September 19, 2011
Some stories need to be told, some want to be told and some tell themselves.
The World Premiere of To Carry The Child, presented by Collaborative Artists Ensemble in association with the Raven Playhouse through Oct. 16, is all three and then some.
The story of a moment in the life of a family in turmoil is painted in broad, yet wonderfully intimate and specific strokes.
It is metaphysical, philosophical, yet downright elegiac.
This tale of a pair of sisters, one pregnant, the other a young
artist struggling with cancer and returning to her family home on
Carapace Isle, NC, and their deeply concerned parents, offers
tour-de-force performances by not only all five actors, but playwright
Jon Courie and director Steve Jarrard as well.
Courie and Jarrard are pragmatic, realistic, but spectacularly
whimsical and humorous in their work, and seem to inspire some of the
best acting this critic has seen this year in a contemporary play.
As the two sisters, Meg Wallace (Ashley) and Christine Haeberman (Sissy) are natural, potent and wise beyond their years.
Justine Woodford (Diane Kinderman) lights-up the stage with great
presence and a deep commitment to not only her character, but the
ambiance and timbre of the play as Ashley’s partner.
Pamela Daly (Libby) is a mother whose strength and resilience reside
directly beneath the surface. Her fear and doubt are strongly
counter-balanced by her love.
In a performance both parts naked and off-putting, Robin Nuyen (Bo)
is a father like many, who cares deeply about his family, but does not
know how to show it.
Nuyen puts both arms around his character and takes him home with uncommon strength sensitivity, intelligence and desperation.
All the performers could be acting in film and TV on a regular basis,
and show a grace and maturity in lending their talents to the theatre.
This play, while in effect summing-up five lives, swims to a gold medal with breathtaking courage and compassion.
A developmental version of this play was work-shopped by CAE in 2009.
The present production marks the world premiere of the play as a
completed work.
The Raven Playhouse, 5233 Lankershim Blvd., North Hollywood, CA 91601 Fridays and Saturdays at 8PM, Sundays at 7PM.Reservations: (323) 860-6569Admission:$20
Eleemosynary
The Berg Studio Theatre Reviewed by Jose Ruiz
Casitas Avenue in Atwater Village
is making a bid to become the next theatre row – or at least it’s little
cousin, with several of the well known theatre companies setting up shop
there. One of these companies is the Collaborative Artists Ensemble who is
presenting Lee Blessing’s compelling Eleemosynary, an intimate and
gripping story of three generations of Westbrook women. Loosely defined
“eleemosynary” means of, relating to, or supported by charity. In this
play, it is a word in a spelling bee where 16 year old Echo wins a
national spelling championship. The word is an important part of the play,
as it underpins attitudes of the three principals and sets up situations
that define Echo’s character, her mother’s attitude and the grandmother’s
role in their lives.
Nancy Solomons-Pamela Daly-Meg Wallace
As presented by CAE, this story
soars to a level that is often attempted but not often achieved in
theatre. The tight direction by Steve Jarrard and the strong empathy the
actors display for the characters makes this one of the outstanding
presentations we have seen so far this year. It is a studied exploration
of the lives and feelings of three women of various ages; grandmother
Dorothea, her daughter Artie and Artie’s teen ager Barbara, known as Echo.
Meg Wallace, as Echo, asks her
mother “Why did you leave me?” and a piercing tone in her voice
reverberates at once accusing, begging and confused. Wallace has
captured the essence of the young teen with a wonderful combination of
fluctuating innocence and maturity. Her willing acceptance of being
raised by a loving grandparent contrasts with her doubts about her absent
mother and her reasons for not wanting to raise her.
Pamela Daly plays Artie, in an
excellent portrait of an ambitious and brilliant mother who desperately
searches for the answer that will convince Echo that she does love her but
has a need to search for personal meaning and fulfillment. Daly brings a
certain reluctant distance to the character of the mother, perhaps guilty
for having left her infant daughter with the mother to pursue a career
research overseas – perhaps disdain for not wanting to be like her mother
who raised her. A prior aborted pregnancy early in her life undoubtedly
colors her attitude and feelings.
