Gorgons is a late addition to Yellow Tree Theatre's season, replacing the regional premiere of the Pearl Cleage play
Angry, Raucous, and Shamelessly Gorgeous which has been
rescheduled to next season, but it's an inspired choice of play, with the perfect cast for this dark comedy two-hander. Playwright Don Nigro based the play on the infamous rivalry between actors Joan Crawford and Bette Davis and their movie
What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?, imagining what their relationship might have been like, and filling it with juicy drama and biting dark humor. Yellow Tree's Artistic Director Austene Van directs the piece and has cast a couple of powerhouse actors - Christina Baldwin and Jamie White Jachimiec - who appear to be having the most fun going toe-to-toe with this juicy script. The play also provides commentary on Hollywood's, and society's, expectations of women, particularly in relation to each other, particularly as we age. Joan and Bette, or Ruth and Mildred as they're known here, may not have worked together well, but clearly the women behind this play do.
Gorgons continues at Yellow Tree Theatre in Osseo through June 21 only.
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Ruth (Jamie White Jachimiec) visits Mildred
(Christina Baldwin, photo by Alex Clark) |
The play begins with Ruth (the Joan Crawford character) visiting Mildred (Bette Davis) in her dressing room of the play she's performing in. The two clearly have history, and not the pleasant kind. But Ruth convinces Mildred to do a movie called
Gorgons with her, about two aging sisters who used to perform together, now stuck in a decrepit old house. We see a couple of scenes of the deliciously over-acted movie, as well as behind the scenes, culminating in an Oscar ceremony that doesn't turn out as anyone expected. The play goes to some pretty dark places, the two women hurling insults at each other in between finding moments of connection in their shared experience as working women and mothers in Hollywood. But the inclusion of fight director extraordinaire Annie Enneking in the credits should tell you that things do eventually get physical between them. Who comes out on top? You'll have to see the play to find out.
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Mildred (Christina Baldwin) and Ruth (Jamie White Jachimiec)
filming their movie (photo by Alex Clark) |
The play is clearly and crisply directed by Austene Van, making good use of Yellow Tree's intimate space with the actors going into the aisles, the scene transitions from dressing room to set to hospital to the awards ceremony to one of the women's homes accomplished well. Sarah Brandner's set encompasses all of these places, and looks very much like the run-down house of a horror movie, faded paneling, stairs leading to a balcony which doubles as the Oscar stage, and period furniture that's seen better days. Period music covers the blackout scene transitions, with both sound and lighting amping up the creepiness of the movie-within-the-play. (Lighting design by Alex Clark, sound design by Jeff Bailey, props design by Jacey Stweart.)
And now for the best part - these two actors. Christina Baldwin
has been seen on nearly every stage in town and has proven there is nothing she can't do - opera, drama, comedy, directing, and currently serving as Artistic Director of Jungle Theater. Jamie White Jachimiec might be a less familiar name in #TCTheater, but
she's done great work on smaller stages like Lyric Arts and History Theatre. I really can't think of two better actors for this play; they're both so funny, and so deadly serious. They don't just play caricatures (Christina the unhinged Bette character in messy makeup, Jamie the elegant Joan character with no hair out of place), but also show us glimpses of the real struggles of women in Hollywood, and in the world in general. For most of the show Jamie/Ruth/Joan is in chic black (a sleeveless jumpsuit and gorgeous suit dress), Christina/Mildred/Bette in childish white (a robe or baby doll dress), highlighting the supposed contrast between the two women, who are more alike than they want to admit. For the final scene they both change into glamorous gowns for the Oscars, looking beautiful for the final ugly confrontation (costume design by Zamora Simmons).
