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About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (June 21, 1996)
ju s t out ▼ ju n * 2 1 . 1 9 9 « ▼ 39 P O R T L A N D R E P E R T O R Y T D estiny T urns I nward H E A T R E The companion piece to The Normal Heart is enlivened by exceptional direction and cast ▼ by C. Jay Wilson Jr. Brian Marki Framing & Fine Art Featuring thru June 29 works by Steven Scardina A i I n T he T iming By David Ives "...A riveting evening ol theatre...smart, funny, absurd..." — ,Jus( Out Photography Michael Dudley Encaustic Paintings Pf RiOKMANUS J uly 12 - 14 & 18-21, 1996 T torspay , F riday & S aturday 8 PM S unt 'AY 7 PM M ain siAnf i ah p ai BwiK.it LTvn i t the W All- TkAli CfNTFR the inharmonious nature of the Weeks family dynamic. We become witness to an abusive father horrified by his son’s exhibitions of flam boyance, and a mother who keeps herself occu pied with her various volunteering missions. Ned’s brother Benjamin—the only member of the family he completely trusts— persuades him to commit his sexual identity to the scrutiny of psychotherapy. The audience is pummeled with a fragmented succession of disappointments and dampened expectations, which, strangely enough, seem to define the substance of most families. As we observe each painful enactment, we begin to see our role in the process as audience members translated into commiserating therapy partici pants. With each emotional turn, we can’t help but and his eventual fall from grace. Normal Heart’s be reminded of our own painful experience of companion piece, The Destiny o f Me, veers away life’s cruelty and instability. from the former play’s simulated sociological It is the exceptional cast and Jon Kretzu’s historicity and heads directly into the turbulent smooth direction that redeem some of the tedious territory of familial confessions. Although there ness of the script and in is a measure of Kramer’s vigorate this production. characteristic brand of po The Destiny of Me repre Louis A. Lotorto and liticized A ID S-dram a within it, Destiny o f Me is sents the playwright ’s desire M ichael Fisher-W elsh portray Ned and Ben primarily theatrical cathar sis—desperate projections to make sense of the sense Weeks in both Normal Heart and Destiny o f Me. of unreconciled griev lessness that envelops his Their relationship is the ances— masquerading as world. Written during a most strongly developed good o l’ down-to-earth among all of Kramer’s tragedy. period of intense psychologi characters and each actor Destiny o f Me is per formed entirely within the cal reflection and contem executes a remarkable per- form ance. Galen B. walls of a hospital room. Ned W eeks has ju st plation, this play was Larry Schrick and Vana O’ Brien checked into a hospital in Kramer's attempt to join the turn in strong perfor mances as Ned’s parents. hopes of undergoing ex legion of playwrights who Gary Gunter competently perimental treatment to portrays the young, angst- suppress the growth of the felt compelled to, as he said, ridden Alexander Weeks, AIDS virus. The method has been discovered by a i(find out what their lives who suffers the abuses thrown at him as the ad doctor and AIDS re have been all about. ” vent of his sexuality mate searcher who has repeat rializes. edly been the target of The Destiny o f Me represents the playwright’s Ned’s political diatribes. With years of anger, desire to make sense of the senselessness that frustration and loss behind him, Ned is desperate envelops his world. Written during a period of to do whatever he can to bolster his hopes of intense psychological reflection and contempla staying alive. tion, this play was Larry Kramer’s attempt to join Ned’s hospital stay, with the possible aid of the legion of playwrights who felt compelled to, the drugs he is forced to take, induces memories as he said, “find out what their lives have been all of his childhood. The characters float in and out about.” As you leave the theater, you will either of Ned’s illusory recollection of his past. Through leave with a portion of Kramer’s unsolved exis the presence of Alexander Weeks (who repre tential riddle or a burning desire to comprehend sents the embodiment of Ned as a boy) we are what the last two-and-a-half hours were all about. privy to a series of unsettling scenes exposing rtists Repertory Theater should be applauded for its efforts in making theatrical history. The company is producing, for the first time in reper tory, Larry Kramer’s semi-autobio graphical pair of AIDS-themed plays. The Nor mal Heart (reviewed in the June 7 issue) is a historical drama recounting the birth of New York City’s Gay Men’s Health Crisis with par ticular emphasis on Kramer’s role in its inception A m A . A 2236 NE Broadway Portland 503-249-5659 Ti KFT.S $15- $20 For tickets and information, call (503) 224-4491 ________________________________________________________________________________________________ heater 'T t& cv 1 3 tO TOO 23x d (& yiH C i <%£ IT T V 2 3 n .d & O v e r t* * ) SenvO tf 7 2 V eaJtya&t, duncA & * 7Vee4 ♦ 222- 7X40
