The alarm goes off. You scan your horoscope. “Hey, look at that, it says that you should keep to yourself today and limit contact with the outside world.” Doesn’t that line seem so appropriate for our pandemic filled 2020? While A Day was written a few years ago, Gabrielle Chapdelaine’s play has been given its English language premiere in an inventive live streamed performance.
The four main characters spend their time navigating a day in their life. “Your horoscope tells you to be bold today. Be bold.” Starting at midnight, this play is structured as an hour by hour exploration of four people with different personalities. The interesting conceit is that much of the time they narrate and comment on each other’s story.
Alphonso (Jahmar Ortiz) is the cheerful, optimistic, physically fit one. Debs (Erica Steinhagen) tells us that he made a smoothie. He makes a little extra for his neighbor. Nico (Sylvie Yntema), however, sees the neighbor “with the problematic jokes” as one who “doesn’t seem like the type who finds delight in blended fruit.” Translated by Josephine George, there are witty gems like that scattered throughout this play.
Alphonso is also a movie buff who particularly enjoys classic films. As movies are referenced, the footnotes display on the screen. There are a few good jokes which come from these as well. The best parts of A Day are found in the details. Alphonso narrates Harris’ constipation issues. Sitting on the toilet, he plays twenty seven rounds of solitaire, winning eleven. Alphonso then concludes, “but what would actually fill you with relief would be to relieve yourself.”
Harris (Karl Gregory) tells the spunky, obsessive Nico that she sometimes feels “like an extra in your own life.” He elaborates further. “Especially at work, you feel like the poor extra in the samurai movie who accidentally got kicked in the face when one of the main samurais mounted his horse.” There’s plenty of sadness lurking amidst the quirkiness of these lives in all sorts of array and disarray.
Directed by Samuel Buggeln and Wendy Dann, this live streamed production reminded me of the opening credits for the television sitcom, The Brady Bunch. Each person in their own box looking at the others in their boxes. Except here they talk about the other people and also about themselves. The four actors perform from separate green screen spaces on the stage of the State Theater in Ithaca. The effect fit the play beautifully and was nicely realized.
Parts of A Day are a bit heavy handed. I assume that is an intentional reflection on everyday life; our fears, our worries and our insecurities. In certain sections, my mind wandered as the character’s tales looped around many mood changes. The details, however, never failed to disappoint. And there’s even a helpful cure provided for us all. “When the boat starts to sink, we’ll take a ramen break.”
A Day will be live streamed through November 21, 2020. Advance ticket purchases are available.