For the final lap of 2010, HSC turned to two modern plays in an attempt to present shows that had a ying and yang perspective. Opposites in imagery and tone, that represent a certain cultural underpinning that embody the era in which it was written. The positive show was "Eleemosynary" and the negative "No Exit". "Eleemosynary" is the story of 3 genrations of equally eclectic and troubled Westbrook ladies. Dorthea (Earth mother Demeter), Artemis (Artie the wandering huntress) and Echo (seeking to commune with a lost life). Standing in for the three fates of the Mother, the Maiden and the Crone and other mythological allusions, the story weaves their indivdiual desires and family duties of all 3 ladies. They go through their joys and sorrows but ultimately find common ground with each other. Written in the 1980's , where family dramas began showing thier dark underbellies but often concluded with a spirit of reconciliation.
"The secret of flight lies in assurance that we are worthy of flying"
The opening scene of the play shows a flashback narrated by Echo (Jamie Thiessen) of a film that her grandmother Dorothea (Virginia Hammer) and her mother Artie (Noelle Fair) made when Artie was 15. The movie shows Dorothea’s attempt to make a pair of homemade wings and have Artie to use them to fly. Payan Theatre, New York, NY
Echo (Jamie Thiessen) is lover a words and their meanings. They are the only stable thing in her life vs. an absent mother Artie and an eccentric grandmother, Dorothea. Payan Theatre, New York, NYPayan Theatre, New York, NY
Dorothea (Virginia Hammer) shows off her new home made wings endeavoring for her daughter Artie (Noelle Fair) to break the shackles of gravity and her life and FLY AWAY. Artie is less than enthused at there flight worthiness. Payan Theatre, New York, NY
Told part in flash back, part in present day, Echo (Jamie Thiessen) narrates the story of how her family came to be. In the present Dorothea (Virginia Hammer) has suffered a severe stroke which summons her absent mother Artie to stop her wanderings and come back home. Payan Theatre, New York, NY
Echo (Jamie Thiessen) takes on the many phone calls from Artie (Noelle Fair). Usually speaking about advanced schoolwork or her love of words, these frequent phone calls are the main interaction between mother and daughter. Payan Theatre, New York, NY
Artie in a quiet moment on the road recounts her less than normal childhood with Dorothea, a socialite wife who became bored with her humdrum life and decided to become an eccentric. Artie paid the price for dealing with a mother who wanted “something else” and her own wish for that humdrum life. Payan Theatre, New York, NY
Dorothea (Virginia Hammer) recounts her switch from a regular wife of a well to do banker to the eccentric they all knew. Echo eating up all stories that her grandmother churned out while Artie (Noelle Fair) bristled at them. Payan Theatre, New York, NY
At age 17, Artie (Noelle Fair) got pregnant for the first time and was elated to have the child and start a normal life. Dorothea (Virginia Hammer), having other plans for her daughter than some domestic existence sternly talks her out of having the child. Artie then goes for an abortion and runs away from home. Payan Theatre, New York, NY
Part of Dorothea (Virginia Hammer) knew that she Artie (Noelle Fair) suffered under her tutelage. However, she felt the good outweighed the bad as to give Artie the sense that she had no limitations on her. Here she reminisces about being given a swift wedding as a high school graduation gift and was pregnant soon after. Payan Theatre, New York, NY
Artie (Noelle Fair), instead of thanking her mother for not setting limitations, relished in hard facts. Her mother tried to bond with Artie at an early age in one of Dorothea’s (Virginia Hammer) many new age pursuits that dealt with a lock of Artie’s hair. Dorothea took it and Arite wanted to know desperately where it was. This lack of faith disgusts Dorothea and here she returned the lock of hair. Payan Theatre, New York, NY
On the road, Artie (Noelle Fair) eventually fell in love, married and had Echo. She let Dorothea (Virginia Hammer) know and she quickly showed up to ‘help raise” Echo, at least the way she wanted her granddaughter raised. Payan Theatre, New York, NY
Shortly after Echo’s (Jamie Thiessen) birth her father died in a car accident leaving Artie again distraught and lost but now with her Dorothea in tow. Here as Echo is a toddler, she tells Dorothea that she feels Echo would be better with her and Artie again takes to the road. Payan Theatre, New York, NY
Echo (Jamie Thiessen), now 13, relishes in her grandmother’s eccentricities as she admires the wings but also has inherited Artie’s love of hard facts. She can spell any word in any language she can read but also loves how they sound and what they mean. All this is little solace in bringing together the two women in her life. Payan Theatre, New York, NY
Echo hatches a plan to get Artie (Noelle Fair) and Dorothea together. She enters a series of spelling bees where she finally gets to the national finals. Here Artie, during one of their frequent phone calls, finds out the news that she will have to face both Echo and Dorothea. Payan Theatre, New York, NY
Echo (Jamie Thiessen) not only wins but kills in the national spelling bee. The power trip display is not lost on either Dorothea or Artie and both wonder if they are to blame. Payan Theatre, New York, NY
Later in the play, Dorothea succumbs to her stroke and dies leaving Artie to go through or rather throw away all her things. Artie (Noelle Fair) hopes that by throwing everything away she can rid her mind of Dorothea. Echo (Jamie Thiessen) stops Artie wanting instead to preserver Dorothea’s legacy. Payan Theatre, New York, NY
Artie sends Echo away to live with her brother but Echo, taking a page from her mother’s playbook, runs away and returns to Dorothea’s home. Artie (Noelle Fair) instinctively wants to run herself, but Echo (Jamie Thiessen) sits her down and insists they need to talk and DEAL with each other. Echo finally breaks the cycle of avoidance and mother and daughter finally start to relate to each other and Dorothea’s memory. Payan Theatre, New York, NY
Echo’s (Jamie Thiessen) final gift to Artie (Noelle Fair) and Dorothea (Virginia Hammer): She shows that while they had their own way of doing things, they were always very much alike. The Westbook women: crazy, stubborn, insufferable, but always a creative family. Payan Theatre, New York, NY
