By Cori Wilbur

February 19, 2020

A Kind of Weather begins as Kid (August Forman), a straight-transgender man and published author, receives a surprise visit to his Brooklyn apartment from his estranged father, Grey. We can tell right away that Grey (Andrew Oswald) lacks contemporary acuity. He cannot connect to his son (or reality) so he disconnects to the last point in his life he can soundly recollect. 

Forman is exceptional at conveying the plight of coming of age as a transgender young adult. Right away, Kid notes that this is no coming of age story and he is not the main character. But Grey, grasping on to a beloved memory of Jamaica as everything stable unfurls during a mental hurricane, is not the main character either. In Weather, we do not encounter a particular main character but a McGuffin–a transition. As Kid points out in one of the most self-realizing moments of the play, “It’s not a transition, except for other people.” Under the prime direction of Bea Basso, Diversionary Theatre’s newest players showcase comedic chops and emotional chutzpah as they smoothly guide the audience through the chaos.

Andréa Agosto takes no prisoners as Rose, Kid’s romantic interest and editor, who desires to be more than a lover but cannot read where she stands with her commitment-phobic and indecisive partner. “Sometimes we have to bear discomfort for the object of a larger goal,” Rose asserts. At times, Weather is uncomfortable–but as any theater aficionado knows, the best works are. 

Kid is dynamic, Grey is distressed; Kid is figuring himself out, Grey is figuring out where it all went perceivably wrong. The entire cast (rounded out by Salomón Maya and Marci Anne Wuebben) is solid, however, it is the chemistry between August Forman and Andrew Oswald that truly carries the debut of Sylvan Oswald’s remarkable vision into fruition. 

Through many-a clever theatrical maneuvers, the cast disproves the theory that transitions are even a fundamentally necessary part of a play (or even of life). “People are where they say they are.” Without the use of scenery shifts or any tangible transitions, the audience is forced to rely on their own imagination to make sense of what is happening. What we get is the closest resemblance to real life an afternoon at the theater can give. Part comedy, part tragedy, part musical (?), Weather is a hysterical nonlinear narrative about learning to accept change as a constant part of existence. 

The world premiere of A Kind of Weather runs Thursday-Sunday, now until March 8 at Diversionary Theatre in Normal Heights. Please visit https://www.diversionary.org/akindofweather/ for show times and tickets.