By Ashlei Havili Thomas
In an unprecedented time of performance space closures, many theatre companies have turned to alternative methods of bringing arts to an increasingly disconnected audience, and Plan-B Theatre’s audio play P.G. Anon is a golden example of the best of the arts melding with online platforms. A new play written by one of Utah’s most revered and celebrated playwrights Julie Jensen, P.G. Anon is a snapshot of three lives in just over an hour’s time. Split into three acts, each with their own set of characters, it focuses on the lives of three women, very different but equally yoked with a burdensome wombful. P.G. Anon is produced in partnership with Planned Parenthood of Utah and is based on true stories collected by the playwright. So, carve out some time while making dinner or learning your COVID hobby to listen to the rich vibrancy of Plan-B Theatre’s P.G. Anon.
The first act of P.G. Anon focuses on Pauline, a tired, overworked mom of a brood of rambunctious kids. Set in 2016 prior to the presidential election, Pauline frets over what to do with the soon-to-be one more mouth to feed, set of hands to wash and person to take care of with the little wit she has left. The second act stars Tiffany, a young alcoholic couch surfing in and out of jail and trouble in 1996. When she finds out she’s pregnant, she flippantly continues with her drug and alcohol filled life while her friends try to convince her to get clean for the baby. Act Three focuses in on Sheila, a high school student faced with pregnancy in 1991. When she’s kicked off the soccer team for her possible pregnancy, she and her younger sister discuss all the things they want to do before becoming pregnant. Each act is separate and distinct but threaded together and interwoven with famous historic moments defining the price of womanhood and facts about U.S. pregnancies to create an audible punch of life, grit, fear, and anger-at a higher power, at society, at the world at large.
The three actresses that portray the three main characters give them each a definite feel and sound that makes them easily recognizable from each other. April Fossen as Pauline is frazzled and uses her music to create a facsimile of calm while peppering it with her undercurrent of barely controlled chaos and frustration. Fossen’s glib manner in reciting religious phrases about “all God’s children” show her social conditioning while allowing the audience to feel her helplessness and rage at her situation. Emilie Starr’s impertinent and irreverent Tiffany is a stark contrast. Starr alludes to Tiffany’s deeper longing to truly care for this child and helplessness at her situation while smearing it all with a carelessness and street hardness that belies her age. Then comes young, inexperienced Sheila, voiced by Sydney Shoell. Shoell’s performance gives Sheila a naivete reminiscent of girlhood and simpler times. As Sheila contemplates what pregnancy could mean for her life, Shoell voices her as the big sister teaching her younger sister how to avoid the same pitfalls. The vocal cast wouldn’t be whole without the fantastic work of the ensemble, who create a larger cast of characters with little context or overlap. Each character felt unique and the resulting full sound makes for a completely engaging and satisfying listening experience.
In many ways, this reviewer believes audio plays to be more difficult than live in-person performances; as the number of senses is limited, creating a fully immersive experience becomes increasingly difficult. The production team, led by director and sound designer Cheryl Ann Cluff and playwright Julie Jensen, is truly the star of this production. Creating such a varied and clear-cut sound design is difficult, but with the help of sound engineer David Evanoff, Cluff paints a vivid picture with music, foley, and other sounds to help the audience create the world of P.G. Anon in their own minds. In reading the interview of Jensen by QSaltLake Magazine and her own writing on P.G. Anon in Catalyst Magazine, we get a backstage view of Jensen’s process, including workshopping the play in Chicago as well as with Plan-B Theatre. In her piece in Catalyst Magazine, Jensen writes how she put together the play for a live audience, only to have the current COVID-19 pandemic ruin those plans. “I had to make this abstract, physical, chaotic experience into a play for the ear,” Jensen writes. “And that’s what I’ve done during COVID. I have made the play into an experience to be heard, not seen. . . But I think I have made the play more authentic, more direct. The characters are closer to the woman next door, the kid down the street, and your sister who went astray.”
P.G. Anon can be streamed from Plan-B Theatre’s website or on their free app until March 7, 2021, as a part of their audio subscription series. It consists of three tales of crossed fingers, of unspoken prayers and curses, of unplanned life and the plans made afterwards. For language and content, this play is best listened by a teen and older audience, though listener discretion is advised. This thoroughly sensational audio piece is not only one of the finest this reviewer has listened to, it is both relevant and close to the heart of the state of Utah, a state that values family above all else, and sometimes at the cost of other values.
Plan-B Theatre presents P.G. Anon, written by Julie Jensen.
Plan B Theatre Audiostream
February 25 8 PM-March 7, 2021 at midnight, MST
Plan-B Theatre website
Plan-B Theatre Facebook Page
P.G Anon DigiPlaybill
0 Comments