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As Much as You Can

nytheatre.com review by Matt Schicker
August 15, 2005

Paul Oakley Stovall’s play As Much As You Can intelligently deals with a variety of social issues, including racism, homophobia, and religion. It succeeds in being very naturalistic in style while remaining stageworthy and dramatically compelling. The excellent team of actors, some of whom the Dog & Pony Theatre Company have imported from a Chicago production earlier this year, bring heart and skill to their utterly realistic portrayals of the characters.When Jesse returns home to Chicago for his brother’s wedding, he surprises—or, as his best friend Nina says, “ambushes”—his family by bringing along his Swedish boyfriend, Christian. It’s not a comfortable situation for anyone. Jesse’s three siblings have varying reactions to the couple: half-sister Ronnie is supportive and anxious for the family to fully accept Jesse and Christian as a couple; younger brother Tony, once he conquers his initial homophobia, is resistant to welcoming a white man into their African-American family; deeply religious sister Evie thinks that Jesse is betraying the memory of their deceased parents by “choosing” what she considers a sinful, unnatural lifestyle. When Christian reveals that he has a 12-year-old son in Europe, things become even more confusing for some, and more complicated for everybody.As Much As You Can is made even richer because Stovall has artfully woven the complex themes of his story together through meaningful references to unsung civil rights leader Bayard Rustin and writer James Baldwin. Evie is studying Rustin for a college project, and as a connoisseur of African American literature, she loves Baldwin’s novels. When Christian reveals his deep admiration of Rustin as pioneer of gay rights as well as black rights, and Baldwin for his novels dealing with the connection between race and sexuality, the two characters who would seem to have the least in common discover that they share more than just Jesse.The committed performances add to the impact of the piece. J. Nicole Brooks is winningly feisty as Nina and Inda Craig-Galvan expertly navigates the emotions of Evie, a woman who struggles to accept change while remaining true to her beliefs. Angela Walsh is wonderfully warm as Ronnie, who becomes the mediator for her half-siblings’ squabbles. Jeff Alba brings quiet dignity and, in a speech near the end of the play, genuine emotion to Christian, who patiently waits for Jesse and his family to come to terms with each other. Will Owens convinces as Tony, a man whose love for his brother leads him to reconsider his prejudices. Only Kevin Douglas as Jesse doesn’t ring entirely true in his role, and this is mostly because his appearance is too youthful for us to believe that his character “practically raised” his brother Tony, who appears older.Director Krissy Vanderwarker keeps the action moving and has nicely guided the actors to some rich characterizations and relationships. Lighting by Jessica Barnedello and set design by Geoff Curley are necessarily simple, but Curley has managed to cleverly work actual copies of novels referred to in the script into the environment. Sound design by Scotty Iseri is evocative and assists in the smooth scene transitions.While I enthusiastically recommend As Much As You Can as a very worthwhile entry in the FringeNYC Festival, I also recommend that you arrive extra early to secure a seat in the first couple rows; I sat in the fifth row and had quite a bit of difficulty seeing everything happening on the stage, which is on the same level as the seating.