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Dragons in New York
AOL DIGITAL CITY Dragons in New York may be a distant cousin to the Jimmy
Stewart classic It's a Wonderful Life, as it too features a dissatisfied
main character and guardian angel reflecting on existence, but this version
takes some serious u-turns along the way. For starters, the protagonist
is rather annoyed by his relentless guardian angel. Writer/director Pattric
Walker's piece is said to be highly personal, and stars Chance Theater
veteran Kim Kiedrowski as the pesky angel.
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ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER Charming comedy-drama at the Chance Theater is a tale of redemption. At the Chance Theater in Anaheim Hills, Pattric Walker's "Dragons in New York" is a charming tale of dashed hope and redemption in the kind of desolate setting more befitting Beckett's "Waiting for Godot." In some ways, Walker's story and characters are also reminiscent of the 1991 Terry Gilliam film "The Fisher King." But "Dragons in New York" stands on its own, focusing on George Walter, a lost soul who has given up on life, and the other lost souls whom he's compelled to help. By helping them, he begins to again find meaning in his own life. In self-imposed isolation, George has created a meager home for himself in a deserted garbage dump just outside the city limits of New York. Daily visits from his buddy Bob form George's only contact with the outside world. Bob brings him food and news from the city. George even dubs Bob "Herald Daily," for being his source of information. From the start of the Chance's staging, it's clear that George is no ordinary homeless guy. Some tragedy has forced him to turn his back on his life -- a life, we suspect, full of promise. He's obviously well-educated and well-read. And his constant use of terminology from the era of knights and fair maidens proves that his basic nature, for all his defensiveness, is a romantic and caring one. Whom does George have to be defensive against? Walker, who directs her own script, throws two characters at him: A beautiful young woman suffering amnesia, whom George dubs "Idona" ("I don't, I don't ..." she stutters when asked her name); and a young teen runaway who calls himself "Rocky" (he's hooked on the Stallone movies). There are some gimmicky elements regarding both characters, but their deep-seated need for help and guidance are critical to the significance of "Dragons" -- their needs ignite a fire under George and shake him out of his stasis. Though the heart of "Dragons in New York" is a humanistic one, George's sharp personality provides the necessary salt; much of his dialogue is akin to that spoken by the cops on "NYPD Blue." Though David S. Neiman seems a bit too young to be playing someone burned out on life, he's the heart and soul of the Chance staging. His George is ambivalent: wary and beaten down by life, yet also an idealist. Neiman communicates all these complex shadings, and in a monologue near the play's conclusion, the volcanic emotions George has been suppressing spew forth. As Idona, Steffany Michele Lohn steps into the show's most stereotypical role -- the confused amnesiac -- and creates a graceful figure whose clear moral conscience connects with George's long-dormant sense of right and wrong. ... Robert G. Davis' lighting goes a long way toward
making "Dragons" sing visually, creating a couple of realistic-looking
day-to-night transitions and neatly duplicating the harsh glare of the
daytime sun. Walker's choice of entre'acte music is also telling, including
several well-known songs whose subject is, of course, New York City.
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