GF Theatre Season Continues With Comedy and Drama

By Christopher P. Jacobs

Staff Writer

Last Thursday, was the regional premiere of a new comedy-drama by Canadian playwright Paddy Gillard-Bentley, and only the second time the play has been staged in the United States. “Shaking the Dew From the Lilies” continues at 7:30 pm nightly Thursday through Saturday through November 20.

Kathy Coudle-King directed this intimate look at five very different women accidentally locked in a mall restroom overnight. With a frankness that ranges from bawdy to brutal, the play skillfully blends broad situation comedy with thought-provoking drama. As the women’s unexpected evening together progresses, the proceedings reveal an often-poignant depth to characters that first appear to each other and to the audience as simple stereotypes.

This is truly an ensemble cast, with all the characters working together, banding into smaller groups, realigning their allegiances, bonding, and with each at some point taking turns in the limelight to deliver some sort of personal monologue. The characters start out comically venting their frustrations about whatever comes to mind (from their stranded situation to lack of toilet paper to various romantic relationships). But conversation gradually gets more personal and more intense, leading to a nicely-developed dramatic arc with a conclusion that is satisfying, yet slightly open-ended.

All five actresses do fine jobs, and each gets the chance to shine in her character’s showpiece monologue. The most powerful scene in the play, due to both the writing and Sara Anderson’s moving performance, is when prissy “rich-bitch” Cynthia, whom the other four teasingly tolerate at first, loosens up enough after a half a bottle of gin to explain her relationship with her mother.

The sarcastic and sexually promiscuous Tami and Aja, played aggressively and entertainingly by Nicole Quam and Caitlin Lien, also get powerful scenes that account for some of their quirky personal hang-ups. Aja’s best-friend Susan, played with a layered sensitivity by Skye Mauch, likewise has moments that reveal significant back story in both their lives. The lighter-hearted, somewhat older, and more laid-back Nicole acts as something of a catalyst and a bonding element in the group, well-handled by community theatre veteran Adonica Schultz Aune. She, too, has secrets that come out during the course of their long night together.

With its strong dose of bathroom humor and sexual content, “Shaking the Dew From the Lilies” is not a show for everyone, but the Fire Hall production is well-worth seeing for mature theatre-goers. It’s running at 7:30 nightly Thursdays through Saturdays at the Fire Hall Theatre in downtown Grand Forks through November 20.

Opening next Tuesday and running in UND’s basement “Lab Theatre” at 7:30 nightly through November 20 is “Scarcity,” directed by graduate student Ben Klipfel. Lucy Thurber’s drama focuses on parents trapped in poverty and their two high-IQ children who seek to escape the conditions of their upbringing. When sixteen-year-old Billy’s unusually attentive teacher from the “upper crust” offers him an opportunity to change schools and move out of town, the ensuing conflict reveals his parents’ own lost dreams.

Questions and comments: christopher.jacobs@und.edu

If You Go

What: Shaking the Dew From the Lilies

Where: Fire Hall Theatre, Grand Forks

When: Thurs-Sat, 7:30pm, through Nov 20th

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

November 19 2010

Hothouse ‘Lilies’

By: Paulette Tobin, Grand Forks Herald

 

The woman who wrote “Shaking the Dew from the Lilies,” a play that initially saw some audience members walk out because of its mature themes, will be in Grand Forks tonight and Saturday for its final two performances at Fire Hall Theater.

The woman who wrote “Shaking the Dew from the Lilies,” a play that initially saw some audience members walk out because of its mature themes, will be in Grand Forks tonight and Saturday for its final two performances at Fire Hall Theater.

Paddy Gillard-Bentley, Kitchener, Ont., planned to fly in from Toronto for the final two performances at 7:30 tonight and Saturday, said Kathy Coudle-King, who is directing the two-act comedy. After the shows, the playwright and cast will visit with the audience during an informal “talk back.”

Coudle-King said she and the “Dew” cast were excited, pleased and a little nervous that the playwright would be on hand for the final shows.

“You’re taking their baby, and you’re just hoping they like what they did with it,” Coudle-King said.

Greater Grand Forks Community Theatre is the first company in the region to present the play about five women from different walks of life trapped overnight in a mall bathroom, talking about the things women talk about when they’re behind closed doors.

The play is for mature audiences, a comedy best characterized as “naughty,” Coudle-King said, with some serious issues about friendship and betrayal and with strong sexual content.

Even with that proviso, a couple of audience members walked out the first night, Coudle-King said. Since then, the playwright and lecturer at UND said she begins every performance by talking to the audience in her “teacher voice” about what they can expect.

Judging by audience numbers, the show has been a hit, with at least one sold-out performance and Sunday matinees that drew 80 or more people. The cast features Sara Anderson, Adonica Schultz Aune, Caitlin Lien, Skye Mauch and Nikki Quam.

