Adult Children Deal With Painful Issues in “Four Places”
By JASMINA WELLINGHOFF, Editor –
Director/producer Eva Laporte spent her afternoon the other day doing media interviews about “Four Places,” the new play her company, The Surround Project, is opening Thursday at the Classic Theatre of San Antonio.
And she had a good explanation for why the play was attracting so much attention.
“It’s a mixture of two things,” she said. “First, people are excited about our cast, to see these four actors together. It’s a stellar cast. And then, it’s the play itself, a great play, heartbreaking and also funny.”
Written by Joel Drake Johnson, the play explores familial trauma and painful revelations with typical Midwestern restraint. Two outstanding San Antonio actors, Catherine Babbitt and Andrew Thornton, portray middle-aged siblings, Ellen and Warren, who take their aging, alcoholic mother Peggy (the always superb Kathy Couser) to lunch to discuss the disturbing information they received from their frail father’s caretaker.
During the course of the meal, all sorts of painful issues come up in bits and pieces before the siblings get the chance to tackle the accusations made by the caretaker. According to published reviews, the family eventually reaches some very dark emotional places. Still, there are multiple touches of humor, often generated by the waitress (Sarah Fisch) who interjects herself into the conversation.
“The crux of the play is that adult children have to decide at some point that their parents cannot take care of themselves,” said Laporte. “It’s a crisis moment, that a lot of us can relate to. It’s difficult to go from being a child to making decisions for your parents.”
A first-rate actress herself, Laporte founded the Surround Project with her husband Zach Lewis with the goal of expanding the impact of the plays by organizing related events, such as post-show discussions and lectures on the presented topics. The company partners with organizations that deal with those topics in real life, in this case groups like the Alpha Home, a drug and alcohol rehabilitation program for women, and the Jewish Family Service, which offers a range of services, including mental health services. Leaders of these community non-profits also serve as advisers to help the artists create an authentic theatrical version of real-life problems.
“They also come to the performances to talk to the audience and we have the information about their services available (in the theater),” noted Laporte. “And people stay after the show and ask questions and tell them their own stories. I am not a clinical professional. But someone with expertise can be very helpful.”
“Four Places,” 8 p.m. Thursdays-Saturdays and 3 p.m. Sundays through June 23; Classic Theater of San Antonio, 1924 Fredericksburg Rd.; $25 www.thesurroundproject.com