Twilight Offers Fertile Ground for Quality of Death

Picture shows Margie Boulé, Olivia
Henry, Paul Roder and Ira Kortum

 

By Tina Arth

Quality of Death, a Thinking Peoples’ Theatre production by playwright Ruth Jenkins, has a unique pedigree. It is an original show first offered in live stream format as part of the the 2022 Portland Area Theatre Alliance (PATA) Fertile Ground Festival, for which all productions were done virtually – yet it is continuing life as a fully staged drama hosted by North Portland’s Twilight Theater. I was privileged to be part of a small in-house audience for this remarkable show’s opening night live stream, and I’m glad that so many people could enjoy the show remotely that weekend, but I’m even happier that many more folk will have the opportunity I did of seeing the show performed in person for the next two weeks.

Be forewarned – Quality of Death is no stroll in the park! The play explores the journeys of five families who come together in a support group as they negotiate the dreaded “d” word – “death” – of a loved one. The individual stories are diverse – there’s dementia, Parkinson’s, cancer, COPD, and garden variety (if extreme) old age – what ties them together is that in each case the deceased exerts control over their own death to end suffering or simply to pass on their own terms – true death with dignity. One story involves conventional suicide, while the others all embark on their final journeys by turning away from medical treatment and sustenance, allowing death to come naturally as their bodies simply shut down.

The drama (and often unexpected humor) of Quality of Death arises from the tension between the dying and the family members determined to keep them alive at any cost. With the help of the support group, including members of a medical establishment willing to provide compassionate guidance, reluctant loved ones come to accept that their role is to accept the inevitability of death and embrace the love and empathy necessary to provide a good last day.

The large cast (16 actors portray 24 different characters) means it’s impossible to recognize every strong performance, but I’ll highlight several that touched me most. First among equals is Allie Rivenbark (Teri), who captures both the physical and vocal challenges of progressively debilitating Parkinson’s disease with amazing consistency, yet uses humor and sarcasm to ward off the potentially maudlin overtones of her situation and keep us rooting for her right to die. As her partner Kathryn, Leslie Inmon gives us the other side – the passionate insistence on fighting until the last breath a battle that, as the playwright makes clear, is not hers to fight.

Anyone who has ever done a true death watch should respond to the absolute authenticity of the dialogue and physical performances given by Paul Roder (Charlie) and Pat Lach (Martha) as they move down the road to that final breath. Pat’s querulous, self-centered character is perfectly recognizable as the archetype of one variety of hard-headed old lady – well loved, yes, but not easy to love. Paul, on the other hand, creates an unforgettably sly and playful old devil who will be sincerely mourned by the three generations of descendants we meet on stage. Olivia Henry (Devon) turns in a beautiful performance as Charlie’s great granddaughter, the one family member (in fact, the one cast member) most comfortable with allowing a loved one to go in peace when the time has come.

Ira Kortum becomes two very different men for his two roles – as Max, losing his young wife, he is movingly frightened and grief-stricken, while he is stoic but a bit bewildered as Charlie’s grandson Jeff, trapped between his mother’s stubborn denial and his daughter’s persistent support of the old man’s wishes. Tony Domingue is a treat to watch in his larger role as Martha’s son-in-law Ross – he’s an island of calm in the storm of emotions roiling the immediate family.

Quality of Death presents some unusual challenges, both thematically and in the pure mechanics of staging so many characters and scenes without confusing the audience or muddling the messaging.  Theresa Robbins Dudeck’s direction keeps the train on the tracks – it’s a long show with some exceptionally intense moments, but she never allows her actors or the audience to lose focus. The set is simple and flexible enough to keep things moving along quickly, and many of the best spots are enhanced by some brilliant lighting effects.

I found myself both deeply moved and, as the author clearly intended, educated by the play. There are times where detailed descriptions of the mechanics of dying verge on the didactic, but given the topic this may be unavoidable. If you can get to this show, by all means do!

Thinking Peoples’ Theatre Project’s live run performances of Quality of Death can be seen at 8:00 pm on February 11, 12, 18, and 19, and at 3:00 pm on Sunday, February 13 at Twilight Theatre, 7571 N. Brandon Avenue, Portland.

