Cricket Productions presents the world premiere of Exit Strategy, a new play about old people, co-written by Bill Semans and Roy M. Close, with direction by Howard Dallin, set design by James Bakkom, costume design by Gail Bakkom, lighting design by Dick Borgen, sound design by Lynn Musgrave, and stage management by Christine Nelson. It will be performed by Charles Nolte, Shirley Venard and Bill Semans, the actors for whom it was written.
The birth and life of this play is entirely in the hands of the population it depicts – seniors. Cricket Productions is a unique collaboration of veteran Twin Cities’ theater artists who have come together for the sole purpose of creating and staging this new play about the importance of taking chances, even in old age.
The playwrights, actors, director, and designers have a combined age of over 500. Together they have logged more than 300 years in theater and been involved in nearly 1,000 productions in over 75 theaters in 90 cities throughout the United States.
Exit Strategy is a two-act drama about three people in the seventh and eighth decades of their lives. It is set in the Penley Hotel, an old hotel that caters to elderly people on fixed incomes. In the first scene, the hotel's two long-time occupants, James (a gay former actor and college professor) and Mae (the thrice-divorced resident manager) learn that the Penley is going to be torn down and that they will have to move. Their quiet, dreadfully routine lives are further disrupted by the arrival of Alex, a younger man (age 70), who is driven by the desire to reclaim something that was stolen from his family years ago. It is his challenge to Mae and James that causes them to realize it’s never too late to make choices and take chances.The play contains a good deal of frank conversation about death, aging, sex, health, bodily functions, and other topics that older people talk (or at least think) about. It is not suitable for children or the easily offended.
Exit Strategy previews Tuesday, April 8 – 10, opens April 11 and runs through May 4. Performances Wednesday through Saturday are at 7:30PM, Sunday at 2:00PM at Mixed Blood Theater, 1501 South 4th Street, Mpls, MN 55454. 612.338.6131.
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From Playwright Bill Semans Exit Strategy is being marketed as “a new play about old people,” which is only partly true. While the play is receiving its initial production, it does not conform to others of the same vein, such as On Golden Pond, The Gin Game, or Driving Miss Daisy. Instead, Exit Strategy looks at seniors who are precariously near the bottom rung of life’s ladder, one step removed from hopelessness. Without caring families, Mae and James exist by dint of their Social Security checks, and the future offers nothing but more of the same. And then hope arrives in the form of a daunting challenge that will take great courage to reap a result that provides a renewal of aspirations and a new perspective for their remaining years. These characters are not inured or sheltered, and the dialogue represents – frequently with honest humor – what seniors actually discuss. A new guest at the Penley Hotel offers them a choice, an option that will allow them to reclaim what was once their life, if they have the fortitude and foresight to take it. This is indeed a new play, a new view, of a situation in which millions find themselves today. Being old does not necessarily mean there are no more choices if one only resolves to recapture what was once theirs. I believe audiences will understand and contemplate what this philosophy will mean to them. |
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From Playwright Roy M. Close Playwrights are not always the best judges of their craft. Many a passage that seems to glow with Shakespearean eloquence on the printed page sounds trite when spoken aloud. What you thought was a bold stroke of staging has a way of developing a nasty limp when a director tries to prod it into motion. Ideas that seemed fresh and insightful when they flashed across your mind grow whiskers by the first reading. Audiences, on the other hand, tend to be astute judges of new work. Back in the days when I was a professional critic, I got into the habit of listening not only to the performance but to the audience. It turned out to be easy to tell if audiences are truly engaged: they grow quiet. When a play works, audiences stop coughing and start listening. Last June, when Exit Strategy received a script-in-hand reading at the Jungle Theater, I found myself listening to the audience. They were a sharp bunch – theater people, mostly – and they were paying attention. There was laughter, there was one very satisfying collective gasp, and when Charles Nolte delivered James’ monologue about stealing another man’s clothes (a true story, by the way), there was absolute silence. In the weeks and months since then, a number of theater professionals have told us that Exit Strategy is a play that will resonate with audiences and that Bill Semans and I may have tapped into an emotional aquifer more powerful than we’d imagined. As Alex says, “People have choices. Even when you get old, you have choices. So why not do what you want to do, not later but right now?” This play is about some of those choices. |
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From Director Howard Dallin I read the script and thought, “This is not some distracted theme on platforms and a scrim. The Penley Hotel is the fourth character in this senior citizens play.” So I said to designer, Jimmy Bakkom, “Jimmy, is the Penley selective realism with a partial wallboard here and a doorframe there, or is it our good old friend the box set?” He winced when I said selective realism and the paint on his overalls cried out, “You’re talking to a master artist with patina in his veins.” He smiled. “Box set, Howie. The Penley is a metaphor for the people living there. It’s old, worn out, and the third floor is closed off. Just like us. What the hell are we doing, anyway? We’re supposed to de-accelerate and move over.” I said, “Jimmy, I’ll move over, but I don’t have to drive in the ditch.” His eyes sparkled. Well, I’ve seen Jimmy’s creation, and it strikes me that Mixed Blood Theatre is the perfect venue. It’ll be hard to tell where the well-worn building ends and the tired old Penley begins, except for the 200 seats facing in the same direction, so there’s a clue. Aging has never been my favorite topic. I try to take it in stride as I step into my 70s two days before opening night. I’m asking myself, do I perform my aging role passively, unobserved by the inner eye, or actively guided by self-awareness? The script grapples with these issues. We’re all laughing these days. Bill, Roy, Charles, Shirley, Gail, Dick, Lynn, Linda, and Jimmy. Creating something together. Again. Like old times. |