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A Buffalo Bills fan lands in the backfield of the Martha's Vineyard home team. (LtoR) Daniel Pearce as Ethan, Cassie Beck as Devon and Sara Surrey as Michaela in Elemeno Pea Humana Festival of New American Plays Actors Theatre of Louisville, 2011 Photo by Joe Geinert Do Not Miss This Play! In preparation for my first interview with playwright Molly Metzler Smith back in January I took the opportunity to read a draft of Elemeno Pea. I was immediately taken by the characters and the richness of her storytelling. In the intervening months she has made significant adjustments that are all to the good. This is the kind of play that has made The Humana Festival of New America Plays such an important part of the international theatre community. To date three Pulitzer Prize winning plays and a finalist have come out of the Actors Theatre of Louisville festival, along with scores of published works. That Elemeno Pea will have a life after Louisville seems a sure bet and it wouldn't surprise me to hear a few years from now that it is a contender for major awards. In his 1926 short story The Rich Boy F. Scott Fitzgerald famously observed of the very rich, "They are different from you and me." This is obviously true in terms of their habits, and great wealth like chronic illness, or relentless tragedy shapes any person's views and priorities; but the story Metzler Smith tells in Elemeno Pea rather demonstrates the truth of Irish columnist and educator Mary Colum's less famous comment to Ernest Hemingway that the only difference between the rich and other people is that they have more money. The genius of Smith Metzler's play lies partially in her ability to show us that even among "the rich," as in any community, there are nuances understood within the tribe. The action of Smith Metzler's play is set in a Martha's Vineyard guest house belonging to a nouveau riche advertising executive, Peter and his "trophy wife" Michaela. Scenic designer Michael B. Raiford has created a set that reflects the home owner's attempt at carless opulence, enhanced by lighting designer Brian J. Lilienthal's subtly in creating a sense of the sea and sky beyond the balcony that dominates the back of the stage. This is an invaluable contribution since the story is told in real time, without intermission. Although we never meet the "meticulous" read "control freak" and fickle Peter, his presence surrounds the action of the play like a proscenium. Discovering the characters is key to the enjoyment and impact of Elemeno Pea and there is little I could relate about the story that would not undermine your experience. So let it suffice for me to give my best to the wonderful cast who deliver uniformly outstanding performances and to director Davis McCallum for his masterful handling in presenting the pathos and humor of Smith Metzler's script. Elemeno Pea is not a play about people who have money--lots and lots of money. It's a story about us and how circumstances, our reactions to life and the choices we make irrevocably change us into the people we are; people we are sometimes forced to be for a greater good. This is a story of unexamined lives and the little lies we tell ourselves to get through the day; it's a story about that day when our ship runs aground and we grab up the wreckage to keep from drowning. Traumatic events are great levelers and sometimes expose a hero among the hoi polloi. That is what makes Elemeno Pea great theatre and that is why you should not allow this play to leave town without experiencing it for yourself.
Elemeno Pea runs through April 3 in the Pamela Brown auditorium at Actors Theatre of Louisville. For tickets call the box office at 502.584.1205 or go to www.actorstheatre.org for more the 35th Annual Humana Festival of New American Plays. Come back soon and you will have an opportunity to see a video interview with the playwright. |
Showing posts with label Humana Festival of New American Plays. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Humana Festival of New American Plays. Show all posts
Friday, March 11, 2011
Review: The 35th Annual Humana Festival of New American Plays presents Elemeno Pea by Molly Smith Metzler
Friday, March 4, 2011
35th Annual Humana Festival of New America Plays: A Devil at Noon
Playwright Anne Washburn enjoys challenging her actors, directors, designers and audiences. I know this because she told Adrien-Alice Hansel in an interview published by Inside Actors 35th Annual Humana Festival of New American Plays, "It's so engaging to watch actors rise to ridiculous demands when they're performing." She didn't specifically mention the audience, but having seen A Devil at Noon I can tell you confidently of my own certain knowledge that Anne Washburn has created a funny, thoughtful and challenging work for us.
