Ruth at the Sea

Ruth and the Sea is about a woman who comes of age near the end of her life and consequently attracts the attention of her family who have, each their own way, separated from the unity. 

Ruth is played by Gwyneth Richards, who has the strength to break things and to be who she wants to be, in defiance those who try to help her or oppose her. 

Tom Darter's John, her estranged husband, who Ruth tries to keep at an unsafe distance, tries to recover the shattered nuclear family but doesn't actually know how to go about it. 

Mechelle Jasso's Mona plays and wins the families serious game with exquisite poise and strength. 

And wow to the beautiful clowning of Linda Wong and Kira Shaw!   

Ryan Hayes' Noel, the prodigal son in erratic orbit around the fragments, trying to do the right thing in his own way, emerges as a rival central character of the play and contains in his youth the possibility of hope. 

Morgan Ludlow's script is structured around the family.  Ruth's character is boldly drawn as an unpretentious and thoroughly post modern woman on the brink of freedom.  The play is in the genre of much of the American drama of the nuclear family, its stresses and the resulting evolution. 

I'm a fan of Wily West Productions and It was a pleasure seeing Morgan's new work.

Ruth and the Sea is playing through December 18th, 2010 at the Stagewerx underground theatre in San Francisco. 

Check it out...

www.wilywestproductions.com/