[NEohioPAL] Review of "Vital Signs" at CVLT

[Bob Abelman]

CVLT's Vital Signs is strong and stable

Bob Abelman

News-Herald, Chagrin Valley Times, Solon Times, Geauga Times Courier

Member, International Association of Theatre Critics 

 

Vital signs are physiological indicators of life.  Our temperature, pulse, blood pressure and respiratory rate let us know that all systems are operating within normal parameters.

 

Jane Martin's Vital Signs-a collage of short, introspective slice-of-life monologues-suggests that "normal parameters" are relative where contemporary women are concerned and when men are involved.  The play consists of 32 brief stories about women as told by women, and is currently in production at the Chagrin Valley Little Theatre's intimate and bare-boned River Street Playhouse. 

 

Unlike Eve Ensler's Vagina Monologues, Vital Signs is no gender-empowering secret sisterhood soapbox, where the men in attendance are required to leave their testosterone at the door.  This is an inviting collection of often humorous, mostly touching diatribes and disclosures that is intended for the entire species, though (due to some mildly mature subject matter) not the entire family. 

 

The play is without a linear storyline to give its amalgamation of mini-monologues a coherence or purpose greater than its individual parts.  Each vignette taps into a different moment in the life of different women whose vital signs vary one to the next.  Each moment moves to its own heart beat, is either a cleansing exhale or a dramatic gasp for air, and runs feverish or frigid.  

 

The stories are wonderfully performed by 10 experienced community players, hand-picked by director Yvonne E. Pilarczyk.  They are Amy Pelleg, Dawn Hill, Brenda Redmond, Molly Clay, Lisa Tarr, Natalie Dolezal, Kelly Wills, Mary Britta Shirring, Kathe Tascone and Wini Kovacik.

 

Pilarczyk, who directed last year's CVLT festival of 10-minute one-act plays as well as the theatre's holiday show Reindeer Monologues, is rapidly becoming the area's Grande Dame of the Short Subject.  She is consistently able to generate rich, honest petite performances from her actors.

 

The material in Vital Signs is very eclectic, which means that some tales will have less resonance than others, which means they crash and burn.  Judging from the audience at last week's preview performance, however, most of the monologues were engaging and found to be very entertaining.

 

 "30 Hours," as performed by Lisa Tarr, was particularly well received.  It focuses on how men come equipped with only so much good conversation before they start running on empty.  Mary Britta Shirring's "No Personality" and Kathe Tascone's "Graceland," which are the playwright's ventures into character-driven sketch comedy, delighted the audience.  "Father's Circle"-an extremely personal reminiscence- was particularly poignant thanks to Dawn Hill's tender delivery.  Wini Kowacik's "Encyclopedia Salesman" and Amy Pelleg's "Truck," which offer intriguing profiles of two women seeking very different forms of self-fulfillment, were also favorites.  

 

Previously, in this column, it was suggested that watching one-act plays or collections of monologues is like dining exclusively on hors d'oeuvres.  When they are good, they only whet the appetite, and when they are bad, it is tempting to spit into a napkin and move on to something else.  

 

The tiny tales in Vital Signs are like a plate of individually wrapped after-dinner mints.   They each offer a little something different in the middle that may not be to everyone's liking but are, nonetheless, tasty and refreshing.  

 

 Vital Signs continues through November 21 at the Chagrin Valley Little Theatre's River Street Playhouse, 56 River Street, Chagrin Falls.  For tickets, which are $10, call 440-247-8955 or visit www.cvlt.org.
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