Polaroid Stories
January 2007
January 2007
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Bringing the Street to the Stage: ‘Polaroid Stories’ puts its audience in the hotseat
By: Kris Asher
4 stars (out of four)
Let me begin by stating that “Polaroid Stories” is not Thalian Hall-type theatre. In fact, I was informed after Sunday’s show that during
intermission, on both Friday and Saturday night, a few people actually left because of the production’s intensity.
That should by no means reflect upon the performances, as those who left explained to Director Richard Davis that they thought the
show was good, but it just wasn’t their brand of theater.
“Polaroid Stories” is in-your-face theater that forces audiences to tackle subjects they may not feel comfortable seeing. As Davis makes
clear at the beginning of the performance, the play is meant to shock the audience. That shock, in turn, will bring them around to
realizing the aspects of life they previously take for granted.
“Polaroid Stories” is a vignette of snapshots woven together to reveal the lives of a group of people living out on the streets. Those
streets could be New York City or L.A. or even Wilmington; the anonymity of the city makes the story all the more compelling. While the
same environment is shared, the stories are as different as each of the characterss.
Throughout the play the audience learns the characters’ backgrounds and as a result some of their motivations (or, sadly, lack of)—all
of which help the audience to understand them as people rather than as a statistic. It puts them in a light that makes us re-evaluate
who they are, which is more than just someone who we avoid or turn away when being approached on the street.
Perhaps to give their stories a bigger connection to our own lives, Naomi Iizuka, who wrote “Polaroid Stories” in 1999, gets inspiration
from Ovid’s “Metamorphosis” and draws interesting parallels between these ordinary “street people” and stories of the Greek gods.
Prometheus is there, as well as Zeus, Orpheus, Persephone and numerous others. But there is no need to study up Greek mythology
to enjoy the show. Although a passing knowledge of the subject will illuminate certain aspects of the story, it’s certainly not essential to
the story itself. At its basic level, it’s simply a story of people who have nowhere else to turn.
As for the stage, Guerilla Theatre continues their tradition of utilizing minimal props so that the focus of the story can remain on the
characters themselves. The center of the stage has a trash can, for obvious reasons, and off to the side lay an old wooden box and a
concrete block. The back of the stage, behind a banner of caution tape that warns people not to enter the area, sits a larger box, which
at times acts like a grandstand and, at others, a hiding place for a private stash of drugs. Any more than what they have onstage would
only serve as a distraction and be completely unnecessary. The attention, after all, should be paid to the actors and their various
portrayals.
And what portrayals the actors present the audience with! Going into the production, you would almost expect heart-wrenching
performances, but the laughs the performers engender in the audience throughout comes as somewhat of a surprise. That is simply a
testament to the level of performance the actors bring to the stage.
Joseph Morengo makes his character, Orpheus, an imposing figure who doles out drugs to those he deems worth his time; yet, he
infuses the character with a surprising vulnerability. In fact, every character in the play contains their own insecurities and vulnerabilities.
Catherine Seeley (Philomel) dances around the stage at various times and appears as the most innocent of the group, somehow out
of place, yet still belonging to that world. That world is made all the more despairing as a result of the performances of Liz Pierce
(Eurydice) and Erin Hunter (Persephone/ Semele). The two portray women at different stages of immersion into the city, Pierce still
holding a chance to escape while Hunter represents those who have already “crossed the river of forgetting” and see no way out.
Susan Auten (Narcissus) and Tony Moore (Echo) do a wonderful job bouncing off each other; pardon the pun, but one is the perfect
echo to the other. Another perfect pair is Daniel Marks as Skinhead Boy and Erin Capps as Skinhead Girl, both branded with names
they don’t deserve. Marks portrays a speed freak so convincingly, audiences will believe he came right off the street just for the
performance. Meanwhile, Capps performs the most transcendent scene in the whole production, in terms of both acting and the script.
And the script is the final icing on the cake. I admit I had never heard of national playwright Iizuka before, but after this production, I’m
definitely going to look up her other works. That, perhaps, is Guerilla Theatre’s best reward to those who see the show: a chance to be
a part of something Wilmington may not normally have a chance to see. So prepare for this place, because the audience does not play
the part of a simple observer—they are active rather than passive participants, which raises the theater experience to another level.
Where: Soapbox Speakeasy Micro-theater
Dates: Jan. 25-27, 8pm
Details/Tickets: (910) 233-9914 ; $10.
