"Other Desert Cities" presented by Circle Theatre

OTHER DESERT CITIES
play program

The Travelling Toe and Dear Friend attended the Saturday matinee production of "Other Desert Cities" presented by the Circle Theatre.  The play was written by John Robin Baitz.  He won the Outer Critics Circle Award for the play in 2011.  It was a finalist for the 2012 Pulitzer Prize for Best Play.

The play is centered on a family reuniting for the Christmas season at the parents Palm Springs home.  The play is described as follows:

After a six-year absence, Brooke Wyeth, returns home to Palm Springs to celebrate Christmas with her parents and her brother and her aunt.  Brooke announces that she is about to publish a memoir dredging up a pivotal and tragic event in the family's history - a wound that they don't want reopened.  In effect, she draws a line in the sand and dares them all to cross it.

This intriguing play will have your sympathies shifting back and forth among each member of a brilliant and yet complicated family.

The two of us thought this play was thoroughly engaging.  The dynamics of this dysfunctional  family were painful and often bitter but sometimes joyful . There is a twist to the real story of this tragic event, but The Travelling Toe will not spoil the ending for you just in case you might see this show yourself sometime.  It is for mature audiences only and has adult content and language.  

The performance we saw had an little extra drama.  As the play was in the depths of finally divulging the true story behind the family secret, the stage lights suddenly went off.  We did not know if it was a strange ending to the play or a bigger issue.  Then one of the actors on stage, announced, "someone hit the wrong button".  The audience laughed and applauded. Since the emotions on stage were so raw at that point, again in the dark, the actor said "we will go to the final scene".  And that is what happened.  We did know the true events of the family secret at that point so the short wrap-up scene ended it on the just right note.

All the actors were amazing in their respective roles.  

CAST MEMBERS

John S Davies

                    Lyman Wyeth

Connie Coit

                   Polly Wyeth

Dana Schultes

                  Brooke Wyeth

                         (who we see often at Stage West)

Jeff Burleson

                 Trip Wyeth

Cindee Mayfield

                    Silda Grauman

Circle Theatre

 

 Disclaimer:  The Travelling Toe is not a professional citric and any opinions expressed are for entertainment purposes only.