Easily, the most fascinating
character is Dorothea, an eccentric dreamer who believes that people can
fly without mechanical aids and tries to force her young daughter Artie to
actually try flying using homemade wings while filming a home movie. Nancy
Solomons delivers an incredible performance, almost becoming three
different characters. First she is the mother to a girl who feels pushed,
manipulated and managed. Then she is a loving grandmother who teaches the
baby Echo words and sentences in Greek and other languages. But she also
convinces us that her personal beliefs are firmly rooted in a whimsical
cloud that drifts from fantasy to fantasy. The one trait that the Dorothea
character does not exhibit is thievery. That is left for Solomons, the
actress who easily steals most scenes, a formidable task when playing off
two exceptional performers.
Blessings wrote this play with
the actors often addressing the audience as they relate the story from
their respective view points. Time also fluctuates in a non-linear
pattern, as we first see Dorothea in the last stages of life, then are
transported to Artie’s childhood, Echo’s teen-years and back to various
periods of their lives.
The scenery is sparse and simple,
the lighting is economic, the dialog is brisk and intelligent and the
entire presentation is like a jewel encrusted in a small dark stage.
Amanda Stewart assisted director Jarrard.
Too bad there were only a few
people when we saw it. The performances and presentation are worthy of
much better audience support and the company deserves to have more
attention. There should be a line outside the box office demanding
entrance! There should be huge splashes and accolades in all the media
expounding the virtues of the actors! There should be more plays of this
quality so that LA can merit the name of “Theatre town”.
But for now, actors being what
they are, Meg Wallace, Nancy Solomons and Pamela Daly have the inner
reward of knowing that they have created indelible characters and those
fortunate to have seen their work will not soon forget them.
You should go – so you can join
the privileged who can say – “ I was there when they played Eleemosynary”.
Through its clever and witty dialogue, Lucia Mad has proven to be one of Don Nigro’s best works. As
the plot progresses, so does Lucia’s madness. While she tries to win
the affection of Samuel Beckett, she quickly loses her sanity.
Lucia’s
father, James Joyce, an accomplished author, uses his work as an outlet
for his own sense of madness. Although Lucia has inherited her father’s
overly passionate personality, she has nowhere to use it other than
love.
Meg
Wallace’s performance as Lucia Joyce is captivating from beginning to
end. Her ability to portray a character with such innocence, while at
the same time, such madness, is impeccable.
It
is easy for the audience to feel as if, they themselves are going mad,
while watching Wallace erratically prance around the stage, and
listening to her, sometimes incoherent, dialogue.
The
combination of Pamela Day and Ian Patrick Williams, as Nora and James
Joyce, makes for great comedy and a realistic married couple in their
situation.
Robert
Ross’ performance as Samuel Beckett, is intriguing and charmingly
awkward. Although Mr. Beckett is the reason for Lucia’s madness, the
audience cannot help but feel sorry for him, as he tries multiple times
to escape Lucia’s grasp.
The
opening scene features only Lucia and Mr. Beckett, sitting separately,
with isolating spotlights upon them. As Lucia hauntingly sings, Beckett
holds tightly to a book and speaks in inconsistently short sentences.
The
rest of the play goes back and forth between James Joyce’s work and its
connection to Lucia, and how Lucia frantically pursues Mr. Beckett. Lucia’s
madness becomes her greatest flaw and it affects everyone around her.
It is not until Dr. Jung, a respected psychiatrist, played by Kenn
Schmidt, traces Lucia’s madness back to her father, that anyone knows
the reason for her unstable behavior.
Lucia
has so much love to give, but no one to accept it, while Mr. Beckett
denies her, and her father stayed buried in his work.
Wallace’s dramatic portrayal of Lucia puts the audience on an emotional rollercoaster.
Despite
the overall seriousness, comedic relief shines through the dialogue in
nearly every scene. Comedy only works when an actor knows how to deliver
it, and the actors of Lucia Mad certainly know how to.
This
tragic story of a lost, love-obsessed girl is a must see. From the
actors, to the dialogue, to the overall story, Lucia Mad captures the
essence of a twisted relationship between romance, art and obsession.
Lucia Mad plays at: The Sherry Theatre, 11052 Magnolia Blvd. (between Lankershim and Vineland), North Hollywood, CA 91601. October 22- November 14, 2010. Fri. & Sat. at 8, Sun. at 5.