The show includes an unusual art aspect as well.

The director has invited local artists to create “response paintings” during the show. Each artist sits in a corner of the audience working on a painting that represents her/his impression of the play that night. Their work is on display in the Fire Hall lobby.

Sometime in December, the paintings will be sold. Proceeds from the sale of the paintings will be split between the artists and Greater Grand Forks Community Theatre. Among the featured artists will be Pirjo Berg, Terry Berg, Liz Blazek, Mary Haugland, Phyllis Kaliokowski, Martha Keifenheim, Adam Kemp, Elizabeth Lunde, Joan Mullen and Marlene Stiles.

Coudle-King said it wasn’t planned for “Shaking the Dew from the Lilies” to run at the same time as the opening of hunting season. But “Dew” has seemed to have drawn plenty of “hunting widows.”

“Dew” came to the attention of GGFCT after Coudle-King put out the word among the International Centre for Women Playwrights that Grand Forks was looking for a comedy to kick off its 2010-2011 season, “something really raucous,” she said.

“Ten playwrights sent me their work, and when I read Paddy’s work, I laughed,” she said, and that was it.

                                                                

 

Greater Grand Forks Community Theatre presents “Shaking the Dew from the Lilies”

Posted by the editor • November 15, 2010

The Red River Valley enjoyed a beautiful autumn, but what's all this talk about lilies blooming in downtown Grand Forks?

For the last two weeks, The Greater Grand Forks Community Theatre has produced the regional premiere of "Shaking the Dew from the Lilies," much to the delight of the packed theatre. The play revolves around five women from various walks of life, locked in a mall restroom over night.

Women, many "hunting widows," have been wiping away tears of joy and maybe a few of sadness during the last eight performances of this play that can definitely be called risqué. The men who have attended have learned a few things about what women talk about behind closed doors (bathroom doors, in this case). Harley McClain, a gentleman in his sixties from Valley City said, "I never realized how much I didn't know. Now I have to get busy practicing it."

In addition to all this merriment, the Canadian playwright, Paddy Gillard-Bentley, will be flying in from Toronto for the final two performances, Friday and Saturday, Nov. 19-20, at 7:30 p.m. in the Fire Hall Theatre. Director of the play and Senior Lecturer in English and Women Studies Kathy Coudle-King, said, "I guess you could call Paddy the gardener of this patch of lilies, and she's coming to town to see how they're blooming."

Friday night the cast, which includes Sara Anderson (UND undergrad), Adonica Schultz Aune (UND alumna), Skye Mauch (UND undergrad), Nikki Quam (UND graduate student), and Caitlin Lien, played to a standing room only crowd. Monologues were met with spontaneous applause and a few gasps could be heard at key points in the play.

Following this Friday and Saturday performances, the playwright and cast will visit with the audience during an informal "talk back." Woven into the mix of humor, best characterized as naughty, are some serious issues about friendship, betrayal, and sexuality. The show is for mature audiences and includes strong sexual content.

And if there aren't enough lilies on stage, the director has invited local artists to create "response paintings" during the show. Each artist sits in a corner of the audience working on a painting that represents her/his impression of the play that night. So far Martha Keifenheim, Phyllis Kaliokowski, Elizabeth Lundee, Joan Mullen, and Marlene Stiles have all created unique pieces which will be auctioned off during the "Final Bloom - Painting the Lilies" in early December. Terry Berg, Pirjo Berg, Mary Haugland, Liz Blazek, and Adam Kemp are also expected to participate (Date and time to be announced). Meanwhile, the paintings are displayed in the lobby and photos of the work will soon be available on Facebook (Shaking the Dew from the Lilies page). Proceeds from the sale of the paintings will be split between the artists and the Greater Grand Forks Community Theatre.

So, if it's lilies you're looking for on this chilly day, stop by the Fire Hall Thursday through Saturday night at 7:30, (pre-show begins at 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday). But better call for reservations, 777-4090; the Fire Hall is one hot house this November.

A portion of this weekend's ticket sales will go to the Grand Forks' "Movember" group, raising funds and awareness for men's preventive health care.

-- Kathy Coudle-King, interim director, Greater Grand Forks Community Theatre

 

 

 

Note – the article that follows is a definite spoiler, and more of a discussion of the characters.  If you intend to see this play in the future, please don’t read any further.

 

 

 

 

Shaking the Dew From the Lilies

Posted on November 13, 2010 by jimlindlauf

Sue and I attended a local production last night at the “Fire Hall Theater” entitled “Shaking the Dew From the Lilies.”  The Fire Hall is an amateur community theater, sitting only two blocks from our front doorstep, in the shadow of the Grand Forks Central High School gymnasium.  Due to our enjoyment of live theater and the Fire Hall’s close proximity, we attend every production held in the venue that we believe we could find even remotely entertaining.

