Photo by MJ Sieber.
Orange Flower Water, the second production of Seattle’s New Century Theatre Company, offers a fiercely intimate, provocative look into the allure and repercussions of marital infidelity. The play runs through July 20, at ACT’s Bullitt Theatre.
Written by playwright Craig Wright and directed by NCTC’s Allison Narver, the story features two couples – David and Cathy Calhoun, played by Hans Altwies and Jennifer Lee Taylor, and Brad and Beth Younquist, played by Ray Gonzalez and Betsy Schwartz – whose marriages painfully unravel after David and Beth acknowledge their unhappy marriages, proclaim their love for each other, and sexually consummate their affair.
The entire 70-minute play takes place without intermission, on a small stage (the size of a large bedroom) with one bed and four chairs, each placed at one of the four corners of the stage. The four players never leave the stage, using the chairs as a means to “step out” of the scene and become part of the audience, watching – in character – the actions and dialogues that occur in their absence. The audience is placed in such close proximity to the stage – on both sides of the bed – that they cannot help but feel intimately involved through the passionate love making, angery arguments, and outbursts of pain, guilt, doubt and concern for their children and their own futures.
Ironically, the characters themselves are not especially interesting people. Their situation is formulaic in terms of modern urban illicit love affairs. While no one is cast as villain or hero, David and Beth’s selfish abandon, for the sake of their illicit romance, is clearly what triggers actions that will forever change their lives and those of their families.
Despite a dialogue that is at times cliché, morale issues that are complex and eternally debatable, and an ending that is somewhat unsatisfying, the play works and is profoundly engaging. What makes it work – more than the storyline itself – is the superb acting of its four players. They brilliantly capture the strengths and weaknesses of their characters, their timing is impeccable, and they keep the story vibrant, thought-provoking, and well worth the journey.
Craig Wright has received numerous prestigious awards and award nominations for his work. His play The Pavilion, was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize and the American Theatre Critics’ Association Best New Play Award. He has also written television episodes for HBO’s Six Feet Under, and ABC’s Lost and Brothers and Sisters.
Orange Flower Water, an NCTC production in association with The Central Heating Lab at ACT, runs through July 20 at the ACT’s Bullitt Theatre at 700 Union Street in Seattle. For more information visit the ACT website.
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