Flux Sunday, September 20th

Our first Flux Sunday at NYR Studios, where Flux is a resident company, was everything we’d been hoping for. We had room to move! Each of our three scenes had a comfortable space to work in, and the results were undeniable. There was a burst of energy and productivity that has me hoping this relationship with NYR will last (remember to mention Flux if you rent there!)

But to the nitty and then to the gritty…

THE SLEEPING WORLD
First, Kelly O’Donnell staged the first scene of Crystal Skillman’s The Sleeping World, a melancholy-funny look at playwrights gathering to read the newly discovered last script of their recently passed friend. Once close, the three friends clumsily fall back into the push and pull of their painful-sweet old intimacy. Their friend’s script, as it turns out, is a thinly veiled portrait of them, and brings to the light all the old wounds and longings they’d kept in the dark.
Kelly O’Donnell did a lovely job of staging this – I watched the run before the shared run, and with a few small adjustments to blocking, she brought out the story beautifully. A special shout-out goes to the triumphant returns of Gretchen Poulos and Kitty Lindsay, who brought Sam and Angie to a subtle, detailed life. Crystal is bringing back scene 2 next week, and we’re all excited for more.

DARK MATTER
Then, Heather Cohn staged the next two scenes of my play, Dark Matter. (For plot and character, check out last week’s entry). Jimmy (Nancy Franklin) and Winny (Jane Taylor) battled it out over Jimmy’s dreams (Winny is now a Jungian analyst, after reading that great article about Jung’s Red Book in NYT Mag) and dementia; followed by Maxine (Carissa Cordes) confronting her mentor Nicolay (Isaiah Tanenbaum) about approving funding for a project from rival physicist Afruz Sen. These scenes were a nice contrast to the elliptical loveliness of Crystal’s scene – these were jugular collisions between formidable opponents. I especially loved the staging and playing of Jimmy luring Winny back with the promise of his truly disturbing dream, and the moment where Nikoly kindly but firmly exiled Maxine from his office, her realizing too late she’d gone too far.

LION CREEK
Speaking of triumphant returns, auteur Jeremy Basescu’s back from the wilds of summer with a brand new joint. Lion Creek follows two couples, one seemingly thriving, one falling apart, navigating an awkward night of wine and Wii. There were notes of darker twists than twenty-something malaise, however; hints of secrets, hints of spies, hints of the mystery of Lion Creek sneak their way through the banter. Special shout outs to an icy-sweet Lynn Kenny as Tess and
goofy-charming Ryan Andes as Drake.

Yup, Flux Sunday and NYR are a good fit. Here’s to many more.

And for those of you there, what were your favorite moments? What did you think of the new space?