For Online Ticketing : www.Plays411.com/luciamad
From BACKSTAGE
Lucia Mad
Collaborative Artists Ensemble at the Sherry Theatre
Reviewed by
Neal Weaver
November 11, 2010
In "Lucia Mad," playwright Don Nigro looks at what might
have happened had Lucia Joyce (Meg Wallace), daughter of Irish writer
James Joyce (Ian Patrick Williams), fallen madly in love with dour and
deeply pessimistic Samuel Beckett (Robert Ross), the writer's assistant
and later the author of "Waiting for Godot." He's incapable of returning
her love, and the rejection drives the already unstable young woman
into madness—but it's a madness colored by her eccentric wit and
fanciful notions. She stalks him relentlessly, but he remains sternly
elusive. It's not entirely clear how much of this is rooted in fact and
how much is Nigro's invention.
It's a fascinating tale probably
best appreciated by those with a basic knowledge of Irish literature,
particularly the works of Joyce and Beckett. When, toward the play's
end, Lucia proclaims that she is Anna Livia Plurabelle, it won't mean
much unless one is at least vaguely acquainted with Joyce's
linguistically adventurous—some might say impenetrable—novel "Finnegans
Wake." Nigro is erudite, but his attitude toward his characters seems
curiously ambivalent, sometimes regarding the great writers as amiable
lunatics and sometimes as masters of their craft.
The play is
engrossing for much of its length—as Lucia grows madder, declares that
Beckett is going to marry her, rebels against her father's
overprotective love, and becomes a patient of Swiss psychotherapist Carl
Jung (Kenn Schmidt). Ultimately, however, Nigro's dwelling on Lucia's
manias and Beckett's guilt-ridden but unwavering refusals begins to seem
self-indulgent. Their relationship is stubbornly static, and the action
comes to a screeching halt.
Director Steve Jarrard makes much of
the production palatable by mining the comedy in the script, which is
considerable, and the cast does excellent work all around. Wallace finds
the charm as well as the logic in the calculating but irrational Lucia
and makes her madness credible. Ross captures Beckett's spiky-haired
appearance as well as his emotional remoteness, making his extreme
nature believable. Williams' Joyce combines bumbling absent-mindedness
with an edge of ruthlessness, and Pamela Daly scores comic points as his
commonsensical wife, trying to cope with a houseful of nut cases.
Schmidt strives to overcome the limitations of his brief, underdeveloped
role as Jung; Quincy Miller plays the slightly philistine friend
McGreevy; and Dan McNamara doubles as a violence-prone pimp and a
lunatic who shares Lucia's asylum.
Presented by Collaborative
Artists Ensemble at the Sherry Theatre, 11052 Magnolia Blvd., North
Hollywood. Oct. 22–Nov. 21. Fri.–Sat., 8 p.m.; Sun., 5 p.m. (323)
860-6569 or www.plays411.com/luciamad.
It was
an evening of laughter and madness at The Sherry Theatre, located on
Magnolia Boulevard in North Hollywood, as seven cast members brought the
play, “Lucia Mad,” to life. With only a single couch, a writing table,
two wooden chairs, and books scattered about the floor, The Sherry
Theatre was transformed into the home of Irish natives James, Nora and
Lucia Joyce. Directed by Steve Jarrard, “Lucia Mad”, is a play about the
relationship between 20th Century Irish novelist, James Joyce, his
mentally unstable daughter, Lucia and her obsession with writer Samuel
Beckett.
Ian
Patrick Williams does a wonderful job portraying James Joyce who is a
loving, caring father and husband, but is more involved with bringing
his world to life through the written word, than paying attention to his
family. Williams shows how career and family play a role in his
daughter’s demise. Constantly writing and conversing with his fellow
literature patrons, he invites admirer Samuel Beckett, played by Robert
Ross, to help dictate his ideas on paper. Ross plays an awkwardly quiet
apprentice to Joyce. Ross’ demeanor is uncomfortable and unsettling
towards Lucia, who is delighted to have the presence of another man in
the house. Meg Wallace plays a captivating Lucia, whose solitary life in
terms of male companionship leads to an active imagination, as she
becomes smitten with Mr. Beckett. After dominating every one-on-one
interaction, Lucia blatantly states her true feelings of love and lust
towards Mr. Beckett. Beckett is uncomfortably shocked and doesn’t
reciprocate. This is the beginning of Lucia’s obsessed madness towards
Mr. Beckett. Wallace(Lucia) takes over the stage with daydreaming antics
and a childlike demeanor due to her mental decline. Pamela Daly shines
as Lucia’s mother, Nora, who spends her days comically coping with
entertaining her husband and his novels, while staying grounded about
her daughter’s progressive illness. Daly put a dry comedic twist to the
character making her witty with sarcastic remarks.
