By Missy Barnes
For the Salisbury Post
It is hard to believe Jennifer Hubbard created such an enjoyable piece of theater in less than four months.
Freedom Park, Hubbard’s one-act play which was inspired by the recent presidential election, offers a slice of contemporary American life set in Charlotte’s own Freedom Park. The script elicits memories of the 1960s while it simultaneously reflects our nation’s excitement over the election of Barack Obama.
The play revolves around nine characters who have various overlapping relationships. The roles were crafted with these nine actors in mind, and each actor portrays his respective character to great effect.
Adam Corriher plays a charming modern day, guitar-playing hippie who befriends Duetta, a former hippie herself, performed with great nuance by Catawba College’s beloved professor of Shakespeare and English, Bethany Sinnott.
Elise Duquette as Camille and Justin Dionne as Julian are well matched and each offers more than one memorable and poignant moment. As Valerie, Tajuan Kyles delivers some of Hubbard’s cleverest lines with excellent timing and panache.
The youngest members of the cast, Robert Hunter as Sidney and Amber Adams as Tara, offer very mature and honest portrayals. I look forward to seeing more of these actors as they grow in their craft.
The smallest performer on stage was Frankie Galup Propst, a well-behaved mini Chihuahua with maximum star appeal. His primary acting partner, Carrie Poole in the role of Carrie, delivered her lines with absolute conviction to her four-legged friend. Poole’s strong stage presence and the range of her acting choices ensured the audience’s focus remained on the story rather than her silent sidekick.
The play is non-conventional, with a great deal of audience address interspersed with short interchanges between characters. The monologues and dialogue flow smoothly thanks to Hubbard’s gift with words and the high level of talent supplied by the cast. The production’s biggest challenges revolve around the compact size of the playing space and the technical limitations (the crew is working with very few lighting instruments).
Director Claudia Galup has done an excellent job keeping the pace consistent as actors move on and off the tiny stage. This is storytelling at its best, with the strength of the piece contained in the work of the artists who collaborated to develop the script and performances. The play offers a delightful balance of sharp wit, broad comedy and tragic personal experience. It is exciting to see Salisbury’s new artist collective and the resident performance group, Lee Street Theatre, producing the new work of a gifted local playwright.
Running just over an hour, this production of Freedom Park should not be missed.
Missy Barnes is an assistant professor of theatre arts for Catawba College.
Freedom Park plays three more performances, Friday and Saturday at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m.
Lee Street Theatre is located in the performance space at the Looking Glass Artist Collective, 405 N. Lee Street.
For more information, send an e-mail to leestreettheatre@live.com.