Reflection on Spark at the Cherry Lane (#2)
Cherry Lane Theater, New York, NY
November 11, 2012
Directed by Scott Scott Schwartz
A Reflection on SPARK at the Cherry Lane
by Crystal Skillman
EVELYN: What you been through?
LEXIE: Got no idea.
EVELYN: I can-
LEXIE: No. You can't. No fuckin' movie is gonna make you imagine how it is.
EVELYN: ... You know, in church they say ...
LEXIE: The road to Damascus is a long road?
EVELYN: ...
LEXIE: Well, let me tell you, it is a bloody road. And I don't wish anybody on it, even if it does lead to Jesus.
EVELYN: ... I did not make you join up.
LEXIE: We all put together out memories how we like.
Excerpt from SPARK
SPARK is a timely, beautiful play by Caridad Svich I heard it at the Cherry Lane Theater this Veterans Day (Nov 11, 2012). Set in North Carolina, Caridad rips open this family play with Lexie, a woman solider coming home to a house struggling to stay afloat and her sisters who couldn't be more at odds with their ideas of their futures. As this family struggles to find a way to reclaim the joy they once knew with each other, it operates as the perfect metaphor for a country struggling to heal itself from war. This is a personal and gripping play that seeks to find beauty in the aftermath of destruction. The whole audience was deeply moved by this story and excited to see a play that addresses what's in our mind and hearts now in a way only theater can truly do. It's very exciting to see where this play goes in the future!
Crystal Skillman is the author of CUT (The Management, Apollinaire), THE VIGIL (ITG/Brick; 2010 NY Innovative Theatre Award for Outstanding Full-Length Script) as well as BIRTHDAY (Rising Phoenix Rep) and FOLLOW (Balancing Productions/Lanie Zipoy), both with director Daniel Talbott. GEEK will debut in NYC with Vampire Cowboys this march; WILD, which debuted in Chicago with Kid Brooklyn Productions this past summer, will make it's UK debut with Kibo Productions in summer 2013. Plays available from Samuel French andindietheaternow.com, http://www.samuelfrench.com/