3/18/2009 9:34:00 AM                                 Email this article • Print this article

Dramatic tension crescendos until all of the secrets are revealed in The Paradise Theatre School's production of "Shining City," written by Irish playwright Conor McPherson and directed by Erik Van Beuzekom.

The play begins with John (Scott Nollette), who arrives at a psychotherapist's office seeking relief from insomnia and visions of his deceased wife's ghost. The therapist, Ian, played by David Wayne Johnson, has barely moved into his office. In the next scene, we find out why when he is confronted by Neasa (Patti Quintero), and we also begin to find out how much Ian's life mirrors John's.

Somewhere in the middle of that scene, I found myself tiring of Neasa and Ian's rousing fight. It's just not fun watching a couple sling the f-word back and forth, displaying how not to do a relationship. So, I thought, there had better be a payoff for this as the show continues.

And, oh boy, was there ever.

The third scene reveals all that tortures John, whose marriage was rocky before his wife's death. In this part of the story, Nollette performs a long, intense monologue that would stupefy many amateur actors.

In theater, memorizing the script is only a small piece of turning in an A+ performance. After going "off book," an actor must then bring in the true essence of the character. All of the acting in this show is above average, but Nollette's part requires him to take his responsibility to a blistering degree. Here he shows that he is more than capable of the challenge, as he dishes out one of the finest performances I have ever seen in Jefferson County in the almost 10 years I have lived here. Just when I thought I had seen the best of the best, the bar gets raised a foot higher.

The icing on the cake for Mr. Nollette is that he gave the performance of his life in front of Emmy Award-winning actor Lindsay Wagner ("The Bionic Woman"), who owns a home in Sequim and learned of the show while shopping in downtown Port Townsend. Like me and everyone else in the audience, she was impressed.

Get your tickets early to ensure a seat.

"Shining City" runs Friday and Saturdays through April 4. Show times are 8 p.m. A pay-what-you-can performance is set for Thursday, March 19 at 8 p.m., and a matinee is performed on Saturday, April 4 at 2 p.m. Buy tickets for $10 at The Food Co-op, 414 Kearney St.; online at www.brownpapertickets.com; or at 24/7 Tickets Hotline, 800-838-3006. The Paradise Theatre School is located at 161 Center Road in Chimacum.

Ian (David Wayne Johnson, left) and John (Scott Nollette) are a psychotherapist and client fighting similar demons in “Shining City,” now playing at The Paradise Theatre School in Chimacum.
 

3/18/2009 9:34:00 AM Email this article • Print this article
 

Kathie Meyer, The Leader