‘Familiar Distances’ | play review
Published 4:58 pm Tuesday, November 18, 2014
by Jackie Bates
Special to the Sounder
What can you expect when you drop in for a visit to a place that was once very important to you? Who will greet you and how will you be received?
Three different possibilities are explored by local playwrights in “Familiar Distances,” each with unexpected twists. The production opened Nov. 14 at the Grange.
The evening begins with “Lilacs” by Michele Griskey, who can be counted on to surprise and make us laugh while we ponder the more complicated aspects of human relationships.
Vanessa Moriarity is first on stage when she returns to a family home she knew as a child. She is looking for time alone, away from her fiancé. However, she finds the house already occupied – sort of.
The tension she creates is palpable even before Suzanne Gropper romps onstage as a distant relative who has a lot to explain. Kevin Doyle is the jealous lover who terrifies us long before we see him. Director Lynda Sanders brings us an excellent show.
The second play, “I Used to Live Here” by James Wolf, is, well, just lovely. It’s hard to understand how Wolf does it, writing with a delicate hand, choreographing complex human experiences and interactions in such a tender and profound, yet devastatingly funny way.
Director Lin McNulty makes the most of the impressive talents of newcomer Emmy Gran and veteran actor Kelly Toombs. These four artists – playwright, director and actors- – made it possible for me to suspend disbelief so completely, I forgot to take notes for this review.
After intermission, McNulty’s powerful “Safe and Warm” arrives to the roar of actor Freddie Hinkle’s motorcycle. He has ridden across the country for a surprise visit to his second wife, whom he left some years ago to remarry his first wife.
If that isn’t complicated enough, he has a favor to ask, one as difficult for him to articulate as it is for her (and us) to hear. Hinkle and Gillian Smith as the former couple with their enduring resentments and deepest love, are casting choices made in heaven.
Their sparring dialog, laced with pathos and spousal humor, show playwright McNulty’s and the actors’ talents at their finest. Robert Hall staged this play with a minimalist set, making full use of stage and aisles with inventive lighting and sound.
It’s McNulty’s night as producer as well as playwright and director. She fully acknowledges a production of this caliber is possible only with the efforts of her talented, hardworking backstage and tech teams, who are all volunteers. Orcas Island can only be proud of original theater of this quality.
Do yourself a favor and take yourself to the Grange. Last productions are Nov. 21, 22 and 23 at 7:30 p.m.
Tickets are $10 at Darvill’s Bookstore, online at www.orcasactors.com and at the door.
The production is suitable for adults and older children.
