By Elise C. Barnett-Curran
Good Standing, by Next Step Theatre Company brings a touching virtual theater piece to the all digital format Great Salt Fringe Festival. White chairs sit to and fro in a circle in a blank, stark space. Blue light shines down, blushes of lavender and gold blending in here and there. Plain flats stand austerely on the outer edges of the stage. This is the skeletal representation of a room in a meeting house belonging to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. The lighting by Aaron Gubler suggests a kind of hollowness, casting sharp highlights against pale surfaces like the flats and the stark white chairs. Solo actor Kenneth McCormack’s rarefied, rangy facial symmetry and ice blue eyes catches this light magnificently, creating what I’d consider the most perfect pairing of lighting and actor I’ve ever seen.
This is the setting for a disciplinary council from the LDS church in Good Standing. Local playwright Matthew Greene tells a story of a man facing the council, recounting his life history and his relationship with the church, with his children, with his wife, and with the man he loves. It is deeply personal and full of feeling, and it asks compassion of all who watch it. Each person in the room as described by McCormack feels familiar and real, all of them people I’ve met and have known and loved. The main character explains the difficulty in being forced to choose between the church he loves and who he knows that he is.
The weight of the show rests on McCormack’s shoulders, and he is more than up to the task. He tells each detail of the main character’s story with intention and gentleness, swimming between moments with such deftness that it feels as though the scene happens in real time, a confession from a friend. Nour Mihamou’s camera work bolsters this performance, finding the intimate moments to zero in on McCormack’s profile, drawing us in to the emotion, challenging the notion that theater actors can’t swiftly and easily transform into film actors.
There is one more chance to view Good Standing on the Great Salt Lake Fringe Festival’s website on August 9, 2020 at 9:15 p.m. Viewing is free to the public, but donations are accepted via PayPal at paypal.me/nextsteptheatre and 100 percent of the proceeds go to Black Lives Matter and The Utah Pride Center.
The Great Salt Lake Fringe Festival and Next Step Theatre Company present Good Standing by Matthew Greene.
August 9, 2020, 9:15 p.m.
No tickets required, donations accepted at paypal.me/nextsteptheatre
Great Salt Lake Fringe Facebook Page
Good Standing Facebook Event
Next Step Theatre Facebook
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