8th Play - Winter People by Laura Neill
Conrad Sunqvist-Olmos (Rob) and Kayla Lian (Shaun)at the Boston Playwrights’ Theatre in 2018
Here’s another newer one. Written in 2018, its treatment of an immigrant is eerily prescient of what is happening today. Yikes, but relevant still, for sure. And that’s not even really what the play is about …
Summary: “The Hamptons. The dead cold of March. A giant beach mansion burns down--and someone local will take the blame. Economic and racial tensions rise, a witch-hunt begins, and the lives of five local Long Island families start falling to pieces (if they were ever whole). Each actor plays an entire family in this love-hate letter to a complicated community.” New Play Exchange
Laura’s thoughts in brief: The idea in this play is that there are five female/non-binary actors who each represent a different family. For example, the actor playing Haley who is 18, also plays her mother, Sue, and her cousin, Shaun, both in their 30s. I love this idea as a challenge for actors and just having each actor as an overall representation of their unique family. As a potential audience member, I worry a bit about following the story, as the changes sometimes happen fast. However, strong direction and acting can make this clear. I also love that this takes place in the Hamptons, but we’re not dealing with the ultra-rich visitors, but the year-round local folks, the “winter people” of the title. And they are a wonderful mix of races and backgrounds, each with their own problems and prejudices. The play reads quickly - Laura Neill writes well and engagingly, and I enjoy the interactions between the characters. The whole play is made up of scenes between two characters and monologues. I would be interested to see interactions between more characters than just two occasionally, and I don’t love the long expository monologues (I have mentioned this before). Most actors aren’t great at them, and they’re less interesting from an audience perspective. But that’s my own prejudice … There’s no real protagonist or antagonist in this piece - each character is the star of their own story, which is desperate and difficult. But, that’s really how life is, isn’t it? Seeing the stories overlap, for good or ill, is quite fascinating. And overall there are some really great relevant issues brought up in the piece. I like this play and would definitely enjoy seeing it. I think I’d also want to look at it as a possible directing piecet. Good read, check it out! (Acting teacher alert - some good scenes in this one!!)
READ MORE! This is a newer play with mostly workshop productions, so I’ve included the New Play Exchange link as well as an interview with the playwright:
https://www.netheatregeek.com/2018/12/10/identities-on-a-spectrum-winter-people/#more-4010