[NEohioPAL] REVIEW: "The End of the Tour", at Pilgrim Congregational Church in Tremont

[Tom Wachunas]

At the Crossroads of Leaving and Cleaving

By Tom Wachunas

   “How do we leave well and how do we cleavewell?...It’s about what we owe the ones we love – and what we oweourselves…about finding the balance between caring for others and allowingourselves to be cared for…”  - fromthe Director’s Note by Craig Joseph 

   First, here’s alittle background on Canton-based Seat of the Pants Productions. It’s anitinerant band of theatrical storytellers established by Artistic DirectorCraig Joseph in 2012, with a mission to “…focus all our resources on tellingtales, truthfully and beautifully; share compelling narratives in unique spacesand vibrant communities; develop an aesthetic rooted in imaginative staging andhuman connection.”  

   That mission hasbeen very well accomplished in Seat of the Pants’ first venture into Clevelandcity limits with Craig Joseph directing TheEnd of the Tour, a fascinating tragicomedy by playwright Joel DrakeJohnson. There is something oddly appropriate as well as ironic aboutexperiencing this play in a church (Pilgrim Congregational Church, in Tremont).Church – a haven of rest and rescue, a house of solace for troubled souls. Andis it not also a place for…confession? As it is, the play happens not in theornate sanctuary, but in the big, bland expanse of an adjacent, windowlesschamber. Life is large and often not pretty.

    This is anarresting tale of restive family members and partners desperately navigatingtheir woundedness while floundering in the wreckage of their dysfunctionalrelationships. Set in Dixon, Illinois (the birthplace of Ronald Reagan), wemeet former chanteuse Mae (Anne McEvoy) as she recuperates in a nursing homeafter breaking her ankle; her recently divorced  daughter, Jan (Stephanie Cargill), who urgesher estranged, Chicago-based brother, Andrew (Stuart Hutton), to visit theirseverely depressed mother. Andrew bickers with his lover, David (ScottEsposito), over the usefulness of such a reunion. Elsewhere, Jan’s ex-husband,Chuck (Ananias J. Dixon) wallows in his kitchen. Fretting obsessively over whatto do exactly about his beloved, dying cat, he seeks comfort and counsel fromhis best friend, Tommy (Jeff Haffner).  

   Johnson’s writingabout the vexing foibles and failures of his characters is remarkable in itssensitivity and insight – an intricate and sometimes indelicate symmetry of illuminatingwisdom and dark wit. He doesn’t set out to cure them of their ills, but simplytells their truths. And it’s a marvelously facile ensemble here that bringsthose characters to life with unflinching, often startling authenticity.

    As Mae, Anne McEvoy is riveting as theimpatient patient; the brooding and unapologetic matriarch given to explosivefits of anger and insult, or complaining about the theft of her candy andcigarettes by a wandering Alzheimer’s patient named Norma (Chris White). Sheseems unable or unwilling to resolve the long-festering conflicts with herchildren, and would much rather sing old standards to over-medicated seniorcitizens. Meanwhile, Stephanie Cargill is achingly credible as the dutiful butexhausted daughter, Jan, wearied and frustrated by the sheer emotional weightand complexity of her circumstances. In the midst of still processing herdivorce, she’s sorely conflicted by caring for the mother she resents. 

    Stuart Hoffman isequally commanding in his intriguing portrait of gay brother Andrew. Returningto Dixon to finally visit his mother, he carries a heavy load of painfulmemories from when he was kicked out of his home after coming out in highschool. He’s a bit uncomfortable in his own skin - nervous and insecure aboutpublically showing physical affection for his lover. In that role, ScottEsposito is particularly gentle, and might be arguably the most stablecharacter of the bunch, even as he sadly strives to understand why Andrew keepshim literally at arm’s length.

   Back where alistless cat lies in a box on a kitchen table, Ananias J. Dixon, as Chuck, isterribly insecure, too. His exchanges with the delightfully wry and earthy JeffHaffner, as Tommy, are among the play’s most tender and funny, though notwithout a moment of tearful rage. Watching Dixon agonize over his cat becomesall the more heartbreaking when sensing that it’s maybe his veiled way offinally owning the end his marriage.

   At the conclusionof this tour through intersected lives in flux, there was no formula offered,no prescription given for the characters to ultimately find cathartic healingor peace. Call it instead a momentary arrival, a tacit  acceptance of life on life’s terms.  

    Now, back to church, and confession time. Thanksto the expressive intensity of the ensemble’s performance, I began to view thecharacters not as merely fictive elements in a metaphor, but actual people. And who couldn’t lovethem? Despite the mess they’d made of their lives, I found myself empathizing withthem, rooting for them, hoping the best for them. Good practice for real life.That’s the power of truly compelling theatre.         

The End of the Tour/    Remaining performances are Friday, April 5that 8 PM, and Saturday, April 6th at 2 PM and 8 PM. All shows are performed at Pilgrim Congregational Church in Tremont,2592 West 14th Street, Cleveland.Tickets are $20 and can be purchased at 

https://theendofthetour.eventbrite.com or www.seatofthepants.org  

Additionalinformation about Seat of the Pants Productions at:

https://seatofthepants.org/about

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