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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
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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
________________________________________________________________________________________________
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