24th Play - The Sea & The Stars by Harrison David Rivers

This is a play I found in my library - apparently it’s only had a reading and so I couldn’t find good pictures, but I really loved it!

Summary: “Simon is a lifeguard. Finn is terrified of water. Both are adrift, with broken hearts, returning to the tiny beach town of Jupiter and to families who need them. A play about love, karaoke, and the sea.” Playwrights’ Center.

Laura’s thoughts in brief: I really loved this play. Realism, absurdism, queer love, family love, caretaking, rejection of misogyny, karaoke - all that and a talking parrot! The “main” characters are Simon and Finn (we know this because Pamela, the parrot tells us at the beginning, “This is a story about this man/Finn/And this other man/Simon.” But Pamela goes on to talk about it being a story about the other characters, including ones who we don’t see or some who have died, so who is the play all about, really? There are so many stories woven in, this play really feels more like an ensemble piece. Both Finn and Simon, as well as Finn’s sister Franny’s ex-boyfriends, described as “Good, bad and ugly,” are all played by the same actor, which I love, and think sounds like a fun acting/directing challenge. There’s a very modern fairy tale feel to this play, and it reminds me a little of a Sarah Ruhl play, but less poetic and not quite as odd. By less poetic, I don’t mean NOT poetic, nor is that a criticism of Rivers’ writing. Actually it’s got a definite hint of poetry to it, but it’s much more modern and accessible, compared with Ruhl’s which feels more heightened and a little harder for less experienced actors to find easily. I am not insulting Ruhl’s work by this (or the “not quite as odd” remark); anyone who knows me knows I love the heightened realities and “oddities” in Ruhl’s work. Less weird things happen in this play (no one turns into an almond), although I’m saying this about a play narrated by an African Grey Parrot (who doesn’t like being called a parrot because she doesn’t believe in labels), so … As Pamela tells us up front, this story is about love - lost love, aching for love, parental love, later-in-life love, pet love, sibling love, dysfunctional love and, very importantly, love for karaoke. Yes, there are several karaoke numbers in it - FUN!!! Rivers has created a play that hosts several “ordinary” love stories and found ways to elevate them to more than ordinary. Because no love story is ordinary to the folx living it!!! Simon the lifeguard rescues Finn from drowning and apparently the two shared a kiss. Watching their two parallel stories we wonder if the two of them are destined to end up together in this love story, but Rivers’ plot is just not that simple, although there IS wonderful found love and great optimism at the end. That’s NOT a spoiler, just a heads up for those of us who like happy endings but recognize that dramatically they aren’t always as potent. I complain a lot about endings of plays, but I really liked this one. On top of all that wonderfulness, there is a part that feels like it’s written for me: Missus Amelia Llewellyn, the middle aged pet store owner. Described as “sensual and artistic, wears bright colors.” Right?! So, someone in Chicago DO THIS PLAY NOW! Or ask me to direct it!! I’m not a playwright, although I do have fantasies about writing plays. Is it weird that I feel like this is the play I fantasize that I had written? Go Harrison David Rivers, I will read more of your plays!!!!

READ MORE! I didn’t find any productions, but here’s a couple of interviews about the play with the playwright and a very short review about a staged reading of the play:

https://pwcenter.org/news/interview-harrison-david-rivers

https://minnesotaplaylist.com/news/connection-beneath-sea-stars

http://www.cherryandspoon.com/2017/03/a-reading-of-sea-stars-at-playwrights.html