Review
of: Looking for Normal from the
Schenectady Gazette
Superb cast
gives Curtain Call a bit of a hit By
Carol King
Curtain
Call Theatre has a quiet little hit on its
hands. Its current production of Jane Anderson's
beautifully written "Looking for Normal"
is sensitively acted by a superb cast and
lovingly directed by Cindy Brizzell-Bates.
Early on in this tight little drama/comedy
Irma ( Barbara Richards) received the news
that her husband Roy ( David Robert Orr),
to whom she has been married for 25 years,
has come to the realization that he is a
woman trapped in a man's body and he hopes
to have a sex-change operation. It is a
touching and terrible moment that is acted
without words, only facial expressions,
body language, and inner life -- the three
tools of truly fine acting.
The couple goes home to their heretofore
comfortable suburban life and the play becomes
a treatise on family values, gender identification,
and most of all, the nature of love.
EXTENDED
FAMILY
The audience is introduced to Roy's mother,
Em, sweetly played by Rei Lee, and father.
Roy Sr. (Jack Fallon). Fallon Masterfully
creates a strong and proud man who has been
sent tumbling, kicking and screaming into
old age, a new world order he does not understand,
and, sadly, dementia. And we meet Roy's
grandmother Ruth, played with subtlety and
strength by Monica Cangero. Ruth has passed
on, but her presence is as strong as it
was when she abandoned her family to become
an ambulance driver in Paris during World
War I. She is a feminist, dressed in men's
clothing, and an advocate of free love.
"Pleasure," she says, "should
have no prejudice."
Roy and Irma's 13-year-old daughter, Patty
Ann (Eleah Jayne Peal), is struggling with
the mysteries of puberty and womanhood.
Peal's remarkable presence is every bit
the match of her seasoned colleagues. Ian
LaChance plays Roy and Irma's 22-year-old
son, Wayne. LaChance displays delicious
comic timing and couples that with deep
wells of passion and pathos as he wrestles
with his family's changing reality.
Aaron Holbritter plays the family's pastor
with compassion, and Ric Mitchell does a
fine job in a John Deere factory, but worries
about the reactions of Roy;s fellow workers
as his physical appearance changes.
But this treasure of a play is truly Roy
and Irma's story. Orr is stunning as he
journeys from his masculine, some might
say macho, persona to his more receptive
and feminine identity. There is no artifice
in his performance, as the hard edges of
society's definition of manhood are smoothed
away, only the riveting truth of the character's
reality, And Richards makes an eloquent
transition from a tense and disillusioned
menopausal housewife to a woman who genuinely
understands the nature of love.
If there is a quibble, it is that the indifferent
set by Michael Blau does not serve the show
and is surely not up to the standards of
the acting and the direction.
Review
of: Looking for Normal from
the Times Union
'Normal'
drama
engrossing, brave
By
Michael Eck - a freelance writer from Albany
and regular contributor to the Times Union
"What
we do for love": It's phrased like a
question, but it's really more of a statement,
and it takes nothing away from Jane Anderson's
play "Looking for Normal" to let
you know that those five words close the show.
Anderson has created, from the simple stuff
of words, a remarkable drama that is human,
humane and engrossing.
It is being given its area premiere in a very
strong production, directed by Cindy Brizzell-Bates,
at Curtain Call Theatre.
Curtain Call -- an independent semi-professional
company -- has never shied away from tough
subjects or family matters, and "Normal"
fits, like past productions of "Rabbit
Hole," "The Memory of Water, "Taking
Leave" and "Three Tall Women"
into both camps.
Roy and Irma have just celebrated their 25th
anniversary. Roy (David Robert Orr) gave Irma
(Barbara Richards) new earrings, but now he's
also going to give her some news -- the fact
that he feels he is a woman in a man's body.
Thankfully, Anderson and Brizzell-Bates never
veer into melodrama. If anything, emotions
go understated, even as Roy reveals his intention
to go through with sex-change surgery, and
end up feeling more realistic for it.
"Normal" is populated by good Ohio
people trying to understand the situation
life has put them in -- from a compassionate
reverend to a surprised mother to a confused
son.
Anderson also populates her play with wonderful
moments -- a tenuous kitchen kiss between
Irma and Roy's boss (Ric Mitchell) at the
tractor plant; Roy's pubescent daughter (Eleah
Jayne Peal) explaining the woes of womanhood
to her father; and Roy's son Wayne (in a stellar
moment of theater courtesy of Ian LaChance)
reading the news from home, thoughtfully typed
on John Deere letterhead.
The play's best moment actually has no words,
just the look on Irma's face when she's heard
the news.
There's not enough room here to describe how
strong Anderson's script is -- down to the
surreal, ghostly appearances of Roy's unknown
androgynous grandmother (play's lone purely
political figure, played by Monica Cangero).
Brizzell-Bates keeps the action focused and
keeps the cast working as an ensemble. She
also balances the mini-monologues that pepper
the show.
Michael Blau's sets and William E. Fritz's
lights are a little on the lean side, but
Jeanne Stephenson's sound cues are smashing
and the supporting cast is on par with the
leads.
Richards and Orr make a fine couple, whether
feuding over intentions or sharing morning
orange juice and estrogen pills. Throughout
the play they demonstrate the true power of
love, and Richards' brief final speech is
worthy of Steinbeck.
We've come too far to be shocked by "Normal's"
subject matter, but we haven't come too far
to be moved by it.
In a regional theater this kind of show would
get plenty of play for its bravery -- even
if it might have a hard time drawing an audience.
Kudos to Curtain Call for tackling it and
tackling it so well.
