Reflection on SPARK in Baltimore (#2)
Fri, 11/30/2012 - 21:24
csvich
Theatre Project and Bump in the Road, Baltimore, MD
November 12, 2012
Directed by Carmela Lanza-Weil
by Elliott Rauh
I attended SPARK by Caridad Svich on November 12th, 2012 at Baltimore's Theatre Project. I was invited by one of the Fletcher McNeill, who is a friend and patron of Single Carrot Theatre, where I am a member of the ensemble. Not only was I intrigued to support a fellow actor but to have an opportunity to hear Caridad's play read aloud. Most of my experience with Caridad's plays are me reading it to myself, so having the opportunity to hear other voices color the world of the play was an opportunity I did not want to miss. It should be noted that Single Carrot Theatre is producing Caridad's The Tropic of X in February 2013 and I wanted to experience more of her work.
SPARK explores a story that has been told before, a soldier returning from war, but what I appreciate is that SPARK follows the experience of a female solider returning home. While listening to the text I found myself thinking about all the advertisements I've seen about men coming home for war and how that image has been branded in my brain. American Airlines, Folgers Coffee, come to my mind.
Following the reading we had a lively post show conversation. One audience member at the Baltimore reading was a an active duty member of the army and she had recently returned from her first tour in Afghanistan She spoke about her personal experience and the similarities between her journey back to Baltimore and the play. It was very powerful to hear about her transition and her conflict between her need to slowing get re-acclimated to American society but also her maternal instinct to go right back to being a mother to her 1 year old child. She also spoke about her child's experience, spending months with grandma and then suddenly being back with mom. For this audience member she spoke about how tough it was that her mother was not computer savvy enough to set up a Skype account so she could watch her child grow, even from a combat zone, as many other soldiers experienced.
As an ensemble member at Single Carrot Theatre I was thrilled that SPARK was read in Baltimore. I hope that more readings of this nature, scheduled and organized all over the country or world at the same time, will continue. It has been a success for other companies like the Tectonic Theatre Project and their readings of Laramie Project - 10 years later and Standing on Ceremony: The Gay Marriage Plays.
"The plays of Caridad Svich are plays of action. They are each, in their own way, a call to stand up, look out and examine the world around us, loudly or quietly, They nestle into the small moments that make up our lives and burrow deep into the crevices of what often tears us apart, but also lead us on the road to healing." - Zac Kline
I believe that there is no other quote that could sum up why Single Carrot Theatre has been so interested in Caridad's writing. "Plays of action" is the type of theatre that Single Carrot sets out to create. Baltimore audiences need to know more about Caridad and her work and we proud to help introduce Caridad to Baltimore and Baltimore to Caridad.
Brief Bio: Elliott Rauh - managing director and co founding ensemble member of Single Carrot Theatre, Baltimore MD. BFA Theatre, BA English University of Colorado - Boulder '05. singlecarrot.com. Single Carrot is scheduled to produce the US Premiere & English Language Premiere of THE TROPIC OF X in February 2013 in Baltimore.