Although the wintry weather prevents us from going to Cedar Point right now, Basement Arts is offering a heated ride on the tumultuous relationship roller coaster in its production of Sam Shepard's "Fool for Love" this weekend.
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Fool For Love Arena Theater, Free Tonight at 7 and 11 p.m. Saturday at 7 p.m. |
"It's a very exciting, touching play. There aren't going to be any chandeliers falling or helicopters crashing or anything like that," director and BFA senior Jonathan Berry said, referring to the large scale commercialized theater productions that are becoming popular with modern audiences.
The play involves a cast of only four characters. It explores the passionate, yet destructive relationship between Eddie (a rodeo stunt man) and May (a woman trying to become mentally strong). The two presumably ex-lovers reunite when he tracks her down in a tiny hotel room on the edge of the Mojave Desert. They rehash their relationship one last time as Eddie attempts to win May back and she tries to get away.
The four characters tell two or three different versions of the story throughout the play, slowly revealing the truth. "Fool for Love" delves into themes of sin and redemption, as well as the danger of living lies and how it destroys lives.
"Fool for Love" is by no means a cheery play, but it addresses a topic that touches nearly everyone. "I think we've all gone through relationships where we've done things wrong or we've been hurt or we've hurt someone else. I think that the healing process, to see the effects of that, and the coming through of that is very important. I think everyone will be able to find pieces of themselves," Berry said.
Beyond the attraction of the universal theme, Berry commented that Shepard seems to truly know these characters, which makes the play special. "He is probably the foremost modern American playwright or possibly the foremost modern playwright we have."
Berry finds that the cast's passion for the play adds even more to Shepard's material. "What really struck me about it is that it is four very, very great roles for actors and I had four very, very committed people," Berry said. "The play is so tightly wound, I couldn't imagine working on a better script. It's just this perfect little tempest in a teacup I guess."
In addition to the tightly written script and committed cast, Berry also feels that the lighting accentuates the emotions of the play within its simple stage setting. "Charlie Packard, our lighting designer, has really done a lot to create, to pull attention," Berry said. "There is an explosion off-stage, a truck blowing up, horses racing away, gunfire, and things like that."
Berry views "Fool for Love" as a meaty kind of play that has been scarce in recent university theater. "They've (the university theater groups) done some Shepard here, but it's hard with university productions. They don't do a lot of the modern things that you'd go and see off-Broadway right now, the real raw, rough stuff. I think that there was a definite passion and hunger for these four actors to get a hold of something that they could really sink their teeth into and run with," Berry said.
While he believes that all people can relate to and appreciate "Fool for Love," Berry thinks that there is a specific attraction to students. "I think this is a great show for a college audience because they are two young people, but also it's a very hot, passionate, sexy show and there is a lot that happens. It takes place in an hour, so it's not a huge chunk out of your evening." If looking for a hot moment of passion on a cold late-winter night, "Fool for Love" looks to be a promising fulfillment.
Heather Dilly, Alex Alioto and Mark Gmazel have a fight in "Fool For Love"