It’s not often that you can go to a play with no preconceived notion and have your socks off. That was my experience at "What I learned in Paris" at the Indiana Repertory Theatre. The play, set in Atlanta in 1973, deals with issues of race, gender, and romance. And while that sounds like heavy fare, it manages to be delightfully funny and engaging. The playwright Pearl Cleage’s dialogue and farce-like cast of characters popping in and out of a single apartment lends a sense of humor to each scene. The plot opens on the night that Atlanta elects its first African-American mayor, Maynard Jackson. Some members of the campaign have met to celebrate the victory. The next day the appearance of one man's ex-wife, Evie, throws everything into a tizzy. She drops truth bombs and stirs things up as she waltzes through the city. Evie, played by Erika Lavonn, is one of the most charismatic characters I've come across in years. She's sexy and full of energy....
Midwest theater reviews, everything from Broadway musicals to Shakespeare.