Saturday night, James and I and his parents and grandmother all packed into a car and went to see Walking the Tightrope at the 24th Street Theatre, a truly charming theater near downtown LA that used to be a carriage house. Think exposed brick (with old-fashioned brickwork!) and ceiling beams with twinkle lights all around and cushy benches to wait on, where your program is also your ticket. Backstage.com says this about the theater and the play:
"Part of the mission of 24th Street Theatre, besides creating a culturally friendly atmosphere in its mostly Hispanic neighborhood, is to expose the wonders and healing powers of the arts to the children of its community. The centerpiece of the company’s current season is the West Coast premiere of “Walking the Tightrope,” chosen with a determination to make it accessible for all ages. With an early curtain time and an audience liberally peppered with very young, very vulnerable faces, what unfolds is anything but the tale of Aladdin and his magic lamp. Instead, Mike Kenny’s diaphanous memory play deals with the hefty topics of grief and death—not the usual kiddie fare[...]
The other challenge with “Walking the Tightrope” is the manuscript itself, unique in its lack of any stage directions or descriptions. There’s only Kenny’s lyrical stream-of-consciousness dialogue spilling out of the characters like a lengthy tone poem. The premise is simple. Every summer a little girl named Esme visits her grandparents, but this year something integral is missing. Esme is greeted at the station only by her grandfather, who, instead of explaining that his wife has died, invents a fanciful tale that she has joined the circus. In offering this answer to the void Nana’s absence causes, he not only evades the hurt Esme will feel but is able to bury his own heartache a little while longer."
Full disclosure: While I've seen multiple musicals, this is, perhaps, the... second??... play I have ever seen in my life. The only other one I can think of was A Midsummer Night's Dream when I was a teenager. I am beyond far from an expert on the theater or anything that is involved in the theater; these are simply my personal thoughts and feelings about the play. To be honest, it took a lot of getting used to. In the first 20 or 30 seconds, I found it jarring that the music had stopped playing! I suppose I had instinctually expected an opening song. Being so near the actors made me feel somewhat exposed. I also had a "wait, what?" moment when they started walking down the aisles in the audience. Definitely a new experience for me.
First, let me say that overall, I truly enjoyed it. It was sweet and very WELL played (I couldn't tell if Mark Bramhall, who played "Granddad," was a native Brit or not -- his accent was INCREDIBLE!) by all of the actors, and left me with a tight ball of bittersweetness in my throat as we walked out.
That said, I did have some issues with it. The most trivial of which was simply that in a theater that small, Paige Lindsey White (Esme) was WAY too loud at some points! Perhaps it wasn't quite as painful in the back; we were seated in the second row, which was between 15 and maybe 5 feet or so away from the actors, depending on where they were on the stage. Like I said: pretty trivial, especially when you consider that she played her role magnificently, otherwise. The larger issue for me was the clown. It takes about a quarter or a third of the play for it to sink in that the clown is apparently intended to be the watchful and loving spirit of Esme's "Nanna," or at least something similar (it was a bit of an "ah ha!" moment, for me, and enabled me to better understand what was happening). Perhaps simply an embodiment of the love, sadness, and concern of those who've passed on about the people they've left behind -- emotions which were all beautifully displayed by Tony Duran. He was equally as good an actor as the other two (if not better, given that he had no lines!), but I can't help but criticize the choice to cast a male actor in the role in the first place. Then again, maybe a female actor would have been too literal.
The biggest cringe moment I had was when the clown bent over a sleeping Esme to delicately stroke her hair; in today's world, the image of a person (let alone a clown?) crouching over the bed of a sleeping child might incite in the viewer an instinctual alarm that would take them "out" of the scene and effectively mar what would otherwise be a deeply poignant moment. One person in our little group said in reference to that moment "well, let's face it; that was obscene!"
I was also grateful that executive director of 24th Street Theatre, Jay McAdams, gave an introduction before the play and mentioned that it was originally written in the form of a poem (or something like it) and contained nothing but dialogue between the two characters. This helped when certain refrains were repeated at the close of scenes; without that introduction I think I (personally; your mileage may vary) would have found the repetition grating and unnecessary.
Minus those few drawbacks, however, the play was certainly lovely, sentimental, and moving -- which, at the end of the day, was the entire purpose! I can't really sum up the positive aspects of the play better than the backstage.com review I linked above (you should definitely read the whole thing!), so I don't think I'll even try!
Afterward, since it was closing night, they served sparkling cider, fruit, and a tasty vanilla and strawberry cake. Yummy! All of the photos were taken then. Forgive me for the quality; I hadn't thought to bring my DSLR.
Gratuitous selfy in the mirrors they had hanging on the wall/ceiling.
I understand that they will be going on tour with this play throughout the US and Canada, so if you'd like to see it, keep an eye out! I definitely recommend it.
What did you do this weekend? =)
