Tayla Mar) play about the reunion of a mother and a daughter given up for adoption is in rehearsals when her own biological daughter enters her life. And Adriana (Adriana Rossetto), a young immigrant from Italy, chases her dreams of becoming both an actress in New York, and an American.

For the most part, the events take place in New York. While some stories are connected, the creators don’t try to tie everybody together with superficial plot twists. Rocco, Chelsea, Adriana… could be seven separate plays, but the piece is drawn together through the magnetic force of the tension that charges each of the characters. They are all faced with a choice, or they feel like they are obligated to justify the choices of their past, in order to earn self-respect and love.