“Shaking the Dew From the Lilies” is a comedy written by Canadian playwright Paddy Gillard-Bentley about five women stuck overnight in a mall’s public restroom.  There are plenty of cautions in the advertisement and playbill that the topics and language are intended for mature audiences only, and the performance proved worthy of these warnings.  The show isn’t for the faint of heart or for anyone who might be offended by women talking openly about their sexuality.  If you are easily embarrassed, you had best stay at home because every aspect of sex is described in intimate detail during the two hours these women are on stage.

The story examines the role negative sexual experiences play in shaping the way women develop.  There are references to the fact that men too are molded by these types of events, but it is clearly the women who are under the magnifying glass on this stage.  The five women are from widely varied social and economic groups, but are drawn together by a common thread; that all women are sexual creatures and share a desire to love and to be loved.  I felt that the overall message the playwright was trying to get across was that all women (and men) are flawed, and therefore they also take part in flawed relationships which negatively impact their lives.  The way women overcome these bumps in life is by sharing them with other women who can understand their feelings of pain and rejection without being judgmental.  These confidants can be either friends or strangers, and they give each other the strength to overcome the problems their flaws have created.  The dialog also mentions that men deal with their flawed relationships in a similar way, but suggests that men may not be as good at it as women are; a premise worth considering.

My favorite character was Aja, played by Caitlin Lien.  She was the pretty young woman that all the men are instantly attracted to.  There is only one man in the world that she has ever loved, but was afraid to tell him about her feelings.  This man, however, told her he thought of her only as a friend, which devastated the poor girl.  All this occurred in High School, and Aja has been in many relationships since, but has always ended them before the man could possibly end it first.  Her mother always told her she wasn’t good enough, something she has obviously come to believe is true, perhaps because of the rejection by her one love.  The most erotic portion of the play, in my opinion, was when Aja recited her poem describing a certain sexual act she had particularly enjoyed.

Tami, played by Nicole Quam, was the crowd favorite and provided the majority of the laughs during the play.  Tami was the most uneducated of the group, coming from blue collar roots which in turn gave her a bit of a cynical outlook on life.    She had grown up in a trailer with her single mother, who eventually brought in a step-father to live with them.  Tami viewed herself as quite “street smart,” but proved to be perhaps the most vulnerable of the five.  Her naïve comments and obvious enjoyment of frequent sex left the audience in howling with laughter.

Cynthia, played by Sara Anderson, was, in my opinion, the most unlikeable character at the onset of the play.  She was rich, fashionable, haughty, and intolerant of everyone, especially Tami.  Cynthia shared stories of a privileged upbringing, but they all centered around her cold, self centered mother who ruled her life with an iron fist.  The mother stories went from bad to worse, which caused the others to begin warming up to this woman who was to be married by arrangement in just a few weeks.  It was Cynthia, however, who was transformed the most during the course of this story; becoming a warmer person as soon as she began to realize that she was really the one in control of her life, not her mother.

Susan, played by Skye Mauch, was the woman in the group who had the most difficulty opening up to strangers.  Susan and Aja were the only two in the restroom who knew each other, being lifelong friends, but as the story developed, the audience became aware of serious problems between the two.  Susan complained about men always being interested in beautiful Aja instead of her, but while she initially admits that she had exploiting Aja’s appeal to lure men her own way, she later lets slip that she is consumed with jealousy and actually hates Aja.  Susan has her own issues with her parents, but while she describes how terrible they are, it becomes apparent that she is the one who is truly loathsome; a spoiled brat who complains about everything.  By the end of the play, Susan had alienated herself from everyone in the restroom, even Aja.  I believe this was done to confirm to the audience that the relationship between friends can also be flawed and that perhaps any sympathetic ear can be enough to heal an injured woman.

Nichole, played by Dr. Adonica Schultz Aune, was the instigator who kept the conversations moving and productive.  She was the oldest and the wisest, and seemed to care deeply for the other four. Nichole reveals early on that she’s a lesbian, and while it surprises some in the group, it never becomes a barrier to communication, perhaps due to her honesty and frankness.  She was married young to a man and has an adult daughter from the union, which has been over for a while; ever since she decided to follow her true sexual self later in life.  Many would think that this confused sexuality would make her the most flawed character in the restroom, but it becomes plain that she is indeed the least flawed.  Nichole had a good relationship with her mother, who always loved her unconditionally, and seems to be the only one at peace with her life.

Overall, I found “Shaking the Dew From the Lilies” an entertaining and thought provoking presentation.  I was not offended by the topics or language, but I imagine many people would be.  I would recommend the play to anyone who may enjoy a little naughty humor as well as to those who don’t mind looking a little deeper inside in order to understand the factors that have made them who they are.  It may also be interesting to any men who have ever wondered what women really talk about when they go to the rest room!  The production will run through November 20th, with the playwright, Paddy Gillard Bentley, being in attendance during the final weekend.

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