16th Play - Phoebe in Winter by Jen Silverman
Jacob Alexander (Jeremiah), Elliot Baker (Liam), David Dowd (Anther) and Maria Stephens (Phoebe) in the Facility Theatre production in Chicago. Photos by Leslie Schwartz Photography.
I’m not sure how this play ended up in my library, but, I’m a big fan of Jen Silverman’s THE MOORS and WINK. Sometimes her work scares me (in a good way), but it’s always FASCINATING!
Summary: “When three brothers return home from a distant war, they prepare to settle into their old lives. But a knock at the door yields a girl named Phoebe who accuses them of killing her own three brothers, and demands reparations--that they must become her new family instead. As Phoebe's presence changes the very structure of their family, a war that was once far away now threatens to reignite inside their home.” From Playscripts.
Laura’s thoughts in brief (I am actually making an attempt at brevity now … sigh. Not my greatest skill.): This play is pure Jen Silverman. Wacky, dark, sometimes frightening, but always funny and messy. She loves to have characters transform into new characters, or in this case, other characters in the play - it’s weird and wonderful. Having worked on WINK, and watched the transformation of each character in that play into something … I think “primal” is the best expression of it … I felt right at home in this wacky world. What appears to be a fairly typical family: Dad, two sons come home from war, and a servant, Boggett, is literally exploded into chaos with the arrival of Phoebe with an AK-47, saying they killed her brothers so she gets to stay, in typical aggressive, unapologetic Jen Silverman style. Phoebe declares herself their sister, the servant role gets re-distributed (how? I never know, but Silverman pulls it off in the writing, and a good director could have a lot of fun with that challenge) and Boggett takes on the role of the missing son, Liam. Liam eventually stumbles through the door himself, bleeding through the head. We discover that he is dead, but that doesn’t stop him from obsessing over the stranger-turned-family member Phoebe and participating in various other plots. Like many of Silverman’s plays, this one devolves into funny, dark, madness and a great mess of things. This play addresses war, power, sexism, accountability, family dynamics, and more. Almost too much; it’s hard to see what the focus of it all is, but I don’t think the playwright cares, frankly. That being said, it’s a fabulously wild and entertaining read, and I believe would be a fantastical ride to experience from an audience perspective. I would love to play in this world in any way! Cast me, call me! (Also, HOW DID I MISS THE FACILITY THEATRE PRODUCTION?!!!! Gotta pay more attention, Laura, sigh.)
READ MORE! Here’s what others had to say about productions:
https://dctheatrescene.com/2015/09/28/phoebe-in-winter-at-single-carrot-review/