Chimera at HERE, 30 Plays launch

30 PLAYS 30                                      REPORT ON “CHIMERA”

30 PLAYS 30 LAUNCH

PLACE:                      HERE/Dorothy B. Williams Theater

DATE:                                    THURSDAY, JAN. 12

TIME:                         7PM

LENGTH                    75 MINUTES

CO-CREATORS        Suli Holum and Deborah Stein

First a special thank you to Kristin Marting, artistic director, and Kim Whitener, producing

director of HERE for hosting a pre-show discussion “cocktails and content” for League

members who attended as well as the free glass of wine for  wearing the Turning 30! Privilege

bracelet.

Program Notes: “A couple of years ago, Suli called Deborah and pitched an idea

for a solo show: let's make a play about the medical phenomenon of chimerism, the

condition of having two sets of DNA in one body---a play about a woman (Jennifer Samuels)

who is her own twin.  The idea was both thrilling and challenging: a story about grappling

with the effects of technology on our daily lives would demand that we create a performance

event with a dynamic exchange between the live performer, the audience, and an abundance

of technology.”

From My Seat by Mari Lyn Henry

            The set:  The first thing you admire is the kitchen set,  a white refrigerator with top loading freezer (stage right) then eight cupboard doors side by side under a long counter (for sink, garbage disposal, stove unit) and stage left an almost identical looking refrigeration unit which is a storage closet.  One large window is centrally located on the back wall. 

            This is the most provocative piece of theatre not just for the subject matter

but also  for all the elements of presentation which are organic to the script.

            At the beginning we hear a female voice from the audience. When she appears she is holding

a large white coffee cup. She engages us immediately. Dressed in white shirt, capri

length pants and green sneakers, she connects with us and then asks a gentleman in

the first row (where I was sitting) to hold the cup for her. He does.  Then she begins

to talk about Jennifer Samuels and her discovery that her son Brian has a “pediatric

heart murmur” (the window has a shade that becomes a projection screen) and you see the heart  and hear it beat.  She cannot accept that her DNA is responsible for this condition and persuades her husband to get tested. The child's DNA is different from that of his birth parents and that is where the exploration and discussion of “chimerism” takes root. 

            Suli also portrays Brian, the eight year old son (wearing dark framed glasses) who is abandoned by the mother when she cannot accept the truth. The boy can talk to us  from the top of the

refrigerator or from the open window.   A truly wonderful example of surrealism occurs when Suli is

swallowed up head first by the garbage disposal. 

            The sound design is masterful. You hear the sounds of the garbage disposal, water running from the faucet,  a knife slicing lemons.  There are no props; some costume accessories which  she produces

from her clothing, others in the storage closet. An interactive moment occurs when an audience

member is asked to pull her corset strings as tight as possible. 

            There are superb visual effects:  the stars, the universe, the large moon that can be seen through the window and the moving images of two people projected on the surfaces of the set.

            The music can sound ominous and choices of ambient sounds are used to enhance the narrative.

            The definition of chimera comes from Greek mythology. It refers to an

organism having tissues of two or more kinds differing genetically.  It could mean

a fire breathing monster with a lion's head, goat's body and a dragon's tail.

            At one point Suli rhetorically asks :  What is a person?  What is the relationship

between DNA and the soul?  The mother she suggests  made an irrational choice to abandon

her 8 year old son.   She felt she had given birth to a “broken” baby. and could not

overcome her guilt of not being able to love him.

            Suli and Deborah have created a masterful, intelligent,imaginative, thought provoking,

and extraoridnary piece of theatre.  Suli's connection to the audience impressed me so

much when I saw how the gentleman held the coffee cup she gave him like it

was expensive porcelain. When she finally retrieved it from him, he said quietly,

“It got cold.” 

            What a terrific launch for 30 Plays Celebrate 30 Years!