“No Provenance” at FringeNYC 2014 at the Kraine Theater (Closes on Saturday August 23, 2014)
“No Provenance” at FringeNYC 2014 at the Kraine Theater (Closes on Saturday August 23, 2014) Written by Kate Holland and Caroline Prugh Directed by Kate Holland Reviewed by David Roberts Theatre Reviews Limited
Based loosely on the life of Parisian actress Josephine Mercier, “No Provenance” is a refreshing new play about the importance of where we come from - our unique “thread” - and honoring that time and place with unconditional and non-judgmental love. Narrated by Clotho, youngest of the three Greek Fates, the play relates the story of three sisters (all having the same father with three different mothers) who are summoned to their paternal great-grandmother’s apartment in Paris to come to agreement on how to divide her sizeable estate. If they fail to agree, the sisters will forfeit the estate entirely.
Orit (Stephanie Taylor), Marion (Sarah Eismann), and Ilana (Robyn Michele Frank) convene for this challenging task burdened with years of resentment toward one another, anger, denial, and bravado and their resulting disagreements almost cost them the contents of the estate.
Counterpointing their meeting in the present (2013) are flashbacks to 1926 through 1942 when great-grandmother Josephine Mercier (Libby Skala) lived in the apartment with her dresser and helpmate Suzanne Ducroix (Michelle Ramoni). Josephine leaves a substantial legacy of art and genteel accoutrement including the lost marble statue of Clotho by Camille Claudel. It is the beauty of this statue and its back story as narrated by Marcelle Ducroix (Renee Erikson) great-grandniece of Suzanne who serves as executor of the estate of Joseph Belitsa that enables the siblings to put their differences aside and decide to preserve the apartment and its contents – particularly “Clotho” – as a museum.
The talented ensemble cast, under the careful direction of co-writer Kate Holland, capably brings their characters to life. Although Carole Forman is an alluring Clotho, the playwrights (Kate Holland and Caroline Prugh) rely too heavily on her mythological character to guide the audience through their competent script. They can trust their work and its fascinating story to stand on their own.
NO PROVENANCE
“No Provenance” is presented by Vilde Chaya in Association with The Present Company (Elena K Holy, Producing Artistic Director). Directed by Kate Holland.
The cast of “No Provenance” includes Sarah Eismann, Renee Erikson, Robyn Michele Frank, Carole Forman, Michelle Ramoni, Libby Skala, and Stephanie Taylor.
For performance schedule, ticketing information and more information about the presenting company, please visit www.FringeNYC.org. For mobile ticketing, please visit www.FringeonTheFly.com. The running time is 1 hour and 25 minutes with no intermission.
Permalink | Posted by David Roberts on Thursday, August 14, 2014
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