Off-Broadway Review: THE WITNESS ROOM (AMT Theatre)

AN ASTOUNDING CAST CAN’T HELP TO SHAKE THE
FEELING THAT WE’VE WITNESSED THIS BEFORE

Pedro Antonio Garcia, a criminal defense attorney and a playwright, must have written The Witness Room as a hyper-realistic example of how corrupt our criminal justice system is, but he ends up with what looks like a good episode of Law and Order. The excellent, tough-talking cast personified their characters to a T, all talented and passionate actors, very convincing and captivating, each one of them. Yet we have seen similar stories so many times on film and television that the plot, unfortunately, sounds redundant.

JD Mollison, Dave Baez, Jason SweetTooth Williams, Moe Irvin, Tricia Small

Dave Baez and Tricia Williams

Now showing at AMT Theater, The Witness Room takes place in a Manhattan Criminal Court where four police officers are waiting to be heard by a judge on a drug possession case, coached by a shrewd district attorney. While they were patrolling a building, they stopped a kid, entered his mother apartment, found some cocaine and arrested him. The problem is, the kid did not live there, they had no probable cause to stop him or enter the apartment or search the place, and he tested positive for marijuana, not coke. They all lied on their statements right after it happened, thinking it wasn’t a big deal since the kid had a prior arrest, routine, but now their sworn statements are entered as evidence and it was coming back to bite them.

Jason SweetTooth Williams

Moe Irvin, JD Mollison, Jason SweetTooth Williams

Dave Baez is T-J Moretti, a stereotypical Italian-American in his 40s, married five times, cocky, who whines about his wife and makes constant sexual jokes. Moe Irvin is Terrence Sampson, African American, same age but a lot wiser: “This is One-Hundred Centre. Every perp in the planet and literally their mama is right here right now and we got the Tombs attached to it, just in case we run out of felons. Statistically, this is the most dangerous place in the world.” He doesn’t complain about the wife because “Staying married saves me a lot of money and headaches. It’s called being practical.”

Tricia Small, Moe Irvin

Jason SweetTooth Williams is Kevin Brennan, Irish-American, the thinker of the group. “In this situation, we have the drugs, the evidence, and the admission … Don’t bother getting into all the tangential stuff about what we saw, whose drugs they are, what is our purpose. Am I right?” he asks Eli Torres, played by JD Mollison, the younger of the group. Of Puerto Rican origins, he represents all of us, the conscience, doing his best to get out of the situation, “I got visitation with my daughter at five. I can’t be late. Seriously.” Seriously because they all nervously joke about the issue that is getting thornier as the time passes; “That’s not the job I signed up for,” he concludes, overwhelmed.

Tricia Small, Dave Baez, Moe Irvin

Moe Irvin, Tricia Small, Dave Baez, Jason SweetTooth Williams

Tricia Small is Andrea Volpi, the Assistant District Attorney, an Italian-American from the Bronx who introduces herself by answering to one of Moretti’s sexual innuendos with “Oh but you are mistaken. I’m not butch. I like dick just as much as you do.” Superwoman, a politician who knows exactly what she wants and plays the cops to get it, while showing, as the others, her humanity. Kevin sorts of justifies everybody in the end, “We all come into the force with dreams of being good, changing the world, one block at a time, but you soon realize that there is an unending ocean of problems, and when you solve one there’s another one waiting, and those waves of problems never go away.”

Jason SweetTooth Williams, Moe Irvin, Dave Baez, JD Mollison

Moe Irvin, Dave Baez, Tricia Small, Jason SweetTooth Williams

Will Blum’s direction is a bit static and the only real action happens when the District Attorney enters or exits the claustrophobic room, accurately designed by Daniel Allen; the piece could undoubtedly use more movement and props. Costume designer Gina Ruiz represents each character perfectly, as does Allen; we recognizes the type of person they are as soon as they walk on stage. The creative team includes sound designer Lindsay Jones and lighting designer Aiden Bezark. Again, it’s the story itself and the way it’s told that makes it feel like a rerun even if it is important, a clear example of how things can and do go wrong every day, but, despite the great performances, it felt too safe and obvious.

JD Mollison

photos by Andy Henderson Photography