So, after leaving the new West of Lenin space where Live Girls! is now presenting their latest show, “Emerald City” — a seemingly quasi autobiographical play by former Stranger editor S.P. Miskowski that deals with the joys and frustrations of living in Seattle–, I wasn’t exactly sure of what I thought about it.
On one hand, Ms. Miskowski captures very well many of the common experiences shared by a number of us who have transplanted to this city, myself included: its passive-aggression, its smugness, its deadly fear of seeming provincial, its juvenile ‘clickiness,’ the so-called ‘Seattle Freeze,’ its uncanny ability to chew people up and spit them out, and of course, its never-ending quest for gentrification (as witnessed by the ever-growing number of luxury high rise condos and BMWs, increased rents, ‘fair trade’ coffee shops, spiritual healing centers, and organic grocery stores that have supplanted the bookstores, record stores, and local novelties that made Seattle such an appealing place to come to in the first place).
But she also captures why so many of us still love this city: its quirkiness, its silky gray skies and spectacular landscape, its rich cultural and artistic attractions, and the generally liberal and free attitude that permeates the city and its peoples, — an attitude that is lacking in so many other regions of the country. In a nutshell, she dramatizes the love-hate relationship that we have with our city.
And yet, as I said before, after the play was over, I still didn’t know exactly how I felt about it, so I decided to sleep on it and see if the morning clouds (not sun, of course) might bring me some clarity, which it didn’t; so let’s just start with a synopsis and see where it takes us.
“Emerald City” tells the story of a woman named “Scarlett” (played by Jennifer Pratt) who had come to Seattle right after college to begin a career as a writer. After some initial success, her world crumbled: she lost her job, lost her house, lost her girlfriend, and lost her taste for the city. (Sound familiar?) So, she packed up and left, and moved to Irvine, California to start over.
Her life in Irvine, although not completely happy, is somewhat better than it was when she left Seattle. She has a new apartment that she shares with her adoring new girlfriend named “Lillian” (played by Megan Ahiers), a 20-pound cat named “Grumpy,” and a renewed lease on life. However, her writing career has still stalled out, and in an effort to revitalize it, she has been asked to take an assignment to write a story about a woman in Seattle (“Dot,” played by Gretchen Douma) who has made headlines for her unwillingness to sell her house for an exorbitant amount of money so that new construction can occur on the plot of land.
The job will require Scarlett to return to Seattle for a week in order to interview Dot, something she is wont to do. After some coaxing and prodding from her agent, “Mary” (played by Shawnmarie Stanton), Scarlett reluctantly agrees to go back to the Emerald City where she plans to “lay low” by staying with her former college roommate “Tina” (played by Morgan Rowe). And thus begins the show.
I will say that the play has a very strong cast. Ahiers and Rowe were particularly entertaining in their roles. Pratt, however, came across as having low energy, and it seemed that she struggled with some of her lines on a few occasions. Douma also did a fine job playing “Dot.”
One of the most interesting aspects of the play was the history of Seattle that it presented in the “guided tours” by Tina. We learn about the native Duwamish people who initially inhabited the area for 10,000 years, and about the various struggles and misdeeds of the European settlers who founded the modern city.
So, I guess, all in all, I liked the play. It had its funny moments, its serious moments, and well-written dialogue. However, I didn’t like the “dream sequences” or the ending, which I found to be a complete copout to an otherwise interesting script. Ms. Miskowski would do well to consider major revisions to the play’s ending as it is confusing, abrupt, and weak.
“Emerald City” plays March 9th – April 7th at West of Lenin in Fremont. Shows are on Fridays and Saturdays at 8pm. It is directed by Meghan Arnette. For more info, check their website: www.lgtheater.org