Actors
Quincy Miller, Ken Schmidt and Dan McNamara had supporting roles in the
story. Miller played comic interlude to the stories most tense moments
as Mr. Beckett’s friend, Thomas McGreevy. Schmidt plays the role of
psychiatrist Carl Jung, who delivers a heartfelt diagnosis of Lucia.
McNamara captures the sinister essence of the evil Pimp and later in the
story, he takes the character of Napoleon, a playful, silly friend of
Lucia’s in the mental ward.
“Lucia
Mad” is an intriguing story of a family’s unraveling. It is a
lighthearted story against the backdrop of a serious family matter.
“Lucia
Mad” will be performed at The Sherry Theatre and extended through
November 21, 2010. Shows are Friday and Saturday at 8:00pm and Sunday
evening at 5:00pm. Admission is $20 per person. For reservations, please
call 323-860-6569 or visit:www.Plays411.com/luciamad for online ticket information.
FROM SOCAL.COM
How I Learned To Drive Review by Angela Gomez
A
disturbingly beautiful play, written by Paula Vogel, ‘How I learned to
Drive’ is a ‘squirm in your seat but don’t take your eyes off the
stage’ kind of play. A play set in the mid 60’s to early 70’s, Lil’ Bit
(played by Meg Wallace) parallels her formative adolescent with the
lessons that she was taught as she was learning how to drive. Growing
up in rural Maryland,
Lil’ Bit was exposed to sex at an early age. Her immediate family doled
out nicknames based on their genitalia. With the absence of a father
figure, Lil’ Bit has 2 men to look up to in her family; her overly
sexist and racially charged Grandfather (played by Luke Lizalde) and
her seeming innocently affectionate Uncle Peck (played by Robert Ross).
Living in a women’s body gifted to her when she is 11 years old, Lil’
Bit attracts the attention (and leers) not only from her classmates but
also from her family-especially Uncle Peck.
Preying upon her naïveté, Uncle Peck offers to teach Lil’ Bit how to drive. Spanning from 11 years of age until her 18th
birthday, Lil’ Bit becomes enveloped in the sexual confusion thrust
upon her by Uncle Peck. Exposing her innocence, he lures her into his
trust by having her believe that he is the only one who “gets her” and
supports her intellectualism and aspirations to go to college.
A
brilliantly performed play, director Steve Jarrard reveals dark family
secrets that should have died along with the memories. A very hard play
to digest at times, the audience can’t help but feel embarrassment and
shame as they laugh at the intermittent comedy that is sprinkled
through the darkened theme.
Meg
Wallace acted brilliantly as she shrank and rose with the confusion of
her character. Her lilting voice hesitated during the scenes of
questionable conduct and you could feel the awkwardness penetrate the
air. Robert Ross oozed quiet creepiness as the calm in his voice hid
the bubbling want and anger that he masked so well. He played the most
unsavory character that when upon meeting you know that he is nice
enough but there is still something there that you just don’t trust.
Pamela
Daly was multi-faceted as she played several characters including the
slighted Aunt who was married to Uncle Peck and the mother who tried to
shield Lil’ Bit from her own burgeoning sexuality. Performing two
characters fighting the same fight for different reasons, Daly was not
only outstanding but she was also heart wrenching to watch at the same
time.
‘How I Learned to Drive’ is currently performing from April 16 to May 9th at The Raven Playhouse in North Hollywood. Parking is very hard to find but don’t let that discourage you from going to see this magnificent play.
Please
call (323) 860-6569 to purchase tickets for $20. To obtain driving
directions and information about The Raven Playhouse, log onto www.ravenplayhouse.com.
A
gripping play that exposes a taboo subject that has been living in the
shadows for too long, ‘How I Learned to Drive’ is a highly recommended
play to see this spring.
