Brilliant Traces Cindy Lou Johnson
- NTG 2014 production.
- Dec 27, 2019 The opening of Cindy Lou Johnson’s Brilliant Traces holds an intriguing promise. A young woman arrives pounding on the door of a remote Alaska cabin during a winter storm wearing a wedding dress. I’m a person in serious trouble!” she screams before bursting in.
In the Playbill for Cindy Lou Johnson's 'Brilliant Traces' at the Cherry Lane Theater, there is a poem titled 'Individuation': If I must be wrung through the paradox, -broken into. Brilliant Traces. Cindy Lou Johnson. Dramatists Play Service Inc, 1989 - Drama - 51 pages. THE STORY: The place is a remote cabin in the wilds of Alaska. As a blizzard rages outside, a lonely figure, Henry Harry, lies sleeping under a heap of blankets. Suddenly, he is awakened by the insistent knocking of an unexpected visitor-who turns.
By Cindy Lou Johnson; Directed by David Newer
Produced by FSC Productions
Off Off Broadway, Play Revival
Runs through 10.1.17
Roy Arias Stage II, 777 Eighth Avenue
Brilliant Traces Cindy Lou Johnson Colello Death Photos
by Adrienne Urbanski on 9.21.17
Faust Checho and Lisa Fernandez in Brilliant Traces. Photo by jdx.
BOTTOM LINE: This is an endearing and well-acted production of a play focusing on two damaged people finding hope within one another.
FSC Productions was wise to dust off Cindy Lou Johnson's Brilliant Traces, which first debuted in New York in 1989. In the play, a runaway bride connects with an antisocial hermit in 'the middle of nowhere' in snow-filled Alaska, where both seek reprieve from the real world. The quirky characters and plot help prevent Brilliant Traces from becoming mired in any specific decade, making it a play you are certain to remember.
The play opens with Rosannah (Lisa Fernandez), dressed in a wedding dress, banging on the door of a barn house during a blizzard. Receiving no answer, she barges her way in and delivers a manic monologue about having driven for three days straight in a fugue. When she passes out, Henry (Faust Checho), silent this entire time, moves Rosannah into his bed, where she sleeps for two days straight. When she comes to, a comedy of mismatched personalities picks up. However, once the banter dies down and the storm outside keeps Rosannah indoors, the two lay their cards on the table, each revealing why they have ended up where they are now.
Johnson's script hits extremes, veering quickly from mawkish, comedic arguing to sentimental drama. The emotions feel authentic and relatable, especially in the hands of these capable actors, but the sometimes overly sentimental and occasionally wacky dialogue (Rosannah ponders if she was the victim of an alien abduction) can be a bit polarizing. Where Johnson succeeds most is in capturing the pain of everyday life and showing what leads some to pull away from the world as they attempt to heal from trauma.
Veteran stage and screen actor Faust Checho excels as Henry, showing a transformation from stoicism to emotional vulnerability, and pulling off lines that might have sounded over the top in lesser hands. Lisa Fernandez is greener than Checho, and could use some of his subtlety, but still convincingly portrays Rosannah's emotional wounds with success, lighting up the stage with her energy. The power both actors bring to their roles makes it a joy to watch them. Josh Iacovelli's set, replete with a water pump and lanterns, effectively evokes a cozy winter home, allowing the small stage to work to the production's advantage. As Rosannah and Henry reach towards one another in hopes of redemption, it feels authentic enough to make the darkness of our current reality feel a little lighter.
(Brilliant Traces plays at Roy Arias Stage II, 777 8th Avenue, through October 1, 2016. The running time is 90 minutes without an intermission. Performances are Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays at 7; Saturdays and Sundays at 2. Tickets are $18 and are available at brillianttracesplay.com.)
Brilliant Traces is by Cindy Lou Johnson. Directed by David Newer. Set Design is by Josh Iacovelli. Sound Design is by Nathan Shapiro. Fight Coordinator is by Kevin McGuire. Production Stage Manager is Kristine Schlachter.
The cast is Faust Checho and Lisa Fernandez.
The Story:
As a blizzard rages outside his remote Alaskan cabin, Henry lies deep in slumber under a heap of blankets. Suddenly, he is awakened by the desperate knocks of an unexpected visitor — a distraught young woman who bursts into his cabin dressed in full bridal regalia. Strung-out and exhausted, Rosannah throws herself on the man’s mercy. After sleeping for two days straight, her vigor and combativeness return.
Brilliant Traces By Cindy Lou Johnson
Both characters, it turns out, have been wounded and embittered by life, and both are refugees from civilization. Thrown together in this snowbound cabin, they alternately repel and attract each other as they explore the pain of the past and confront the old griefs and bitter feelings that haunt their lives.