Read on for all the info you could possibly desire...Eastcheap Rep's new play Natalie is inspired by an article that appeared in the New York Times in 2007 (by David Brooks, called "The Odyssey Years"). The thrust of the article and the play is that young people in their 20s, who once jumped headlong into adulthood and its trappings (career, marriage, children) nowadays often inhabit a different, transitional phase ("odyssey"). Natalie, the protagonist of this drama, is on a quest to both enjoy herself in her 20s as much as possible and delay the acquisition of responsibilities and attachments that might tie her down.
She emerges as a character we like and care about (as opposed to a case study), which is to Eastcheap's credit; the play has apparently been created collaboratively, and it's a tribute to their process (which would be interesting to learn more about) and to the excellent work of director Chris Chaberski that they've crafted a story that's compelling and believable. Sally Jackson is particularly effective in showing us Natalie growing up, by which I mean that the more-or-less untroubled, carefree recent college grad in the early scenes is appreciably different from (though organically an antecedent of) the sadder-but-wiser woman trying to gain control over her life in the final scenes.
Most of the play is set in the NYC apartment that Natalie shares with her gay roommate/BFF Sam, and even though that central relationship smacks of cliche, the work of Jackson and Peter Chenot—who gives a performance of remarkable depth and humanity as Sam—helps the production transcend formula. That said, I would have liked to know more about Sam: granted, the play is called Natalie, but Chenot makes this young man so interesting and likable that I wanted more detail about who he is (and a glimmer of a life for him beyond his role as an enabler for his dysfunctional straight girlfriend).
The third cast member is Luke Rosen, who plays four different men in Natalie's life. Vern is a prospective roommate recruited from Craigslist; Octave is a would-be one-night stand with a passion for a band called "Franz Kafka's Men"—these two characters amount to comic relief. But Bert, Natalie's well-put-together brother, and Brian, her college boyfriend, are convincing additions to the tale who help our heroine complete her odyssey, as it were.
The play's conclusion seems to be that, valid phase or not, the Odyssey Years are hell. My guess is that all of the folks involved with Natalie have transitioned out of them. I suspect that a play written by someone right in the middle of their own odyssey might offer a different perspective.
WHAT: NATALIE, the newest original piece by Eastcheap Rep
WHERE: Debuting at this summer's Midtown International Theater Festival, Natalie will be performed at the Dorothy Strelsin Theatre at the Abingdon Theater Arts Complex at 312 West 36th Street (b/w 8th and 9th); subway: A/C/E or 1/2/3 to West 34th Street
WHEN: There will be six shows between July 15 and August 3. They are:
- Tuesday, July 15, 8 pm
- Friday, July 18, 6:30 pm
- Saturday, July 26, 5:30 pm
- Sunday, July 27, 7:30 pm
- Saturday, August 2, 8:45 pm
- Sunday, August 3, 4:45 pm
If you have any questions, please send us an email:
eastcheaprep [at] gmail [dot] com
Natalie covers the life of one young woman as she goes through her twenties, exploring a few particular days which affect her perception of what it really means to be an “adult” these days. Inspired in part by New York Times columnist David Brooks's article, “The Odyssey Years”
(http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/09/opinion/09brooks.html), the play addresses the changing nature of “getting older.” As Brooks writes:
“There used to be four common life phases: childhood, adolescence, adulthood and old age. Now, there are at least six: childhood, adolescence, odyssey, adulthood, active retirement and old age. Of the new ones, the least understood is odyssey, the decade of wandering that frequently occurs between adolescence and adulthood.”
The play follows Natalie from 2001 up through the present day. Her various encounters with potential roommates and a hipster (among others) contribute to her understanding (or lack thereof) of what it means to grow up in an era in which many time-tested ideas of aging and maturing have been challenged or simply thrown out entirely. And since no one has been able to offer her (or any other twentysomethings, for that matter) an updated road map for how to go about her life, these events offer her both illumination and further confusion.
What does it mean to be an adult?
What are the events or factors that define your progress during the “Odyssey Years”?
Natalie examines these questions by exploring the life of one young woman as she tries to come to grips with who she is and how she is supposed to behave in a time where the old answers are no longer valid, having been replaced by what some would call opportunity, but she can only recognize as confusion. Just as anyone in any era must confront the pressures of becoming an “adult,” so must Natalie. She just happens to be doing so at a time when the rules all seem to have changed. These are her “Odyssey Years.”
“You can see the spirit of fluidity that now characterizes this stage. Young people grow up in tightly structured childhoods, but then graduate into a world characterized by uncertainty, diversity, searching and tinkering. Old success recipes don’t apply, new norms have not been established and everything seems to give way to a less permanent version of itself.”