By: Kris Asher
4 stars (out of four)
Let me begin by stating that “Polaroid Stories” is not Thalian Hall-type theatre. In fact, I was informed after Sunday’s show that during
intermission, on both Friday and Saturday night, a few people actually left because of the production’s intensity.
That should by no means reflect upon the performances, as those who left explained to Director Richard Davis that they thought the
show was good, but it just wasn’t their brand of theater.
“Polaroid Stories” is in-your-face theater that forces audiences to tackle subjects they may not feel comfortable seeing. As Davis makes
clear at the beginning of the performance, the play is meant to shock the audience. That shock, in turn, will bring them around to
realizing the aspects of life they previously take for granted.
“Polaroid Stories” is a vignette of snapshots woven together to reveal the lives of a group of people living out on the streets. Those
streets could be New York City or L.A. or even Wilmington; the anonymity of the city makes the story all the more compelling. While the
same environment is shared, the stories are as different as each of the characterss.
Throughout the play the audience learns the characters’ backgrounds and as a result some of their motivations (or, sadly, lack of)—all
of which help the audience to understand them as people rather than as a statistic. It puts them in a light that makes us re-evaluate
who they are, which is more than just someone who we avoid or turn away when being approached on the street.
Perhaps to give their stories a bigger connection to our own lives, Naomi Iizuka, who wrote “Polaroid Stories” in 1999, gets inspiration
from Ovid’s “Metamorphosis” and draws interesting parallels between these ordinary “street people” and stories of the Greek gods.
Prometheus is there, as well as Zeus, Orpheus, Persephone and numerous others. But there is no need to study up Greek mythology
to enjoy the show. Although a passing knowledge of the subject will illuminate certain aspects of the story, it’s certainly not essential to
the story itself. At its basic level, it’s simply a story of people who have nowhere else to turn.
As for the stage, Guerilla Theatre continues their tradition of utilizing minimal props so that the focus of the story can remain on the
characters themselves. The center of the stage has a trash can, for obvious reasons, and off to the side lay an old wooden box and a
concrete block. The back of the stage, behind a banner of caution tape that warns people not to enter the area, sits a larger box, which
at times acts like a grandstand and, at others, a hiding place for a private stash of drugs. Any more than what they have onstage would
only serve as a distraction and be completely unnecessary. The attention, after all, should be paid to the actors and their various
portrayals.
And what portrayals the actors present the audience with! Going into the production, you would almost expect heart-wrenching
performances, but the laughs the performers engender in the audience throughout comes as somewhat of a surprise. That is simply a
testament to the level of performance the actors bring to the stage.
Joseph Morengo makes his character, Orpheus, an imposing figure who doles out drugs to those he deems worth his time; yet, he
infuses the character with a surprising vulnerability. In fact, every character in the play contains their own insecurities and vulnerabilities.
Catherine Seeley (Philomel) dances around the stage at various times and appears as the most innocent of the group, somehow out
of place, yet still belonging to that world. That world is made all the more despairing as a result of the performances of Liz Pierce
(Eurydice) and Erin Hunter (Persephone/ Semele). The two portray women at different stages of immersion into the city, Pierce still
holding a chance to escape while Hunter represents those who have already “crossed the river of forgetting” and see no way out.
Susan Auten (Narcissus) and Tony Moore (Echo) do a wonderful job bouncing off each other; pardon the pun, but one is the perfect
echo to the other. Another perfect pair is Daniel Marks as Skinhead Boy and Erin Capps as Skinhead Girl, both branded with names
they don’t deserve. Marks portrays a speed freak so convincingly, audiences will believe he came right off the street just for the
performance. Meanwhile, Capps performs the most transcendent scene in the whole production, in terms of both acting and the script.
And the script is the final icing on the cake. I admit I had never heard of national playwright Iizuka before, but after this production, I’m
definitely going to look up her other works. That, perhaps, is Guerilla Theatre’s best reward to those who see the show: a chance to be
a part of something Wilmington may not normally have a chance to see. So prepare for this place, because the audience does not play
the part of a simple observer—they are active rather than passive participants, which raises the theater experience to another level.
Where: Soapbox Speakeasy Micro-theater
Dates: Jan. 25-27, 8pm
Details/Tickets: (910) 233-9914 ; $10.
