Honky Review: All for the Kicks

With a talented cast, intriguing set design and witty, down to earth dialogue, Greg Kalleres’ “Honky” is a watchable and sometimes enlightening experience, but its inconsistent and dark humor may end up being a bit too real for some.

It feels almost petty to point out a production’s weakest points when it has so much going for it. However “Honky” suffers from a misappropriate categorization. Although you will laugh during the course of it, you’ll think more than you’ll chuckle. To call this a “dark comedy” isn’t fair to those who have expectations when they come to the theatre. It’s also not fair to a production that transcends any singular genre. This is a psychological game of ironic politically-incorrect chess that grabs a hold of you for 90 minutes and makes you think of all the instances where you’ve been in each and every characters’ shoes. Pun intended. Although some may not find the ironic use of racial terms that plague the piece in good taste, others will find it a bold and satisfying attempt, through irony, to tell a story where no one wins.

The production centers on three men, Davis, Peter and Thomas. Davis (Philip Callen) runs a shoe company that is attempting to expand its business past the “urban” market. If that means exploiting the same people who buy the shoes, in order to make good on “white guilt,” Davis is fine with that. Thomas (Anthony Gaskins) is his star employee, but when his latest design may be the catalyst to broaden the company’s scope, Thomas feels like he’s betraying his race. The inner-turmoil Thomas feels is at the heart of the production. Peter (Dave Droxler) is the director who’s commercial for the shoe causes the death of a black teenager. Like Thomas, Peter deals with his own sense of guilt throughout the play.

All three men give gritty and solid performances and go through similar paths, defending themselves against what they perceive to be racist tendencies. When a magic pill comes along that can cure them of their racism, everyone’s lives are changed.

The cast has even more depth in both Danielle Faitelson (who is amazing in her Off-Broadway debut) and Arie Bianca Thompson, who add a level of humanity and reason as Andie and Emilia. Realistically portrayed, as well as smart and sexy, the two have a bright future in New York City theatre.

In spite of the strong cast-wide performances, it is Chris Myers and Reynaldo Pinella that steal the show. Playing random teenagers on the train, they cross paths with several of the characters throughout the production. Their antics personify the stereotypical behaviors of many New Yorkers on the train, but their interactions and facial expressions in particular are hilarious. The same can be said for the performance of Scott Barrow as Wilson and Dr. Driscoll. Charming, yet unmistakably evil as the Dr. and oblivious as Wilson, Barrow shows solid range and is able to help satisfy the main goals of the production.

While the plot may have some slow to develop chunks and the subject matter is sometimes brazenly attacked, “Honky” is able to induce a response out of the audience that lasts well after the play is over. Whether it is a positive or negative one is beyond the point.

Honkey is currently playing at Urban Stages on 259 West 30th st. in New York City through April 7.

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About Patrick Hickey Jr. 13819 Articles
Patrick Hickey Jr. is a full-time Assistant Professor of Communication & Performing Arts and Director of the Journalism program at Kingsborough Community College and is the chairman of the City University of New York Journalism Council. He is the Founder and Editor-In-Chief of ReviewFix.com. He's also a former News Editor at NBC Local Integrated Media and National Video Games Writer at Examiner.com where his work was mentioned in National Ad campaigns by Disney, Nintendo and EA Sports. Hickey was also the Editor-In-Chief of two College Newspapers before he received his BA in Journalism from Brooklyn College. Hickey's work has been published in The New York Daily News, The New York Times, Complex, The Hockey Writers, Yahoo!, Broadway World, Examiner, NYSportScene Magazine, ProHockeyNews.com, GothamBaseball.com, The Syracuse Post-Standard, Scout.com and the official sites of the Brooklyn Aces and New York Islanders. His first book, The Minds Behind the Games: Interviews With Cult And Classic Video Game Developers was released in April 2018 and is chock full of interviews with legendary developers. His second book in the series, The Minds Behind Adventures Games, was released in December 2019. His third book, The Minds Behind Sports Games, was released in September 2020. His fourth book, The Minds Behind Shooter Games, was released in March 2021. The Minds Behind Sega Genesis Games and The Minds Behind PlayStation Games were released in 2022 and The Minds Behind PlayStation 2 was published in January 2023. Hickey is also a contracted comic book writer, currently penning his original series, "Condrey," as well as "The Job," "Brooklyn Bleeds" "Dem Gulls" and "KROOM" for Legacy Comix, where he serves as founder, owner and Editor-in-Chief. Hickey Jr. is also a voice actor, having starred in the 2018 indie hit and 2019 Switch, PS4 and Xbox One release, The Padre (also serving as English language Story Editor), from Shotgun With Glitters. The sequel, The Padre: One Shell Straight to Hell was released in February 2021- Hickey also served as a Story Editor and Lead Voiceover performer. He has also done narration and trailers for several other titles including The Kaiju Offensive, Relentless Rex and Roniu’s Tale. Hickey is also the lead voiceover performer on Mega Cat Studios’ upcoming title WrestleQuest, responsible for nearly 90 characters in the game, as well as Skybound's Renfield: Bring Your Own Blood, where he voices both Dracula and Renfield, as well as several other characters. He also stars in Ziggurat Interactive’s World Championship Boxing Manager 2, where he performs the VO of nearly every male character in the game. He also worked on the Atari VCS’s BPM Boy.

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