The Scenarios

The Scenarios has its world premiere at Studio Theatre. It is advertised as a new comedy. It’s written by the playwright and podcaster Matthew Capodicasa, and is directed by the talented Tiffany Nichole Greene. The play centers on an actor on her first day of work, improvising scenarios in a de-escalation training for police officers. The Scenarios is inspired by Capodicasa’s experience working for a non-profit that hosted similar training sessions with the New York City Police Department. It focuses on characters doing their best to keep people safe in the midst of a mental health crisis. 

David Muse, the Artistic Director of Studio says "Matthew has found a novel angle on an important issue—an actor learning the ropes of her job doing sensitivity training for police officers. It’s a potent set-up, comically, dramatically, and politically. Like some of our favorite plays here at Studio, it starts off as a play about one thing and transforms into a play about something else. It’s political on a human scale. He’s written great parts for actors, with dialogue that has real sizzle. And in director Tiffany Nichole Greene, Matthew has a collaborator with a sure hand for the play’s humor and real-world stakes.” 

Actor Angie, played by the very talented Sarin Monae West, has just landed her weirdest gig yet: improvising scenes with active-duty cops, helping train them to respond to people in acute mental crisis. But when the backstage tensions and workplace hijinks begin to pull focus from the training’s actual goal—to save lives—Angie tries making things a little more real. 

I found the play going off the rails as it moves from one focus to the next. It is interesting calling a play with two serious topics; dealing with mental health, and helping police de-escalate contacts with those people they are called to help who are having a mental health episode, a comedy. I didn’t find all that much humor in the play, nor were the scenarios very real. The acting was really good for the parts written for the actors by the playwright. I just didn’t find the play all that great. Ned, the other actor participating in the scenarios was played by Joey Collins, who is clearly very talented. Then the police officers they were training were Charlie, played by Joel Ashur, and Sasha, played by Keeley Miller. They were both good in the limited scope of the roles they were given. Patricia, played by Alyssa Keegan, was the person running the non-profit hired to develop the scenarios for the police. She was the one hiring the actors. She also played the role she was given. But if she were the person applying for the job with my police department, as she is depicted in the play, I surely wouldn’t have hired her. 

There is not a complicated set with one large room, a table, and few chairs. Nor any special costumes. The police were in uniform. The lighting design by Alberto Segarra is good. I left the theater thinking, OK, I just sat through 80 minutes of this, and was not very impressed by the play. But I also left thinking, I would really like to see more of these actors in a different vehicle, where maybe they could really show off their talents. 

The Scenarios will be at Studio theatre through April 6th, tickets available online.