The Appearance of Janey Jones (ten cents)

Well, the name of the play is "The Disappearance of Janey Jones", but for us, since we had not seen it previously, it was more an appearance, than the opposite. Hannah was the dramaturg on this new play by young playwright Jennifer Fawcett, a graduate playwriting student at the University of Iowa. It is being performed 6 times at the Hatchery Festival (hatching new playwrights) at the D.C. Arts Center in Adams Morgan. It opened last night.

I did not know what to expect, since this is clearly a low budget operation, and not one that is very well known. The small black box theater was sold out (which surprised me) but it was the one act, 90 minute play that surprised me more. A grandmother who struggles with bipolarity for most of her life, a granddaughter with the same "disease" or "problem" (depending on which character is describing it) and a mother in the middle, who is just fed up. The granddaughter is 28, but her 8 year old self is also a character in the play, and they come in contact with each other (sharing the same room as they do, as well as the same mother and grandmother). "I don't want to grow up like you" says that 8 year old; "but you will" says her 28 year old self.

Moving back and forth generation to generation, sometimes with two time periods existing not parallel to each other but in synchronicity with each other.

Very well acted, especially the grandmother (who in real life is probably 28) and the 8 year old (who is also about the same age). In fact, the entire cast seemed to be about 28. And the entire audience.

Before the show, we had supper at Jyota, the Indian restaurant in Adams Morgan, which I have used quite often as a carry out restaurant. The owner/my friend was not there (perhaps on vacation), and the food (tanduri salmon, lamb something, black lentil dal, and eggplant (made from peeled eggplants and much milder than most Indian eggplant dishes). It was very, very good. Each and every dish.