“In The Summer Pavilion” at 59E59 Theater C By Paul David Young Directed by Kathy Gail MacGowan Reviewed by David Roberts Theatre Reviews Limited
“In the Summer Pavilion” ends as it begins with recent Princeton graduate Ben unclothed, vulnerable, uninhibited, unfettered addressing the audience (the universe) in captivating prose poetry. However, Ben is not the same at the end of the play as at the beginning: he has been transformed by multiple excursions into possible futures with two of his closest college friends, Clarissa and Nabile.
Is living in solitude, even with exacerbated ennui and socio-cultural angst better than living in what could/might have been possible futures perhaps fraught with dysfunctional relationships?
Ben (Ryan Barry) weighs this question in the delicate balance of his personal dystopia. Ben is the protagonist in Paul David Young’s “In the Summer Pavilion” currently running at 59E59 Theatre C. Ben’s antagonists (or are they merely his alter egos?) are Princeton pals Clarissa and Nabile who are visiting him at his family home in Maine a year following graduation. The visit reassembles their prior four-year collegiate connection which includes sex, drugs, and (perhaps) rock-and-roll.
Ben and Clarissa kiss, Nabile and Clarissa kiss, Ben and Nabile kiss. Clarissa and Nabile want Ben to loosen up and party but Ben wants to sleep. Eventually Clarissa and Ben prevail and with the help of acid-laced vodka, the journeys to the future begin. Nabile states, “The present contains multiple futures. Each possible future is a parallel universe intersecting with the present, operating simultaneously, inconsistent with the others, but independently viable. Whichever way you choose to go, everything will change.”
Whether these “futures” are drug-induced or simply musings by Ben does not matter. What the audience sees are several ways the futures of these friends might unfold. The vignettes are separated by blackouts and flashes of blinding light. These “futures” are tropes (metaphors) for Ben’s processing of his sense of loneliness and how reconnecting with his friends might either diminish that loneliness or exacerbate it. The playwright makes this figurative language work as the perfect way to explore the non-conscious process of Ben’s mind.
Paul David Young’s script is engaging and contemporary and oh so tender. And the three actors are equally sensuous and engaging and reveal different aspects of their multi-layered personalities in each “future.” Of all the futures, perhaps the most interesting is the future at the outdoor café in Manhattan where, now lovers, Ben and Nabile meet. Ryan Barry (Ben) and Meena Dimian (Nabile) have opposing agendas for the meeting. Ben thinks Nabile (“the love of his life”) is going to propose marriage to Ben. Nabile’s agenda is to inform Ben, though gay, he has decided to marry Clarissa to appease his Middle-Eastern parents’ concern that he is not yet married. Both actors handle their conflicting motivations with the honed craft of experienced actors and Rachel Mewbron (Clarissa) could not be more effective at portraying the “victim” proclaiming, “I’m sorry, Ben. [Nabile] asked me. You know I want a family.”
This future, as do all the others, reaffirm Ben’s belief that neither Nabile nor Clarissa hold much promise for a more stable existence in relationship. Ben tells Nabile, “You haven’t changed. You were like that up in Maine that summer and you haven’t changed a bit. How did I let myself in for this?”
After the last blinding light experience, Ben is back in the present with the knowledge that being alone might not be the worst scenario. He addresses the blessed night: “Hold me here/Let no one speak or move/Smell the night/The moonlight settling in the grass/The water cooling as it greets the air/The day lilies fading from flower/Certain that tomorrow they will bloom again.”
“In the Summer Pavilion” is a surreal trip into the unconscious future, a trip which leaves the traveler forever transformed in the present: a surreal trip not to be missed. It holds out the possibility for futures where the certainty of renewed hope and life exist.
IN THE SUMMER PAVILION
IN THE SUMMER PAVILION, written by Paul David Young and directed by Kathy Gail MacGowan. Produced by Go in Her Room Productions, in association with the WorkShop Theater Company. The design team includes Kia Rogers (lighting design) and Julian Evans (sound design). The stage manager is Bethany Ellen Clark.
The cast features Ryan Barry (Ben), Meena Dimian (Nabile), and Rachel Mewbron (Clarissa).
IN THE SUMMER PAVILION begins performances on Friday, October 12 for a limited engagement through Sunday, November 3. The performance schedule is Tuesday – Thursday at 7:30 PM; Friday and Saturday at 8:30 PM; and Sunday at 3:30 PM. Performances are at 59E59 Theaters (59 East 59th Street, between Park and Madison Avenues). Tickets are $18 ($12.60 for 59E59 Members). To purchase tickets, call Ticket Central at (212) 279-4200 or go to www.59e59.org.
Permalink | Posted by David Roberts on Saturday, October 20, 2012
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