“GRACE & GLORIE”

OPENS AT THE ECLECTIC COMPANY THEATRE

 

Grace is not quite ready to die and needs a few simple chores around the house, like heating water, boiling an egg, and setting the mousetraps.  That’s when volunteer Gloria finds she is at a total loss in spite of her MBA and high power job.  The wood burning stove and the hand water pump are insurmountable challenges and when the chickens insist on swarming around her ankles whenever she appears, she’s ready to call it quits.

 The two continuously spar verbally.  Grace is used to the simple country life and Gloria (Glorie as Grace calls her) is complaining about not having the simple daily amenities, like running water or a gas stove.  Add the bulldozer noises as they get ready to flatten Grace’s house and you have a disaster in waiting.  Gloria discovers the bank tried to cheat Grace in the sale of her home, and the developers are waiting for her to die to ravage her beloved orchard.

Little by little Gloria gets involved in Grace’s life, learning about the five children that she buried, her great grand niece, and her lazy grandson.  Grace also learns about Gloria’s dead son, her affair and her attempt at a new life.

Through their verbal wars, they slowly learn about each other and eventually discover events in their lives that help them accept and understand each other’s ideas. 

Nan Tepper plays Grace with a wonderful sense of dignity and pride, along with bull-headed stubbornness.  Her slow, deliberate speech and her subtle facial expressions create a character that clearly understands more about life than she admits, and the way she slowly allows the character to open up to Gloria draws the audience into her small one room shack where we seems to be sitting on a barrel at the foot of the bed listening to her.

D.J. Harner depicts Gloria as an assertive, high-strung woman, used to prevailing and ready to do whatever is necessary to win.  She begins by making the character stand-offish, with an aloof nose in the air attitude, and evolves into a vulnerable, insecure and frightened person who is desperately seeking to find closure for the death of her son.  

The chemistry between the two is electrifying and while each character displays a strong will; each actor creates a touching portrait that makes the audience sympathize first with one, then the other, and finally has no choice but to embrace both.

Director Judy Welden combines the fine acting with an excellent set that has a real hand water pump within a believable modestly furnished shack.  The realistic sound effects are timed perfectly to add to the tension. 

Besides being a tale of two women, it’s really a sociological plunge into the psyche of the have and have-nots, which ultimately reveals how little difference there really is.

The production continues through February 22, 2004.  Call (818) 508-3003 for tickets

This production of “Grace & Glorie” is made possible in part by a grant from the L.A. Cultural Affairs Department.

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PERFORMANCE SCHEDULE

WHAT: “Grace & Glorie”, a play.

WHO: Written by Tom Ziegler. Directed by Judy Welden. Produced by The Eclectic

            Company Theatre in association with NTG, by special arrangement with

            Samuel French, Inc. Stars D.J. Harner  and Nan Tepper.

WHERE: The Eclectic Company Theatre, 5312 Laurel Canyon Blvd., (between Chandler

            and Magnolia), North Hollywood.

WHEN: Opens Saturday January 10, 2004.

            Fridays January 16, 23, 30 at 8 p.m.

            Saturdays January 10, 17, 24, 31 at 8 p.m.

            Sundays January 11, 18, 25, February 1 at 2 p.m. Also Sundays February 15 and 22 at 2 and 7 p.m.

ADMISSION:  $15. Students and seniors, $12.

RESERVATIONS AND INFORMATION: (818) 508-3003.