From left are Kari Ginsburg, Annie Ottati and John Sygar in John Steinbeck’s East of Eden at NextStop Theatre Company/Photo by Lock and Company
The acting is great. Ditto the set. The set and lighting are terrific. No complaints about the directing.
It's just the script which needs work.
The play is East of Eden, NextStop Theatre Company's newest production whose crews excel at their assignments.
It is no surprise that John Sygar who has demanding roles as a father and then a son, was earlier nominated for a Helen Hayes Award.
He is a young newly-wed, Adam Trask, and later, the guilt-ridden son, Caleb, of the father he played in the first act.
In a troubling production that eschews little hope for a sunnier future until the very end, Caleb writhes on the wooden floor in agony and torment over the grief and hurt he brings others, including himself, because of the choices he has made.
Caleb and his brother, Aron (Annie Ottati) are twins born to Adam and his wife, Kathy (also Annie Ottati).
The play was adapted by Frank Galati from John Steinbeck's 1952 novel of the same name. It is no coincidence that Caleb and Aron have names similar to the first children of Adam and Eve: Cain and Abel.
Steinbeck's title comes from Genesis 4: 8, 16: "Cain rose up against his brother Abel and slew him... And Cain went away and dwelled in the land of Nod, on the east of Eden."
Like Cain in the Bible story, Caleb struggles to gain his father's love and respect like his father (Zach Brewster-Geisz) bestows on Aron.
Kate (rhymes with hate) is the boys' mother who flees the family after giving birth to her sons. She does not return. Never one to exude sensitivity or love for anyone else save herself, she is a role model for every misogynist's notebook, a spiteful, bitter person from beginning to end, skillfully portrayed by Kari Ginsburg, also a Helen Hayes nominee.
Here, Kate reminds you of animals which kill their young.
Acting on rumors that their mother is not dead, Caleb goes in search to learn the truth. He tells Aron who joins the Army to fight in World War I.
Until a love triangle develops, Aron's girlfriend (Nina Marti) is the only glimmer of sunshine in the sad yarn.
Kathy is a younger Kate in the first act who fills the venue with piercing screams as she gives birth to her sons in a too-long scene to make every mother wince at the memory. (And, no doubt, some fathers, too. I don't guess you have to be a parent to shrink at the sounds.)
It's not only the mother's yells the audience hears for plenty more lie ahead.
Another actor, Reginald Richard, convincingly carries dual responsibilities as the steadfast father and, later, son, Samuel and Will Hamilton, who are Trask neighbors.
Lee (Jacob Yeh) is Adam's right-hand man, a reliable character who assists Adam in running the household.
The experienced child actors who play young Cal (William Price), Aron (Lorenzo Aten Falconi) and Abra (Eva Jaber) add curiosity and fun at the beginning, and then they grow up.
The beginning of this Eden opens with a beautiful landscape setting which hangs as backdrop throughout the show, a constant contrast to the script. Lighting director Brittany Shemuga weaves time's passages in her valley with visual changes in the landscape and sky.
Wooden furniture and surroundings bring warmth to the ambience and help to mask the family's uncomfortable relationships.
Adding dimension is the use of 21st century electronic musical accompaniment whose absence is noticeable during short pauses in the dialogue.
Confusing, at least at first, are the actors who stand silently in the shadows on either side of the stage while another actor representing the same person at a different age speaks. While the adults hold hands and converse, child actors sit on a bed in the shadows and hold hands.
For scene changes the actors move furniture, tables, and chairs stored in sight on either side of the stage to the center stage and sometimes slam them in unison on the floor. (Assistant director, Hollyann Bucci, also was the props director.)
Moyenda Kulemeka has dressed the actors in beautifully designed costumes for the turning of the century in California.
Until death comes to call, hope sinks with the setting sun east of this Eden.
Others in the cast are Alana Sharp and Nahm Darr.
Creative team members are Evan Hoffman, director; Jaclyn Young, wigs; Sarah Usary, stage manager; Laura Moody, assistant stage manager; Casey Kaleba, fight choreographer; Meghan Behm, intimacy director; and Jonathan Abolins, master electrician.
What: East of Eden by John Steinbeck. Adapted for the stage by Frank Galati
When: Thursday (Nov. 8 and Nov. 15) through Saturday nights at 8 p.m., Sundays, at 7 p.m., Saturday and Sunday matinees at 2 p.m., now through November 18, 2018 with the 2 p.m. matinee.
Where: NextStop Theatre Company, 269 Sunset Park Drive, Herndon, VA 20170 in the back right corner of Sunset Business Park, near the intersection of Spring Street/Sunset Hills Road. Right off the Fairfax County Parkway. A wee big hard to find on a first visit, so allow an extra 15 minutes. The program notes that GPS map systems often give incorrect driving directions once inside the Sunset Business Park. From the "Taste of the World" restaurant, circle counter-clockwise around the building and look for maroon awning. Lots of great restaurants nearby.
Free parking: Available near the door.
Admission: General admission tickets are $35.
Duration: About two and 15 minutes with one intermission
Rating: Adult themes
For more information: 703-481-5930 or BoxOffice@NextStopTheatre.org
patricialesli@gmail.com
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