“…no place like home”
These two one-acts, the first written by Lanford Wilson, and
the second one written by Donnie, are both directed and designed by Donald Horn
(costumes, sound and set) with Lighting Design by Trevor Sargent and Tech/Stage
Management by Kendra Comerford. It is
playing at their space in The Sanctuary, 1785 NE Sandy Blvd. (free parking in
the lot to the West of the building), through February 24th.
For more information, go to their site at www.trianglepro.org or call 503-239-5919.
Lady “Leslie” Bright (Gary Norman) is lonely on a hot summer
day in NYC in his apartment in the mid-70’s.
He has two outlets to the outside world, his telephone, which is totally
mute on the other end when calling friends, except for the dial-a-prayer
number, which is good to know that God always answers. The other connection is his wall of
names/signatures, reflecting very specifically on the actual persons
themselves, from miniscule to bold, from flamboyant to timid, all having
skipped by now the “…light fantastic, having fallen in love with long distance”
(T. Williams).
His world now consists of voices in his head, real and
imagined, the stimulating music of Mozart, dancing from one era to the next,
and his array of finery for his next, hope-filled encounter. He is, quite frankly, simply looking for a
place to belong, a comfort from the darkness, a place called…home. Doesn’t he realize that he only needs to
click his heels together three times and he’ll be there?! Personally, I sincerely hope he makes it to
his personal Wonderland.
Wilson’s play is cited for being one of the first ones of
any note to concentrate on gay issues.
Norman is extraordinary as the individual who only wants to be
loved. His portrayal of a slow descent
into this gray world of “madness,” in such a short period of time, is quite
remarkable. And Horn is the master is
conducting him, and the audience, into this exploration and exposition of
alienation and loneliness.
________________________________________________________________________________
Becoming Oneself
This is a very brave piece by someone, Christine (nee,
George) Jorgensen (Matthew Sunderland), in the late 40’s who, although
discharged from the army and coming from a loving home, felt that life was not just
ahead of him as a man, but was passing him by, as he, from an early age, had
felt he was a female trapped within a male’s body, yearning to break free. His closest ally was his sister, Sally
(Jacquelle Davis), as well as a supportive family. But that was not enough to quell the real
being within.
And so a trip was necessary to Denmark to get the help he
needed. He met there Dr. Christian
Hamberger (Mark Pierce) who took him in as a research subject in an area
declared taboo in many societies, to transform physically a person from one
gender to another. It had been attempted
before some years earlier in Germany but the patient died as a result. And so now, history was waiting to be
made. But it would be a long and arduous
journey together.
To tell you more would spoil the revelations made during
this story. Sunderland is amazing in a
very difficult role and he pulls it off, giving us a full view of the
male/female conflict. Horn certainly has
his hands full here, both having written the story, as well as directing
it. And he has chosen the best person
for the lead, which should always be the case when casting. It also helped to have some visuals of the
real Jorgensen’s life. Hopefully this
play will continue to grow, as it would be helpful, being that it’s now a
one-act, to expand it to include her later life as she grew older. I can certainly envision this going to The
Big Apple in time to get universal recognition, and acceptance.
I recommend both these plays, both from an educational
aspect, as well as damn good acting, writing and theatre. If you do choose to see it, please tell them
Dennis sent you.
--DJS
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