Review: Rollins Players' TIME STANDS STILL Delivers Emotional Journey

More often than not in the coverage of war, while we are presented with ghastly images, the focus is on the larger strategies and total body-counts of battle. We rarely hear the harrowing stories of the innocent lives destroyed by conflict; and even less frequently do we see how war impacts those who strive to bring us those ghastly images and harrowing stories. In David Margulies' TIME STANDS STILL, two individuals are forced to deal with the physical and emotional scars left from years of covering war-torn countries. Last weekend the Rollins Players, a student-run organization, tackled this challenging work, in the campus' intimate Fred Stone Theatre, with inspiring results.

Directed by senior Sarah Clark, the four-person cast ably interpreted a work that delves into a whole host of emotions that would normally be outside of the knowledge base for college students. Played by Kathleen Capdesuner, Sarah Goodwin is a renowned photojournalist who has just returned to New York after being severely injured by a road-side bomb in Iraq. Her long-time boyfriend James, a writer who only recently left Iraq to recuperate from his own demons, flew to Germany to bring Sarah home.

Being in the comparatively calmer New York City puts the two journalists at odds as they attempt to decide what is most important to them as a couple, and to each individually. Both feel a profound responsibility to continue their work having witnessed some of the world's worst atrocities, but there is also an undeniable draw to the safety of home.

Both still are pulled to the adrenaline addiction that being in-country provides, but as the couple's friend and editor Richard (played by Nick Brown) begins to settle down and start a family with his girlfriend Mandy (Emily Lamm), Sarah and James' priorities begin to shift, and sometimes in opposite directions.

As we meet Sarah, Capdesuner is weighed down by braces, slings, crutches, and scars. She uses her character's physical limitations as another method to communicate her restlessness and uneasiness of being away from the causes to which she has dedicated her life. While Capdesuner's Sarah, who was originally played on Broadway by a 46-year-old Laura Linney, would have benefited from the experience and insight of those extra decades, the young actress was compelling in the layered role. She was able to make the character's conflict both human and understandable; all the while making it difficult to look away whenever she was on stage.

Casteel's James is just as complicated and conflicted as his girlfriend. Though his scars are more emotional than Sarah's, they are equally as debilitating. And though the play's emotional journey is centered on Sarah, James has the most emotional ground to travel in the show. Casteel navigates his character's twists and turns impressively, all the while embodying the heart-wrenching guilt he feels for leaving Sarah alone in Iraq. As James' goals shift away from the danger of reporting from battle zones, Casteel softens, making him a far more sympathetic figure than he was at the outset.

Both Capdesuner and Casteel are strongest in their character's most quiet, intimate moments. However, both Sarah and James are fiery, ambitious individuals, so when the two inevitably butt heads, the emotions quickly become elevated. While these moments of confrontation are often the most telling for each character, I felt that their execution often worked against the production. The default method of conveying intense emotion for all four actors seemed to be to scream over top of each other, which, while it might be realistic, in the cavernous Fred Stone theatre, made many of the play's most dramatic moments difficult to understand.

As the show's secondary couple, Brown and Lamm provide a needed distraction from Sarah and James' intensity; although Richard and Mandy are not entirely immune from outbursts of their own.

Richard, who once had a relationship with Sarah, springs his new, much younger, girlfriend Mandy on his friends. This quick moving relationship serves as the subtle catalyst for the growing schism between Sarah and James. Brown's calming demeanor serves his character well as he is often caught in the middle of the hot-headed couple. Though at times I wasn't able to understand some of Brown's words, he brought a strong, thoughtful presence to the show.

While Mandy is meant to be less sharply drawn than the other, worldlier, characters, Lamm's portrayal seemed focused too much on her naïveté. Even though the character often voiced the thoughts of the more sympathetic audience members, her bubbliness occasionally made it difficult to believe her as a real person. That fact notwithstanding, Lamm's brightness and energy made her a joy to watch and a breath of fresh air in an otherwise heavy show.

While all four of the actors performed admirably in their roles, there seemed to be yet another level of depth and connection of which they were capable, and that the play required. I am excited to see all four of these talented young performers on stage again in the future, whether it is at Rollins or on other Central Florida stages.

The set design, also by Clark, was appropriate, but understated. Performed in an intimate ¾ thrust, the ability to see every ounce of emotion wrung from the characters was exceptionally powerful. Other little touches brought you into the world of these characters, beginning with Iraq War-era news reports, which played quietly before the show.

Ultimately, TIME STANDS STILL is most effective as an examination of how traumatic experiences impact individuals. For some it is a reminder of what truly has value in life, and for others, it is just another hurdle on a difficult road.

While the Rollins Players' TIME STANDS STILL has closed, there is still another student-led production in the Fred Stone Theatre this season. For more information visit their website.

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Did you visit the Fred Stone for TIME STANDS STILL, share your thoughts in the comments below, or by "Liking" and following BWW Orlando on Facebook and Twitter. You can also chat with me on Twitter @BWWMatt.

Photo Credit:
1) Kathleen Capdesuner and Casey Casteel | Rollins Players
2) Emily Lamm, Casey Casteel, and Kathleen Capdesuner | Rollins Players

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