➤ DONJA R. LOVE, from p.20
hearsals like this, but Stevie came
up with the genius idea of focusing
on one or two characters, like Donté
and his Mom, or him and the
bartender. The actors were willing
to share the backstories they’d
come up with for each character.
“With the exception of Donté,
none of the characters had an actual
name. But we discovered the
names each actor had given Mom,
the bartender, how long he’d been
tending that bar, the kind of music
they listened to, etc. What they did
was so incredibly detailed and Stevie
was a genius, laying the foundation
so that by the time we got
into the theater, every actor was
truly grounded in whatever track
character they were playing.”
A unique problem was that if an
actor hadn’t randomly been chosen
to play a particular character over
a period of performances he ran
the risk of becoming rutsty.
“I remember Eddie hadn’t played
a certain track for something like
two weeks and I was in the audience
at that preview, dying with
nervousness, thinking, ‘Oh God,
he’s gonna forget the blocking, etc.’
But he jumped right in and didn’t
miss a beat.”
I have rarely seen a play where
every word feels so true and actually
lived.
“I literally have to write what
I know. For so long I would hide
behind a character but for this I
couldn’t — or sugarcoat anything.
I mean, come on, the lead’s name
is Donté, and I’m Donja. I could
have named him Donja but I needed
some distinction. Laughs.
“During the previews, watching
it was traumatic for me. I would
sit in the last row of the balcony,
where I could still see people leaning
in and when they fell back, reacting,
and I could hear the audience
below in the orchestra. So I
was doing my job as a playwright,
listening to the audience reactions
to fi gure out what was working
and not.
“It’s still a slippery slope because
I want to know how people are reacting
to the play but I don’t want
to know how they are reacting to
my life. I still haven’t fi gured it out
laughs, but after the second preview,
I remember I was leaving the
Jamyl Dobson, Leland Fowler, and Edward Mawere in Donja R. Love’s “One in Two,” directed by Stevie
Walker-Webb.
theater when this man stopped me
and said, ‘I saw it yesterday. My
name is so and so and I have been
HIV-positive for such and such a
time.’ He said this all at once, in
one breath — I still get chills thinking
about it. He felt safe enough to
tell me all this, and I am so grateful
for that, and — I am trying not
to cry right now — I am humbled
that I was the vessel chosen to tell
this story so other individuals who
might share this experience can
see this and feel safe and somehow
MONIQUE CARBONI
empowered enough to share their
own stories.”
Read David Kennerley’s review of
“One in Two”: tinyurl.com/veny38u
ONE IN TWO | The New Group |
Pershing Square Signature Center,
480 W. 42nd St. | Through Jan.
12: Sun., Tue.- Fri. & Dec. 23 & 30
at 7:30 p.m.; Sat. at 8 p.m.; Sat. &
Sun. at 2 p.m.| $43-$123 at thenewgroup.
org | Ninety mins., with
no intermission
©2019 New York Lottery
PLEASE GIFT RESPONSIBLY.
You must be 18 years or older to purchase a lottery ticket.
Struggling with a gambling addiction? Call the HOPEline 1-877-8-HOPENY (1-877-846-7369)
or text HOPENY (467369).* NYLResponsiblePlay.com *Standard text rates may apply.
GayCityNews.com | January 2 - January 15, 2020 21
/veny38u
/NYLResponsiblePlay.com
/GayCityNews.com