From BACKSTAGE WEST
Standing On My Knees
January 30, 2008
By Paul Birchall
In playwright John Olive's drama, gentle and sensitive
young Catherine (Meg Wallace) has schizophrenia. The good news is that
Catherine's condition can be controlled with massive doses of
Thorazine, which is prescribed by her kindly, maternal shrink Joanne
(Barbara Keegan). The bad news is that Catherine is a poet, and she
feels that the drug essentially destroys her artistic abilities,
turning her into a brain-dead potato with legs.Released from the mental
hospital where she has been committed for some time following an
emotional fugue, Catherine tries to get her life back together. Her
publisher best friend Alice (Rachel Hardy) subtly trying to push her
back into writing, Catherine meets up with a handsome, stable
stockbroker (Brian Barth on the night reviewed). All this prompts
Catherine to make the decision to self-medicate, which means
supplementing her meds with liberal swigs from a bottle of a nice
Chablis. Madness results -- as, tragically, does brilliance.
The main problem with Olive's drama is that it tends to
overromanticize schizophrenia in a way that comes across as being
faintly manipulative. Director Trace Oakley presents Catherine as a
waiflike beauty whose fragile talent is intimately related to her
insanity. And the character's descent into lunacy is so beautiful and
operatically tragic -- well, who wouldn't want to have schizophrenia if
it lets you be so pretty and nice? The disease-of-the-week
soap-operatic nature of the work ultimately trivializes what is
essentially a medical condition.
Still, Oakley's production, with its echoes of Bohemian
garrets and gritty ambiance of desperation, has a sensitive intimacy
that is frequently quite affecting.
And Wallace's turn as a woman who descends into
insanity is touching and powerful. Wallace has clearly done her
research on the medical condition of schizophrenia: She shows great
versatility as her slightly zoned-out turn when she's a Thorazine
zombie gradually shifts into edgy twitchiness. Keegan's performance as
the world's most caring shrink is nicely done too, and we love her
acting in a "dream sequence"; in which the psychiatrist appears to be
as mad as her patient. As Catherine's slightly oafish boyfriend, Barth
amusingly depicts a fellow who doesn't know what to do with a
girlfriend with more personalities than he figured he'd be dating.
Presented by Collaborative Artists' Ensemble at Gardner
Stages,1501 N. Gardner St., West Hollywood.Fri.-Sat. 8 p.m. (Also Sun.
8 p.m. Feb. 10-17.) Jan. 11-Feb. 17.(323) 860-6569. www.plays411.com.
Review by Ingrid Wilmot Will Call.org
"An Excellent Evening of Theater"
The Food Chain by Nicky Silver
This is a light weight comedy in three acts which appear unrelated. But, not to worry, it all comes together in the end. It opens as a nervous, chain-smoking, young woman Amanada (Meg Wallace) , phones a hot line operator Bea (Barbara Keegan), (who has troubles of her own), because her husband Ford (the taciturn Mark Stuven), has deserted her and disappeared. In Act II, we meet Serge (Dustyn Gulledge), a gay model, who is trying to break up with his former lover Otto (Raymond Parker) , a grossly obese, verbose neurotic with sado-masochistic tendencies.
If these characters had to shlep their problems (mostly blamed on mother) , behind them, they'd have to rent Dodger Stadium to squeeze in. Wallace plays a published poet but looks more like a waitress. However, she has excellent command of her lines, especially a lengthy monologue detailing her pent up pain and agony. Keegan is amusing as a dispenser of sage advice. Gulledge, a well built fellow with a bad wig, is soooo bored with both men and women hitting on him and struts his stuff flamboyantly all over the tiny stage. Parker, another fine figure of a man judging by his 8 by 10 glossy in the lobby, is grotesquely stuffed out to ungainly proportions, waddles, sweats, nibbles snacks, spews self hate or dishes out insults, with the speed of light and never falters. A remarkable performance.Most of these crazies feel unloved by absolutely everyone, but the audience can't help liking them just the way they are.
Direction is by Steve Jarrard.
