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"Dazzling" - The New York Times

 

Adapted by Bridgette Dunlap
from the stories "Visitors," "Flush," and "Skin Care" by Judy Budnitz

Directed by Bridgette Dunlap and Alexis Grausz
Produced by the Ateh Theater Group
in residence at chashama 217
August 2007

starring Kathryn Ekblad, Diana Lynn Drew, Charley Layton, Madeleine Maby, Sara Montgomery, Elizabeth Neptune, Hugh Scully, Jake Thomas and Jesse Paul Wilson

set design by Emily French, costume design by Amy VanMullekom, artwork by Rusty Zimmerman, photgraphy by Christopher Montgomery

 

Visitors

"This nice man here has offered to drive us."

"If there's something wrong I'd just rather not know."

"You mean you sent Mitch. I'm Lisa."

"Please come visit me."

The New York Times
August 16, 2007

Underneath the Normal, the Nutty
By NEIL GENZLINGER

If yours is a normal family, it probably isn’t very normal at all. We all know that family life is part facade, that a layer of weirdness or tension or both lurks beneath the Kodak moments. “Long Distance,” a program of three one-acts adapted from stories by Judy Budnitz, captures family life as it is but isn’t: skewed, unreal but somehow painfully accurate.

The adaptations, staged by the Ateh Theater Group at Chashama 217, are by Bridgette Dunlap, who shows near-perfect pitch. The opener, “Visitors,” which Ms. Dunlap directs, seems at first as if it’s on familiar adult-and-grown-child turf: Meredith (Elizabeth Neptune) is preparing for a visit from her parents and is a nervous wreck. But when Mom (Sara Montgomery) calls repeatedly from the road, apparently lost, it gradually becomes clear that standard-issue jitters are not the point at all.

“Flush,” directed by Alexis Grausz, is a nicely etched tale of two sisters with a mother who won’t get a mammogram, but the program’s most dazzling entry comes next: “Skin Care,” directed by Ms. Dunlap and featuring lovely performances by Ms. Neptune and Ms. Montgomery, this time playing sisters.

Ms. Neptune is Amy, who is nervous because her younger sister, Jessica (Ms. Montgomery), is away at college. It turns out her fears are well grounded: Jessica contracts leprosy. Yes, leprosy. And from there things only get more “Twilight Zone”-ish, but in a way that leaves you savoring what a strange and powerful thing familial love is.

girl detective | long distance | flammable skirt | johnny panic | odyssey
alice | grimms | little prince | frog prince | bobby gould | bash