Feb. 5, 2010
Mother, Daughter Stage Drama Friday, Saturday at Marshall; Free Admission
By Tony Rutherford
Huntingtonnews.net Entertainment Editor
Huntington, WV (HNN) – Brave the blizzard, no, I’ll be optimistic, the nuisance precipitation on Friday or Saturday, February 5-6, and you can watch a FREE play at Marshall University’s Joan C. Edwards Performing Arts Center.
“Memory House,” a two-person play by Kathleen Tolan, will be performed in the Francis Booth Experimental Theatre.
Set in a Manhattan apartment on a New Year’s Eve, the play follows a recently-divorced mother baking a pie in real time (is this cooking things a rub off from Jamie Oliver’s fall visit?) as her daughter tires of finishing a college essay exploring childhood memories, which includes her adoption from Russia, questions of her loyalty to one’s country and culture, her parent’s divorce and her fear of leaving home.
Mom will be played by veteran Huntington actress, Linda Reynolds (last seen in the Guns ‘n’ Hoses benefit ), and the daughter by MU student, Rachael Kenaston, a senior theatre and French major. Mary Poindexter Williams directs.
Tolan's “Memory House” debuted in 2005 off-Broadway in New York. The Times reviewer called it a “tense standoff between a mother and her daughter over their differing philosophies of life.”
The apartment is described as “meticulously messed up” which is where Maggie, a former dancer and current office worker, bakes blueberry pie. Adopted daughter, Kartina, has a midnight mailing of a college application essay facing her, but she’ sullen, sluggish, and distraught. Having been adopted from Russia, Kartrina has been confronted with her country of origin by ongoing global politics.
For instance, she tells mom, “what do I write?” in an accusatory, adversarial tone. “That I’m a victim of a bleeding country? That I owe my life to the people who took advantage of the tragedy of Russian and ripped me off, which was great cause now I don’t have to be a hooker on the streets of Moscow but , oops, now, I’m a citizen of a country of bullies.”
Director Mary Poindexter-Williams explains, “I'm a "mature" student who returned to Marshall to get a theatre degree and while looking for material for monologues for a middle age actress I came across this play a couple of years ago and loved it,” Williams said. “It is funny and touching. I kept talking to Faculty at Marshall about doing this play (I could see myself in the role of the mother) and finally, Dr. Julie Jackson told me that if I wanted to do a show not included on the season that I should take it upon myself to ‘do It.’ So, she gave me permission to direct the show and she gave me two nights for performance in the Francis Booth Experimental Theatre. It's been a real learning experience.”
Playwright Tolan has seen her shows produced in regional theatres (Actor’s Theatre of Louisville, Trinity Repertory Theatre), NY’s Playwrights Horizons, The Public Theatre and Women’s Project. Her other works include “A Weekend Near Madison,” “Kate’s Diary,” “Approximating Mother,” “A Girl’s Life,” and “The Wax.”
Some photos of prior productions can be seen at:
http://www.theatrezone.org/productions/past/memoryhouse/memoryhouse.htm
Share This Story:
Make HNN Your Homepage (IE Users Only)
Mother, Daughter Stage Drama Friday, Saturday at Marshall; Free Admission
By Tony Rutherford
Huntingtonnews.net Entertainment Editor
Huntington, WV (HNN) – Brave the blizzard, no, I’ll be optimistic, the nuisance precipitation on Friday or Saturday, February 5-6, and you can watch a FREE play at Marshall University’s Joan C. Edwards Performing Arts Center.
“Memory House,” a two-person play by Kathleen Tolan, will be performed in the Francis Booth Experimental Theatre.
Set in a Manhattan apartment on a New Year’s Eve, the play follows a recently-divorced mother baking a pie in real time (is this cooking things a rub off from Jamie Oliver’s fall visit?) as her daughter tires of finishing a college essay exploring childhood memories, which includes her adoption from Russia, questions of her loyalty to one’s country and culture, her parent’s divorce and her fear of leaving home.
Mom will be played by veteran Huntington actress, Linda Reynolds (last seen in the Guns ‘n’ Hoses benefit ), and the daughter by MU student, Rachael Kenaston, a senior theatre and French major. Mary Poindexter Williams directs.
Tolan's “Memory House” debuted in 2005 off-Broadway in New York. The Times reviewer called it a “tense standoff between a mother and her daughter over their differing philosophies of life.”
The apartment is described as “meticulously messed up” which is where Maggie, a former dancer and current office worker, bakes blueberry pie. Adopted daughter, Kartina, has a midnight mailing of a college application essay facing her, but she’ sullen, sluggish, and distraught. Having been adopted from Russia, Kartrina has been confronted with her country of origin by ongoing global politics.
For instance, she tells mom, “what do I write?” in an accusatory, adversarial tone. “That I’m a victim of a bleeding country? That I owe my life to the people who took advantage of the tragedy of Russian and ripped me off, which was great cause now I don’t have to be a hooker on the streets of Moscow but , oops, now, I’m a citizen of a country of bullies.”
Director Mary Poindexter-Williams explains, “I'm a "mature" student who returned to Marshall to get a theatre degree and while looking for material for monologues for a middle age actress I came across this play a couple of years ago and loved it,” Williams said. “It is funny and touching. I kept talking to Faculty at Marshall about doing this play (I could see myself in the role of the mother) and finally, Dr. Julie Jackson told me that if I wanted to do a show not included on the season that I should take it upon myself to ‘do It.’ So, she gave me permission to direct the show and she gave me two nights for performance in the Francis Booth Experimental Theatre. It's been a real learning experience.”
Playwright Tolan has seen her shows produced in regional theatres (Actor’s Theatre of Louisville, Trinity Repertory Theatre), NY’s Playwrights Horizons, The Public Theatre and Women’s Project. Her other works include “A Weekend Near Madison,” “Kate’s Diary,” “Approximating Mother,” “A Girl’s Life,” and “The Wax.”
Some photos of prior productions can be seen at:
http://www.theatrezone.org/productions/past/memoryhouse/memoryhouse.htm
Share This Story:
Make HNN Your Homepage (IE Users Only)
