Photo Courtesy In Tandem Theatre
Premiered in 2011 at Chicago’s Northlight Theatre, Bruce Graham’s The Outgoing Tide enlists humor and heated discussion to touch the heart of family and aging issues. The late John Mahoney originated the lead role of Gunner, a man experiencing the first stages of dementia, who has made an unusual plan for his future. Gunner’s wife and recently divorced adult son disagree with him and argument ensues. Confined to their cabin on the Chesapeake Bay, the family must come to an agreement before the titular tide goes out.
Under Chris Flieller’s direction, In Tandem Theatre’s upcoming production will feature James Pickering as Gunner, Susan Sweeney as his wife, Peg, and Simon Provan as their son, Jack. In Tandem’s relationship with the playwright began several years ago when the company produced his Any Given Monday. I recently spoke with Flieller and Graham to learn more about the script and our local production.
Asked about the play’s style, Graham replies, “Tone wise, it’s a little tough to describe because the subject matter is kind of serious but there’s a lot of big laughs and because it deals with tough people dealing with a tough situation.” Flieller adds, “As with any family and any real exchange, even at the most serious of times, humor emerges. That’s what makes the script so believable.” “It’s like On Golden Pond, only funnier,” Graham summarizes with a laugh.
The piece employs a number of artistically challenging yet narratively effective devices, especially flashbacks, to handle its weighty exposition. “It’s tough, especially, for the actor playing Jack. He’s got to become a 10-year-old kid without being a silly cliché,” says Graham. “Bruce has done a marvelous job in layering the thing—the flashback not only explains what was just said about a particular character or situation, but also informs what’s going to come right after,” says Flieller. Moreover, he adds, “his dialogue is tremendous. It’s natural. The dialogue and the relationships are so well wrought, and the characters are so well defined.”
Stay on top of the news of the day
Subscribe to our free, daily e-newsletter to get Milwaukee's latest local news, restaurants, music, arts and entertainment and events delivered right to your inbox every weekday, plus a bonus Week in Review email on Saturdays.
What does Graham hope the play will accomplish? “You know what I love as an audience member? I want to walk out of the theater and think, ‘I wonder what happened to them the next day?’ If someone feels that way after one of my plays, then I feel I’ve done my job. If you get something else out of it—a message, a moral, a theme, whatever—that’s great, but personally I want to take two hours and put you into another world and get you caught up with these characters and go on a little journey with them. I know it’s kind of an old-fashioned way to be, but I’m an entertainer.”
Asked about his approach as director, Flieller says, “My job is to try and get out of way of the thing as much as possible: hire the right actors, have the right script and shape it in such a way that the essence of the thing, the story, comes through, without putting too much of my comment on it.” Of The Outgoing Tide, he adds, “I think the audience is going to be very conflicted about the characters in the show, especially Gunner. That’s what makes good theater: There is no clear-cut position that the playwright takes.”
Says Managing Director Jane Flieller, “The most important take-away in the play is not to solve this mystery and get a button ending, but rather to spur conversation. This isn’t a diagram for how you should do something or how something should end up. It is what it is, just like the world of dementia and Alzheimer’s. Everybody’s story is a little bit different; everybody’s needs are a little bit different; everybody’s solutions are a little bit different.”
In addition to its veteran performance ensemble, audiences can look forward to work from an impeccable team of Milwaukee designers. Flieller terms set designer Steve Barnes’ concept “deconstructed realism. There are very few walls representing any of the structures so we can go back and forth between the inside and outside and different places in time. It kind of represents the fragmentation of Gunner’s mind.” Sound designer Jonathon Leubner creates “a soundscape that’s going to put you environmentally on the Bay—nature sounds, water, geese, the outgoing tide,” Flieller continues. Lighting designer Holly Blomquist and costume designer Kathy Smith, both In Tandem regulars, complete the team.
The Fliellers also highlight the accompanying events and art exhibit in the theater’s lobby. John Kowalczyk’s “Myriad of Murals” features two large-scale abstract pieces the artist created after reflecting on the show’s exploration of mind, along with other pieces from his oeuvre. Kowalczyk will be on hand for a talkback after the Thursday, March 1 performance. After the Thursday, March 8 performance, Dr. Bashir Easter of the Milwaukee County Department on Aging will be present to continue the conversation on dementia and related conditions.
The Outgoing Tide runs Feb. 22-March 18 at the Tenth Street Theatre, 628 N. 10th St. For tickets, call 414-271-1371 or visit intandemtheatre.org.
