LITTLE WING
nytheatre.com review by George Psillides
August 15, 2003
At approximately 6:45pm, the staff at the Westbeth Community
Center let the half dozen or so members of the audience down a
path of white feathers to see Little Wing, an urban
fairytale. More white feathers surround the perimeter of the
stage, with a three-sided black curtain serving as a backdrop.
To the left is a white venetian blind. Taped to the curtain at
various places are black ink drawings of what appear to be wings
and assorted thumbnails of angels . In front of the curtain
there is a bed with a girl supposedly sleeping, half covered by
a Superman bed sheet, her back turned to the audience, wearing
white trousers and a black bra.Little Wing is about an angel ,"SHE," played by ginger-haired Alicia Racine, who after the audience has taken their seats comes out covered in a white comforter. She drops it, and we see that she has wings, but there is blood where the wings are attached. (Oh My!) "HE," played by Dominic Bogart looking like a guido model, wears black army boots, faded jeans and a baseball jersey with a painted light bulb done in the same style as the drawings on the black curtain. Does the light bulb represent a bright idea? I think not. "HE" is trying to get "SHE" out of the apartment.
Nevertheless, apart from "HE" bringing "SHE" her daily dose of milk, oranges, and Hershey kisses, Little Wing is loaded with meandering monologues: "HE" starting one such with "I had a dream..." (Oh brother!), "SHE" telling "HE" after he gives her an orange that "You are an orange." (Yikes!), "HE" referring to her as Dark Angel (Oh please!); vows of marriage, mumblings of abortion. The penultimate moment is when "SHE" lights a white candle that has the scent of tangerine (Gulp!) and later sings "Blackbird." If Little Wing is an urban fairytale based in New York, why was a McCartney song chosen instead of a Lennon song? At least Lennon lived in New York. Eventually "SHE" goes out into the rain with "HE".
Earnest at most, whimsical in the least, the only catharsis I felt from Little Wing was at the nearest bar after the show.
