Review: then after water

Canadian playwright Jennifer Fawcett’s then after water is an exceedingly difficult piece of material that actor/director Matt Slaybaugh and the members of Available Light Theater (from Columbus) haven’t quite mastered — or illuminated as fully as they must if they’re to make it a satisfying theater experience. That’s disappointing. What the production lacks in vocal precision, clarity and economy of motion are the very strengths that made earlier appearances by Slaybaugh and company so striking — particularly in The Pursuit of Happiness (Fringe ’04) and A/The Post-Modern Love Story (Fringe ’05).

Here’s the plot I got from hints and guesses during the opening performance Thursday. Ben (Slaybaugh) and Ana (Michelle Schroeder) are driving home from a social event. Their 6-month-old son, David, is with his grandparents. They have car trouble and pull to the shoulder on a deserted road. A truck rams their disabled car. The truck’s driver, Eddie (Alex Beekman), jerks Ben out of the car, knocks him out and kidnaps Ana. Ben wakes up in a hospital ward. Ana disappears. Meanwhile and simultaneously, grown son David (Ian Short) appears with wife or girlfriend (Acacia Duncan). They’re stressed over contemplation of the event they're on their way to attend.

Can’t reveal any script secrets beyond this point, not that either play or players answers all questions, including some nagging ones. Why is Ana barefoot throughout? Did Ben wander along a stream and watch moonlight glinting on the water before or after the attack on him? Does the unseen Lisa really have anything to do with anything? What suddenly resolves David’s anger?

Fawcett tells her story in carefully composed fragments that border on poetry, covering 20 years. Conversations start, break off and continue later, sometimes partly repeated. Four or five time frames overlap and interweave — the night of the attack, Ben waking up in hospital, Eddie reliving the attack, Ana wandering through other characters’ recollections, David trying to understand what happened to his parents when all he has to go by is a two-column newspaper clipping.

Characters leap forward and backward in time, stepping into and out of scenes with each other. None of this is bad playwriting. It can be intriguing. The play is, after all, a mystery, a gradual assembly of fragments should keep you guessing.

But sooner or later it has to coalesce, at least to a degree. If enough questions get answered, then satisfaction ensues. A few nagging loose ends just spark conversation over coffee later. If not, not. And in this case, not.

The roaring air conditioning system at New Stage Collective doesn’t aid comprehension, but it also doesn’t account for or excuse imprecise speech on the part of Schroeder, Duncan and Beekman (especially Beekman) nor forgive insufficient volume from Short. The set is three automobile front seats w/ steering wheels on black rolling platforms. Slaybaugh keeps them sliding around like bumper cars at a carnival. There are too many entrances, too many exits and way too many dizzying light changes manipulated by Ryan Osborn.

This script is exactly the kind of illusive, mysterious, poetic material on which Available Light’s stalwarts usually handle with aplomb. This year they seem to have left it Columbus.

— Tom McElfresh

Comments

[Dan Davidson]

I CAN'T WAIT TO SEE THIS!!! Sounds like (as usual) everything that Mr. McElfresh seems to find wrong with a production is exactly what makes it exciting and spectacular to me! I applaud the efforts of Available Light for truly branching out and trying new things, you are an inspiration, and I will bring as many people as I can to see the show!

Maybe she's barefoot because she's Human Tom, just a thought.

YOUR HUG IS COMING SOON SIR! =)

[Nora Henderson]

I saw this play in Columbus and found it hauntingly beautiful, with performances that were uniformly excellent. I hope people aren't scared away by Mr. McElfresh's inadequate interpretation of the work. Although the time sequences are not linear, the plot is not difficult to follow (maybe McElfresh is just too unimaginative for this work). Oh, and the bare feet: Any woman who has removed her shoes in the car after an evening in high heels, needs no explanation for Ana's barefeet.

[Beth]

I have to disagree with this review. This was very different than other things I've seen AVL do, but I thought it was wonderful. No, scratch that. I was in an anxious state of dread the whole time, so they must be doing something right. I felt the marital tension surrounding a new baby changing the couple's dynamics (maybe because I've been there). I loved some the imagery (water, peaches, green dress). I cringed every time the truck driver started to talk again in fear of what was next.

I do think the girlfriend character is less developed in this script, which is a shame, because Acacia Duncan is a lovely actor and she doesn't have the best material in this one.

Not all the plot points above are precisely correct; even with the time changes, some of the basic facts were a bit easier to grasp than he makes it sound. I disagree about the lighting and entrances but do agree about the moving car sets - not always clear how that connected.

But most importantly, don't let this review keep you from seeing what I think is a powerful and moving entry for this year's Fringe from a talented company.

[Christine]

I also disagree with the review. I saw it on Monday night and the performance was riveting. The reviewer apparently missed some of the plot elements -- I was a lot less confused by the back-and-forth timeline than he apparently was.

I, too, wondered about the bare feet, but perhaps it helped to underscore the character's vulnerability. Definitely not a big deal.

It was well-acted and well-written, and deserves bigger audiences.