Blog

from Susan Van Dusen

I’ve never written a blog entry before, being of an age where computers and cell phones are, for me, akin to the Wright brothers’ first airplanes and indoor plumbing! None-the-less, I’d like to say a few things about Northlight Theatre and its importance to our community.

For me, the Arts, theatre and literature in particular, are as vital as air. Through them I can fly through the universe. They make me laugh, cry, feel immense pride, or show me that I should become more aware.  Northlight Theatre does that for me. Their credo is to reflect our community to the world and the world to our community, and they take it very seriously.
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from BJ Jones, Artistic Director

I never watch opening nights, I’m superstitious.  After two weeks of watching every show, I give myself a break and let the actors revel in their achievement without my observations whispering in their ears.  Opening night of The Outgoing Tide was different.  I decided to watch along with our audience, and (gasp) the critics.  I was as moved by the performance as our audience was.  Apparently the critics felt the same way.

The Outgoing Tide is a risk for a theatre like ours, in that it talks about the dark tunnel that the path at end of life sometimes turns into.  Our audiences, like many in American theatres, are older and facing their own mortality, so we approached this project with some trepidation – but also with the confidence in our cast that we had the chemistry and craftsmanship to render the work with the appropriate mix of humor and empathy and still hit the audience in the gut.

I am receiving so many congratulatory e mails and heartfelt responses that even I am taken aback by the depth of the audiences response.  Here are some examples:

Just want to tell you that The Outgoing Tide, which we saw Sunday, was SUPERB, a triumph of live theater. And you couldn’t get better reviews. You deserve a Standing O.
- John A.

At any rate, my wife and I just returned from the Sunday matinee of The Outgoing Tide and I wanted to congratulate you and your team on an outstanding performance. Forget about the fact that I cried through both acts, not just because the events spoke to me but mostly because I instantly felt as though I was involved in the play. Several times, I wanted to get up and go speak to Gunner or Peg, to wrap my arms around them and somehow share their pain and their memories (don’t worry, I stayed comfortably in my seat!).
- Marc P.

I wanted to reach out and thank you and the actors for a truly impactful afternoon. I am sure that three actors of that caliber don’t need me to tell them how well they do their craft, but please do let them know that they made a strong impression and delivered a performance that we will discuss often.  Thank you for a wonderful (but emotionally trying ) afternoon.
- Debbie P.

It’s thrilling to have this response both from the audience and the critics, to hear their laughter, to see their tears, and to know that they are thinking of Bruce’s play days afterwards, and that they need to express their appreciation in e-mails.

Two world premieres in a row, Sense & Sensibility and The Outgoing Tide, making an impact with our audience and the box office and both having future productions is such a gratifying validation of our work here at Northlight.

I hope you are all as proud of your theatre as we are!

from Rondi Reed (actor, The Outgoing Tide)

I read Jack Kevorkian’s obituary today, as mixed emotions swirled around me.  A couple of years ago I was cast in the HBO film You Don’t Know Jack, the story of Dr. Kevorkian and his battle over end-of-life issues and assisted suicide.   I was cast as Judge Jessica Cooper, the woman who sentenced him to prison for the maximum of 25 years of which he served 8 in total.

I did not know the whole story, just the typical news blurbs, jokes from the late-night comedians, and snippets of the infamous 60 Minutes interview with Mike Wallace.  Off I went into my research.  I was able to obtain actual footage of the trial and watched about 16 hours of videos and read transcripts, including the statement of Judge Cooper’s decision and sentencing.

I read books, articles, interviews and other material, both for, and vehemently against Kevorkian’s stance and methods.  Morality was always in the mix, along with religion, politics, and money.  The sheer amount of financial gain by certain factions within the medical and extended care business contrasted with the utter despair of families and individuals who felt powerless towards the fate of their own life and death.   It was one of the single most debated topics in the country at the time and remains so.  One that can turn inflammatory at the very mention of Kevorkian’s name.

I was interviewed the night of the Premiere in New York, where Kevorkian himself was present, side by side with Al Pacino who portrayed him in the film.  I did not meet “Dr. Death ” that evening , but was asked my opinion of him and his work.   I said I felt he was ahead of his time and I believed he was sincere about his cause and committed to his message.  I also said I felt that end of life issues and terminal care in America are not easy subjects on many levels, and remain taboo in certain circles.

