‘Not Nobody’ – Terrific, Topical, Yet Original Theater!

By Alix Cohen

Playwright Brian Dykstra has a habit of sneaking up on one with narratives so topically incisive they startle. His work is a prime example of the aphorism “language holds power.” This play’s title, later explained, is pivotal and clever. Messages are wrapped in absorbing circumstances without preachifying. Protagonists are unexpected. Humor pokes its head up like a gremlin in unexpected places.

When unassuming, middle aged, retired ethics professor McAlester Daily (Brian Dykstra) gets stopped by two cops for no reason other than he’s walking in a dangerous neighborhood, we haven’t a clue that he’ll unwittingly become a hero of morality.

Officer Ricketts (Sheffield Chastain) is the proverbial bad cop- unnecessarily impatient, aggressive, suspicious, while Officer Chavana (Kathiamarice Lopez, later Daily’s attorney) displays good cop impartiality and compassion.

Daily speaks haltingly, occasionally stuttering, searching for words, compulsively quibbling with the cops’ language. Dykstra is totally believable, painful to watch in a tense situation. The phrase ‘on the spectrum’ whisks by without real acknowledgment. Ricketts assumes Daily is a smart ass and demands his ID.

We suddenly hear a break in, shattered glass and shots. (Sound designer Ariana Cardoza) The police run off (with the ID). Chavana is killed, Ricketts saved by Daily’s applying pressure to the wound until an ambulance arrives. Here’s where you would think…is a natural bridge. In fact, instead of being celebrated, Daily is accused of connection to the shooter based on a surveillance video examined by a lip reader.

What ensues is a scathing picture of that which we used to call ‘the wheels of justice,’ an identifying phrase that bit the dust some time ago, including brilliant argument (by Daily) about the failure of ethics in personal, not academic terms.

Rescuing circumstances from well researched conventionality – ie the cocky, wrong minded, assistant district attorney Sax (Sheffield Chastain) wielding law with tunnel vision, hoping for another notch on his belt- is Judge Andrea Booth (Kate Siahaan-Rigg) who has not only HAD it with idiots and misuse of jurisprudence, but is palpably curious.

The slamming, three way pinball scene between Booth, Daily and Sax (Daily’s lawyer is mostly quiet) is first class writing and performance. Kate Siahaan-Rigg’s judge is a spitfire. She exudes confidence, fury and rebellion without losing grounded presence. Sheffield Chastain’s ADA is a weasel first class. The actor skillfully reveals progression of professional dismemberment.

Brian Dykstra inhabits the neurodivergent Daily. It’s as if an inner mechanism has rusted, but its original design was superior. Initial demonstration of the character’s difficulty in communicating dissipates some as we progress. One gets the impression this is an acting decision and wonders.

Director Margarett Perry, who often collaborates with Dykstra, is a virtuoso of timing. Characters listen, react, and respond. We have a sense of the unspoken. Flares of emotion erupt just far enough. Tension and frustration are sustained through almost the entire piece.

Unquestionably a playwright to follow!

Photos by Carol Rosegg
Opening: Brian Dykstra- McAlester Daily

Twilight Theatre presents
Not Nobody by Brian Dykstra
Directed by Margarett Perry

59E59 Theaters
Through March 1, 2026
https://www.59e59.org/shows/show-detail/not-nobody/