Cristina Pitter (Miriam) and Nikkole Salter (Leslie). Photo by Margot Schulman Photography.
Inda Craig-Galván’s “A Jumping-Off Point” makes its world premiere at Bethesda’s Round House Theatre as the centerpiece of the theatre’s third annual National Capital New Play Festival. Directed by Jade King Carroll, the play tackles representation and privilege within the TV writers’ community. The fast-paced production and emotional performances will likely provoke lively discussion among audiences, but the playwright’s point is not as sharp as it might be.
…fast-paced production and emotional performances…
The tone shifts dramatically throughout, and the play serves up a buffet of ethical issues, but conclusions and revelations are not on the menu. The opening scene—a playwright being interviewed before a live audience—comments on the typically uninformed and racially-biased questions a Black writer receives from White readers or in this case, audience members. Leslie, the playwright (Nikkole Salter in a compelling performance), seems to have developed just the right answers to satisfy her interviewers, if not herself. The scene shifts quickly to her apartment where she is awaiting delivery of her first contract as showrunner and head writer for her own show on HBO MAX. Leslie celebrates with her best friend and roommate, Miriam (the delightful Cristina Pitter), by sharing a bottle of red wine on a new white sofa. Yes, something is going to spill on that frosty white fabric, but it’s not the wine.
The next morning after Miriam leaves for yoga class, Leslie is surprised by a visit from her old college friend, Andrew (an appealing Danny Gavigan). Andrew arrives in a state of hung-over anger and accuses Leslie of stealing a story he wrote as a draft script in college and turning it into the story for the play that launched her career. Craig-Galván’s play, at this point, seems to be about the damage caused by intellectual theft, and judging by Andrew’s intensity, the damage has been extreme. Then Leslie and Andrew make a deal. Andrew won’t tell anyone that the play was originally his idea if Leslie ensures him a job on her TV project and, voilà, Andrew is calm and happy. Leslie reassures him, and her own conscience, “There are no new ideas.”
Another major point the play aims to make is who gets to tell whose story? Andrew’s story was based on a news event concerning a Black family in the Mississippi Delta. Did Andrew, a White man from another area of the country, have the right to dramatize this story? A comparison is attempted with David Simon, creator of “The Wire,” but Leslie seems to wrap up this discussion by stating repeatedly, “It’s all fiction.” So, Leslie didn’t steal Andrew’s intellectual property, she merely used it as a “jumping off point” to write her own story. As Miriam discovers, that’s not the full truth, either. The set up for this play is good and it’s entertaining to watch, but it’s also frustrating that the core ideas seem to dissolve before being fully explored. The most satisfying story here is the development of the relationships between the three characters. They all learn something new about each other and, we are left to hope, about themselves as well.
Scenic Designer Meghan Raham has created the perfect staging to accommodate the short scenes and rapid set changes. A turntable smoothly takes us from TV studio to apartment to cafés, all designed in icy blue-grays and white with sharp edges. Costume designer Moyenda Kulemeka was most successful with the character of Miriam who evolved from comfy gray yoga pants into a colorful, flowing, and sophisticated outfit, perhaps symbolizing her growing awareness of who Leslie really is while choosing to love her contradictions.
Running Time: Approximately one hour and 30 minutes with no intermission.
“A Jumping-Off Point” runs through May 5, 2024 at Round House Theater, 4545 East-West Highway, Bethesda, MD 20814. Performances are Tuesday-Thursday at 7:30 pm, Fridays and Saturdays at 8 pm, and Sundays at 2 pm. For more information and to purchase tickets, call the Box Office at 240-644-1100 or go online.
