Fanny (Jennifer Kuenzer) Alexandra (Barrett Nash) and Mary (Marisa Diotalevi) are explorers who set off together, with no involvement with men. Not even natives to do the heavy lifting. It is the late 1800’s and these three bold and intrepid women are determined to conquer terra incognita, i.e. unknown land. It’s the not the first time at the rodeo for any of them, so they pool their intellectual resources and embark, defying the presumption that women are helpless on their own. Wearing no-nonsense attire (with the possible exception of skirts) khaki, boots and pith helmets, they make their way through extreme climates and terrains. Mary is the most practical of the three, Fanny the most traditional, and Alex (the youngest) the most fanciful. They take photographs, make slides, and nosh upon foods both exotic and familiar. They swap stories of their adventures in various, forbidding corners of the globe.
As the narrative advances, Alex, Mary and Fanny find themselves suffering from some type of heat exhaustion. They are faint, vertiginous, delirious. This event serves as a portal, as they discover they aren’t only traversing geography, but time. Their hunger for the unknown, for the as yet concealed, has led them into the future. Coining the term “osmosing” they receive (like radios) signals from popular culture as yet foreign to them. Words and phrases like: liquid paper, cool whip, frisbee, jello…They also encounter “The Man of Many Guises” (Jeff Burleson) who appears as Alphonse, Grover (Fanny’s husband) The Yeti, Mr. Coffee, Nicky Paradise… The apparitions and unforeseen phenomena come faster and thicker. Gas stations, discos, casinos, malt shops, convertible sportscars. Alex and Fanny meet gentlemen that excite and intrigue them, tempting them to leave the safari, after prolonged and arduous participation.
There’s an underlying sense of giddiness and amusement to playwright Eric Overmyer’s On The Verge or The Geography of Yearning. It’s not that he doesn’t take these affable ladies seriously, but there seem to be sly hints at the comical. After it’s all said and done, what is Overmyer’s takeaway? By the time Alex and Fanny find their soulmates (or playmates?) they have demonstrated their ability to thrive without men to “complete” them. But then why bring men into the picture at all? Overmyer appears to be exploring the function of men in Mary, Fanny and Alex’s lives. But also that convergence of “feminine” energy, yields more access to the metaphysical and intuitive. In On The Verge, Director Susan Sargeant, Diotalevi, Kuenzer, Nash and Burleson, et al, created an entertaining blend of the whimsical and the mystical, the grueling and effervescent.
Wingspan Theatre Company in cooperation with The Bath House Cultural Center presented On The Verge or The Geography of Yearning. It played from October 4th- October 20th, 2018. 521 E. Lawther Drive (at North Cliff Drive) Dallas, TX 75218 at White Rock Lake. 214-675-6573. http://www.wingspantheatre.com