The Outgoing Tide wades into these waters with the story of one family and a man that decides to take charge of his life, all the way to the end of it.   I had flashes of Dr. Kevorkian during our rehearsal and throughout the process as we explored the emotional situations brought about by events in these people’s day to day existence.   None of it is easy, not all of it is awful, some of it is heartbreaking and some is full of love and laughter.  My personal verdict is still out on assisted suicide… I cannot stand in another’s shoes and judge what is right for them.   If or when I find myself or someone I love in this spot, I hope I will know how best to proceed.  I am a spiritual person, but fall off the stand of organized religion.  I remain intrigued by Jack Kevorkian, the man and the cause he fought for.  He will not be forgotten for what he chose to do with his life.

from Kristin Leahey, The Outgoing Tide Production Dramaturg

When I was 21 years old my father’s mother died of breast cancer. I refer to her as my father’s mother because I never really knew her, or at least not in the same way I knew my maternal grandmother, or Nana, as my brother and I called her. Although I have an extremely close and loving relationship with my father, I know little of his childhood. What I do know is that my father grew-up in Lowell, Massachusetts as the son of a nurse and a traffic cop. He wanted a pony for his 9th birthday; he wanted to play left field for the Boston Red Sox until he was about 45; and, after utter failure to make it into Little League, he instead became a doctor. My father’s mother wanted him to become a priest (or a doctor); she had an extremely close and loving relationship with him; and she also accidently left him at a gas station on a trip to the beach when he was 6.

My mother said that when she traveled with my father and his mother to Ireland that my father’s mother with great passion spoke of her ancestors owning the castles that they visited. My father’s mother was the daughter of poor Irish immigrants, who immigrated during the Irish potato famine, which my parents and my father’s mother knew. My clearest memory of my father’s mother was when I was eight: she met my family at a Legal Seafood on a humid and bright Boston day wearing a winter coat and having claimed to have walked from her home in Lowell to Boston, at least a 40 minute drive on the turnpike even with little traffic. I think I realized then that my father’s mother was atypical, but I was uncertain as to why. As an adult, I now realize that my father’s mother physically died of breast cancer, but, many years before, she slowly but steadily began to die from Alzheimer’s disease. READ MORE

Northlight Dramaturg Kristin Leahey interviews The Outgoing Tide actor Thomas J. Cox

Kristin: How did you get involved with The Outgoing Tide?

Thom: I’ve done a couple of the plays during Northlight’s Interplay series: the first was Intelligence-Slave by Kenneth Lin and then Jon Jory’s Emma.  At some point when I was doing Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Lynn Baber (casting director) contacted me about doing another of the Interplay series with The Outgoing Tide.  That was the first time I approached the script.  And it was written with John Mahoney in mind for Gunner, the character he plays.  The reading was really well received, and it was already planned to be produced the next season.  Everything that I was hearing at Northlight was, “You’re the guy for Jack and this is what we want to do.”  And I did too!

Can you discuss your process thus far in rehearsals and now in previews?

The first two weeks, it was John and me and Penny Slusher, who was filling in for Rondi and did a wonderful job – fantastic actress!  Rondi was still under contract for the television show Mike and Molly and could not join us for the first couple weeks.  It was a great opportunity for John and me to understand the rhythms and develop the relationship more fully than over the course of the readings.  Getting up and doing some physical work together was great and that went really well.

Rondi came into the room like a force of nature – which she is, in all the good ways.  And just everything started to fire-up.  She was willing and compelled to ask all the right questions and challenge the script and really push through.  The main thing she pushed for – she’s legendary for this – was a super fast pace.  READ MORE

Northlight Dramaturg Kristin Leahey interviews The Outgoing Tide playwright Bruce Graham

Kristin: Bruce can you tell us how you came to write The Outgoing Tide?