Before I get to the actors, et al I want to give some much-deserved praise and thanks to sound designer Matt Hubbs and the unnamed techs who run the sound board. Director Steve Cosson, who is the artistic director of The Civilians--a New York company that has produced several of Washburn's earlier works, has created through the use of sound (Hubbs), Lighting (Jeff Nellis) and Media (Philip Allgeier) an opportunity for the audience to explore Washburn's ideas unimpeded. The beauty of the playwright's concept, inspired in part by science fiction author Philp K. Dick (Blade Runner, Minority Report), and his struggle with reality as it is commonly defined, requires that the experience be presented to the audience through as few filters as possible. Cosson and the cast of A Devil at Noon make extensive use of mime to give us entry to the character's inner world. This is an elegant solution to the intrinsic problem created by Washburn's concept of "Pleasurable alienation," the attempt to capture the character's own lack of understanding and their attempts to make sense of an increasingly complex world.
It is rare in my experience for a cast to give an impeccable performance during previews. If they have the lines down and execute the blocking with some precision you can label it a success. Character refinement usually comes later. The cast of A Devil at Noon will almost certainly continue to make discoveries about their characters that will enhance the performance, but on opening night they were already transparent guides to the soul of the play. Led by Joseph Adams as the Philip K. Dick-inspired novelist and Rebecca Hart as Lois, the girl who shows up inexplicably on his doorstep the company presents a beautifully choreographed dance between intersecting planes of possibility.
Actors Theatre of Louisville artistic director Marc Masterson has chosen a colorful downbeat for the festival. I look forward to speaking with him about that and sharing the interview with you hear in the near future. Check here during the next several weeks and you will have an opportunity to meet playwright Anne Washburn, Director Steve Cosson and others involved in the Humana Festival of New American plays.
A Devil at Noon runs through April 3, 2011 in the Bingham Theatre of Actors Theatre of Louisville. Special rates are available for residents to be part of this international event. For more information go to www.actorstheatre.org or call the box office at 502.584.1205.
Photo Credit:
Rebecca Hart in A Devil at Noon
Actors Theatre of Louisville, Humana Festival of New American Plays 2011
Photo by Alan Simons
Before I get to the actors, et al I want to give some much-deserved praise and thanks to sound designer Matt Hubbs and the unnamed techs who run the sound board. Director Steve Cosson, who is the artistic director of The Civilians--a New York company that has produced several of Washburn's earlier works, has created through the use of sound (Hubbs), Lighting (Jeff Nellis) and Media (Philip Allgeier) an opportunity for the audience to explore Washburn's ideas unimpeded. The beauty of the playwright's concept, inspired in part by science fiction author Philp K. Dick (Blade Runner, Minority Report), and his struggle with reality as it is commonly defined, requires that the experience be presented to the audience through as few filters as possible. Cosson and the cast of A Devil at Noon make extensive use of mime to give us entry to the character's inner world. This is an elegant solution to the intrinsic problem created by Washburn's concept of "Pleasurable alienation," the attempt to capture the character's own lack of understanding and their attempts to make sense of an increasingly complex world.
It is rare in my experience for a cast to give an impeccable performance during previews. If they have the lines down and execute the blocking with some precision you can label it a success. Character refinement usually comes later. The cast of A Devil at Noon will almost certainly continue to make discoveries about their characters that will enhance the performance, but on opening night they were already transparent guides to the soul of the play. Led by Joseph Adams as the Philip K. Dick-inspired novelist and Rebecca Hart as Lois, the girl who shows up inexplicably on his doorstep the company presents a beautifully choreographed dance between intersecting planes of possibility.
Actors Theatre of Louisville artistic director Marc Masterson has chosen a colorful downbeat for the festival. I look forward to speaking with him about that and sharing the interview with you hear in the near future. Check here during the next several weeks and you will have an opportunity to meet playwright Anne Washburn, Director Steve Cosson and others involved in the Humana Festival of New American plays.
Photo Credit:
Rebecca Hart in A Devil at Noon
Actors Theatre of Louisville, Humana Festival of New American Plays 2011
Photo by Alan Simons
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