Ehem! Hi. This is urgent. If you live in or around New York City, you must go see the play I watched last night: The Qualification of Douglas Evans written by Derek Ahonen and directed by James Kautz. Please believe me when I say this production will move you!
If there was anyone in The Walker Space Theater last night who was not moved by this show, they're lying to themselves (or possibly numbed out). I mean, after the show my very good friend actually stayed in his seat for many minutes after everyone had already left the theatre just so he could absorb what he watched for 2 1/2 hours. I, on the other hand, quickly ran downstairs to the bathroom mirror so I could erase the coal-colored streaks from my dampened cheeks! (Tip for when you go: where waterproof mascara and bring tissues.)
Getting to the grit... There was a specific part in the production where I felt as if someone had just drop-kicked me back to a pivotal point in my past. Many of you would probably relate. For me? I was unnerved, disorientated and thrown off balance. It was like looking into a time-warp tunnel...though I knew about the twisted insanity of alcoholism (pfffft...so I thought!). I was many years into my own recovery already when this shared experience left me dumbfounded in my own life.
Here, let me share that piece of the script. It's the scene where Douglas Evans, a 29 year old practicing alcoholic, meets a perfect, codependent candidate named Robin:
DOUGLAS: (Beat) Listen...I think I'd like to go out with you again, but um...I'd like to be sober.
ROBIN: I'd like that too. Want to go out tomorrow?
DOUGLAS: (Beat) Well...um...Yeah I would. But I'm going to need a few days in bed with a bucket to sober up. Alcohol withdrawal is a sonofabitch.
ROBIN: Oh. Is that like a hangover?
DOUGLAS: Ha. I'd welcome a hangover. No. This is...when you've been as drunk as long as I have, all the cells in your body turn into alcohol cells and they depend on alcohol to... (Douglas becomes embarrassed.) I know it sounds pathetic.
ROBIN: It's informative.
DOUGLAS: Yeah...well the skinny of it is that I'll shake and sweat and go from freezing to boiling in seconds. It's like food poisoning times a hundred...plus hallucinations.
ROBIN: Is there no other way to sober up?
DOUGLAS: Some people can taper off but uh...For me I gotta go cold turkey to really break the cycle.
ROBIN: Can I come with you?
DOUGLAS: Where?
ROBIN: To your place. I can help.
DOUGLAS: You don't want to do that.
ROBIN: I do.
DOUGLAS: Listen, it gets ugly. Nobody should have to see that unless they deserve it.
Can anyone guess whether or not she goes with him? You're probably correct! Earth angels always seem to shake and wake those in denial, right? Unfortunately, some go back to sleep. But maybe, just maybe, she's not an earth angel though. You'll have to go see the show in order to find out!
For the sake of wrapping this up... as many of us know, seeing or having delerium tremens in life is horrifying. The acting (behaving truthfully under imaginary circumstances), writing and directing was real and it honestly matched that same --insane-- intensity. This show freakin' rocked!
Of course I say B - R - A - V - O!
The Qualification of Douglas Evans is a must see and it ends this week. So, RUN!
Or you can purchase tickets and find out more information by clicking http://www.theamoralists.com
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