Review: When Life is Not Our Own to Live- McCasland's NEAT AND TIDY

Is it possible that the fundamental essence of who we are as people is the same, regardless of how moral or immoral our lives - how we are supposed to live and feel and how we actually do? Do all people truly want to feel loved and as though they are living instead of waiting for their lives to start - to love and be loved and not feeling like life is one gigantic waste? It is safe to say that all human beings desire these basic things that make us not only able to survive, but bring joy to our means of living each day.

So what truly makes us bad people if we all seek to find life within our at times confounding need to feel our existence worthwhile?

These are only some of the questions which beckon to be answer within Steven Carl McCasland's Neat and Tidy: a wonderfully heartbreaking and intriguing show of emotion which almost renders the audience a compliant child who must uncomfortably experience all that is happening before him; it is almost too powerful to explain in words, which is why I would deem this play the best, most dramatic and most beautiful that I have had the pleasure of seeing thus far.

As part of Beautiful Soup's Five Plays in Repertory series, which began at the Clarion Theater on May 7th and showcases only a handful of the plays McCasland has written (most of which he now serves as director), Neat and Tidy leaves the audience awestruck at how right it is as a show. It tells the story of a young girl (who only looked a little bit like her mother) who is raped and murdered because of a young man's internal affliction - because of how powerless his own life experiences had rendered him, and finding no other way to alleviate these feelings of worthlessness and woe takes pain out on those who would never retaliate against what he does to them. This murder proceeds one of a young girl with down-syndrome years back, and it is made perfectly clear how things like this don/t happen in such a town - how bad people with bad intentions in their hearts are almost not allowed to coexist among the people who only wish to "raise a family" there.

The irony of this entire story, as audience members slowly rise to become townspeople in almost the style of Winesburg, Ohio, is that all those connected with the tragedies in some way are beyond conflicted themselves; it is as though people, regardless of their hopes and dreams, of their moral perspectives and good intentions, are nevertheless plagued by issues that are beyond their control; those same issues interestingly are those which manifested a killer amongst them.

As I watched the story of Neat and Tidy unfold, which very gradually happens and then almost all at once, like a great revelation that has occurred in the midst of chaos and confusion, I was awed by how perfectly McCasland is able to comprehend and present the feeling of being utterly helpless. Not only that, but to somehow know that the reason why is simultaneously in the person's power to change while that person is literally incapable of doing anything about it. Tracy (played by the uber-talented superstar Kristen Gehling*) is at the same distraught over her daughter Lilly's death but also discloses the fact that she and Lilly's murderer have mutual feelings which somehow make them less monsters than simply human.

Without revealing too much, it seems that being a person is forgivable because it is, as McCasland so perfectly captures in the play, feeling a certain way to the extent of that feeling becoming soul consuming is something that can't be removed or taken away; feeling so utterly separated from other people and being cognizant of the reason why is described as a part of certain human beings that, no matter how hard they try, they cannot get rid off. As Tracy argues with her husband Tom (played by the great Mark Eric Gomez, who makes feeling both betrayed and empowered by knowledge of his wife's secrets look almost easy), she reveals how she truly feels about her daughter's death and why this is exactly the catalyst needed to set all future change in motion.

Gehling is brilliant; I really don't know how else to describe her performance. Once they begin, her tirades against those involved in the aftermath of her daughter's death are daunting and relentless; once she starts, I think it's impossible for her to slow down. Yet in the midst of her madness and as she yells because of what is stirring within her, the audience cannot possible hate her. She plays her character so well to the extent that feelings of empathy come into play from all those who watch her - feelings which don't arise from her daughter's death, but more so as a result of her own gradual demise.

Each actor made the play what it is, and there were moments within it when I just wanted to cry and join in on the emotion so prevalent in that space; yet, when Gehling spoke, I had to remember to breathe as I watched her explain almost on point that existential quandary which sticks to some of us closer and more relentlessly than others.

Having seen many of Steven Carl McCasland's plays, many of which focus on well-known people who've lived momentous and often troubled lives, it is incredibly obvious how great is the mind responsible for each masterpiece that is transferred from paper to stage. With each show he presents to his audience, McCasland proves that not only does he have a knack for writing and directing, but his ability to present to an audience this raw, unbridled and incredibly unique portrayal of his characters is in my eyes a gift. His shows seem to flow, and this is said not only in relevance to his dialogue, character interaction, etc., but also in the sense of how the audience just KNOWS that as soon as one of his productions begin, it is without doubt one of McCasland's masterpieces. From my experience, his plays create a specific "feel" - an aura which they cast upon their audience that makes them incredibly riveting and irresistible to watch. This show is no different.

McCasland's Neat and Tidy runs along the lines of something I have never seen before. It is powerful and memorable and everything that a great piece of art ought to be. There are so many themes within this play, and the way they come together to culminate with the fact that life is truly never "neat and tidy" is phenomenal. All involved with this show truly gave a gripping performance, and McCasland should be proud that he is responsible for a play which has the power to leave such a mark on people's lives. It is a show that should not be missed.

Neat and Tidy, as part of Beautiful Soup's Five Plays in Repertory (which includes Little Wars, What Was Lost, 28 Marchant Avenue and Der Kanarienvogel), will continue performances throughout the month of May at the Clarion Theater, located at 309 East 26th Street; this is accessible by the 6 train. Please visit http://www.beautifulsouptheatercollective.org/ for all show and ticket information. Neat and Tidy runs one hour and forty-five minutes.

Enjoy the show!

Photos by Samantha Mercado-Tudda

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