Live theater is nowhere in sight but the opportunity to stream continues to grow exponentially. Importantly, actors and playwrights are pooling their talents to raise money not only to save their non-profit companies but also for the many charities which provide needed resources to those in need. The three events in this Seclusion Smörgåsbord feature some big name actors as well as an inventive shadow puppetry performance.
Love Letters (Spotlight on Plays)
Sally Field and Bryan Cranston got together to perform A.R. Gurney’s Love Letters which ran on Broadway in 1988. Back then I saw Stockard Channing and John Rubenstein portray Melissa Gardner and Andrew Makepeace Ladd III, two people born into wealth and position. The play is staged as a reading of the letters, notes and cards shared between them over a fifty year relationship.
Beginning in childhood, the two exchange Valentines. They are clearly soul mates from an early age, drawn to each other and their differences. Despite similar privilege, he totes the line and she pushes against rules and convention. As they age and mature, the two delve deeply into their feelings and sense of happiness. At one point Melissa says, “You may not have as much money as we have but you have a better family.” Everything which came before that line nicely supported her statement.
The writing also cleverly reflects lingo of the various periods represented in the timeline. As teenagers, they become more aware of the opposite sex and jealousy emerges. Andrew hears a rumor about Melissa. “You let Bucky Zeller put a tennis ball in your cleavage,” he accuses. The follow up question is hilariously on point: “Are you a nympho or what?” Both performers inhabited their characters well. Ms. Field, in the juicier role, was equally funny, defiant and heartbreaking.
As these two age, life gets more complicated and much more serious. They travel different paths but the letter writing, while sometimes interrupted, continues on. They question this paper relationship. “All this letter writing. It’s a bad habit. It makes us seem like people we’re not.” Parallels to today’s texting, tweeting and social media excesses keep this play’s focus relevant.
Love Letters was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. I’m not sure the play is of that caliber but for sheer entertainment and many rewarding lines, it remains a good one. For me, this observation stood out. “I don’t think you can be smart and be Catholic at the same time.” I was raised to be both and had to shed one of those labels to thrive.
Love Letters was the third play presented as a benefit for the Actor’s Fund by Spotlight on Plays.
Feathers of Fire (Fictionville Studio/Kingorama)
At the end of the first millennium C.E., Persian poet Ferdowsi wrote the epic poem Shahnameh. This “Book of Kings” tells mainly the mythical but also some historical history of the Persian Empire from the creation of the world until the Arab conquest of Iran in the 7th century. A selection from this revered cultural literature is told through the use of shadow puppetry in Feathers of Fire.
A knight’s wife dies in childbirth. The son was born with white hair. The father abandons the baby outside the palace. A bird swoops it up and raises the boy with her other hatchlings. The father’s guilt brings the boy and his nakedness back to palace life and societal responsibility. This is a taped version of a children’s show. The story is simple but the artistic achievement to create the visual effects are intricate and often beautifully and colorfully rendered.
This one hour show required 8 actors, 160 puppets, 137 animated backgrounds and 1,163 audio/visual cues. Before the video begins, they provide a behind the scenes glimpse which puts the workload and creativity in perspective. A unique view into the splendor of the royal courts of Iran and a major piece of literature for its people.
Feathers of Fire is available to rent on Vimeo for $4.95 which provides 48 hour access.
www.vimeo.com/ondemand/feathersoffire
The Homebound Project
The second of three new online theater streams in The Homebound Project featured the theme of “sustenance.” Eleven playwrights paired up with actors (and sometimes directors) to record these monologues. The range of material in tone, scope and quality was almost uniformly high. Ngozi Anyanwu begins in Anne Washburn’s “Comfort Food.” She gets our attention fast by lighting a candle and blurting out: “what sustains me now is rage… not the petty rage directed at unmasked joggers…”
“Worms” by Lily Houghton shows a one sided cellphone conversation with a college friend. When things get too deep or serious, the unseen and unheard friend abruptly changes the subject. In Will Arbery’s “notes towards godliness” a young man presents the “apotheosis of my philosophy” which entails completely ignoring his parents for six years. With an intense performance by Nicholas Braun, things get very deep in this one as well.
Bryna Turner’s “the prophet Cassandra sees a different future” has Mary-Louise Parker in thought. She muses to Helen of Troy, “I just had another prophecy.” Babak Tafti’s performance in David Zheng’s “You Best Believe” begins with a facial contusion care of his best friend. This monologue considers the love and competition within a testosterone fueled bromance in the hood. There was also a virtual wedding moment via “Zoom on Toast.”
The final piece was “I Promise” which was performed by Zachary Quinto which began semi-serious. In various picturesque outside location shots, he talks about what his friends are missing most during this pandemic and isolation. Like all of us, however, focus gets murky. Eventually he is dressed in camouflage and mouths lines from the movie Private Benjamin using Goldie Hawn’s voice.
My favorite short play was “These Hands” by Loy A. Webb. Kimberley Hébert Gregory manages to snag an invitation to the once in a generation Humanitarian Gala. She gets in line and has to deal with the question, “What is your gift to humanity.” After listening to others in front of her, she knocks her response out of the park.
My second runner up was “Is This a Play Yet” by Marco Ramirez. Utkarsh Ambudkar is holding his tiny sleeping infant like a corsage on his shoulder. He wants theater. Any theater no matter how bad. He says dryly, “I’d like to be watching a bad play now… the kind my friend is in.” A play where “someone in a leotard represents death” and “where the pop cultural references feel dated.” At this point in the pandemic, I’m all in too.
The Homebound Project’s mission is to raise funds for No Kid Hungry. Tickets for the third show in this series go on sale May 26, 2020. The stream will run from June 3rd until the 7th. Tickets are $10 but higher donations gladly accepted.