Noah's Cove (news)

Explanations ahoy!

In 2015 play I wrote a play in something of a white heat, after watching (and then reviewing) a performance of another play, one with a fair amount of acclaim.  Frankly it seemed bad to me, missing out on the drama of its own characters in favor of a simplistic (and totally unearned) "happy" ending.  Characterization was done with sound bytes and popular references in such a way as didn't feel coherent. Lots of potential, but it left me feeling deeply unsatisfied.

No I ended up writing Noah's Cove, which evolved into something very much like a ghost story.  It even gained as many haunted house tropes as possible--the Indian burial ground, the mysterious book left behind by the last family which lived there, etc. But at heart it felt like--and was intended as--a play akin to The Cherry Orchard, Heartbreak House or Death of a Salesman, i.e. one in which a family becomes the metaphor for a given nation's society as a whole.

It also turned out extremely mysterious.  Every single reading revealed questions people wanted answered, but in fact what emerged in the writing was ever more intriguing clues rather than facts.  Characters kept saying things and often I had little or no notion what they meant.  But what could I do?  They were determined to keep their secrets, these characters, yet eager to tease about what they refused to openly reveal.

Now I'm having another reading of this play, to get even more feedback and maybe take a swing at another draft.  We shall see.  I'm terrifically pleased with the cast taking part (see below--Josh T. Ryan, Michelle Danyn, Alariza Nevarez, Nicole Alexandra)

Noah's Cove Free Reading takes plays Sunday, April 29, 2018 at 1pm at the Samuel French Bookstore 7623 West Sunset Blvd (west of LaBrea), Hollywood CA 90046.  This will be in the green room upstairs so seating is limited (fortunately the cast is small).