[NEohioPAL] Berko review: FOOL FOR LOVE @ convergence-continuum

[Roy Berko]

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*Sam Shepard’s FOOL FOR LOVE at convergence continuum *



Roy Berko

(Member, American Theatre Critics Association, Cleveland Critics Circle)



Sam Shepard, the author of FOOL FOR LOVE, which is now in production at
convergence continuum, described the script as “a very emotional play and
in some ways embarrassing for me to witness but somehow necessary at the
time.”  The time was shortly after breaking up his marriage to be with
another woman.



Much like the other plays in his Family Trilogy series, which is actually a
collection of five plays (BURIED CHILD, CURSE OF THE STARVING CLASS, TRUE
WEST, A LIE OF THE MIND, and FOOL FOR LOVE) Shepard creates an allegory for
his own loss and love, complete with a manic depiction of ill-fated
passion.



His characters often reflect his family and personal life.   He started to
work on a ranch as a teenager to support his mother and brother when his
father lost their farm.  The father Shepard described as “a drinking man
dedicated to being an alcoholic.” His dysfunctional relationship with his
father is often front-and-center in his writing.



In FOOL FOR LOVE, which takes place in a run-down motel in the Mojave
Desert, May is hiding out.  She has fled from Eddie,  her childhood friend,
old flame and half-brother.  Theirs is a love-hate relationship in which
they are bound to each other out of desperation. (May knowingly shouts at
Eddie, “you are like a disease to me.”) May left their trailer home and
proportes that she wants to start a new life,  A life without Eddie.  But,
they simply cannot break their destructive cycle.  As they conflict, their
father watches over them, commenting on the actions, challenging the
stories told and their interpretations.



As is true in most Shepard plays, the characters, rather than the plot, is
of greatest importance.  There are no issues that will be resolved, no
happily ever after solution. In fact, as the play ends, Martin, May’s new
“guy” watches out the window as Eddie’s truck and horse trailer go up in
flames and May flees, but there is no clarity as to where or from what?



Watching a Shepard play is an experience in emotional tumult where identity
is vague, truth and lies blur, and the characters pasts haunt their present.
Memories are altered to suite the needs of the dreamer telling the tale and
are often idealized.



FOOL FOR LOVE had its off-Broadway premiere in 1983 and moved to a Broadway
theatre later that year with a cast of Ed Harris and Kathy Baker.  A 1985
film version starred Shepard himself with Kim Basinger.



Shepard is extremely prolific.  He won the Pulitzer Prize for BURIED CHILD,
an Academy Award for Best Supporting actor in THE RIGHT STUFF, a Tony Award
in Playwrighting for BURIED CHILD, and an Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead
Actor in DASH AND LILLY.



The fifty-five minute con-con production, under the direction of Amy Bistok
Bunce, creates a surface level glance at Shepard’s world. Shepard has said
of his characters, and this is true in FOOL FOR LOVE, that he doesn’t
expect an audience to identify with his characters.  These are not real
people, they are unidentifiable fragments of Shepard’s life and imagination.



Rachel Lee Kolis is believable as the almost psychotic May, who finds
herself unable to come to terms with reality and move to save herself from
a life of chaotic frustration.



Clint Elston stays close to the surface as Eddie, never totally
encompassing the nuances of the character.



Robert Hawkes rocks away on his chair, drinking booze, on a platform
overlooking the action, and comments with ease on the machinations of May,
Eddie and his own life.



Stuart Hoffman well develops Martin, May’s possible suitor, as an
innocent-simple who gets overwhelmed by stepping into a situation beyond
his understanding.



*Capsule Judgement:  Sam Shepard is noted for taking audiences on
illusionary trips.  FOOL FOR LOVE is yet another example of con-con asking
the audience ”to extend the conventional boundaries of language, structure,
space and performances that challenge the conventional notions of what
theatre is.”  It’s a production steeped in Shepard writing Shepard, which
is missing some of his intended nuance.*



FOOL FOR LOVE runs through December 21 at 8 pm Thursdays, Fridays and
Saturdays at convergence-continuum’s artistic home, The Liminis, at 2438
Scranton Rd. in Cleveland’s Tremont neighborhood. For information and
reservations call 216-687-0074.


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