Signature Theatre: Escaped Alone

This was a whim purchase that I just made today to celebrate an unexpected bit of good fortune.  Originally, I hadn't given this production much thought.  However, when I saw who was in the cast, I got a little excited.  And the more I thought about it, the more the reasons to want to see it began to mount up.  1) Three of the four actors were known to me and all three very talented, 2) I am familiar with the playwright, Caryl Churchill, and her acclaim as one of the leading feminist playwrights in the world today. 3) The cast calls for all women of a mature age, which are some of my favorite categories of actors, 4) Holly Twyford is directing, and she is also one of the most amazing actors working in the DMV, 5) Signature has never disappointed me, even when I have found the works themselves wanting (e.g. "Billy Elliot"...er, sorry kids.).

The play is simple by Churchill's standards.  Two themes are woven together.  Three ladies was longtime friendships and a long standing afternoon tea gig invite a fourth to join them.  Storyline #1, the tea party.  It is full of raucous laughter, an occasional phobia, more than a few dreams, a lie exposed and then unraveled in an embrace of forgiveness.  Storyline #2, the new guest has the power to suspend time and the action in order to deliver with all the regularity of commercial breaks on an HGTV Property Brothers marathon soliloquies of a decided dystopian nature.  Through random and bizarre associations, she steps out of the tea party leaving the others frozen as the curtain hides their presence to speak directly to the audience.  Her pronouncements painting a world where our worst nightmares for the future look like childish dreams by comparison.  And really there's a third element.  In turn, each of the women get a moment in which they reveal their innermost thoughts and emotions while they others remain present, frozen in time.

While not as complex as my first foray into the creative genius of Churchill (Top Girls), it is all the same as well-woven and thought-provoking.  As if to acknowledge this, the performance ended with an invitation to a tea party with biscuits and a chance to discuss the play's themes with other members of the audience.  At just 50 minutes, I confess, I was also grateful for her economy of storytelling.  A really wonderful play that makes me think I may be adding Caryl Churchill to my playwrights to collect project.

 L to R: Valeria Leonard (Mrs. Jarrett), Helen Hedman (Sally), Catherine Flye (Vi) and Brigid Cleary (Lena)