Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, May 15, 1993 TAG: 9305150220
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: B6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: KAREN L. DAVIS SPECIAL TO THE ROANOKE TIMES & WORLD-NEWS
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Wyche is on Mill Mountain Theatre B's stage for two hours, moving seamlessly from character to character as she interchanges 11 roles in Jane Wagner's full-length, Tony Award winning play.
The production's simplicity complements the enormous difficulty of one person playing so many roles. The set is simply some stairs and a few chairs. Wyche's costume is a long shirt and leggings throughout. No props distract from her performance. Instead, Wyche pantomimes, pretending to use items that do not exist, pretending to pull on an imaginary pair of pantyhose, for example.
Reality, and how each character faces it, is a central theme. The nonrealistic element of pantomime accentuates this theme by contrast. The absence of props and costume changes lets the audience focus on the signature body and facial movements that establish which character is talking.
The main character who leads this parade of personalities is a bag lady named Trudy. Trudy says she decided to become a "certified" madwoman because she refused to be intimidated by reality any longer. Her mission is to meet some alien "space chums" and take them on a tour of intelligent life on earth. Her unique perception offers a wise and funny commentary on every other character's stumbling blocks in life, outlining their emotional "evolution" throughout the play. Ultimately, her ideas on the meaning of life are summed up in the insightful statement, "When at some point we finally comprehend how incomprehensible it all is, we're about as smart as we need to be."
Wyche, who worked on Broadway before moving to a regional theater in Greeneville, S.C., said she started preparing for the multiple roles in mid-March, memorizing three pages of a 150-page script a day. In her imagination, she spent hours getting to know the characters, what their pasts were like, how they walked, where the tension was in their bodies.
Nine of the 11 roles are women, and much of the focus is on the female perspective of society. But Wyche said she doesn't want anyone to think the play is a "blazing feminist" statement.
"I think this play says that no matter who we are or what walk of life we come from, we are all connected. These people are all at a turning point in their lives, and the play is a microscopic view of what that feels like."
As the play progresses, the audience gradually realizes how profoundly connected all of the characters are. Some are wealthy, some are poor, but all unite in the end to defy their isolation and to affirm the universal experiences of the human condition.
Despite the play's length and difficulty, Wyche said she finds herself energized rather than exhausted at the end of the evening.
The audience also is recharged, nourished by this satisfying taste of art. Through art, particularly in the theater, the isolated lives of many come together to share one experience, just as all of the play's characters come together to celebrate their humanity. It is a communion that we all need as much as we need bread and water.
"The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe," directed by Ernest Zulia, contains adult themes and language and may not be suitable for all ages.
"The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe" continues through May 25, Theatre B, 20 E. Church Ave. 342-5740.
by CNB