Becky Shaw by Gina Gionfriddo
March 24 – April 10, 2016
Directed by Ann Marie Pereth
In Gina Gionfriddo’s BECKY SHAW, a newlywed couple fixes up two romantically challenged friends: wife’s best friend, meet husband’s sexy and strange new co-worker. When an evening calculated to bring happiness takes a dark turn, crisis and comedy ensue in this wickedly funny play that asks what we owe the people we love and the strangers who land on our doorstep.
This production featured as Max Garrett, Rozanne Sher as Suzanna Slater, Charlene Sher as Susan Slater, Kelli Andino as Becky Shaw, Mike Rasmussen as Andrew Porter, and Rebecca Reyes as Becky Shaw (understudy).
Director’s Note (from the program)
Let’s talk about choices. In choosing titles for A Public Fit, whether for our monthly readings or, as in the case of Becky Shaw, for full-blown production, my hope is that the material will inspire, challenge, move you to tears or just plain entertain. Truth be told, my list of hopes is infinite. But I feel pretty certain that you will see a great deal of yourself in each of Gina Gionfriddo’s carefully crafted characters.
We navigate through the modern world by nothing more than the artistry of our choices: What time to arise? Which road to take? Which door to open? Which door to slam shut forever? And although we can’t initially choose our family, as we grow older we certainly choose the relationships that surround and shape us, the external forces of humanity that help mold us into who we are and what we hope to become. In fact, there comes a time in each of our lives where we discover the truths about what we really admire about our families and what we most certainly do not. Often, the alliances that we forge to either support these strengths or patch these failings come with their own baggage, and a new set of choices presents itself.
For the empathetic heart, such choices are difficult. Our ties to family are married to our own established perspectives, and it’s often tough to shake the bonds of blood for the comfortable connections we’ve made over life’s long journey.
There are five characters in tonight’s play. There are five very differing perspectives, five different sets of life-long choices that bring these people together. And that’s the beauty of the human condition; we are a mixed bag of the black or white? red or yellow? green or blue? choices that we make, culminating in the most beautiful shades of grey.
– AMP, March 2016