The Liberation

There is so much going on in The Liberation, a world premiere of a new play by Cate Wiley, directed by Kathryn Stewart, and produced by Ghost Light Theatricals and 14/48, now playing at the Ballard Underground. But it boils down to the title. It’s the story of Marianne Turner (Jenny Vaughn Hall) a university professor who is exiled, basically, to Paris for having had an affair. The story is set in this decade yet the chain of events that leads to Marianne having to leave the US is entirely believable. She’s a successful woman, but in a world where the rules are made and manipulated by men. Over time, treachery is revealed and Marianne has a choice to make. She chooses, of course, liberation.

The stage is split in half. One side is Marianne’s apartment in Paris. The other side is Paris itself. Some scenes are played entirely on one side or entirely on the other. One scene used this dichotomy to full effect. Marianne’s assistant, Sunny Day, (Rebecca Erickson) is having a discussion with Joel Goldman (Keith Ordonez), the son of Bernie Goldman (Steven Sterne), with whom Marianne had had the affair. Joel has just arrived in Paris. Sunny has been there for a year. Joel seems not to know what he is getting into. During the conversation, Sunny strides from the middle of the apartment, past the center line of the stage and plants herself in the middle of Paris as if to speak for the entire nation. It works so well. It says this character literally has a different perspective.

Another element that worked well was to have Michael Owarchuk playing the accordion on stage at various times. It was used to maximum effect. The music was evocative of Paris. It set moods. It covered scene changes and transitions. At one point Sunny and Joel tip him as they pass by on the street on the way to a concert. I don’t know if these things are written into the script but it’s a tribute to the creativity of the production team that they take what could be awkward moments in a black box space with no curtain and turn them into opportunities to enhance the story and allow each scene to flow into the next.

The Liberation plays through November 17. Tix and info here. 

Photo by me. 

This was first published on my Facebook page on November 9. 2018.