Dinner parties are a reliable place for theatrical dramas, from family meals in August: Osage County to the night of Powerkeeg depicted in “Disgraced.” Heck, if you have the right couple, like “the god of genocide”, then you don’t even need food.
Orlando Shakes’ latest work, “Welcome to Mattson!”, features both a couple and dinner, offering plenty of food for thoughts about America today. Frankly, it’s not a beautiful photo. And that is expanded by starting things from a segment recorded from President Barack Obama’s first address in 2009.
“Our time has passed – to protect our standing pats, to protect narrow interests and to postpone unpleasant decisions,” the former president intragedy. “From today, we must start working on picking up ourselves, dusting ourselves, and rebuilding America again.”
But it works well and consistently “Welcome to Mattson!” Not everyone is ready for the job.
Inda Craig Galvan opens her dark comedy – with laughter alongside Patricia and Gerald Griffith. In the upscale Chicago suburbs, they were a kind of “welcome wagon” and invited new neighbors, Regina and Corey, for dinner.
However, these newcomers arrived in unconventional ways. Through a voucher program that resurfaced them from the devastated public housing projects by the city of Chicago. Patricia is on top of the new chicken recipes she’s trying out, but mostly on the cork rep, on top of the new neighbour, and on her perception of what they’ll look like.
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It just so happens that all four of the characters are black. And Craig Galvan can say a lot about the internal disparities between them – meaning “risking.”
The blackness of the characters is inherent in the story, but it does not limit the ideas faced by the audience. Anyone of all races can resist change. For example, you can see other people, such as immigrants. Any group can fall prey to manipulation by powerful people. This is a typical American disparity. Remember, keep them calling the shots by keeping us separate.
Keri Hollingsworth and Walter Riddle do a great job as newcomers and never keep the origins of the characters in mind. Their relationship is a humming of love and energy. Hollingsworth in particular stands out for her nonsense attitude and her confident energy, but Riddle consistently maintains Corey’s pride without being proud.
Riddle and Christopher James Murray as hosts develop an attractive male union relationship, and Murray creates a crafty character arc as a friendly and comfortable man until his comfort zone is threatened.
Dayja Le’Chelle plays the most difficult role as a fast drink, light sce and Touchy Patricia. Lucer’s face and the mannerism show Patricia’s horror and her climactic speech. – They are dramatically wounded by the power of historical injustice behind it. Her great portrayal cannot make you like Patricia, but maybe it’s because she made us look at a bit of Patricia in ourselves.
Both Emerson and the actors do an excellent job of keeping these characters authentic despite occasionally acting in ways that are hard to imagine at gatherings like this. Their actions may be shocking. It offers dark humor, but at the core, these characters seem completely incredible. They may be our neighbors.
It helps, as its symbolism is on the nose for subtle dialogue, perhaps in a long scene, the play is unexpectedly delved into magical realism towards its end.
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Headlines were made this week in Orlando when the city dropped its proposed homeless shelter plan after a neighbor opposed it. It’s a slightly different scenario from Craig Galvan’s play, yes…but is that really? This means that some people are afraid of change and are sacrificing the poor and clinging to what they have. As Obama’s words echo at the end of the play, perhaps these characters, and more, we may realize you don’t build a country like that.
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“Welcome to Mattson!”
Length: 90 minutes, no breaks Location: Lowndes Shakespeare Center, 812 E. Rollins St. in OrlandoTime: Until March 29th Cost: Over $29 Information: orlandoshakes.org
Original issue: March 14th, 2025 5am Edit
