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Arts in Review

Vogel strikes nerve in 'Ride Home'
By Carol Davis                                             

It’s amazing to me how certain things seem to come in pairs. I’ll forego the
usual hand and glove, peas in a pod, etc. example and jump right to the point.
Playwright Paula Vogel, whose plays are controversial to say the least, and her
works are shown few and far between because of the risky nature of their content
(we did see her How I Learned to Drive at the Rep. in 1998 and The Mineola
Twins at Diversionary in 200, but others were done in the ‘90’s, so our track record
for her works is scattered) but now, voila, two of her plays are on local stages, playing
simultaneously at opposite ends of the county. And the theatres mounting these
plays cater to two very different audiences.

Diversionary Theatre in Hillcrest whose artistic director is Dan Hirsch and
whose client base is primarily the gay lesbian community and Lynx
Performance in the north county founded by Al Germani, psychotherapist
who delves into the darker recesses of alternative theatre has a strong
following with those interested in avant-garde, experimental theatre not|
often seen at your more name recognized venue.

Located in Hillcrest on Park Blvd., the Diversionary Theatre occupies an
upstairs of what once was an office building now converted into a neat
little theatre space. The lobby has a small box office with material about
what’s going on in the gay-lesbian community. The theatre itself 
is intimate but accommodates the choices Dan and his board select. Over
the years they have built a strong client base.  On the other hand,
Germani’s space is a converted dance studio by day/black box theatre by
weekend nights located off Balboa Ave/Morena exit on Ariana drive past
Costco (the theatre link has good directions) and has a following but it’s|
been a struggle. Germani has held his own through thick and thin and has
not compromised his visions. (His production of How I Learned to Drive
will be reviewed in a later issue)

At Diversionary, The Long Christmas Ride Home is one of the best
productions seen there in some time.  As I’m sure most of you know,
titles don’t always say what they mean. In this case Vogel, a Pulitzer Prize|
recipient, whose father was Jewish and whose mother was Christian and |
who has been teaching playwriting in the MFA program at Brown
University in Rhode Island since 1985,  is using this particular occasion
to symbolize the one big family holiday nightmare, which started out as
the one big happy family celebration as the basis for her story. It also
happens to be the turning point in this family, in particular the children, |
that had a  life defining affect on each of them. And it is some roller
coaster ride, indeed.

The marvels of theatre come alive with a production such as this. 
Directed by Lisa Berger with excellent lighting affects by Jennifer Setlow,
live music by Andrew Jacobs and choreographed by  Peter G. Kalivas,
it’s one of those ahah moments when all the elements of theatre come
together and the production takes on  a life of its own. Not unlike
Thornton Wilder’s theatrical treatment in Our Town and
The Happy Journey from Trenton, Vogel uses the narrator, or in this case
two, the Mother (Dana Hooley is perfect as the seething wife) and the
Father (John Rosen excellent as the disillusioned husband and distant
father)  to tell the story directly to the audience. It takes place as they
embark on a road trip  to Grandma and Grandpa’s house on Christmas
Day after stopping off at their favorite Universalist Unitarian church, |
(since Mom left Catholicism and Dad became assimilated to whatever was
easiest), and about the devastating ride home.

The ‘ride’ is nothing but a trip from hell, for the whole family as the
narrative unfolds on stage with the integration  of puppets, Japanese-style
Bunraku, Kabuki and Noh, music, dance and pantomime. The puppets are
life sized representing the three children in the play and are manipulated
by two people; one is the actor/grown-up counterpart, and the others are
puppeteers from thePuppetry Center of San Diego who created them
specifically for |Diversionary. It is actually called a Puppet Play with Actors.

The minimalist set is made up of a bench and two high stools (David F.
Weiner) where the Mother and Father perch to tell their stories while the
children are seated (with their puppeteers dressed in hooded black clothes
kneeling behind them) on the bench that represents the back seat of the
family car. If you have ever been scrunched in the back seat of a car (my
three children were) you will be able to visualize the body language of the
two girls (Crystal Verdon as Rebecca is the oldest, 12 and Amanda Cooley
Davis  is Claire aged  7) and their  Brother Stephen (Chris Buess) who is 9.
As in all families, the children have their little shticks, but they are nothing
compared to the dysfunction of their parents.

Right from the get go we learn from the narrators the that the father is
having an affair, one of many throughout the marriage, and would much
rather be with his mistress than in the car on the way to his wife’s family
dinner with his own family. The mother can’t let go of her jealous rages
and thinks of ways to ‘get her man back.' Perhaps, she wonders out loud, 
by having another child. In the back seat, the children are having their
own fantasies including the confession from Stephen that he would rather
watch the boys who play soccer than be a soccer player himself. And, oh,
by the way, he’s car sick and needs to vomit.

By the time they make it through the ramblings of the substitute pastor
(Ozzie Carnan is a riot as the minister in one of the many parts he plays) to
their grandparents house, everyone’s nerves are frazzled, but there’s more
to come when the Father and the grandfather (Ozzie Carnan) get into a
spat. When he lashes out and calls the Father a kike, we know all is really
not well in paradise. On the ride home, the parents continue their bickering
when the car slides on some ice life and death is held in the balance.

The mood changes in the second half, when the adult children step out |
from behind their puppet selves and bring the audience up to date on how
that fateful night of events brought them to be who they are today, how
that night affected their future relationships, how their behavior towards
one another changed and how the toxic dynamics between the parents
revisited the children in their later lives.

It’s quite moving and in same way a test for all parents to grade
themselves on how their actions and behaviors toward each other affect
their own children’s conduct in their adult lives.

Just a thought.

The Long Christmas Ride Home will play through April 15.

See you at the theatre.

Post Script: They say that when one door closes, another opens. For
those of us who used to write for The San Diego Jewish Times, this is a
truism. After writing theatre reviews for ‘The Times’ for 27 years, it was
with sadness to see the ending of an era. An era that brought many
insightful ideas and opinions into your homes through a variety of
syndication and local talent. It was a time when columnists who wrote
about their specialties, shared a common value and information. It was
also an opportunity for the community to become connected.

For yours truly, and I can only speak for myself, this new door that has
opened on jewishsightseeing.com is another opportunity for me to share
more ideas, and to let you know what’s out there in the theatre world and
enjoy some of  what makes me want to see you having the same
experiences. I appreciate the opportunity to continue sharing this passion
with you.  So when you see me, Let’s tawk!—Carol