Kandace Crystal and Nicole Diaz-Pellot star in this coproduction by Scripps Ranch Theatre and the Loud Fridge Theatre Group
Longtime San Diego theatergoers know the work of playwright-actor Charlayne Woodard, who has performed onstage at La Jolla Playhouse six times over the past 37 years, including in three of her own plays, like “The Garden” in 2021.
She’s a hard act to follow. But actor Kandace Crystal is clearly undaunted. The multitalented Crystal has created a dozen characters that are entirely her own in Woodard’s play “Neat,” which opened Saturday at Scripps Ranch Theatre in a co-production with the Loud Fridge Theatre Group.Crystal has been a busy director and theater administrator around town in recent years, but she hasn’t had an onstage role that offered her the opportunity to showcase her range as an actor, until now.
Beneatha Harris was Woodard’s aunt, who suffered permanent brain damage as a baby when her illiterate great-grandmother, Mama, accidentally gave her camphorated oil instead of cod liver oil because the two bottles looked alike. White doctors refused to treat the convulsing child, so by the time Mama made it across town to a Black doctor, the damage was irreversible.
Director Claire Simba has pared back the physical production to a bare stage and simple black costumes, with some video animations by Leigh Akin and projections by Ted Leib. This simple approach allows the shape-shifting Crystal to shine as the show’s central focus.
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