Fantasy Comes to Life in Where Are They Now?
To kick off National Women's History Month, The Vortex is presenting Shrewd Production's Where Are They Now?, a "revived and revised" Cyndi Williams piece originally performed at Frontera Fest '05. We took it in, it all its glory, on opening night last Thursday.
For starters, we feel compelled to state that Where Are They Now? is a moving and beautiful work, but it is unconventional in its story-telling, and it has the potential to leave the more fact-thirsty viewer wanting. Then again, said viewer need only read the program to get up to snuff on the true crime that inspired the work -- and those who have seen Peter Jackson's Heavenly Creatures (one of his many fine pre-LOTR films) will be more than prepped for Where Are They Now?. Nevertheless, the work is elemental, utterly of the feminine, and not at all straightforward in its exposition and character presentation.
The cast comprises three strong actresses, Shannon Grounds as the frumpy Pauline, T. Lynn Mikeska as the glamorous Juliet, and Anne Hulsman as the all-encompassing Other. If you don't know the story, in short it is this: in 1954, Pauline Parker and Juliet Hulme conspired to kill Pauline's mother. The girls had an intense friendship that centered around a fantasy world in which Pauline was called Gina, and Juliet was called Deborah. After they were convicted of the murder, served time, and were released, they re-entered life as twenty-somethings with pseudonyms -- Hilary and Anne, respectively. As the program states, "One of the conditions of their release was that they never see each other again."
Where Are They Now? explores all three aspects of the girls' lives: the difficulty of being a teenager; the excitement of sharing a fantastic fictional world with a soul mate; and the stark reality of life following the perpetration of a horrific crime. Grounds and Mikeska move in and out of these three worlds -- and their three very different characters -- quite seamlessly, as the play gives you tastes of one, then the other, back to the first, and so on. Hulsman's Other ushers them through some of the more difficult, heart-wrenching issues that the story begs to explore. In particular, the piece focuses on Grounds' Pauline, the girl who killed her mother, and asks how she feels now, where she is today, and what all of this has done to her.
All three actresses are in top form. As Other, Anne Hulsman is sometimes stern, sometimes harsh, but always in fine-tuned control as to not overshadow the focus of the work. Hers is in some ways the most difficult role, as we could see how an actress might want to make the part bigger, louder, pushier. But as directed by Williams, the power of her words is kept appropriately in check. This is a fringe benefit to having the playwright direct, perhaps, though certainly not all playwrights are this adept with their own work.
T. Lynne Mikeska inhabits Juliet/Deborah/Anne with charm, grace, and disarming beauty. It's hard not to make comparisons -- favorable ones -- with Kate Winslet's performance of the same character in Heavenly Creatures. This is hardly a carbon copy, but Mikeska has a very similar presence to Winslet. She is the ultimate alpha girl, but with a screwy story of her own. Mikeska is a stunning woman, and her depiction of Juliet as a girl who commands blind devotion is convincing.
Ultimately, though, Pauline/Gina/Hilary is the focal point of the play. Shannon Grounds opens the performance as Hilary, pulling you into the "now" character effortlessly with a children's story analogous to the girls' tale. Other confronts her as both Pauline and Hilary, and slowly she crumbles, finally falling to pieces at the end of the piece. Grounds' performance of this descent is riveting. She touched us deeply with her portrayal of the troubled, confused, broken girl/woman. Her expression of Pauline's devotion to Juliet -- which is key to the story -- is sincere and believable. Her final breakdown in the last scene of the play is devastating.
We confess that we've been morbidly fascinated with this story for many years -- longer ago, indeed, than Jackson's movie was released. This might make us partial to this work, but we don't think so. With powerhouse performances from a talented cast, plus a lauded multi-talented writer/director (and so much more) of Williams' caliber, Where Are They Now? is a sure bet.
Playing: Th-Sa @ 8pm, through March 25
At: The VORTEX, 2307 Manor Road
Tix: 512.478.5282, Th/$10 Fr&Sa/$15-$30 (sliding scale)
* Image (c) Shrewd Productions
