By Shannon Milliman
A Feminine Ending motivates reflection about magnifying one’s talents in this brief, time bound glimmer of life and the complexity of relationships that feel like they either support or derail one’s dreams. Twilight Theater Company’s current project explores the path of discovering empowerment has a lot more to do with stepping into the nuance of doing the difficult things you are afraid to do.
Sarah Treem’s creation, directed and produced by Dorinda Toner resonates with me as a woman and speaks to the weighty and important parts of existence. The script is sharp, clever, tender, beautiful and Toner’s talent inspires passionate and enigmatic performances. Toner’s discernment in balancing the emotional levels of the tender script and orchestration of passionate actors, props, and staging allows the audience to feel greater than the sum of their parts. I feel more capable and desirous to part through the curtains of my own barriers – just like the characters in this elevating story.
Amanda Blue (Chelsea Jean Sherman) has a bright future ahead of her as she pursues collegiate music and happens to get engaged to the heartthrob of the rock and roll century, Jack (Ryan O’Connell-Peller) (what a head of hair, yes!), but things get a little topsy-turvy when Amanda can’t seem to channel her ideas, genius, and song into the clean harmony she planned. The ensemble, Amanda, Jack and Amanda’s parents, David (David Mitchum Brown) and Kim (Alicia Marie Turvin) and an unexpected encounter from Amanda’s high school boyfriend, Billy (Jeremy Abe) are a symphony unto themselves. The languid, lovely interactions between Amanda and her mother left me desiring to find out more about my own mother, what she loves, what she dreams, what chances she missed. The interplay these two had is sacred, solemn, and real. Both pulled from emotional wells that expressed how life and the paths we take are not black and white. There is value and virtue in every choice, detour and sometimes even when we know we did the “right thing” – whatever that is, we find later, it does not feel so “right.”
Initially, I expected Amanda’s dad to be nothing more than “go ask your mom” in style but nothing is stereotypical or cliché with Brown’s characterization. In a moment when he discerns that the relationship he knew with his wife is changing, his emotional outpouring is not satisfactory to what Amanda expects. Brown’s ability to underplay and delicately demonstrate the masculine experience reminded me of real interactions with men in my own life. There was something tender in father and daughter’s reaction that caused me to breathe deeper and leave more room for patience and listening especially when I am convinced I am right. Every line, every interaction is pure and from a place deep within the soul. The ensemble’s ability to probe deeper and demonstrate that what you believe at first isn’t always the whole truth, speaks to Twilight Theatre Company’s strength of presenting gray areas and pursuing the light when life presents challenge.
Sherman, as Amanda, gives a performance of a lifetime. An earnest delivery, a sweet and soulful offering that had an ability to make me straighten my posture, smile, cry, and slap my husband’s knee and hold his hand tighter when we left, even though I did not want to leave the theater. I just needed a moment, hour, lifetime – to take it all in. I felt the hope, despair, confusion, storm, and wonder that Amanda feels and Sherman artfully amplified and I experienced a sense that I can move forward with joy even if I don’t have it all figured out.
Attending amidst the pandemic and social-distancing precautions, I experienced an unexpected greater measure of community. I observed the theater company’s mindful efforts to provide safety for the community attending. Gloves, hand washing, skipping seats to give some room. As the play continued, I experienced this urgent desire, hoping that all those who need to see this show will still come. A Feminine Ending is a special show. I actively remember the wistful, yearning Turvin demonstrated. Turvin delivers the kind of performance that is wonderful, awe-striking in the moment, and then you wake up the next morning and you realize you were dreaming about her complexity, and you feel new levels of intensity and heroism through her alms, you realize she was not simply passionate but extraordinary. In all the little moments of seeing cast and crew try to help keep themselves and others be healthy, I felt the similitude of Kim raising Amanda and doing the selfless acts of care that raised a child and then a vibrant woman capable of creating a new world. Wash your hands and come and be renewed and rejuvenated from the inside out. Your immune system will undeniably be boosted.
A scene that will go down in the history of scenes presents Kim and David talk-singing over one another and Amanda reframing their argument as an actual two-voiced harmony. You have to see and hear and feel it to believe it – this song is power on steroids. The light conflict and abundant humor captures what it means to have two different souls try their best to become one. It is complicated. Turvin and Brown left me craving more abundance, introspection, and better communication in sometimes strained relationships.
Abe as Billy provides welcome comic relief, insightful ideas, and serves as a reminder that the judgements and instant decisions we cast upon our friends are not always fair. It is fair to leave room for growth and for becoming. Abe’s characterization inspired me to want to engage more deeply with people I think I have all figured out. He is enthusiastic, fun and warm, a great character.
The production team (Victoria Racz, Paul Roder, Chris Byrne, Eric Toner, Robin Pair, Jay Hash, Chelsea Sherman, Alex Arnold, and Lola Toner) caused all the working part details to be seamless. My focus was able to completely find peace and meaning in this uplifting story. Nothing distracted, everything complimented. The simple costuming, black and white and gossamery curtain wall added a dreamlike complement to the real life and inside-Amanda’s-head-life. The scene with the lit, apple trees allowed the hot and heavy magic to make my heart flutter.
The metaphoric quality of Twilight Theater Company’s A Feminine Ending and its complementary delivery of high-caliber talent and heart is life changing. There is uncertainty. There is no promise of tomorrow. There is no guarantee that working on your dreams will give you the results you want. There are masculine endings. But any day, anywhere, I will take a feminine ending.
Twilight Theater Company presents A Feminine Ending by Dorinda Toner.
Twilight Theater Company, 7515 N Brandon, Portland, Oregon 07217
March 13–March 14, 2020. Friday–Saturday, 8:00 PM, March 27-29, April 2-5 Friday, Saturday, Sunday, 8:00 PM
Tickets: $18.00-$24.00 – Adults
$16.00-$22.00 – Students & Military (with ID) and Seniors (60+)
Please note that ticket price increases by $2.00 if purchased at the door.
Contact: 503-847-9838
Twilight Theater Company Facebook Page
A Feminine Ending Facebook Event
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