“Yeah, there is,” Kenneth or Ernestine will then say to the other. A running joke – or lament, or both – between Ernestine and the doting Kenneth concerns the absurdity of acquaintances asking, following a death in the family, “If there’s anything I can do.” We see all of the characters age scene by scene, some will fall to illness or personal strife, none – and this hardly needs a spoiler alert, given the play’s premise – will outlive Ernestine. Over the course of the play’s 90-minute lifetime, we’ll meet (and, more often than not, bond with) Ernestine’s loving mom, troubled daughter and vivacious great-granddaughter (all played by the terrific Susannah Flood, especially effective as the caustic, deeply sad daughter) her beau and husband Matt (John Earl Jelks) her lovestruck classmate, neighbor and seeming missed opportunity Kenneth (Enrico Colantoni) sensitive but defiant son Billy (Christopher Livingston) nervous daughter-in-law Joan and forthright granddaughter Alex (both played by the very funny Crystal Finn) and a few others who come and go. And, yes, there will be a fully baked cake come curtain. Within minutes, the play will jump ahead, fairly seamlessly, to Ernestine’s 18th birthday, then other years through newlywed days, young motherhood, middle-age and old age, love, loss, harmony and tragedy, each scene featuring the various characters in Ernestine’s life – six actors playing 12 roles in all – as they gather for the annual cake-baking tradition in a sort of same time next year depiction of one woman’s ordinary, extraordinary existence. I am going to surprise God!” Susannah Flood, Enrico Colantoni, Debra Messing, Christopher Livingston, John Earl Jelks, Crystal Finn Joan Marcus “I am a rebel against the universe,” she dramatically proclaims to her mom and the world.
But when you turn back and look far enough, you see atoms left over from creation.”īut even the existential qualities of cake-baking can’t quite satisfy the young Ernestine, who at 17 wants so much more than is available within the confines of a Grand Rapids kitchen. “Eggs, butter, sugar, salt,” says mother Alice, reciting a little speech that itself will become part of Ernestine’s lifetime birthday tradition. 'The Kite Runner' Broadway Review: Earnest Adaptation Of Beloved Novel Struggles To Soar
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