B Street Theatre has opened it’s B3 Series 2010-2011season with “Neat,”
a one-woman show written by playwright/actress Charlayne Woodard.

B Street Theatre’s B3 Series features more intimate, complex, adult
stories in a smaller theater setting.

“Neat” perfectly fits the bill for what the B3 Series is about.
Charlayne Woodward is a master storyteller. “Neat” is the second of
Woodward’s one-woman plays. Like “Pretty Fire” before it, the play
centers around her autobiographical character Charlayne and the
numerous characters involved in her life.

Charlayne Woodard

The play opens at her grandparents’ home outside Savanna, Ga, a
place she visits with her family as a child. The action moves to
Albany, NY, Charlayne’s hometown. The play covers her childhood
through high school graduation.

The namesake character, Auntie Neat, is a little over a decade older
than Charlayne. She is developmentally disabled as a result of an
accidental poisoning as an infant and the refusal of the whites-only
hospital to treat a colored baby.

Neat is a beloved playmate to Charlayne and her sister when they visit Georgia in the summers. The connection is made again when, after the death of her grandfather, her grandmother and Auntie Neat move in with the family in Albany.

Woodward weaves a complex story of many characters around Charlayne
that change in rapid-fire secession. Auntie Neat’s presence returns
time and again to have a profound impact on Charlayne’s life, her
thoughts and feelings.

Charlayne and all the other characters are portrayed by Sacramento
native Danielle Moné Truitt.

Danielle Moné Truitt

Truitt has been with the B Street Theatre for five years. She appeared in “The Golden Harp,” “Go Dog Go” and “The Jackie Robinson Story” with the B Street Family Series.

She is now based in Los Angeles, where her career includes work in commercials, independent film (“See Dick Run,” “Mrs. Understanding”) and music.

Her body movements and facial expressions were used as the basis for
Princess Tiana in the animated film, “The Princess and the Frog.”

This is a difficult performance with all the characters, thoughts and
emotions to portray, but Truitt is up to the challenge. She very
adeptly moves from character to character and from one emotion to
another. Occasionally there was a split second as she searched for a
word, but that’s not surprising given the number of lines she has to deliver.
Truitt is astounding how deeply she goes into the role.

The hand of director Buck Busfield, B Street Theatre’s producing
artistic director, is also evident. Busfield has proven over the
years how good he is at eliciting a top-notch performance from actors
in one-actor shows. His work with Truitt in “Neat” shows how good a
play this collaboration can produce.

Catherine Frye’s minimal set literally frames the action.

Ron Madonia’s simple but effective lighting beautifully helps set the mood.

“Neat” is the first production of a Charlayne Woodard play by the B
Street Theatre. Given the result, audiences are going to want to see
more. The combination of Woodard’s story, Busfield’s direction
and Truitt’s performance has produced a show that is a
great start to B Street Theatre’s B3 season.