Carnaval. The very word conjures up images of sexy sambas performed by beautiful, scantily clad women with wild abandon. Think: Mardi Gras on steroids. And it is the promise of this open licentiousness that lures the three you men to Rio de Janiero in Nikkole Salter's drama, Carnaval, now onstage at Luna Stage in West Orange.
Bookended by two scenes that take place in 2010 at the opening of Club Carnaval in New York City, the bulk of Salter's play takes place 14 years earlier in Rio where a trio of guys from the Bed-Stuy ghetto have traveled seeking a week of unbridled sex.
And what a trio they are! Oily man-about-town Raheem Monroe has set up the trip so he can get his enterprise as a travel agent for sex tourism up and running. Immature Jalani is the embodiment of hormones in sneakers: horny, wild and very touchy about his place in the world. Rounding out the group is the dour Demetrius, who disapproves of nearly everything about the trip. He has come along in an attempt to recapture the wild oats he was unable to sow when he knocked up his girlfriend Dana and assumed the responsibilities of fatherhood and husband at the tender age of 21. On Brazilian soil, the three run afoul of the cultural mores of the country and the holiday and let their ghetto mindset get in the way of fun, leading to near disaster and some eye-opening (and heart-rending) discoveries for at least two of them. (Above: L to R: Terrell Wheeler, Jaime Lincoln Smith and Anton Floyd. Photo credit Steven Lawler)
Cheryl Katz's able and taut direction doesn't stand a chance with the first act of Carnaval, which is overwritten, too long, redundant and ultimately tiresome. Not much happens other than the three men arrive in Rio where they set out to have some hot fun. Too, Salter's characters speak the patois of the ghetto, using explicit language and the epithet of "nigger" ad nauseum. I know the dialogue is appropriate to the characters' backgrounds and I am not a prude, but after a while the vocabulary became monotonous and annoying. C. Murdock Lucas' set allows the action to occur in three places—backstage at Club Carnaval, a JFK Airport departure lounge and a "luxury" penthouse in Rio—without much fuss. The second act is more tightly written, with conflicts coming to a head, preparing us for a surprising, and poignant, denouement, thus redeeming the script a bit.
Fortunately, the three actors do yeomen's jobs portraying these three rather unsympathetic characters. Terrell Wheeler's Raheem is rather smarmy and smug, sure he knows the ins-and-outs of dealing with prostitutes and their johns in a foreign culture. He comes across as an unfeeling clod at the end, completely oblivious to the suffering of his friends; he's a dislikable character and Wheeler's portrayal rings true. As Jalani, Jaime Lincoln Smith is a jittery kid in Rio and a respectable forty-year-old at the end—his annoying lack of awareness of a slippery situation gets the three into big trouble, yet he redeems himself with his compassion for his friend Demetrius in the final scenes. And it is Anton Floyd's Demetrius that is the most complex character of the play. He is obviously a loving father to his daughter, but one part of him wants to have fun while another side is well aware that what the men are doing is immoral, if not illegal. (Above: L to R: Anton Floyd, Terrell Wheeler, Jaime Lincoln Smith. Photo credit Steven Lawler)
Deborah Caney's costumes are appropriate to the characters and the setting, telegraphing the personalities at a single glance. Steve Brown's sound (and his use of video) does not intrude on the dramatic moment but helps provide atmosphere.
Luna Stage is known for producing plays that may make us uncomfortable but help "illuminate the world with all its diversity and complexity" (taken from the playbill notes), so it is not unusual to find a play like Carnaval on the stage of their little black box theater. It’s too bad that a long-winded first act makes us wait for the sobering ending. With some rewriting and editing, Salter's play could be a contender.
Carnaval will be performed through March 3 at Luna Stage, 555 Valley Road, West Orange. Performances are Friday and Saturday evenings at 8 PM and Sunday afternoons at 3 PM. For information and tickets, call the box office at 973.395.5551 or visit www.lunastage.org.
