Acclaimed actress Waltrudis Buck joins Houston’s Black Lab Theatre for Amy Herzog’s Pulitzer Prize-nominated play 4000 Miles. Black Lab founder Jordan Jaffee, who co-stars with Buck in the family drama, has heady praise for the actress. “Anytime you can work with someone who’s worked with both Woody Allen and Oliver Stone, you can’t pass that up.” Jaffee appears as Leo, a 21-year-old underachiever who unexpectedly lands on his grandmother Vera’s (Buck) doorstep in Greenwich Village. What starts off as a simple overnight couch crash turns into a prolonged stay.
It’s more than age that separates the two characters. Leo, at the end of a cross-country bicycle trip, is a bit of a wanderer, and Vera lives a very orderly life. The two are also on opposite sides of the political spectrum (ninety-one-year-old Vera is an extreme leftist). The two do have something in common: “It would be fair to say that both characters are lonely,” Jaffee tells us. The drama and poignancy of the play are mixed with some humor, making it a show that will appeal to viewers of all ages, Jaffee says.
8 p.m. Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays and March 3, 3 p.m. March 9 and 16. Through March 16. Frenetic Theater, 5102 Navigation. For information, call 713-515-4028 or visit blacklabtheatre.com. $25.
Thursdays-Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Sundays, 3 p.m. Starts: Feb. 27. Continues through March 16, 2014
This article appears in Feb 27 – Mar 5, 2014.