"A Promise Best Kept" Should Best Run Permanently

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It comes as no surprise that the Off-Off-Broadway movement has for almost five decades unleashed some of the finest performers and playwrights of all time upon the globe. And Theatre for the New City has endured for nearly forty of those years as an undisputed champion of same; just a handful of their playwrights past and present have included Sam Shepard, Robert Patrick, Maria Irene Fornes, Lanford Wilson,

John Guare, Sebastian Stewart, Ron Tavel and Barbara Garson. It should also be noted that founders Crystal Field and George Bartenieff are singlehandedly responsible for the creation of Greenwich Village's annual Halloween Parade, and that their Summer Street Theatre series continues to remain a highlight throughout the five boroughs. It is, therefore, no surprise whatsoever that the company brought forth an absolute dazzler of a play in June, namely Edward Miller's brilliant A Promise Best Kept. With an exceptional cast and Marc Marcante assuming the directorial helm, this play's regrettably-short run absolutely deserves a chance to be revived, and to be performed as permanently as possible.

We're greeted at the outset by Suzanne Curtis, one of the most perfectly-conceived matriarchs since Bree Vanderkamp Hodge on TV's "Desperate Housewives." Suzanne has spent years creating a perfect home for attorney-husband Walter, rebellious daughter Celia and son Benjamin, as well as Benjamin's friend and perpetual hanger-on, Owen. Her home is stunning, her meals are a work of art, and she even finds the time to be a good friend and neighbor to busybody Edna Crawford. Until the evening when the home is raided by the local police, and Suzanne is unmasked as a ruthless criminal on the lam, who actually snatched Benjamin from birth mother, Catherine Barron, two decades prior. The family is thrown into dysfunctionality much like a car engine traveling from zero to sixty, and we as an audience, are taken into the scintillating thrill ride like a trip to the Coney Island Cyclone.

As Suzanne, actress April Woodall is utterly enthralling; her journey from housewife to jailbird is riveting, and evokes the perfect amount of sympathy and scorn. Austin Mitchell is equally impressive as Benjamin, making thespianic choices one usually only sees in the most seasoned of actors. Kyle Fowler is always perfectly understated as Owen, serving as almost a comic mascot for the play. As the police, Jack Tynan and Nick Ruggeri marvelously handle being "good cop-bad cop." The performances of Dan Patrick Brady as Walter and Alexandra Grossi as Celia are perhaps a bit less stellar, but they're never anything less than completely dedicated members of a team determined to do the best show possible. However, it is Tina Mavrikidis, in multiple roles as neighbor Edna, birth mother Catherine, and a short bit as policewoman Lutella, who simply grabs every moment by the throat and won't let go; one looks very much forward to wherever and whenever she might next appear if not in this play.

It should equally be noted that director Marcante also did a bang-up job with the set design in tandem with Jessica Hart, and that Alexander Bartenieff's lighting couldn't possibly have been more world-class.

Ergo, should this play return to Off-Off-Broadway or perhaps even be presented in a spectrum slightly more high-profile, A Promise Best Kept is a winner. We can all merely hope it might reach a wider audience. As it should.