Review: THE PARK at Seattle Public Theater

Dear Readers, I’m all for new works, especially well written new works such as “The Park” by Lisa Every and Jenn Ruzumna, currently performing at Seattle Public Theatre.  But as much as I liked the dialog in “The Park” it fell into two of my least favorite traps, a lack of point or reason for the piece as well as the dreaded someone else’s therapy on stage.

The setting is a simple one as the title might suggest, a park.  Specifically one section of a park with a bench and a large tree where two women, Libby and Bev (played by the authors Ruzumna and Every), meet every day for lunch.  They’ve done so since they were kids and as we enter the play, they are older women nearing the end of their lives.  At least their lives in our plane of existence, as the two quietly pass away on that bench and we now see their existence as ghosts, getting younger with each scene.  And as the ladies look on, the rest of the ensemble (Alba Davenport, Meg McLynn, Ryan Sanders, and Eddie Morgan) exist in multiple roles, portraying Bev and Libby’s family members or people in their lives through a series of monologues and vignettes. 

As I said, the writing, specifically the dialogue, is fresh, crisp and engaging.  And the two do well creating bold and vibrant characters.  But as good as the characters are, they achieve little growth in their short time on stage or even a reason or purpose we are watching them.  Ultimately it feels like each one comes on stage, rants for a bit, and then leaves as quickly as they came.  Furthermore, Every and Ruzumna kept using a fairly annoying structure for their character’s scenes by having them enter with little to no introduction, have them drop names and details which the audience knows little to nothing about yet, only to divulge those missing details near the end of the scene.  So, at least for me, I spent much of the scenes thinking, “What?!  Did I miss something?  Who are they talking about?”.  And when I did ultimately find out their connection (for the most part, there are one or two I’m still not certain about) I found myself not caring who they were as I was exhausted from the winding path they led me down.

The production is a lovely one.  The set from Parmida Ziaei is both gorgeous and practical.  And when combined with the lighting from Dani Norberg and projections from Ahren Buhmann, the park truly comes alive.  And the pace, staging, and world built by director Amy Poisson is well thought out. 

The actors do well with the dialogue and their characters.  Every and Ruzumna have some fun banter as old friends.  And I specifically enjoyed Davenport and McLynn as two willful dogs with abandonment issues.  But as fun as those moments were, I kept coming back to the question, why are we watching this?  What are they trying to tell us?  I still don’t know. 

Overall, this was a pretty show with little reason for being that left me wanting some kind of depth and clarity.  And so, with my three-letter rating system, I give “The Park” at Seattle Public Theater a muddled MEH.  When creating a new work, you may want to start by asking “Who is this for?” and “Why am I telling it?”  If the answers are “For me” and “To exorcise my baggage”, you may want to rethink it or keep it in your journal. 

“The Park” performs at Seattle Public Theater through November 3rd.  For tickets or information visit them online at www.seattlepublictheater.org.

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