Since 1980, Actors' Theatre of Grand Rapids has provided our region with innovative dramatic productions that are quite often on the cutting edge of what is happening. Its productions encompass not only the American Theatre wing of culture and arts through the subject matter they present, but often also feature award-winning works from those much-lauded playwrights as soon as they become available for regional theatre’s programming.
Coming off the heels of a series of historic U.S. Supreme Court cases concerning the nations' LGBT is this timely and dramatic play Love! Valour! Compassion! (LVC), written by Terrence McNally.
The play, originally produced and staged off-Broadway in 1994 (before moving to Broadway in 1995), looks at the lives of eight gay men through a series of summer getaway-from-the-city gatherings that travel from Memorial Day weekend to Labor Day.
As all these men descend upon this lakeside vacation house as the guests of an acclaimed dancer/choreographer and his blind boyfriend, they begin on a journey that will not only test the limits of friendship but also the ability of the heart to expand, contract and then expand again – an act reflected in the audience members and possibly through McNally’s keen use of dialogue.
Making her directorial debut is a veteran of Actors' stage - and an alumnus of the recent and much-lauded [title of show] - Jolene Frankey who has cast Christopher Curry, Dylan Harris, Owen McIntee, Kyle Jurrasic, Benjy Schirm, Jeffrey Williams and Joe Worth. (Six of the seven actors, who all receive a small stipend for their work, have never been in an Actors’ production prior to this show, with one member debuting on this stage after a career as a traveling performer for Equity Broadway productions before relocating to Grand Rapids to live.)
Frankey says what drove her to direct LVC was that the work is so strong on paper, thus making the starting point for the production so compelling to produce.
“What really drew me to this playwright’s work was that it is not about being gay, but is really about the questions all of us face as human beings,” says Frankey. “These characters struggle with questions of relationships, loyalty, friendships – all very human experiences.”
The play has a very “chosen family” feel to it and is something many adults experience when they begin to discover that blood relations strain with age and begin to unwind. This play reminds us that, even in the chosen families, sometimes our hearts get in the way of best intentions.
LVC is one of those rare theatrical gems where, in the end - even after a thrilling ride of emotions filled with the tripping over of fine lines between laughter and tears (and with little to no warning due again to the fine writing of McNally), upon curtain we would find ourselves almost glad to get back in line to experience it all over again. LVC is a testament to the power of theatre to make us connect as humans and our willingness to show up again and again even when we know pain is often a product of our love.
Actors’ Theatre Grand Rapids will launch its 33rd season with Terrence McNally’s contemporary classic play, Love! Valour! Compassion! Immediately following the Friday night production on September 20, attendees are invited to stay a bit longer to listen to an engaging panel as a part of Actors’ Theatre’s wildly popular Talk Back post-performance series. The Talk Back guest opening the 2013-2014 season is Grand Rapids’ Red Project.
Admission: $20-$24 with RUSH; $10 admission for students available night of performance (see website for details).
More Info