Playwright Nicky Silver has received. Drama Desk nominations for his plays Pterodactyis and Raised in Captivity. He also wrote the book for the Broadway revival of The Boys from Syracuse. The Raven Playhouse, 5233 Lankershim Blvd., North Holywood (between Magnolia and Weddington. Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m., Sunday at 7 p.m. $20 (323) 860-6569. Tight street parking
Review from Stage Happenings by Carol Kaufman Segal
Billed as a sex-comedy, and written by Nicky Silver, The Food Chain is a play you wouldn?t take your children to see.But as an adult, well, that is a different story. The setting is Manhattan, an apartment where we find Amanda (Meg Wallace) pacing back and forth.She finally calls the crisis hotline where she is connected to the counselor, Bea (Barbara Keegan), a Jewish woman with problems of her own.She attempts to uncover Amanda's dilemma (she is chattering on so) and finds out that Amanda got married, went on her honeymoon, and upon returning a week later, her husband Ford left to go on a walk an has not been seen for two weeks. Suddenly Ford (Mark Stuver) arrives home saying nothing. End of scene I.
Scene II opens in the apartment of a model, Serge (Dustyn Gulledge) lolling around on his bed of red satin sheets, obviously waiting for his lover to arrive (if it is possible for him to love anyone but himself!). But instead, a former lover, extremely overweight Otto (Raymond Parker) arrives, with bagsful of munchies which he never stops eating.Otto is loud and never stops ranting.It seems he had an affair with Serge years ago and is extremely obsessed with him (the reason he gained ninety pounds and can't stop eating). He recently lost his job at a night club and wants Serge to take him in.Slim Raymond Parker, stuffed into a stuffed suit, is undeniably a comical figure. In Act II, when Amanda's doorbell rings, in walks Serge asking for Ford.She tells him he is sleeping and tries to discover who he is and why he is there.Meanwhile Otto, who has followed Serge, arrives at the apartment, and before long, Bea shows up out of concern because Amanda hung up on her. In this bizarre act, comedy reigns.
The actors couldn't pull this off any better. Even Ford, who doesn't say a word, achieves it by his expressions. Keegan is wonderful as the Jewish counselor; her accent is right on and she reminds you of any yenta you might know. The gay model, well Gulledge is indeed the perfect specimen. As for Amanda, Wallace is as distraught as any newlywed would be under these appalling circumstances. How it ends is for you to discover in this zany play superbly directed by Steve Jarrard.Theater: Raven Playhouse, 5233 Lankershim Blvd., in North
Tickets: (323) 860-6569
Dates: Through May 3, 2009 - Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m., Sundays at 7 p.m.
Review from BACKSTAGE WEST
Standing on My Knees
January 30, 2008
By Paul Birchall
In playwright John Olive's drama, gentle and sensitive young Catherine (Meg Wallace) has schizophrenia. The good news is that Catherine's condition can be controlled with massive doses of Thorazine, which is prescribed by her kindly, maternal shrink Joanne (Barbara Keegan). The bad news is that Catherine is a poet, and she feels that the drug essentially destroys her artistic abilities, turning her into a brain-dead potato with legs.Released from the mental hospital where she has been committed for some time following an emotional fugue, Catherine tries to get her life back together. Her publisher best friend Alice (Rachel Hardy) subtly trying to push her back into writing, Catherine meets up with a handsome, stable stockbroker (Brian Barth on the night reviewed). All this prompts Catherine to make the decision to self-medicate, which means supplementing her meds with liberal swigs from a bottle of a nice Chablis. Madness results -- as, tragically, does brilliance.
The main problem with Olive's drama is that it tends to overromanticize schizophrenia in a way that comes across as being faintly manipulative. Director Trace Oakley presents Catherine as a waiflike beauty whose fragile talent is intimately related to her insanity. And the character's descent into lunacy is so beautiful and operatically tragic -- well, who wouldn't want to have schizophrenia if it lets you be so pretty and nice? The disease-of-the-week soap-operatic nature of the work ultimately trivializes what is essentially a medical condition.
Still, Oakley's production, with its echoes of Bohemian garrets and gritty ambiance of desperation, has a sensitive intimacy that is frequently quite affecting.
And Wallace's turn as a woman who descends into insanity is touching and powerful. Wallace has clearly done her research on the medical condition of schizophrenia: She shows great versatility as her slightly zoned-out turn when she's a Thorazine zombie gradually shifts into edgy twitchiness. Keegan's performance as the world's most caring shrink is nicely done too, and we love her acting in a "dream sequence"; in which the psychiatrist appears to be as mad as her patient. As Catherine's slightly oafish boyfriend, Barth amusingly depicts a fellow who doesn't know what to do with a girlfriend with more personalities than he figured he'd be dating.
