Yes, Jane Anderson’s Defying Gravity is about the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster. Yet, it is also about Claude Monet, but not really. It’s also set in 1986, but maybe not our timeline’s 1986. Confused?
Well, College of Marin has a production running in their James Dunn Theatre through Oct. 18.
Claude Monet (Thomas Peterson) greets us and explains Impressionism, noting that one must stand back to appreciate it. Then we meet Elizabeth (Arya Safavi), who is upset that her mom (Kristin Brewer) will be going into space. There is also sightseeing couple Ed (Curt Janus) and Betty (Barbara Roberts), who one night in Cape Canaveral meet up with waitress Donna (Nequeshé Dyer) and NASA engineer C.B. (Robert Derham).
There is a reason that Peterson has become a ubiquitous name in Sonoma and Marin County theater. He is a reliable, talented and charismatic actor who takes roles and makes them his own. His French accent in this is a little hard to understand at times, but for the most part he plays the part with compassion and curiosity.
Derham does a great job with C.B.’s humanity and his fallibility, and Dyer’s Donna is a grounded and enjoyable character who gives the play some much-needed humor. Hopefully we will be seeing more of both actors in the future.
The set by Michael Yr J. Day is excellent as usual for a College of Marin show. Its odd angles and colors make it look like a Trapper Keeper sprung to life, becoming a stage for the mid-1980s.Â
However, there is only so much director Lisa Morse and interesting production elements can do with such a confusing script. Marketed as a black comedy, it’s actually a surrealist attempt to make sense of man’s desire to see God, our unquenchable curiosity about what is beyond the horizon and our understanding of tragedy. If that sounds like a lot, it is.Â
On top of all that, Anderson has chosen to base the child Elizabeth and her mother very closely on Caroline and Christa McAuliffe. However, by taking real people and shrouding them with fake names, Anderson somehow cheapens the empathetic pain that my generation experienced that day.
As with everything in this script, this odd mix of neo-realism and fiction never really goes anywhere. This script is all castles in the clouds, never asking where the ladders are to reach them.
‘Defying Gravity’ runs through Oct. 18 in the James Dunn Theatre at the College of Marin, 835 College Ave., Kentfield. Thursday–Saturday, 7:30pm; Sunday, 2pm. Free. Donations welcome. 415.485.9385. pa.marin.edu.
