Mosaic’s ‘One In Two’ Review: Triple Threats

metroweekly.com:

One in Two (★★★★☆) — i.e., the audience at each performance will choose which of the cast’s three actors plays the role of Number One, leaving the roles of Two and Three up to chance — it might behoove a critic to see the show more than one or two times to experience multiple permutations of the production at Mosaic Theater.However, there wasn’t time for that before this review, and, more crucially, I’d say audiences can rest assured director Raymond O.

Caldwell’s talented trio will deliver — regardless of who plays which part. For the press performance, the audience assigned Michael Kevin Darnall the central role of Number One, with recent Helen Hayes Award winner Justin Weaks “landing” Number Two, and Pose star Ryan Jamaal Swain taking on Number Three, both of which essay multiple roles.The onstage choosing is conducted inside a sterile, white waiting room of the soul that easily converts, courtesy of scenic designer Nadir Bey’s functional compartments, into various settings for the story of how Number One — named Donté — finds himself among the one in two Black gay men who may, according to statistics, contract HIV in their lifetime.

Determined he won’t be just another number, Donté still struggles after learning of his positive diagnosis.The walls of Atlas’ Sprenger Theatre are adorned with six panels from the National AIDS Memorial Quilt, paying tribute to those who have died, but also marking some hope and progress in the ongoing fight against the disease.