Sexual repression, familial bonding, and the fractured roles of identity in post-modern society make up the themes of the collection of original plays included in Crosstown Traffic by Jay Amari.
In Cloudy All Day a man and a woman re-evaluate their relationship in a past steeped in taboo; In The Greatest a father tells his son a bed time story, explaining his own life choices and to impart a sense of myth for the boy to found his own life on; In Crosstown Traffic an older man and a younger man struggle to claim some nebulous talent to woo a young girl; and in The Owners a couple in love struggle with the death of a sibling, the visitation of a ghost, sexual politics, and basic human needs. The characters are so unsure of their roles in society that one of them is actually a man being played by a woman. The collection of plays in Crosstown Traffic can be presented in a full evening of theatre.
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By Georgio Spelvini
Mar 28, 2012
Nobody reads plays except those interested in visualizing actors speaking lines and moving on a stage. Jay Amari’s Crosstown Traffic is a group of plays that have had productions, and the fascinating thing is that the language seems so natural I felt as if I could hear my own inner voice as I read through them. These are scripts that range from small one-acts to full-length. The shorter ones are funny, weird, and downright lovable- in The Greatest a father tells his son a bedtime story that feels more like an epitaph than a lullaby; In Cloudy All Day dialogue is reduced to open verse and the reader cannot help but be affected by the language; In The Owners, which I actually saw performed in a New York theater, the male role of Bob, being played by a women transforms the play into a statement about women’s power in social culture. Jay Amari’s Crosstown Traffic is a real joy to own and read for the pleasure of the words, and hopefully more productions will follow.
When I began reading Jay Amari's CROSSTOWN TRAFFIC, I didn't know what to expect. What I found was some of the most powerful drama I'd come across in years, fueled by a raw-boned honesty and the characters' own fierce yearnings. The imagery was vivid and original -- the characters edgy, often angry, and always believable -- and many of the lines so neatly turned, they dove-tailed right elegantly into the action. The creativity in this book runs not-so-silent and very deep.
