Carly Feinman
“Frontiéres sans Frontières,” a vibrant new play by Phillip Howze and directed by Dustin Wills, follows three orphaned, stateless kids as they grapple with the ever-changing landscape of their lives. I caught a performance at The Bushwick Starr on Thursday, March 9, but you’ll be able to catch it between now and March 25.
The play is a kaleidoscope of funny, absurd displays of humanity swinging, pendulum-like, between the mundane and the magical, the minuscule and the grand. One moment we are zoomed in: a child turning water from a leaking roof into a triumphant cup of tea. The next moment we are zoomed out: systemic exploitation of natural resources.
When the lights dim in the theater and the strobing disco lights begin to flash, we are launched into the dance party of a makeshift family in their makeshift home: three scrappy kids in a refugee camp. The leader, Win (Emma Ramos), the accomplice, Noon (Mirirai Sithole), and the little follower, Pan (Tony Vo) are exuberant and dancing until—Boom!—the dance party is interrupted by bombs exploding unsettlingly close overhead. The masterful sound is executed by Pornchanok Kanchanabanca.
Featured image by Joey Moro courtesy of The Bushwick Starr.
