{"id":361621,"date":"2024-11-16T17:16:36","date_gmt":"2024-11-16T22:16:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/?p=361621"},"modified":"2024-11-16T17:16:36","modified_gmt":"2024-11-16T22:16:36","slug":"a-marriage-is-on-the-ropes-in-quirky-new-comedy-the-ghosts-of-us-at-nova-nightsky-theater","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/2024\/11\/16\/a-marriage-is-on-the-ropes-in-quirky-new-comedy-the-ghosts-of-us-at-nova-nightsky-theater\/","title":{"rendered":"A marriage is on the ropes in quirky new comedy ‘The Ghosts of Us’ at NOVA Nightsky Theater"},"content":{"rendered":"

Breaking up is hard to do. It gets even harder if, as in The Ghosts of Us \u2014 <\/em>Rebecca Gorman O\u2019Neill\u2019s new play at Falls Church\u2019s NOVA Nightsky Theater \u2014 the about-to-split spouses must spend 36 hours in each other\u2019s company in a remote cabin in the mountains before signing the divorce papers.<\/p>\n

Why? Because a quirky provision of their prenup says so. This unlikely artifice fuels the interaction among the play\u2019s four characters: Jackson and Emma, the couple in question (Joshua Nettinga and Fosse Thornton); Emma\u2019s sister Sophie (Maura Suilebhan); and Jackson\u2019s best friend, Aiden (Justin Von Stein).<\/p>\n

\"\"
Maura Suilebhan as Sophia and Fosse Thornton as Emma in \u2018The Ghosts of Us.\u2019 Photo by Sharon Kim.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Jackson and Emma have been married for five years. Their relationship is troubled by factors that any good couples therapist would recognize: they communicate poorly if at all and have difficulty surmounting the small resentments of cohabitation. They have come to live largely separate lives. Jackson no longer loves Emma, for reasons unclear even to himself. A line from a Gordon Lightfoot song applies: \u201cI don\u2019t know where we went wrong, but the feeling\u2019s gone, and I just can\u2019t get it back.\u201d<\/p>\n

Emma may still have feelings for Jackson \u2014 Sophie thinks so \u2014 but not hopes that the relationship can be salvaged. She recalls a student paper she reviewed about Chekhov\u2019s Three Sisters<\/em>: the characters long to get to Moscow, symbolically representing love and happiness and fulfillment, but never will. (We\u2019ll Never Get to Moscow<\/em> was the play\u2019s original title.) Her road to reconciliation with her future runs through wood chopping and dividing up the couple\u2019s personal property<\/p>\n

Sophie, a lawyer, brings the divorce documents, acts as the timekeeper for the 36-hour rule, leads yoga sessions, and makes lists to keep everyone\u2019s lives in order. An important subplot concerns the unresolved sibling conflict \u2014 sometimes verging on hostility \u2014 between her and Emma.<\/p>\n

There are likewise long-simmering tensions between Jackson and Aiden, culminating in a rolling-on-the-floor fight between the two. Kudos to fight choreographer Jessie Holder Tourtellote for staging the tussle convincingly in the tight confines of NOVA Nightsky\u2019s playing space.<\/p>\n

\"\"
TOP: Joshua Nettinga as Jackson and Justin Von Stein as Aiden; ABOVE: Justin Von Stein as Aiden and Maura Suilebhan as Sophia, in \u2018The Ghosts of Us.\u2019 Photo by Sharon Kim.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The main engine of the tension between the two is Aiden\u2019s longing for Emma, not only unrequited but unspoken over the years of their friendship. In the most problematic moment of O\u2019Neill\u2019s otherwise successful script, Aiden\u2019s long-suppressed desire sends him hurtling headlong off the rails, when a more restrained, though still emotionally powerful, expression of heartbreak would have been more convincing.<\/p>\n

All four actors do a sterling job of making their characters real. In NOVA Nightsky\u2019s space \u2014 the theatrical analog of a tiny house \u2014 the audience gets to be in the room with the actors, up close and personal (Nettinga landed literally at my feet during a yoga scene, for example). This tends to favor subtlety and realism in acting style. As audience members, we are seeing close-ups of the actors, who in turn can communicate through fine details of gesture and facial expression reminiscent of good film acting. This cast does it well, with clarity.<\/p>\n

Another advantage of the small space for the play turns out to be what lighting designer Noelani Stevenson can do with low light. There are a number of scenes in which one or two of the actors are appropriately in shadow while action proceeds elsewhere. But with the audience so close to the actors, we can clearly see the reactions or interactions of the actors in the dimmer light.<\/p>\n

Rob Gorman\u2019s direction of the play is spot-on, with its pace just right in every scene, and the actors\u2019 ensemble work being seamless throughout. To his and the cast\u2019s credit, the comic timing of the show\u2019s many very funny lines is impeccable.<\/p>\n

Make no mistake, this is a comedy, like Chekhov\u2019s \u201ccomedies\u201d a matter of laughter amid the ruins. There is a somewhat ridiculous love, or at least desire, quadrangle among the characters. There are Chekhovian echoes sprinkled through the script. Aiden does not shoot a gull, for example, but he at least tries to shoot ducks.<\/p>\n

Perhaps unlike the Chekhov canon, there is a glimmer of if not exactly hope, at least release from hopelessness, for Jackson and Emma. In a moment of insight, Jackson comments that remaining in a loveless relationship for a lifetime, living disconnected lives under the same roof, a couple could see \u201cthe ghosts of us\u201d \u2014 their former selves \u2014 in the living room. Better off avoiding that.<\/p>\n

In The Ghosts of Us<\/em>, NOVA Nightsky brings to vivid life the confusion, sadness, conflicts, and humor of relationships that will never be the same but that will unmistakably mark the lives of the characters in the future, whatever that unknown future may be.<\/p>\n

Running Time: Approximately two hours, including an intermission.<\/p>\n

The Ghosts of Us <\/em><\/strong><\/a>plays through November 23, 2024, presented by NOVA Nightsky Theater<\/a> performing at 1057 West Broad Street, Suite 216, Falls Church, VA. Tickets, priced at $28, are available for purchase online<\/a><\/strong> or at the door.<\/p>\n

See the digital program here.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

All four actors do a sterling job of making their characters real, and the comic timing of the show\u2019s many very funny lines is impeccable. By BOB ASHBY<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":361627,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"apple_news_api_created_at":"","apple_news_api_id":"","apple_news_api_modified_at":"","apple_news_api_revision":"","apple_news_api_share_url":"","apple_news_cover_media_provider":"image","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_cover_video_id":0,"apple_news_cover_video_url":"","apple_news_cover_embedwebvideo_url":"","apple_news_is_hidden":"","apple_news_is_paid":"","apple_news_is_preview":"","apple_news_is_sponsored":"","apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":[],"apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[1674,1675],"class_list":{"0":"post-361621","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-community-theater","8":"tag-rebecca-gorman-oneill","9":"tag-rob-gorman"},"acf":[],"apple_news_notices":[],"yoast_head":"\nA marriage is on the ropes in quirky new comedy 'The Ghosts of Us' at NOVA Nightsky Theater - DC Theater Arts<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/2024\/11\/16\/a-marriage-is-on-the-ropes-in-quirky-new-comedy-the-ghosts-of-us-at-nova-nightsky-theater\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A marriage is on the ropes in quirky new comedy 'The Ghosts of Us' at NOVA Nightsky Theater\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"All four actors do a sterling job of making their characters real, and the comic timing of the show\u2019s many very funny lines is impeccable. 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