I do like to celebrate and rejoice in my local theaters so when I get the chance I will always indulge in taking in a play, especially at the Bridge Repertory Theater.
One of the most memorable plays I have seen in the last year was The Lover by Harold Pinter, which left me brewed up with a number of emotions from making me feel uncomfortable, to being amused, to being saddened but ultimately thinking about how difficult relationships can be. Ultimately, a truly enjoyable play.
This past Saturday after a fun dinner at the new Merrill & Co., I went back to the Bridge Rep. with my friend, Stacey to watch Hello Again a play (musical) by Michael John LaChiusa and directed by Michael Bello.
Hello Again
Seated at a cocktail table looking towards the bar, which already had the actors sitting on top and leaning against it in the cabaret styled set, you are immersed into the play. Hello Again follows brief moments in time for ten intimate encounters of The Whore, The Soldier, The Nurse, The College Boy, The Young Wife, The Husband, The Young Thing, The Writer, The Actress, and The Senator.
The play starts out in the 1900s with The Whore and her encounter with The Soldier at the Hudson River Pier. The Soldier then moves on to The Nurse who is so fraught for love and affection she is willing to settle for something unemotional and forgetful to The Soldier. In the next scene The Nurse is in control of The College Boy and uses him for sex and so the stories move on through different eras of the 1900s following each person from the last encounter moving onto the next.
Although the play moves into the audience with some funny scenes such as The Nurse and The College Boy simulating sex on top of the high top table surrounded by audience members, it doesn’t intrude too much. It just leaves you slightly amused at what is happening right in front you.
After the play had finished I talked for a long time with my friend Stacey about whether we enjoyed it. It wasn’t instant at all for me as I walked away with unresolved feelings towards it. I found myself unable to invest in any single character, which may have been the point. It took me a while realize that the moments are all clichés of people desperate for some sort of love and connection but only to find sex and brief unemotional encounters. It ultimately left me sad, which is not a bad thing at all as it obviously stirred an emotion. I feel I need to talk about it more.
I encourage you to see this play and make you own mind up about how you feel about it. I can say it is superbly acted and I loved the set and the way it played out right in front of you.
Hello Again is running through March 29. Please Click Here for tickets.
