Developed at a
women’s prison in the north of England, the one-hour Key Change moves
quickly as actors sketch out common prison scenarios (fights for the phone),
regrets (poor choice in men) and longings. The newbie, Lucy, played by Cheryl
Dixon, is protected by feisty Angie, brilliantly played by Jessica Johnson, who
pledges to stay out of trouble when she’s released (this is her third bout in
prison).
Kelly (Christina
Berriman Dawson), brings poignant humor when she acts out the abusive boyfriend
or pusher in the women’s backstories. They return to a bad situation because
they have nowhere else to go. The stories are sadly similar: knocked up young,
no money, bad partners, petty crime, jail, prison. The eldest, Kim, well-played
by Judi Earl, is waiting out her sentence with apparent good nature and skill—but
don’t mess with her when she’s on the phone to her grandchild!
Key Change, by Catrina McHugh, an Open Clasp
Production, won a Best of Edinburgh Award and tours prisons. It’s magic when the
women’s letters from family turn into birds, so strong are the worlds of dream
and fantasy. Gentle segues and two brutal fight scenes are smartly paced under
the direction of Laura Lindow.
Spoken in
Geordie, the dialect of Northeast England, rather than in the silky tones of Queen’s
English on Downton Abbey, we missed a full ten percent of the play. A
glossery of prison lingo (“zoppie” for pharmaceutical drugs, a prison’s favored
currency) is included in the program. For a more immersive experience, on
display is a real prison cot in a six-by-eight-foot cell
demarcated by masking tape that you can try out.
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| Broccoli and Potato at innovative Dirt Candy |
On the edge of
Chinatown, Dirt Candy serves vegetables in ways designed to blow your
mind, and regularly succeeds. Entrées are named for the veg: Carrot (carrot
sliders on a sesame seed carrot bun), Broccoli (a broccoli “dog” served on a
bun, with mustard barbeque sauce) with vinegared, freeze-dried broccoli rabe
leaves. Cauliflower (curried cauliflower with papaya chutney and pappadam),
etc.
You arrive to complimentary
hot bread in a weave of vegetable colors and flavors: carrot, beet, celery, spinach. Every dish
we tried we loved, except for Potato (warm potato salad with olives, bitter
greens and yams) which had good textures but tasted bland at
room-temperature. The limitations of titling the dishes simply is apparent in
Brussels Sprout Tacos (no, thank you). Rutabaga torte was a revelation, a ginger
and sage mille-feuille layered with smoked cream cheese and
mustard, and topped with candied rutabaga.
Amanda Cohen,
chef and owner, wants you to taste something you’ve never had before, and all
safe and healthy. (To avoid crazy prices, Cohen’s food for the most part is not organic.) The
margaritas are refreshingly different: mezcal, infused with yellow and guajillo
peppers. Each drink and dish is Instagram worthy. Although the restaurant’s name, Dirt
Candy, evokes an earthy bowl of beans perfumed with garlic, in none of
the dishes did we taste even a hint of garlic. Beans were part (a minimal part)
of only one vegetable entrée (Fennel). Lemon, yes. Ginger, yes. But nowhere did
we taste soy or injudicious use of sugar, salt, pepper, or peanut. Desserts include the
lauded Onion Chocolate Tart and Carrot Meringue Pie with Sour Cream Ice Cream.
The servers were
great and the ambience too. We prepared to leave a big tip, only to find that Dirt
Candy, an innovator in all matters, embraces the new ban on tipping that a few
restaurants have adopted. (A twenty-per-cent gratuity is added, divided among
wait staff and the kitchen.)