Love Letters – One Show, Two Casts!

 

 Peter Bolger and Rebecca Rowland Hines

 Ron Harman and Virginia Kincaid

Photos by Linda Talluto

 

By Tina Arth

It’s hard to imagine a show better suited to production in the middle of a pandemic than A. R. Gurney’s classic Love Letters. With only two cast members and minimal sets, lighting, and sound requirements it’s got it all: a tiny cast with no direct interaction between the actors means social distancing is a breeze, the actors can actually read their scripts (in the form of the letters) so there is less need for extensive in-person rehearsal, and the minimal design requirements mean that the production can be done relatively inexpensively, allowing for intentionally limited audiences without creating a huge financial burden for the theater company. In fact, many of these features have made the show an attractive option for small companies even in pre-pandemic times.

That said, this is not a simple show for either actors or directors, and I take issue with the assertion (in the show’s Wikipedia entry) that it “requires little preparation, and lines need not be memorized.”  I saw Mask & Mirror’s two casts last week, and it was clear to me that the quality of the show was a direct result of careful preparation on the part of the actors and a steady hand from Director Linda Talluto. Most important, it was amazing how clearly the two pairings (Rebecca Rowland Hines with Peter Bolger, and Virginia Kincaid with Ron Harman) were able, by carefully working with the lines, making them their own, and developing their own chemistry, to present two entirely different shows with exactly the same script.

A quick synopsis is in order, for those unfamiliar with the story. Melissa Gardner and Andrew (Andy) Makepeace Ladd III, friends since early childhood, have maintained a relationship primarily through letters for about six decades. The actors alternate reading their letters, painting a picture of a complex relationship that defies easy categorization. Flighty, sometimes scatterbrained (and very wealthy) Melissa hates the discipline of writing, and from the earliest letters she often adorns her work with pictures that express her ebullient nature and her budding talent as an artist. Andy, on the other hand, from early childhood is the sort who always colors inside the lines – he’s a rule follower and a conformist. While reasonably wealthy, he still feels a bit insecure about the economic gap between his family and Melissa’s. As the years pass, the two friends go in very different directions – Andy to law school, a prominent firm, a solidly respectable marriage with kids and a Golden Retriever, and ultimately the U. S. Senate. Melissa’s path includes lots of turmoil as she is shuttled throughout her childhood between her divorced parents and her grandmother. After being asked to leave a few schools, she studies art in Italy, has a failed marriage, and loses custody of two children due to her emotional instability.  Enough said – if you want to know how it ends, you’ll need to go see the show at least once. However, I recommend seeing it twice to evaluate for yourself how the characterizations change when played by different actors!

I vowed not to compare the two casts, and will adhere to that promise. All cast members do a fine job of reading as children in the earliest letters, without presenting a parody of how children talk – and they then seamlessly transition to adolescence and various stages of adulthood. It is clear that each actor has carefully crafted an approach, both when they are reading and when they are listening and silently reacting to their partner – be sure to watch both actors at all times to get the most of the unwritten emotional impact of the story.

Because it’s set between 1937 and 1988, many of the social conventions that bind Andy, Melissa, and their peers seem antiquated, but there are universal themes of relationships that transcend the limitations of the author’s chosen era.  Because of some adult content, this is not a show that is really appropriate for children – but it’s hard to imagine young children being remotely interested in the story and pacing anyway. For the rest of us, Mask & Mirror’s production can serve as a safe and gentle, but still very moving, reintroduction to the world of live theater.

Mask & Mirror’s production of Love Letters runs through Saturday, February 12^th in The Chapel at Rise Church, 10445 SW Canterbury Lane, Tigard.  Virginia and Ron perform on February 5^th (2:00 pm) and February 11^th (7:30 pm). Rebecca and Peter perform February 4^th and 5^th (7:30 pm) and February 12^th (2:00 pm).

