anyone see Facing East yet?

[whatever2]

Posted: 5/29/07 at 11:58pm

comments or reviews?

[jordangirl]

Posted: 5/30/07 at 3:36am

I'm seeing it tonight. Will comment/review when I get home.

[StageManager2]

Posted: 5/30/07 at 3:54am

I did. It was well-acted (especially the actress playing the mom), but the overall story did nothing for me. The ending was laughable (to me, at least) because my mind totally strayed.

[MrBundles]

Posted: 5/30/07 at 4:31am

i saw it a few weeks ago in salt lake. While there are some FANTASTIC moments (like the kiss to build a dream on mono), my mind often strayed too.

[StageManager2]

Posted: 5/30/07 at 4:41am

By "strayed" I meant my mind thought of something else other than what the playwright had intended. *spoiler* When the father asked the boyfriend out to dinner, it sounded to me like he was asking him out on a date, especially since he'd told his wife earlier that he shouldn't be one "to cast stones." It just seemed an awkward way to end the show.

[whatever2]

Posted: 5/30/07 at 4:02pm

little bump, just to remind those of you who said you'd be going tonite ...

[jordangirl]

Posted: 5/30/07 at 11:35pm

I just got in. It was HRC (Human Rights Campaign) night, so there was a Q&A and reception with the playwright and actors afterwards.

I personally really enjoyed it. No, it's not a huge production ~ only 3 actors and a very bare stage, but I think it's the simplicity and the power in what you don't see that made it work for me. I was also fascinated to see a portrayal of a parental reaction SO opposite to my parents' "Ok. It doesn't matter. You're our child and we love you as you are." At times I hated the mother...well, no, for most all of it I hated the mother.** The final scene, I didn't read into it what the others did. I saw it as the father's attempt to posthumously get to know his son through the eyes of the one who knew and loved him best. Maybe it was the all-HRC crowd, the post opening night high, or...I don't know what, but I didn't feel my mind wandering at all, and it didn't seem like the others around me were wandering mentally.

**I had the chance to talk with Jayne Luke, who plays the mother, for about 20 minutes after the show during the reception. She is wonderful and is truly nothing like her character. We talked about everything from my parents (my dad's a United Methodist minister and my mom directs a church-based pre-school), the play, the reaction, their taking it to different places around the country, and my teaching. She is such a gracious person. And it's a testament to her talent how such a warm, accepting woman can believably play a woman so different from herself. (And yes, I know that's an actor's job...but you don't always see it so convincingly.)

Updated On: 5/31/07 at 11:35 PM

[jordangirl]

Posted: 5/31/07 at 7:54am

Perhaps I can better explain my seeing the father's final reaction now that I've had a little sleep... Well, not explain, because I didn't need it explained. But more why I really, apart from my own interpretation, don't think the father was asking the boyfriend out on a date.

During the Q&A, someone asked Carol Lynn Pearson if she'd always envisioned it with only the three characters or if she'd pared down. She said at the very beginning there had been a grandfather-type figure, but she quickly whittled him out as unnecessary. She said other than that it had been the three characters. She went on to say that most people seem to really want there to be some kind of appearance ~ flashback of course ~ of Andy (the son), but that the power of the piece is in the fact that we don't know Andy...all we know is what we're presented with in words...some of which are manipulated to make him and the family appear a certain way.

They also explained some other things ~ like the mother's reaction that she's relieved ~ in terms of what that means to a devout Mormon...that if a child "errs greatly" on this side, on the other, they can be restored. And so in the case of what the mother sees as an abomination, there is the possibility for "restoration" after death.

For me, it was a fascinating play, and I'd encourage people to give it a chance. It's here through June 17. Then I think they said they're going to San Francisco.

[tourboi]

Posted: 3/2/09 at 2:55am

FYI: Facing East is being turned into a musical.
Facing East: A New Musical