"First Love," Andrew Kelsey's senior project in directing, premiered at the Kirby Theater last Thursday. Kelsey chose this eccentric play, which he called an "interesting romp," because he likes Mee's style in stringing together eclectic sources ranging from historical to contemporary and from interviews to other texts. Although the play focuses on specific characters' struggles, "First Love" also has a universal quality and accessibility, two aspects that were important to Kelsey. Indeed, while the memories of the 1960s that the elderly couple recounted were difficult to grasp for a teenager like myself, their relationship tussles were profoundly palpable. In addition, Kelsey wanted to work with an intimate cast and "First Love," with its three actors, was an ideal match.
Before the show even began, the fantastic set (a collaborative design by Lauren Hill '08 and Kelsey) struck me with its vastness and superb sense of composition. Directly in front of the cloudy sky backdrop was a line of cupboards, closets and cabinets, with a door towards the middle. Windows hung suspended in mid-air while tree branches loomed over a park bench where the first and final scenes took place. While Edith's bed and wardrobe remained on down stage left, the stage apron was removed to make room for her home, which was on a raised platform between the floor and the stage. Edith's home spilled out from this platform so that there were items such as a grill and a refrigerator on the floor. By expanding the set into the audience's space, Hill and Kelsey created a much needed intimacy between the small cast and the audience. Props galore filled the set and truly gave the home a lived-in feeling.
Professional thespians Joseph Volpe and Tama Chambers, who played Harold and Edith, respectively, established their characters as soon as the stage lights went on. (On that note, the lighting design by Kathy Couch was notable with its delightful use of yellows and blues especially in distinguishing indoor and outdoor scenes.)
Volpe delivered a fair portrayal of Harold with his small stature and stuttering speech, the latter reflecting his vacillating nature. But, he oftentimes slowed down the play whenever he paused before saying his lines.
Chambers, however, shone and dominated over Volpe with her booming voice, pushy attitude and large presence. Appropriately, or perhaps inappropriately, enough, Edith says that she wants to dominate over and tie up Harold, a line more amusing than startling because the two characters are so frank about sexual intimacy and related anecdotes. Chambers was on target in delivering her lines with apt tone and timing. Under astute direction, she also clearly demonstrated one of theater's fundamental mantras: Much of acting is reacting.
The couple believably developed romantic feelings when they physically became closer to one another, spoke in unison and held hands. They were absolutely endearing when they each lip-synched, then sang, while dancing to a love ballad. In spite of this closeness, they constantly tried to one-up the other whether in bed or in telling funny or horrific stories from their pasts. Harold and Edith seemed to be, to an extent, opposites in terms of their personalities and what they desired from their relationship.
In love for the first time, Edith chases Harold and wants to spend the rest of her life with him. Harold, however, does not reciprocate this love as his roving eye follows another young woman (played by Hilary Lewis '06, a gifted vocalist). Lewis' intermittent but felt presence throughout "First Love" had the effect of further enhancing the play's conflicts. The couple subsequently experiences both the ups and downs of a romantic relationship within a relatively short amount of time. When they argue and call each other "stupid" as if they were little children, they add to the play's clever irony in exploring an elderly woman's first foray into love's realm.
Mee deserves much praise for his play's poetic language and logic of love philosophy. Edith's descriptive list of instances when one leaves something with the intention of coming back (e.g., a book lying open or a cloudy cup of water by a set of paints) was simply beautiful. The characters also philosophized about love and truths of life, bringing in that universality Kelsey wanted.
Lewis got it right when she sang, "What is this thing called love?" Through "First Love," Kelsey, his cast and designers offered some original answers.