stage The very talentedRo Boddie


is leaving everything he’s got on the stage in Cygnet Theatre’s new one-man comedyEvery Brilliant Thing. Boddie, who attended the University of North Carolina School of Arts, has been popping up all around town: From Cygnet’s Stupid F**king Bird to the La Jolla Playhouse’s Blueprints to Freedom and back to Cygnet for August Wilson’sSeven Guitars andKing Hedley II. Outside our region, Boddie has done plenty of Shakespeare and has earned multiple Helen Hayes nominations. Every Brilliant Thing, written by


Duncan Macmillan and directed by Robby Lutfy, examines the life of a man, who as a young boy learned his Mom was in the hospital. His Dad says, “She’s done something stupid, she finds it hard to be happy.” The young boy responds by making a list of everything that is brilliant about the world. Everything worth living for: 1. Ice cream. 2. Kung Fu movies. 3. Staying up past your bedtime and being allowed to watch TV. 4. The color yellow. He leaves it on his Mom’s pillow and very soon, the list begins to take on a life of its own. Every Brilliant Thing takes on depression, connec-


Inn. But I start another play a week after this play closes. It’s calledThe Agitators by Matt Smart and is a two-handed play, about Frederick Douglass and Susan B. Anthony.” Without giving away too much of


A ONE-MAN JOURNEY RO BODDIE by lisa lipsey


tion and the lengths we will go to for those we love. When it had a run Off-Broadway in 2014, theatergo- ers admired its balance of humor, poignancy, and quirky audience participation. Boddie is pleased to be doing this work, “I’ve been wanting to do a one-man show for a very long time, but I haven’t found one that really pulled me in until this one. Robby Lutfy has been encouraging me to write my own for years, but I haven’t had the courage and I criticize my own writing too much nowadays. So, when Robby approached me with this I immediately said, ‘Of course.’” One-man shows can be daunting as the actor


illustrated, “It’s incredibly intimidating! The play is 53-pages-long, involves many moments of improvisation with the audience and that improv will change every show, plus I literally have all the lines! It’ll be a challenge, but the challenging roles


“REGARDLESS OF YOUR


RACE, RELIGION OR BELIEFS THIS PLAY IS ALL ABOUT THE HEART.ABOUT KEEPING YOUR HOPE AND OPTI- MISM AT THE HIGHEST


LEVEL, ESPECIALLY FOR THE ONES YOU LOVE WHEN THEY’RE AT THEIR LOWEST.”


are the roles I seek and crave as an actor.” Boddie, whose muses include, “August Wilson,


Marlon Brando and Richard Pryor (for as long as I can remember),” currently lives in Crown Heights, Brooklyn and says, acting aside, “I’m also a bartender in my neighborhood at a bar called The Crown


the play, Boddie notes, “Every Brilliant Thing has a relaxed energy surround- ing it. As the audience enters, I won’t be sitting backstage, waiting to enter the stage during a blackout. I’ll be greeting people as they come in and I’ll be out in the audience and chatting with patrons in the lobby… not as a character, but as me. Once the play starts, I’ll still be talking to the audience. My goal is that the audience forgets this is a ‘play’ and that I’m playing a character. Instead, they’re going on a journey with me.” “I feel that this play is easily relat-


able, especially to those who have had a member of their family that suffers from some kind of mental ill- ness, or at least the label of one. Until 1987, homosexuality was considered a mental disorder. Regardless of your race, religion or beliefs this play is


all about the heart. About keeping your hope and optimism at the highest level, especially for the ones you love when they’re at their lowest.” When asked about any special ritual he follows


for getting into character, Boddie smiled, “I’ve been doing this ritual since college, it’s called ‘signing into a character.’ I write a formal letter to my higher self, asking to grant me three things to focus on for the show. Those three things may change from night to night, or they may be the same throughout the entire production run. By doing this, I have very specific goals and objectives to focus on during the show. It also keeps the show alive [fresh] for me.” He shared a few things on his list of brilliant things: “I’d say music, meditation and falling in love. My list could go on and on I’m sure.”


What’s on your list?


Every Brilliant Thing runs Sunday, August 26 through Sunday, September 16 at Cygnet Theatre in Old Town. For tickets and more information call 619.337.1525 or go to cygnettheatre.com.


52


RAGE monthly | AUGUST 2018 RAGE monthly


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64