Leith Burke and Deborah Puette
Two different but excellent and equally interesting plays not to miss.
By Carol Edger Germain
Ghost Light
Ghost Light (Photo – echotheatercompany.com).
“Ghost Light” was meant to be performed after another play, while the set is still in place but all the actors, director, and audience have left.
Only the “ghost light” (the dim light left on for safety) remains lit on the stage, and the one person left in the theater takes the opportunity to take the stage and tell stories to the empty theater. We heard four stories in 30 minutes. I didn’t know what to expect, the stories were described in promotions as “poignant and poetic rumination on love and loss, innocence and age,” a rather vague, anything-could-happen description. There were four stories, totally unrelated, occurring in different time periods, some in first person, some in third. Deborah Puette’s stage presence, voice, and overall talent brought the stories to life and I found them very entertaining and I could have listened to her tell stories all night. Although the stories may have held their own as written word, I think Ms. Puette’s performance of them was a necessary factor in holding the audience’s interest. This was a workshop for the piece, it will be performed after another play, “American Falls,” in the next couple of months and I look forward to hearing the stories again.
I suggest you try to see it on its own, and I recommend making it a full evening by having dinner before or after at MoMed (“modern mediterranean”) in the same block – tasty twists on Mediterranean fare and a large uncrowded outdoor space, with the train running right behind it (personally, I like the ambiance of the occasional train passing). It’s a unique and favorite space of mine.
Ghost Light
Written by Tommy Smith
Directed by Chris Fields
Featuring Deborah Puette
Atwater Village Theater
3269 Casitas Ave., Atwater Village, CA 90039
8/12, 8/26, and 8/27 (also scheduled to be performed after “American Falls,” an upcoming production at the theater).
Tickets – $10
Purchase here.
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Citizen: An American Lyric
Citizen An American Lyric with Leith Burke, Bernard K. Addison, Lis Pescia, Tina Lifford, Tony Maggio, and Simone Massick (Photo – Ed Krieger).
Claudia Rankine’s internationally acclaimed book of poetry and prose focusing on everyday acts of racism in America has been dynamically presented as a meditation fusing Ms. Rankine’s poetry and prose with movement, music, and video images, presumably updated nearly daily as current events have funneled sadly but perfectly into this presentation.
Shirley Jo Finney directs this world premiere. The cast consisted of four black actors and two white actors playing various characters in a stream of consciousness presentation (Bernard K. Addison, Leith Burke, Tina Lifford, Tony Maggio, Simone Missick and Lisa Pescia).
I attended a very special performance of this presentation, as it included a Q&A with the author and the actors after the play. A lot of the scenarios rang true as comments, points of view, and ignorant statements I have heard over my lifetime from the 50’s to the present, and it was disheartening to be reminded that we have not made as much progress as I would have expected in the last 50 years toward acceptance, understanding, and enlightenment when it comes to communication and understanding between black and white (this production focuses on black/white interaction, not the entire American “melting pot”). I also learned of other incidents of knee-jerk racism I was unaware of, including the concept of being “invisible” when you are black. I had a very interesting conversation with my friend and theater companions, who is black (I am white) on the way home.
The Q&A brought up some interesting comments on the fine line between acknowledging and appreciating cultural differences vs. stereotyping and having expectations, as well as the line between being close enough to friends of other races that you can joke amongst yourselves vs. saying things that are taken way out of context when heard by others who are not intimate acquaintances. Interesting, provocative, important, and energizing. I was left with a renewed vow to be aware of what I hear, say, and accept when it comes to communication between races. I urge everyone to see this piece, learn from it, and do your part to keep communication open and progressing among the wonderful spectrum of races, cultures and colors we have in LA.
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