Fringe Festival 2007
February 7-24 | Reviewed by Diane Spodarek

‘THE PLAY’s the thing’ and the thing this summer is James Hadley’s new play, Lovers of Central Park. It is literally a stroll in the park, where the elements have a part to play along with over twenty actors, six directors and the unexpected: stray dogs, smart-mouthed kids, birds, traffic, wind, sun and changing light from bright to twilight in this two-hour production.

Excellent period costumes and a park landscape that is as integral to the show as the actors, Lovers of Central Park is a beautiful story of love and the consequences of ones actions in the name of love.

Guides take us on a path of intrigue to witness the stories of lovers from 1855 to the year 2011, not necessarily in chronological order. The sounds of Victorian poetry from 1896 come in and out of earshot as the individual tales emerge as much from the lush earth as their hearts. Characters play out private scenes, all of which revolve around what everyone wants: Love. There is a lot of activity in this play as you catch up with the characters moments or years later. It’s all very exciting and also peaceful; and yet there is darkness in the ravines as well as some of the characters’ hearts.

Keep your eyes open on this trip, you may miss the couple at the bus stop and wonder if they are part of the play. You may ask why Skunk (Simon Smith), your guide, really needs to be so rough with the young girl. You might catch a knowing but hidden smile from Saskia, (Kate McGill) the tree-loving hippie chick when she invites you to her stone circle. Up the path you’ll see David (Ronald Nelson) on a bridge directing a movie with ferns floating from his hands while his lover Simon (Jimmy Sutcliffe) tries to keep up with him.

I wanted to shout at David, ‘Find a man who will stay home with you’; and to his partner Simon, ‘Just go and stop torturing him.’ I wanted to embrace Sally and Geraldine (Elizabeth Marshall and Katrina Baylis), in 1936, to support them in getting rid of the obstacle, Sally’s husband. I wanted to cover up Colleen (Willow Dewey) when we abruptly spot Maurice (Daniel Price) taking off more than just her clothes in the bush in 1912. I wanted to scream at Rose (Hannah Clarke) ‘Kiss Andy (Jamie Lawrence) goddamn it. I don’t care if there is a war going on.’ (1943).

In the year 2011 Lil and Coop (Marjorie McKee and Barry Lakeman) are the mirrors of our landscape, the ‘older’ couple, our history, the future as the past and present, constantly moving, loving each other while struggling to live in fear of a mysterious pandemic. The couple appear unpredictably, along with the other characters, in this lush landscape from in and around the bush, the ravines, and behind and up in the trees.

The contemporary couples in 2007 are at times alarming in their attempt to be cool and hip and single and married, with and without children. I wanted to shout: ‘Make up your mind’. This impulse was from being totally engrossed in great acting and great directing. There is young love hidden in the park, adolescents discover each other, their energy creating a longing for your own inner child.

In one scene, I walked too far into the bush and found myself in a ‘twilight zone’ moment, transported back to 1855 when Te Manukorihi and Te Kanawa (Rapai Te Hau and Jade Daniels) declare their deep love to each other only to have a Pakeha (Daniel Price) steal their land and kill Te Kanawa. Spoken mostly in Maori, I didn’t know what they were saying, but the acting was so beautiful I understood every word. Te Manukorihi is with us for the rest of the play; she sings and chants, mourning the loss of her lover, her ancestors and her land. Although grieving she walks with dignity assuring us that all is well.

In addition to the evolving action we are seduced with love songs weaving in and out by Hilda (Karen Anslow) up to the very end when she invents her own words to the standard torch songs, drinking straight from the bottle, falling on the uphill, her stockings torn, her dress dirtied, because her man is gone. All the actors and directors are to be congratulated for their beautiful ensemble work. Hadley has created a wonderful epic in his search for the truth in love.

In the Playwright’s Note, James Hadley says: “...the park struck me as a complex metaphor for the journey of a relationship... When we’re physically inside the play, it’s like we can claim it as an experience of our own, rather than one lived through vicariously.” Yes, this was my experience of this wonderful play. I know Brooklyn Park from living in Brooklyn last summer. I walked through every path and up and down the same hills as in this production. It’s ironic that I left New York where I often spent time in Central Park in Manhattan to travel to the southern hemisphere to live in a city called Brooklyn, with its streets named after American presidents, and a New York named park. But, in the end, are we not all the same? Just ask Saskia our tree-loving guide, she delivers her promise, loving all of us equally, sharing her love, inviting us into her stone circle.

Lovers of Central Park will be a different play each night. You don’t have to be in love or believe in love, but it will stay with you into the evening as you leave in twilight. Provided the weather behaves, this concept of love on the fly ought not to be missed.