I love sitting in the front row of any show. If I want to see something from a "safe distance" I'll watch some pre-recorded movie or TV show . . . if I'm going to the theatre, I want to be there for it. And every now and then I end up in the perfect spot for my mood with respect to the action onstage.
Such was the case when I attended Soulstice Theatre's The Memory of Water. At the Soulstice's Tamsett Theatre, I'm usually in the front row nearest the entrance. Friday night I decided to sit in the front row at the side furthest from the entrance. It ended up being a really interesting perspective on the play.
Written by British playwright Shelagh Stephenson, The Memory of Water is a drama about three adult sisters who gather together for their mother's funeral. It's a dark comedy with some very colorful characters . . . and a really nice cast. Jillian Smith plays the eldest sister--a woman who sells vitamin supplements. Amy Hansmann plays the middle sister--a doctor having an ill-advised relationship with another doctor. Amber Smith plays the youngest sister . . . a woman desperately trying to make a meaningful connection with someone. It's a really good core ensemble.
The front row furthest from the entrance is seated right in front of a chair that characters quite often sit in when they're not directly interacting with the central action of the play. You're sitting there with that person . . . nearly as close to them as you are the next person in the audience . . . and there's kind of an intimacy there that feels very natural . . . casually sharing the same social space with that character in a way that makes the connection between actors, characters and audience feel all the more intense.
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It's also an interesting angle with which to view conversations between characters at a vanity table. From that place in the front row, there are a number of conversations where the blocking is such that one of the characters has his or her back to you while having a conversation with someone seated at that vanity. The framing of the action allows the mirror in that vanity to reflect the character back at you. So you get this really interesting effect where you're seeing the faces of both actors who are casually facing each other and having a conversation. Intended or not, it's very clever blocking from that vantage point. That aspect of the blocking and the proximity of that end of the front row to the chair on the edge of the action were really fun and unexpected additions to a solidly enjoyable evening with Soulstice Theatre.
Soulstice Theatre's production of Memory of Water runs through May 18th on 3770 South Pennsylvania Avenue in St. Francis. For ticket reservations, call 414-481-2800. A full review of the show runs in the next print edition of The Shepherd-Express.
