Wednesday, September 29, 2021

Sometimes Everything Works!

 


Sometimes in theater you have a kind of ecstatic collaboration where everyone gets along, everyone cares about the project, everyone agrees on the vision -- and everyone is extremely talented and well-cast.

It doesn't happen that often. But...

This time, with the reading of
Divide the Living Child
on September 12,
it really did all come together.

As you may recall, DIVIDE takes place in Amsterdam under Nazi Occupation. A Jewish woman, Miriam and her teenage daughter Hannah are taken in by Torrie, a devout Christian woman. Hannah goes out into the world pretending to be Helen, Torrie's niece. Her mother stays in total hiding. At first everything goes well, but a nosy neighbor seems suspicious of the new niece. And Torrie has her own agenda: She wants to save the young girl's soul by making her a true Christian.

Director Heather Ondersma brought together an amazing group of five actresses, and they became a true ensemble. I've never thought much about what an ensemble means, but there was something about the way these women interacted with each other that made me believe that they were part of the same world. Each actress subtly reinforced the reality of what the other actresses were doing. Each one deeply believed in her own character and in the other characters too.

Of course, it's supposed to be like this in every performance. But I've had one full production and a lot of readings (at least five over the years) of DIVIDE. This Zoom reading was the only one that had magic. In that first full production, the actresses playing mother and daughter just did not seem to have much feeling for each other. And then there was the reading where the actress playing Torrie had no warmth, so the audience felt no sympathy for her. And another time, the actress playing Hannah was wonderful as a confident, bright 14-year-old -- but she didn't have the skill to portray Hannah's disintegration as the story evolves.

But this time all the pieces of the puzzle fit together, and my hypercritical playwright mind could relax. I could simply surrender to the performance. I cried, I got upset, I laughed, I felt chills. I didn't feel like I was watching a play. I felt like LIFE was unfolding before of me!

What a beautiful experience for a playwright to have.

And something happened with this reading of DIVIDE that I've never witnessed before. It's very normal for the director and playwright to voice their appreciation for the wonderful moments that happen during rehearsal. But the women in this group were continually complimenting each other on the work they were doing! The actresses became fans of each others' performances!

The whole thing was a goddam love fest. So special, so special.

I want to thank everyone involved in this performance --

  • Eliana Gershon for breaking my heart as Hannah
  • Renee Rogoff for a deeply passionate Miriam who talks to God and loves her child enough to let her go
  • J.J. Van Name for her rosy, loving and joyously devout Torrie
  • Paula Barish for finding every laugh that the sinister neighbor Elsie could provide
  • Bessie Zolno as Mieke, the Resistance worker for her touching vulnerability when she talks about her own child
  • Keyanna Alexander for her excellent tech work and playful spirit

  • ...and most of all my director, Heather Ondersma, for her incredible ability to make things happen and her genius in creating this very special ensemble.

This reading was a real gift to me.

Terry

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