Are there certain topics which should be strictly off-limits when it comes to parody and satire? That’s the difficult question that the explosive new musical Slam Frank, at the Orpheum after a run last season at Asylum NYC, is not afraid to tackle. This bizarre, uproariously funny and sharp-edged cartoon of a show was inspired by a 2022 Twitter debate which started with the horrifying premise, “Did Anne Frank have white privilege?” The initial comments were widely condemned by Jewish groups. They also served as inspiration for Joel Sinensky (book) and Andrew Fox (music and lyrics) to use the teen Jewish diarist’s tragic story of hiding from the Nazis with her family in an Amsterdam attic as a springboard for a merciless attack on a myriad of political stances, both right and left. The authors skewer everything from extreme woke attitudes to unfettered capitalism to a host of musicals such as Hamilton, Rent, In the Heights, and The Producers. Sinensky’s snarky, smart book and Fox’s intricate and hilarious songs hit their targets with stunningly witty accuracy and take us to dangerous comic territory. No spoilers, but the final 20 minutes are satiric dynamite and will probably be more controversial than any piece of theater in the last 28 years (since Terrence McNally’s Corpus Christi which imagined a gay Jesus.)
Rocky Paterra, Jaz Zepatos, Olivia Bernabe,
Alex Lewis, and Austen Horne in
Slam Frank.
Credit: Shawn Salley Photography
Sinensky imagines Frank’s story as a play-within-a-play presented by a pretentiously 
Olivia Bernabe, John Anker Bow, Rocky Paterra,
Austen Horne, Jaz Zepatos and Alex Lewis
in Slam Frank. Credit: Shawn Salley Photography
progressive theater company, determined to be inclusive even if it doesn’t make historical or dramatic sense. In this bizarre, fun-house mirror version, the Frank and Van Daan families become representatives of every minority and political viewpoint. Anne herself (comically daring Olivia Bernabe) is a pansexual Latina hiding her true Hispanic identity in order to sell more copies of her diary. Her mother Edith (hysterically fierce Austen Horne) is a black American woman clad in traditional African garb (Sarah Lockwood designed the humorous costumes.) Horne delivers a riotous rap poem mixing feminist rage with declamations against misogynist playwrights like David Mamet.
Anne’s father Otto (delightfully goofy Rocky Paterra) bursts out of the closet as a gay man and tells everyone he is neurodivergent every few minutes. Sister Margo (surprisingly passionate Amelia Louise Barr) remains quiet until those last volcanic scenes. Barr also doubles as Anne’s abuela, serving as a ghostly symbol of the family’s abandoned Hispanic heritage (the story gets weirder and weirder.)
The Van Daan clan is led by the blustering bullyish father (appropriately despicable John Anker Bow), who dominates his flibbertigibbet of a wife (jazzy Jaz Zepatos) and his son Peter (funny, flighty Alex Lewis). Peter enjoys dancing (much to his dad’s displeasure) and comes out as non-binary. The entire cast handles the difficult task of enacting broad caricatures while pursuing truthful objectives. Like the characters in a Christopher Durang play, they are sane to themselves but they are in an insane universe.
In this weird mix, Sinensky and Fox manage to lampoon every political and historical movement and trend of the last 80 years. No cow is sacred. It’s blisteringly funny and offers food for thought some might find hard to digest. Director Sam LaFrage and choreographer Esosa Oviasu stage the action with comic invention, aided by Adam Koch’s crazy-quilt set and Zack Lobel’s frantic video design. Fox’s raucous songs combine hip-hop, rap, salsa, and rock in wicked parodies of Lin-Manuel Miranda.
Many will probably be downright offended by Slam Frank for its equal opportunity satiric slash and burn. But it is savagely funny and dangerously thought-provoking. My only caveat is the comedy gets a bit repetitive and the script could use some editing.
Mfoniso Udofia’s creation stories and all the important importants (at Lincoln Center’s Claire Tow Theater) could also do with some trimming. This peek inside an African-American playwrighting professor’s mind as she struggles through a trying day might work better as a brief sketch. Udofia has written some sharp satire of the constantly on-line generation with her heroine continually issuing commands to Alexa and Siri to play the right music, order her groceries or schedule every spare moment. But the pattern wears thin after half of the running time. The main character, referred to only as “the grown woman” strives to control her hectic life but cannot mask her gnawing insecurities. 
Savannah Commodore, Abigail C. Onwunali
and Donetta Lavinia Grays in
creation stories.
Credit: Valerie Terranova
Abigail C. Onwunali delivers an admirable, varied marathon performance as “the grown woman” frantically attempting to outrun her inner fears. We see her visit her doctor as she attempts to get pregnant, teach a class, cope with her failing mother, and finally fall apart. She encounters herself as a child (professionally poised Savannah Commodore) and her childhood fantasy of a dream horse (embodied by a vibrant Donnetta Lavinia Grays.) These two imaginary figures aide her in finding her center and the play ends with a too-tidy resolution. Director Tamilla Woodard keeps the action moving on Jason Ardizzone-West’s flexible set which transforms into multiple environments with the Adie of Alan C. Edwards’ lighting and Katherine Freer’s videos.
Jacob Ming-Trent’s autobiographical solo show How Shakespeare Saved My Life (at the Public in a co-production with Red Bull Theater) is another mostly enjoyable piece which wouldn’t be harmed by losing a few segments. But overall, it’s tightly directed by Tony Taccone and smartly written and performed by Ming-Trent. He engages the audience, addresses us directly as “Congregation” as he tells his story of falling in love with the works of the Bard while battling an indifferent mother, an absent father, homelessness, violence and drug addiction. The most effective portions deal with his encounters with acting teachers who inform him Shakespeare is for “white actors and white audiences” and he sounds “too black and too fat” and a riotous rap musical number wherein everyone he meets tells him “he should play Othello.” Then he gets the audience to repeat that refrain. These hilariously poke fun at stereotypical assumptions about African-American performers and the Bard. There are also pointed comparisons between Shakespeare and rap artists like Tupac Shakur. This memoir is refreshing, fun and moving.
Jacob Ming-Trent in How Shakespeare
Saved My Life.
Credit: Hanjie Chow
Slam Frank: Oct. 4—Nov. 30. Orpheum Theater, 126 Second Ave., NYC. Running time: 110 minutes with no intermission. ticketmaster.com.
creation stories and all the important importants: LCT3 at the Claire Tow Theater, Lincoln Center, 150 W. 65th St., NYC. Running time: 90 minutes with no intermission. lct.org.
How Shakespeare Saved My Life: Sept. 27—Oct. 25. Public Theater and Red Bull Theater at the Public, 425 Lafayette St. Running time: 90 minutes with no intermission. publictheater.org.
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