Bruce: It’s kind of funny because I’m actually sitting out on the steps right now looking out to the water.  I don’t have much of an imagination; I just look at my own life.  It’s a theme (aging) I dealt with in my first play – 28 years ago in fact – and I just wanted to go back.  I’m fascinated with these characters, who are trying to get through the day.  And you have to throw in the mayhem and dilemma or, otherwise, people are going to walk out.  I just begin to project the future.  It’s kind of a self-reflective – unfortunately some of it has become rather autobiographical, more than I expected.  But I had the idea in my head for a few years.  Then BJ called and asked, “Do you have anything for John Mahoney?”  And I wrote this while I was rehearsing another play.  It’s somewhat based on a play I wrote a while back.

Can you talk a little bit about your relationship with Northlight?

BJ did one of my plays 20 years ago at Northlight, and we’ve stayed in-touch ever since.  If I’m ever in Chicago, we make sure to see each other, and we catch-up over the phone.  We wanted to work together, so when he called me about this play I said, “Yeah, I’ve got an idea. I don’t have it written, but would you like a page or two of a treatment?”  I work in the movies and do everything in treatments.  He said, “Yeah, sure.”  And I said, “Great, I’ll get you something this summer.”  And he said, “Well, I kind of need it here today.”  It’s funny how I write my scripts.  I’m a fast writer.  I’m a slow thinker but a fast writer.  I asked him, “BJ, can I write the ending and then we can just go from there?” And he said, “Okay!” And the next thing I know I’m on a plane coming to Chicago to read it at Northlilght’s Interplay Series.  It was a very rough draft, a little embarrassing, but the audience seemed very with us.  And I did another reading and each time I’d go back and make changes. READ MORE

An Interview with Brian Sidney Bembridge, Set Designer for The Outgoing Tide

What first interested you about The Outgoing Tide?

The Outgoing Tide Set Design

Brian: It’s what BJ talks about as to why he identifies with the play, in part. My parents are getting older; we’re all going to get there at some point.  It’s just something that people really don’t want to address. I lost my grandfather to dementia.  He got to the point where he couldn’t recognize my grandmother, even when she slept next to him.  And of course, I love working with Beej, so when BJ calls I try and do the project he asks me to do.

How did this background and these personal elements influence your design process?

Actually, not at all. (laughter) This is such a specific location (the Chesapeake), and then Beej sort of jokes about how, “We hire you because you take an abstract look at the story.”  It was how to create the location and not just a realistic setting.  I don’t often put whole houses onstage.  Plus, the show jumps around to different locations, so what I do is try to make some sort of canvas for the show to take place in an abstract way.  At one point it indicates “inside house,” then a “coast,” then a “dock,” and then a “beach.”

Were there any particular images that influenced the design?

We looked at a lot of houses with docks. The element that was important was the dock.  It’s going to be a little challenging to navigate the one we created, but it is a strong and elegant line, so I hope it will be also interesting to play on.  And, I met the playwright, Bruce Graham, last year in Philadelphia while I was teching another show; it was wonderful to connect with him in the area the play takes place about his view of the world. READ MORE

From BJ Jones, Artistic Director and Director of The Outgoing Tide

About a year and a half ago, I called Bruce Graham, a terrific playwright and an old friend, whose play I performed in at Northlight back in the 80s called The Belmont Avenue Social Club, which was directed by Mike Nussbaum.  It was very successful with our audiences as well as receiving some Jeff nominations.  Bruce and I had kept in contact over the years.

I told Bruce I was looking for a new play for John Mahoney and I to work on, and we talked about some ideas.  He was particularly interested in a play about a retiree with dementia and how that might play out and said he would work on it.  I was keen on the topic matter and, in particular, the notion of self determination.  I hadn’t seen a play that told that story, that wasn’t about ethics really, or morality or politics, it was about one man’s decision and how it impacted his family.  He sent me a treatment, a page or two of the plot and character breakdowns, and we moved to the next stage, a first draft.  Within a month or two, Bruce sent us the draft and we talked about reading it in our Interplay Reading Series.

Next I contacted John Mahoney, told him what we were thinking about, and sent him the script, which he read immediately and called to tell me how much he enjoyed it.  Next we read The Outgoing Tide for our Interplay Series, and audience members were very moved and excited by the work.  At the discussion afterwords it was clear that we had something and that our audience responded to.  Bruce, who is a very fast writer and listens to an audience with a keen ear towards editing and pruning, had a new draft in days.  With John’s enthusiasm for the project, we decided to end the current season with The Outgoing Tide. READ MORE