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Does True Love Last Forever?
Big Dawg presents ‘To Gillian on Her 37th Birthday’

By: MJ Pendleton

Love and death are universal themes because they are inevitable. Theoretically, it is possible to never love or be loved, but a lifetime completely devoid of love is improbable. True love, though, may live forever, but only in the imagination, which is why writers generally kill off one or both of the lovers. In lieu of death as a device, books, movies and plays often end at a perfect moment in the relationship. Perfect love is a fantasy because human beings are flawed. In the words of George Orwell, “The essence of being human is that one does not seek perfection...that one is prepared in the end to be defeated and broken up by life, which is the inevitable price of fastening one’s love upon other human individuals.”

“To Gillian on Her 37th Birthday,” by Michael Brady, is a story of love and loss. The protagonist is still grieving the death of his wife and has created an idealized spiritual version of her. After two years his family has decided to intervene, primarily because his teenage daughter needs him. Elizabeth Kubler-Ross created a five-step formula for grieving from the perspective of a dying person, which became the psychological foundation for the five stages of grief survivors are supposed to experience: denial, inward anger, outward anger, depression, acceptance. In this story, David, the widower, has not moved past stage one. Alex Wharff, who plays David, explained, “It’s not a traditional romance. It’s about learning to remember correctly and move on.”

Director Ken Cressman interprets the play as a family love story. “It’s about real people dealing with loss, but it’s not depressing; it’s uplifting.”

Maggie Miller (Gillian) added, “It’s not flashy or avant-garde, it’s a comfort play.”

“Like a good summer novel,” M. Christy Grantham elaborated. “It’s a nice little arch of a story that takes you on a trip and safely deposits you back.”

Michelle Crabtree, who plays the teenage daughter and promises to make us cry, is the newcomer in the group. Grantham, who is president of the board of directors for Big Dawg Productions, directed Wharff and Miller in “The Scarlet Letter.” Cressman has requested “real, genuine reactions from his cast,” which is less challenging for actors who have worked together and are obviously friends.

The symbolism of the island setting is a cliché, of course, but appropriate to the theme of the story: “no man is an island.” (John Donne.)

“You can’t go through life alone,” Cressman said. The movie version, which is very different from the play, was partially filmed at Kure Beach, and Cressman promises that Doug Dodson’s stage design “will be like nothing you’ve ever seen before.” Maybe a giant sandbox?
In October Big Dawg Productions will have a permanent home. After 13 years of performances in the Studio Theater at Thalian Hall, they have purchased a building at 615 Castle Street in the new Art and Antiques District. Since several antique dealers moved from Front Street and began renovating commercial properties, the area has become an interesting and fun niche neighborhood.

A theater sharing the same block with Jester’s Java is an ideal location. The Cape Fear Playhouse at Newcastle will be a 1200 square-foot studio theater, which will seat approximately 80 patrons. There will be storage and dressing rooms, and even off-street parking. They hope to open with “The Night Thoreau Spent in Jail,” their annual production of a classic play, which is linked to the local school curriculum.

Big Dawg will need a lot of support to realize this dream and attending the performance of “To Gillian on Her 37th Birthday” is a good start. On the Fourth of July, curtain is at 7pm so the audience will not miss the fireworks. The bonus: a perfect parking spot! “Gillian” plays June 19th-22nd and 26th-29th, and July 3rd-6th, Thursday through Saturday, 8pm; Sunday, 3pm. Tickets: 343-3664, Thalian Studio Theater.