Braving the storm: Yoga Play at Syracuse Stage
By Daniel Wilde
Driving down to East Genesee St. Thursday night was it’s own theatrical experience. With Syracuse Stage being no stranger to winter weather warnings, I was curious to see if they would phone in a snow day to account for the foot of snow the city was expecting that evening. I arrived, to my surprise, to find a bustling, resilient theater undeterred by impending weather. With everything theaters have gone through the past two years, what’s a little snow to get in the way of putting on a show? As I masked up and shuffled into the lobby, I was met by artistic director Robert Hupp, humbly verifying vaccination cards. A perfect example of how Syracuse Stage has cemented itself as a community institution from top to bottom.
Stage is presenting the East Coast premiere of “Yoga Play” by Dipika Guha, directed by Stage’s newly hired associate artistic director Melissa Crespo, and co-produced with Geva Theatre Center, running January 19 through February 6th. I was excited to experience this new piece featured on the Kilroy List, an annual survey highlighting new plays written by women, trans, and non-binary playwrights in an effort to lift up underrepresented voices in American theater.
“Yoga Play” seeks to eviscerate corporate America for its racism and capitalistic ideals, but falls flat at enlightening an audience through its ridiculous characters and situations. When the fictional athleisure company Jojomon faces a scandal, they attempt to reignite buyer interest by appropriating the sacred practice of yoga to reconnect with their customers. I enjoyed some of the all too real ridiculousness, but it seemed the older generation around me got more humor from the punchy jokes than myself.
The scenic design transported the action to West Coast corporate offices and yoga studios, often utilizing exercise balls as office chairs. Projections and video elements kept the play up to date by visualizing zoom meetings and internet discourse. Flurries of angry Twitter birds would flood the stage as internet buzz caught up to the character’s irresponsible decisions.
The night’s performance felt intimate and lively as the cast of five maintained good energy, even in front of the night’s quaint audience. The cast played up the physical humor, while finding space to let their character’s breath in many reflective moments centered around identity. Andrea Cirie, as Joan, played a convincing corporate manager whose desperate attempts to salvage the company mission lead her down a rabbit-hole of cultural appropriation. Rishan Dhamija as Raj and Ricky Pak as Fred, play stooge-like associates who are the subject of Joan’s white ignorance.
While I left the performance less than inspired by the material, I found myself moved by Syracuse Stage as an institution and the committed audience members I shared the night with. Expecting to be the only one at Stage to see a new play amid a snowstorm, I was delighted to find myself among a fellow theater loving CNY audience, willing to overcome a pandemic and mother nature to enjoy live regional theater.