I always look forward to seeing the theatre created by Anne Mason and her team at Relative Theatrics. RT is a small company in Laramie Wyoming that is willing to take big risks with challenging and thought provoking theatre. Their current production of The How and The Why by award winning playwright Sarah Treem certainly holds true to RT’s mission.
Perhaps my favorite, and often overlooked element of theatre that RT so generously creates is an environment that encourages the audience to become a part of the show. Not in an on the spot audience participation kind of way, but through the people that support the company, and the use of physical space. From Glenda Earl’s enchanting box office conversations, to the designers who have been, in my experiences always happy to talk about their designs and processes, Mason creates an environment that promotes deeper thinking from the audience.
After a wonderful conversation with Glenda, the audience enters the Gryphon Theatre, to Mason’s second fantastic choice of environment. The audiences for Relative Theatrics don’t sit in the Gryphon’s auditorium seating, we are onstage in a three quarter thrust style theatre. Close enough to reach out and touch the actors if one so desired, the audience is not permitted the safety of distance from the emotionally dense productions (though balcony seating may be used if so desired.)
The How and The Why is a dense and complex story of two women as they meet for the first time. Zelda, played by Landee Lockhart, is a well-established biologist, who early in her career gained recognition in the scientific community for her thesis on The Grandmother Theory. Rachel, portrayed by Anne Mason, is a young biologist with a radical hypothesis that explains why human females menstruate when most other mammals do not.
On the surface, this play appears to be an out with the old, in with the new story. Rachel’s hypothesis would almost certainly replace Zelda’s tried theory. Early on, Zelda admits that she has been waiting for quite some time for someone to challenge her, and that as a scientist she is excited, and even supportive of Rachel’s ideas. Through this conversation a much deeper challenge for the women is exposed. As the two women postulate ideas and theories from biology experts, quoting texts and published works, it becomes evident how lonely and desperate for emotional connection these characters are.
Anne Mason as the young Rachel, accomplishes the enormous task of diffusing her emotional struggles through the exploration of new thesis. As conversations move too close to the heart, she shifts attention to the comfort and safety of a scientific and cerebral approach, often masking her true emotions with her work.
In the rare moments that Rachel does emote, Zelda (Landee Lockhart) demonstrates how years of this scientific and cerebral approach can evolve a person. She clearly wants to comfort the young Rachel, and despite her dense knowledge of biological jargon, does not have a grasp of emotional language needed to comfort, let alone create a connection.
The mastery of craft from these two powerhouses onstage, lies not in what is spoken or unspoken. It instead lies in their abilities to share what each respectively wants to say but can’t or won’t. It is the struggle between the cerebral safety of science, and the messy unknown of the emotional that creates the driving tension between Lockhart and Mason. A task that is certainly exhausting, but so very worth it as an audience member.
Director James Hockenberry has clearly put a tremendous amount of time and effort into the text and performers. Movement in the space feels incredibly natural and well thought out, which can be a great challenge with a cast of two. Rarely did the blocking seem forced, or overwrought with movement for movements sake. Often Zelda and Rachel would sit or stand for great lengths of dialogue until tension became so high someone had to move, but never was it stagnant.
Young scenic designer, Kaitlyn utilizes a simple set. Act I takes place in Zelda’s office, and through the use of several flats, a simple, yet ornate desk, book shelf/cabinet achieves the look of a “masculine” office. Ironic since she is famous for her studies of the female anatomy. While the look of an office was achieved, I wonder if some greater risks could have been taken. Signs, diploma’s, and awards were so neatly placed and aligned the walls, and shelves the room didn’t quite hold the weight of a long and well established scientist. Instead it felt as though Zelda had just moved in and started placing important things at random. The color scheme, while establishing a sense of masculinity seems over simplified, and slightly rushed with it’s heavy use of similar tones of brown.
In Act II, Kaitlyn’s approach is to be greatly celebrated. Instead of hiding the Gryphon Theater’s natural brick walls, Kaitlyn utilized the limitations of the space to her advantage. By hanging beer signs, turning the bookshelf around to reveal a dartboard on the back, and draping plastic over the desk Kaitlyn quickly created the feel of a dive bar. Act II is an example of how simplicity, when well utilized can greatly add to a production.
Costumes also worked both for and against the show. The pieces themselves clearly matched the characters’ personalities. They also aided in establishing both women as well put together on the exterior. As well thought out the costumes were, they also matched the color scheme for Act I. Instead of allowing the characters to pop, they visually blended in with the set.
By providing young aspiring designers with a safe place to learn and explore, Mason once again adds to the wonderful environment of community created at Relative Theatrics. The How and The Why from Relative Theatrics should not be missed. Show dates are:
January 31,
February 1, 2, & 7, 8, and 9 at the Gryphon Theatre in Laramie WY.
Tickets can be purchased at www.relativetheatrics.com.