Broadway Rose’s Honky Tonk Laundry Brings Down-Home Musical Fun

By Tina Arth

Broadway Rose Theatre Company’s audiences are thoroughly familiar with the conventions of the “jukebox musical” – a show built around a whole passel of songs, mostly (or completely) drawn from pre-existing pop charts. The story lines tend to be a mite slim and predictable, so the show’s entertainment value is almost exclusively dependent on the quality of the vocalists, musicians, and songs. Nowhere is this more clearly illustrated than in director Sharon Maroney’s current love offering of Roger Bean’s Honky Tonk Laundry – the plot is paper- thin, but this tissue paper provides the exquisite giftwrap around two acts and 22 numbers delivered by two of the finest vocalists you’ve heard in a month of Sundays.

Here goes: the show opens with hard-headed, warm-hearted down-home gal Lana Mae Hopkins bubbling over with frustration - instead of a life singing her heart out on the country circuit, she has settled for running the Wishy Washy Washateria in an unnamed but stereotypical small southern burg. She’s got a load of the town slut’s scanty panties to wash, her husband Earl is spending WAY too much time visiting his “sick mother” instead of fixing a broken dryer, and her lone employee has disappeared. Just after she posts a help wanted sign on the door, in walks Katie Lane Murphy, a high-energy, high-maintenance train wreck of a woman done wrong who should never be trusted with a hot iron. Mollified by a few of Lana Mae’s sedatives, Katie quits her job and joins forces with Lana, and the two of them set out to dump their cheatin’ menfolk.  Turns out that Katie Lane has a powerful set of pipes, too – but without a little Xanax lubrication she’s way too anxious to sing in front of people. Next step? Put up some posters, redecorate the Wishy Washy as the Honky Tonk Laundry, and put on a show! Yep, that pretty much sums it up.

Even with spectacular vocals (and the vocals are pretty damned spectacular), the show would still be a bit of a drag if the actors didn’t bring their “A” game – but this is simply not an issue in the Broadway Rose production. When I first reviewed Jessica Brandes in last season’s Analog and Vinyl, I meant it when I said, “she struck me as one of those actors who could hold my attention while reading the phone book.”  She is beyond hilarious in her oddly sexy, jerky, quirky, sometimes drugged out and always passionate portrayal of Katie, and her powerful voice lights up the theater in six solo and seven duets of some great honky tonk classics (some of them new to me, but probably not to real country music fans).  Watch and listen especially for “Why’d He Come In Here Lookin’ Like That?” and “Cleopatra, Queen of Denial,” and brace yourself for the moment when Lana Mae teaches her to yodel in “Yodeling at the Grand Ole Opry.”

Emily Cadiz (Lana Mae) is in a comparatively straight role, but her enthusiastic cynicism and frequent (but inoffensive) swearing gives her lots of room to develop a funny and memorable spitfire of a character, and she doesn’t miss a beat. Cadiz’ “Stand By Your Man” alone is worth the price of admission, and her plaintive “I Need A Vacation” kicks the show off with a big, big bang. I’ve never been a huge fan of Nancy Sinatra, but Emily and Jessica’s duet on “These Boots Are Made For Walkin’” at the end of the first act made me wish there were no intermission!

While we never get to see the musicians, we definitely hear them. Music Director/conductor/pianist Max Kastelic with his band (Amy Roesler, Dave Muldoon, and Joseph Mammarella) provide everything you could want in a country combo – and then some. Sean O’Skea’s set is a picture perfect recreation of a tacky Laundromat, and Kimberly Hergert’s costumes tell us all we need to know about Lana Mae and Katie’s fashion ethos – lots of fringe, lots of boots, cowboy hats and (for Katie) some stunningly skin-tight, cleavage baring wardrobe choices.

Don’t come to Honky Tonk Laundry for anything deep or profound – life in February is dark enough on the outside that a couple of hours of comedy, nostalgia, and dynamite singing are exactly what we need. Do come for the highest quality of sheer entertainment you’ll find anywhere in town!

Honky Tonk Laundry is playing at the Broadway Rose New Stage, 12850 SW Grant Avenue, Tigard, through Sunday, February 20^th.