A Review of RAPTURE, BLISTER, BURN at ACT in Seattle - With Video Highlights



Kirsten Potter, Jeffrey Frace, Kathryn van Meter,
Photo: John Cornicello - See more at: http://www.acttheatre.org/About/MediaRoom/ProductionPhotos/RaptureBlisterBurn#sthash.lWchqNvW.dpuf

People say hindsight is 20/20, but three old friends in a new play called Rapture,Blister, Burn, still need glasses to re-examine their lives when reunited, years after college. Running at ACT—A Contemporary Theatre until August 11, it offers Seattle audiences a hilarious and piercing look at one of life’s greatest truths: choices have consequences. One of those consequences can be regret. That realization hits like a bomb in the lives of these characters and shakes up theatergoers with as much reality as laughter.

Director Anita Montgomery has made the most of Gina Gionfriddo’s brilliant script and this dynamite cast of five extraordinarily talented actors. The weaving together of plot and personality creates a captivating performance. After graduating from college, sexy, single Catherine Croll (Kirsten Potter) has become a nationally known feminist writer and academic. Her former friend, Gwen Harper (Kathryn Van Meter), chose the domestic life as the stay-at-home mother of two sons, boys the audience hears about but never meets.

Kathryn van Meter, Kirsten Potter, Mariel Neto, Priscilla Lauris Photo: John Cornicello - See more at: http://www.acttheatre.org/About/MediaRoom/ProductionPhotos/RaptureBlisterBurn#sthash.lWchqNvW.dpuf

 

Each woman dwells on what she’s missed because of her choice. Their lifestyle differences alone could create plenty of potential for conflict on its own, but Gwen is now married to Catherine’s old college boyfriend, Don Harper (Jeffrey Fracé), after causing the couple’s breakup. This reunion makes her nervous. Her husband has his own set of second thoughts. And Catherine’s return reminds both of them just how far removed he’s become from the intellectual his former girlfriend has always imagined him to be. He is actually an unambitious man who drinks too much (while Gwen has quit drinking) and whose only sex life is whatever thrill he gets from pornography. Gwen sees all the shortcomings of the man she once stole from Catherine, while Catherine sees only her romanticized memory of him, at least in the beginning.

Jeffrey Frace, Kirsten Potter
Photo: John Cornicello - See more at: http://www.acttheatre.org/About/MediaRoom/ProductionPhotos/RaptureBlisterBurn#sthash.lWchqNvW.dpuf

In a play labeled a “comedy,” this situation might not sound all that funny. But real life is always the best source of humor, and there is probably no scenario more real than watching two women have second thoughts about their choices. In spite of feminism’s long history in America, it never has succeeded in fulfilling the dream of having it all, or having it both ways, when it comes to balancing career and family. That message is delivered here with sizzling wit and keen observation. In addition to dealing with the women’s movement, the play examines issues like pornography, alcoholism, the balance of power in relationships, and the views and experiences of different generations of women. In addition to the plays theme of the grass always looking greener on the other side of the fence, it also reminds us how entrapping expectations can be, and how we tend not to see or accept people for who they really are.

Kathryn van Meter, Kirsten Potter, Mariel Neto, Priscilla Lauris
Photo: John Cornicello - See more at: http://www.acttheatre.org/About/MediaRoom/ProductionPhotos/RaptureBlisterBurn#sthash.lWchqNvW.dpuf



The older generation is represented by Catherine’s mother, Alice Croll (Priscilla Lauris) who probably draws more laughs than anyone with her absolutely charming and funny portrayal of an adoring, doting, cheerful, non-interfering mother who sees only the best in everyone and takes both a heart attack and women’s issues in stride. She politely dismisses her daughters anxious fussing over her health—Catherine’s excuse for coming home—and is always ready to be the perfect hostess, including mixing drinks. It becomes clear that, although Catherine is supposedly there to help her mother, it is the daughter who is the perpetually needy one.

Jeffrey Frace and Kirsten Potter Photo: Chris Bennion - See more at: http://www.acttheatre.org/About/MediaRoom/ProductionPhotos/RaptureBlisterBurn#sthash.lWchqNvW.dpuf

On the opposite end of the age scale is current college student Avery Willard (Mariel Neto). She brings her own no-holds-barred commentary on the love triangle situation, along with the perspective of modern youth. But behind her liberal attitude toward sex, she shows a surprising mix vulnerability, maturity, and common sense, making this character complex and interesting.

