It is Sunday afternoon. I am sitting in the fellowship hall of a church. The choir is singing Agnus Dei. Emma is about to have a cathartic experience. Why am I here?
There is a choir. They anchor the set and form the back scenic element through all of the play. And they play an integral role in the story as they sing Agnus Dei behind Emma, our lead character. But don’t be fooled into thinking that this is a musical. This is a very serious drama. Something of a coming of age play but unlike almost any other that you will have seen. But we are going to delve into family interactions, personal relationships, long term friendships, and the inner struggles that we all experience at pressure points in our lives.
Emma is back home at some small town somewhere in small town America. She is here for a civic dedication of something important for her late father. This is only the second time that she has been home since she left for college, out of town, somewhere more interesting, somewhere not home. The last time she was home was a few years earlier for his funeral. Her father was a well respected and well loved music educator, best known for his high school master singers choir, the church choir, and other civic choirs. He hoped that Emma would follow in his footsteps and exceed his success. From an early age he taught her to sing and play the piano…adult complex things…that she apparently was good at…but she bristled at not being allowed a typical childhood…keeping that to herself without sharing it with her family…and so she left.
So Emma is home and staying at her parents house with her mother and her brother and sharing her childhood room with her significant other. And a lot of that hidden turmoil, angst, and resentment starts to boil up inside her with nowhere to go…until she starts having dreams of a choir signing Agnus Dei conducted by a prominent male conductor. And she is helping her mother sort out her dad’s things. Sheet music for the school or church, photos for the dedication and trash that he saved. He was one of those who couldn’t throw things out and built little piles, but he knew where everything was. So you can feel where our story is going to go.
Alyssa Booten understands Emma better than I think Emma does. She cleanly expresses the angst that Emma is feeling and with a clear eyed stare out into space narrates the situation and her feelings to the audience. So we know more than even her mother. And she slowly starts to confront the recurring choir. Will is her significant other, played with great compassion and love for Emma by Ekene Ikegwuani. And he has amazing empathy for the rest of her family as well. He is quick on his feet and defuses a number of tense moments. Sam is Emma’s best friend here. Played by Gray Berendt, Sam is a constant calm and support, and a source of gossip and local history that at times intrigues Emma and at time annoys her. Her brother Aaron is played by Malcolm McCanles, described as a ne’er do well by Emma, he still lives at home with his mother. Backes provides plenty of proof of his lowly status and McCanles plays it with an intensity. But he too has feelings and is hurting, but unlike Emma doesn’t feel the need to keep it bottled up inside and just lets it out at often the wrong time and with little nuance. Jan is Emma and Aaron’s mother. Played by Maggie Marks, we are offered a solid middle American mother, seemingly more 20th Century in type than I would have expected. She is handling her husband’s loss with a certain stoicism and is proud of the honors that he is receiving. And that leaves The Conductor. He is emphatic in conducting our choir, always with his back to us, until he finally answers one of Emma’s challenges. Michael Chobanoff has the proper pomp and circumstance here as The Conductor!
This is a World Premiere written and directed by Tim Backes. And he hits it out of the park as both author and director. The drama is intense and telling and revealing of human nature and human relationships at their core…and given the complex nature of the text, he carefully controls the movement and timing on the stage.
Kith and Kin Collective is presenting Cae//sura through October 19th, 2020 at Resurrection Lutheran Church at 12400 W. Cold Spring in New Berlin.
Additional information and tickets can be found here. This show has adult language.
Extra Credit Reading: It is worth reading the synopsis before you go
