The purpose of utopia is a place with qualities that don’t really exist in the real world. — Herland’s Playwright Grace McLeod
By Eric George Tauber
SAN DIEGO — Throughout history, there have been utopian societies where groups of people decided to eschew civilization for a more contained society ascribing to higher ideals. Some are religious cults while others have been communist, socialist, nudist, free-love …etc. Sooner or later, they all fail through in-fighting and the intransigence of their leadership. Israel was built by kibbutzim and moshavim, micro-societies in which each person gives according to their abilities and each one gets according to their needs. They’re still around, but most Israelis have left them for independent city life.
Herland was a fictional novel from 1915 by Charlotte Perkins Gilman depicting a feminist utopia where women lived coöperatively, free of war, conflict and domination because it was also free of men.
And this brings us to Jean’s garage. Set designer Julie Lorenz has created a space with the look and feel of a suburban garage that doubles as a music studio. Gardening tools stand next to egg-carton acoustic tiles and milk crates full of old LPs. Homey bric-a-brac touches like owl shaped cookie jars and a cuckoo clock atop delicate lace doilies on industrial shelves really complete the picture.
Rhona Gold, as Jean, blows in like a storm, talking a mile a minute. She’s a divorced empty-nester who realizes that she can’t live alone much longer. But she wants to live on her own terms and not be put in a home. So she’s determined to turn her own house into that home where she can live with her two best friends from high school, Louise and Terry. And she’s hiring young Natalie as an unpaid intern to help her make that happen.
Christine Cervas Nathanson is sweet as Natalie. She’s nervous -even though she’s being interviewed for an unpaid position- but she’s smart and has her interview spiel down pat. And she’s been keeping secrets that long to come out.
The lovely Jill Drexler of Scripps Ranch Theatre plays Louise, Jean’s busybody friend, with comic pluck and gusto. A pragmatist, she just wants a nice place to live with a Jacuzzi and crunchy vegetables. Those are non-negotiable. Loie Gail plays Terry, the other best friend. A widow turned lesbian, she’s far more taciturn and she knows how to milk an awkward silence.
The garage turned office was once the studio of Bob, Jean’s ex-husband, who was the lead singer in a Bruce Springsteen cover band. While Bob is out of the picture, “The Boss” has an enduring presence, dwelling among them like a guardian angel in an old morality play …only WAY cooler.
The repartée of the three lifelong friends is like the Golden Girls with a darker edge. It’s a sobering reminder that there are conversations we need to have about long-term and end-of-life care with our loved ones while we can still have them.
Hats off to playwright Grace McLeod who shows remarkable maturity and sensitivity in capturing the banter and anxieties of women in their later years. Herland is a Rolling World Premiere from the National New Play Network. This is a new concept in which a play will be produced by three or more theaters within a twelve-month period allowing the writer to learn and grow with each production. At nineteen, McLeod is the youngest playwright to ever receive this honor. So I’m sure we’ll see even bigger and bolder things from her in the future.
Herland is playing at the Moxie Theatre through Feb 17.
*
Tauber is a freelance writer who specializes in coverage of the arts. He may be contacted via eric.tauber@sdjewishworld.com