A World Apart (2/4/2011)

mandy — Mon, 07 Feb 2011 09:00:00 +0000

New York, New York

As Susan Mosakowski’s A World Apart opens, Mother Augustina, an abbess in a Cistercian monastery, is deeply engrossed in reading a religious text. Once interrupted, she explains that she is searching for answers to a host of troubling questions. Doubts about all kinds of things have begun to creep in, she says. Take the issue of heaven and hell. Common assumptions posit one above and the other below us. But why?

“Heaven and hell do not have that kind of geography,” the abbess (beautifully performed by Antoinette LaVecchia) tells a stunned Sister Cornelia (played with graceful torment by Amelia Workman). “Maybe heaven is right next to us, shoulder to shoulder, or in front of us, or behind, and that anyone who wanted to go to heaven could be there in a minute, if only they had the desire. It’s all about desire.”

Ah yes, desire. When Father Daniel Byrne (an intense Andy Paris) arrives at the convent to lecture the sisters, he and Sister Augustina trade smoldering glances. Not only that, his presentation further ignites the uncertainty that Sister Augustina has been grappling with. She finds one query particularly provocative: “Are we doing more for others by being inside our monastic world, or should we be outside and active, a part of everyday life, a part of every life that needs us?”

In short order Father Byrne confides that he has decided to leave the priesthood and—surprise—after a few brief encounters he asks Sister Augustina to remove her wimple and join him. He presents the option matter-of-factly, as if it’s a no-brainer for her to renounce her vows and leave the cloistered, celibate life she’s led for decades. Much to the priest’s annoyance, the request provokes crises of faith and commitment in Augustina, crises that spill into the lives of the nuns in her care. So what to do?

While A World Apart might have delved into the roots of the Sister Augustina’s angst more deeply—for example, it’s hard to imagine that her lust had been completely dormant before Father Byrne’s arrival or that it took decades for her to become curious about world events—the play raises issues that continue to nag at the Catholic Church. To its credit, A World Apart does not offer an oversimplified resolution of these concerns. Is there a place for monastic life in the twenty-first century? Does requiring celibacy make sense today? You decide.

Lee Savage’s spare set and Mark Barton and Ryan Seelig’s lighting design create a haunting environment for this eighty-minute play. It’s a serious work with ample humor, delving into what it means to be mindful and make conscious choices. Well acted and resonant, A World Apart addresses the human need for authenticity, love, and meaning. In the end, regardless of whether Sister Augustina’s religious order chooses to remain cloistered or opts to frolic in the muck of earthly delights, Father Byrne’s admonition rings true: “Sometimes you have to go outside to get more on the inside.” At the same time, what he doesn’t say is also true: Sometimes quiet contemplation and solitude can be enough.

*A World Apart will run through February 26, 2011 at The Flea Theater in Manhattan. Tickets are $18 and can be ordered by calling 212.352.3101 or by going to theatermania.com.

Photo credit: Jim Baldassare

Written by: Eleanor J. Bader, February 7th 2011

Sex in Mommyville (8/19/2010)

mandy — Mon, 06 Sep 2010 10:00:00 +0000

The Flea Theater

New York, New York

For feminists marriage and motherhood have always been gray areas. While feminists of the seventies were quick to write off these roles as domestic slavery, some contemporary feminists have embraced these roles, finding that one can be an independent woman and still be a loving mother and wife. However, finding a balance between the roles of independent career woman as well as wife and mother can be a struggle. This struggle is at the crux of The Flea Theater’s production of the one woman show, Sex in Mommyville. The play’s main focus is the struggles a feminist faces when she finds her life focusing on maintaining a home for her children and husband, rather than pursuing her own professional and intellectual goals.

The play opens up while Fishbeyn’s character Artemis is in the process of writing an article for Bitch Magazine on the sex lives of mothers, explaining how both her pessimistic Russian immigrant parents and pregnancy lead to her dreams of writing being pushed aside for years. She tells us that sex with her husband has now become an “elusive dream”. Just how much of the play is based on real life experience is unclear as Fishbeyn is ostensibly playing a character. While all of the play’s material rings true from the get go, it could have been more moving had Fishbeyn based the experience on her own life rather than shrouding things with the guise of fiction. Fishbeyn excels as the play’s sole performer. She is warm and engaging from the get go, speaking to the audience as if they were a long lost friend stopping by for a visit. She makes use of the small stage well, effectively using physical humor as she enacts sexual situations with her husband. Surely, director Sande Shurin has a knack for staging and physical comedy. Fishbeyn launches into a humorous and highly accurate analysis of the stereotypes surrounding mothers, joking about the mothers who only have sex to please their husbands as well as the current pop culture phenomenon of the “MILF."

The first hour of the play focuses on her disastrous attempts to have hot sex with her husband due to the constant interruptions of her offspring. Many of the mothers in the audience (with surprisingly silent babies in hand) laughed hysterically throughout the work. My guess is that for those who have lived through the stress of motherhood, the jokes will hit spot on. After the first hour, Fishbeyn changes her comedic tone for a somber one, showing she is just as gifted at drama as she is at comedy. She delivers a heartfelt monologue on the frustration she feels as she attempts to be both a writer and a loving mother and wife. She feels that no matter which role she focuses on she is neglecting another.

At this point Fishbeyn walks to a series of screens at the back of the stage and begins to deliver an analysis of the current state of women in popular culture, looking at both the ageism and hyper focus on physical appearance that burdens women. Her talk is peppered with images of wrinkle cream and The Bachelor, an additional use of images would have made this segment even stronger. Her monologue, though not necessarily original, is both humorous and true, sounding a lot like a pop culture savvy version of Naomi Wolf’s The Beauty Myth.

Fishbeyn concludes the play with Artemis admitting that there will never be clear answers for her in her struggles. In the end, she raises a shot to her fellow mothers , acknowledging that it is inevitable that in their lives they will at some point have to neglect or make compromises when it comes to their professional and academic aspirations. While Sex in Mommyville offers little in terms of definite answers, it raises important questions.

Written by: Adrienne Urbanski, September 6th 2010