I love the Allen Theatre at ACT, and Scenic Designer Matthew Smucker put together the perfect setting for non-stop domestic drama in this theater-in-the-round. Since every seat is a good seat, they’ll all go fast. I recommend you reserve yours now, for an evening of thought-provoking laughter and some of the best acting you’ll ever see. You will be captivated and entertained throughout and treated to a surprise ending. Congratulations to the entire cast for an outstanding performance. Rapture, Blister, Burn is ACT at its finest.

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Just What you Needed: "One Slight Hitch" at ACT — a review

Except for the remembered joys of motherhood, I’ve never had a good reason to revisit the 1980s, but I did so last Thursday in Seattle, at ACT — A Contemporary Theatre. There for opening night of a play called “One Slight Hitch," a comedy by Lewis Black set in 1981, I probably had more fun than I had in the entire actual decade.  

Katherine Grant-Suttie, Marianne Owen, Kirsten Potter, Kimberley Sustad, and R. Hamilton Wright in back.
Photo: Chris Bannion

The play uses only one set, the interior of the well-appointed home of Doc and Delia Coleman in suburban Cincinnati. It represents everything safe, sane, and insipid about the ‘80s, right down to the floral sofa pillows that perfectly match the floral wallpaper that perfectly matches the floral arrangement on a table. But in that conservative and affluent setting, complete and hilarious chaos threatens the wedding day of one of the couple’s three daughters when the clueless former lover of the bride-to-be shows up for an unannounced visit.

Although the entire cast did an outstanding job, in my opinion the parents, Doc (yes, he’s a doctor) and Delia, stole the show. The role of Doc, played by R. Hamilton Wright, gave this versatile and most amazingly talented actor a chance to show his funny side. He embellished the script with subtleties of voice, expression, and physical comedy that felt spontaneous and oh so fun. I had been impressed by his acting in the serious role of dental mechanic Harry Wilson in “The Pitmen Painters” and just became an even more ardent fan.

Equally delightful and impressive was Marianne Owen as Delia. Make that Delia the Drama Queen. What a talent! I'll be watching for her name. Owen nailed this character perfectly. She was the high-minded hostess invested in pulling off the perfect wedding one minute and the witty, sharp-tongued, Valium-popping, exasperated wife and mother in a bathrobe and curlers the next. But she spoke seriously at one point in the second act and imbued the scene with depth and poignancy as she reminded us of the differences in generations.



Kimberley Sustad, Katherine Grant-Suttie, Kirsten Potter
Photo: Chris Bennion

Kimberly Sustad as Courtney Coleman, the bride-to-be, also acted her role with flair. In this comedy with a serious side—about recognizing our real wants and needs versus the ones we pretend to have for the sake of convention or approval—she walks the fine line between liberated female writer and about-to-be cookie cutter 1980s wife and never loses her balance. Even her quintessential ruffled and romantic ‘80s wedding dress, so obviously not representative of her real taste, spoke volumes.

The heavy drinking, hilarious, and sexually liberated sister Melanie Coleman, played by Kirsten Potter, added more than her share of laughs to this comedy. Potter delivered sidesplitting one-liners in quick succession and, like Wright, made the most of her lines with the small nuances that show her to be a true pro. In spite of her vices, I loved her most of all.

Katherine Grant-Suttie, an adult of at least average height, played the part of a pigtailed, Walkman-wearing, young teenaged girl, not even old enough to drive. But she met the challenge well and created a funny and charming character. I admire the fine job she did, even though this casting choice required my imagination to work a little.

Shawn Telford and Kimberley Sustad
Photo: Chris Bennion

The two remaining characters were Courtney’s ex-lover and fellow writer, Ryan, played by Shawn Telford, and her fiancé, Harper, played by John Ulman. As elsewhere in this masterful script, we meet two characters who each have another side and surprise us when they turn out to be more complex than our first impression would suggest. Telford could get the laughs with nothing more than a move or look and Ulman slipped skillfully between his nauseatingly suave persona and the more believable fellow later revealed.

The only confusing part came when these two would-be, should-be rivals ended up sitting so close together on the sofa I wondered if the plot was about to head off in a whole new direction. But it didn’t, and I’m not sure what that action was meant to imply.

This play resolved all the confusion and craziness with a sweet and satisfying ending. My companion, whom I have never seen laugh so hard, exclaimed, “That was just what I needed!” If life seems way too serious, do yourself a favor and go see “One Slight Hitch.” I'll make it easy. You can order your tickets right here.

It might be a farce, but it hits close enough to the truth of family life, relationships, and the ‘80s themselves, to make you grateful to be an outsider who could laugh at someone else’s near disaster of a day. 

Congratulations to playwright Lewis Black and everyone else involved.

Playwright Lewis Black with Cast members Marianne Owen and Kimberley Sustad
Photo: LaRae Lobdell

Copyright 2012 Candace J. Brown