FringeNYC 2013: CARROLL GARDENS ABORNING

Review by Theresa Buchheister · August 11, 2013

It is a rare occasion that I leave a theatre after a show, turn to my theatre audience companion, and we simultaneously say 'Let's take the long way to the train. I want to talk about this."

This is what happened Sunday night, after my buddy and I saw Carroll Gardens Aborning. The train was only half a block away, so we circled for a while and then landed near the entrance, next to a pile of trash, and talked for another 30 minutes. Once we settled, we could spot other audience members who seemed to have made similar choices, chatting on corners, leaning against roll gates, unable to go separate ways without a little back and forth about the play we just saw.

Regardless of where any of these audience members, myself included, landed (if they ever did land), the fact that theatre can garner this kind of reaction is a great argument for the survival of the art form. It is beyond agreeing or disagreeing, liking or disliking. It got brainwheels spinning and conversations tumbling.

Carroll Gardens Aborning follows four characters in a non-linear narrative, a rather coming-of-age-for-NYers-in-their-30/40s story. It is a different pain, passion, sacrifice, impossibility of existence than the teenage stories that reach to the core of us, delving into what it is to be so new to the world, and how we emerge somehow into adulthood. It is far more complicated. These characters are human towers of experiences and choices, layers upon layers. When they look down from where they are in the present, they can see who they once were, but they can also see every layer upon layer on top of that 18 year old self they are looking down at. They have not lost themselves, they are just not so simple any more.

I do not want to say more about the plot, as the structure and content are valuable to an audience who enters with no expectations of what they think a domestic drama IS.

I shall say, that there is only one scene that I wish was cut. In the entire two hours, it is the only time that I felt a gross twinge of being told what to think and it allllllmost came off as prolife in a way that really bothered me, but I felt that was not the intent, regardless of the effect. One of the characters even says something along the lines of, "well you are leaving, so I am going to say exactly what I think about you right now."  
The rest of the play brilliantly avoids answering questions. Answering questions, in my opinion which may not be shared I know, in the theatre is the least honest thing possible. It is automatically false and forced and a little propagandistic. Carroll Gardens Aborning presents the complications of being a human beautifully and specifically, with great attention to detail. The characters have viewpoints. Much happens. However, it remains complicated and in the end, I did not utter my least favorite words to say about art - "Oh yah, I totally get it."

Equally stunning (perhaps even more so) to the strength of the piece itself is the ensemble work of the cast. I would have put money on all of them having worked together for years. However, they are simply ridiculously skilled artists, working together for the first time. At once natural and theatrical, spontaneous and precise, their focus and connection to the work, each other, and the audience was mesmerizing. 

Nika Ezell Pappas is a master of nuance, every moment of her presence full but subtle.  Reuben Barsky has the most complicated role, as he is talked about by everyone before we see him, and all have different opinions about his persona.  As his character unfolds, we are able to see where each outside opinion, contradictory as they may seem, finds footing in a rich portrait of a charming and devastating man.  Melissa Rosenberger is a revelation the first time the narrative breaks.  She is consistent and yet my reaction to her was constantly changing.  She really got to the darkness while still giving us glimpses of hope.  James Fauvell is perhaps the most likable performer I have seen this year.  He is a showman without screaming "Look at me!", he does this sort of natural slapstick that seems impossible, and each moment resonated with honesty.