August often seems to be the most peculiar month for the Peterborough Theatre Guild, but it’s also often the most interesting. Perhaps because producing the last of its “off season” shows before the main season begins gives the Guild room to take risks and stage edgier productions.
This month, director Dane Shumak brings Amy Herzog’s off-Broadway drama 4000 Miles to the Peterborough stage. A show about loss, acceptance, the generation gap, and the ties that bind family together, 4000 Miles is a somewhat risqué production that may shock some audience members, but it’s a sensitive and smart show that goes right to the emotions.
Playwright Amy Herzog used her real-life grandmother Leepe Herzog as the inspiration for the show’s female protagonist Vera Joseph. Herzog used her grandmother’s history, stories and personality to develop her heroine, described as a sharp-tongued leftist living in Greenwich Village.
4000 Miles opened to rave reviews in 2011, was named Time Magazine’s #1 Play in 2012, and was a finalist for the 2013 Pulitzer Prize for Drama.
The play is about the unlikely relationship between 21-year-old Leo Joseph-Connell (Ben Harrison) and his 91-year-old grandmother Vera Joseph (Pat Spencer). While this may sound like a perfect set-up for a comedy in the vein of The Odd Couple, 4000 Miles offers a much more potent story.
Having completed a cross-country bicycle trek from Seattle to New York, college-aged hipster Leo drops in unannounced at his grandmother’s Greenwich Village apartment at three in the morning. Seeking a place to stay, Leo seems detached and apathetic. Hiding from his mother and his sister, and estranged from his girlfriend Bec (Caitlin Currie), Leo says he has stopped by because he is worried about his grandmother — but in reality he has nowhere else to go.
As the drama unfolds, it’s revealed that Leo has suffered a tremendous loss during his bicycle trip, and his grandmother’s apartment quickly becomes a cocoon where he can deal with his emotions. As Leo faces what happened to him on the road, he comes to realize that despite the 70-year gap between him and his grandmother, they really aren’t that far apart either ideologically or emotionally.
An often quiet and subtle production, 4000 Miles holds the audience’s attention through the chemistry between Ben Harrison and Pat Spencer. An unlikely pair in both age and appearance, Harrison and Spencer become the living embodiment of the show’s premise. Together, they create a warm and dynamic chemistry where the audience can witness the actors supporting each other on stage.
Pat Spencer gives a wonderful performance as Vera. A character with many different sides and faces, she often seems serene and soft spoken. As the audience gets to know the character, edgier aspects to Vera’s personality becomes apparent. Eventually, we realize that the only gap between Vera and her grandson are the years between them, and that 70 years ago Vera herself was a rebellious soul on the edge of society.
But Vera is still a grandmother, and Pat Spencer gives her that “granny quality” that will make you remember talking to your own grandmother. During a brilliant scene, Vera rambles and reminisces — making you wonder if she’s just talking aimlessly or actually has a point. Perhaps we all should have listened to our grandmothers, who may have had more to say than we thought.
Ben Harrison gives an equally strong performance as Leo. The audience quickly discovers that Leo, who comes off at first as cynical and apathetic, is at a major breaking point in his life. Suffering from grief and lacking a clear direction, Leo is where many young men in their early twenties find themselves. Still idealistic but starting to question the path he has taken, Leo’s retreat to his grandmother’s apartment is more to heal then to visit.
Harrison gives a wonderfully subtle performance in which he allows the tension to grow naturally in front of the audience, instead of assaulting them with an immediate emotional overload.
While Harrison has to keep the speed of his emotional performance in check, Currie has little stage time so she has to beat the audience over the head with her performance — but it works. It’s good to see Currie getting more stage exposure as an actress and hopefully this is one of many more dramatic roles for this excellent performer.
Although Kalene Lupton only appears on the stage in one scene, she gives a memorable performance as party girl Amanda. While 4000 Miles is predominantly a quiet production, Lupton brings both high energy and colour to the stage. Almost jarring at first, her character becomes a catalyst for Leo being able to move ahead. With her high-spirited performance, Lupton is a total joy to watch.
A warning should go out about strong language in the play as well as scenes involving drug use. Although the harsh language is used in complete context to the scenes, it may be shocking to unsuspecting audiences.
4000 Miles is not the type of show that you usually see at the Peterborough Theatre Guild, but it’s an excellent one. While the production is sensitive and sensible enough for the usual Guild crowd, it’s also cutting edge enough for an alternative theatre audience.
As with the relationship between Leo and Vera, perhaps 4000 Miles will help bridge the gap between generations of theatre audiences in Peterborough. It certainly offers something for both of them.
4000 Miles runs from August 14th to 22nd at the Peterborough Theatre Guild. Tickets are $18 for adults, $16 for seniors, and $10 for students, and can be ordered by calling the Peterborough Theatre Guild box office at 705-745-4211 or online at www.theatreguild.org.
All photos by Sam Tweedle for kawarthaNOW.