Presented by Collaborative Artists' Ensemble at Gardner Stages,1501 N. Gardner St., West Hollywood.Fri.-Sat. 8 p.m. (Also Sun. 8 p.m. Feb. 10-17.) Jan. 11-Feb. 17.(323) 860-6569. www.plays411.com.
Review from LA Weekly
STANDING ON MY KNEES
The primal, upsetting forces that lead to art also hold the power to decimate mental stability. Such is the paradox in John Olive's intriguing 1982 study of a published minor poetess, Catherine (Meg Wallace), struggling with prescription Thorazine for schizophrenia. The drug may keep the demons at bay, but it similarly bars the inspiration that gives Catherine's poetry its flight. The play begins in Catherine's "artist garret" bedroom as she's recovering from a breakdown. It then takes us through her plateau of comparative normality including a desk job offered to Catherine by her pushy publisher, Alice (Rachel Hardy) and a kind of artistic stagnation that leads to her defying her doctor's (Barbara Keegan) orders by cutting back on the drug, and consequently careening toward another breakdown. Through this, she engages in a doomed romance with a smitten, bewildered stockbroker (Brian Barth) an affair that more or less defines the play's trajectory. Act 1 is a long setup with scant dramatic action that hangs (barely) on exposition about the disease, symptoms of which are muted by the Thorazine. In Act 2, hell breaks loose, which justifies the wait. Wallace's quality of demure sweetness yields to bouts of rabid hostility and implosions of confidence, matched by Barth's kindly incomprehension of just about everything that means something to Catherine, from her love of dissonant classical music to the flows of dark energy that drive her poetry. As the publisher, Hardy pushes Alice's pushiness like a broom clearing the path of her ambitions more plausible than textured. Nice turn by Keegan as the shrink who, under Trace Oakley's direction, gingerly negotiates the transformation from every Lifetime movie shrink into an elfin cartoon from some Christopher Durang farce a figment of Catherine's tortured imagination. Oakley's basic staging contains no bravura performances, yet it's capable enough to hold its own.
Collaborative Artists Ensemble at the GARDNER STAGES, 1501 N. Gardner St., W. Hlywd.; Fri.-Sat., 8 p.m. (added perfs Sun., Feb. 10 & 17, 8 p.m.); thru Feb. 17. (323) 860-6569. (Steven Leigh Morris)-LA Weekly
1/15/08ACCESSIBLY LIVEOFF-LINE
By Rich Borowy-Managing Editor
John Olive's STANDING ON MY KNEES, a drama about a writer who must deal with her inner nonconformity, plays at the Gardner Stages theater is West Hollywood. Meg Wallace appears as Catherine. She is a writer of poetry with a pair of published books of poetry to her credit. She even meets a man with a promising job--a stockbroker by trade--who becomes a romantic encounter. But she has a situation that only she had to deal with. She suffers from a case of schizophrenia. From the inner voices that play inside of her head to the medication that her psychologist prescribes, Catherine finds herself into a dilemma that can keep her standing up on her feet, or bending upon her knees. This play deals with an issue that is rather taboo--mental illness, and takes the subject in a rather realistic way.
When it was first written c.1981, there wasn't as many drugs that would aid in the treatment in schizophrenia. Today, although there is more sources of medication available, the problems still exist, meaning that this melodrama still packs a punch in these contemporary times.
Trace Olive directs a cast that is fulfilling in their roles that feature Brian Barth-alternating with Nathan Van Williams, as Robert, Catherine's romantic interest, Barbara Keegan as Joanne, and Rachel Hardy as Alice, Catherine's psychologist. STANDING ON MY KNEES doesn't offer any answers, nor does it present any sort of cure. It just shows how one's process of thinking can offer either a full life or a demise.
STANDING ON MY KNEES, performs at the Gardner Stages theater, 1501 North Gardner Street (off Sunset Blvd.), West Hollywood, until February 17th. Showtimes are Friday and Saturday nights @ 8:00 PM, and Sunday, February 10th and 17th @ 8:00 PM. Reservations and information, call (323) 860-6569, or via http://www.plays411.com/">http://www.plays411.com.
