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A bed and a laptop—- not much more is used in this set. The bed —actually a collection of ottomans— is later transformed into a cafe setting or a metaphor of the difficulties the main characters face trying to navigate a path in life.
On a larger than life projection on an oversized sheet, comely actress/playwright Deniz Khateri and one of the two-person cast of SUNSET, ECLIPSED BY SEAGULLS puts on her makeup, slices vegetables for dinner, gets dressed for work and all other details of her day. We see what her love interest sees via a blow up of his laptop Zoom view.
In between the minutiae of daily life, they play teasing guessing games, have zoom foreplay and LOTS of reminiscences of how HOT their times together were when they first met in Paris, or when they traveled to Istanbul and could rarely find time or inclination to leave the bed of their hotel room.
Politics keeps this couple apart— or for some of the more cynical in the crowd like this writer—- enables them to keep their more-fantasy-than-real relationship alive long beyond the natural half-life it would otherwise warrant.
When they aren’t on zoom, the American lover (Siobhàn Carroll) waxes soliloquies.
When circumstances bring her back to him as a married woman on-the-ready to bed him down yet again, the cultural divide between the Persian-She and the American-He become more of the script’s focus.
Throughout, scene changes are signaled by black and white projections of headline summaries of the grand political events that keep them apart—- the full-throttle Muslim ban and Visa complications.
This play will certainly appeal to Iranian-Americans, who like the main character and playwright are likely navigating this difficult political terrain. There were in fact several in the audience who seemed to understand the moments of stereo Farsi dialogue in the script. For this reviewer, who found the play adequate but not much more, there isn’t enough new terrain or dramatic arc in the script to make it compelling.
CAST:
Deniz Khateri
Addy Marsh
CREATIVE TEAM:
Written By Deniz Khateri
Co-Directed by Siobhàn Carroll and Deniz Khateri
Music Compostions by Bahar Royaee
WHEN:
September 26th-October 13th, 2024
WHERE:
The Tank
312 W 36th St
New York, NY, 10018
About the Author: Amy Munice
Amy Munice is Editor-in-Chief and Co-Publisher of Picture This Post. She covers books, dance, film, theater, music, museums and travel. Prior to founding Picture This Post, Amy was a freelance writer and global PR specialist for decades—writing and ghostwriting thousands of articles and promotional communications on a wide range of technical and not-so-technical topics.
