H2O to open 5th Wall season with ‘celebrity vs faith’ crisis

GayRVA Staff
September 4, 2014

• 

• Tweet

Read More: fifth wall theater, H2O, Jane Martin, Virginia Rep Center

The 5th Wall, RVA’s newest theater house, opens their inaugural season this weekend, and their first play, Jane Martin’s H2O, should be a real crowd pleaser.

H2O follows the saga of an aimless young man as he is catapulted to movie stardom and Hollywood’s celebrity culture. Before long he has his sights set on broadway, but will an evangelical girl with hopes of saving his soul be his undoing or his muse?

Actress Liz Earnest said reading over the script for H20 made her notice the delicate balance between the two characters as they confront one another’s differences. “These discoveries are made doubly interesting and exciting as they unfold through Martin’s inventive and highly-active staging devices, which underscorethe characters’ relationship as it rises and falls,” said Earnest.

“This is the kind of story that begs the audience and actors alike to brace themselves for a high-speed journey through the human condition, to emerge on the other side with a greater sense of what it means to trust.”

Artistic Director Carol Piersol said she was drawn to the play because of the complex relationship between the two leads. “Jane Martin puts Christian faith and non-belief together on a roller coaster ride that leaves us on the edge of our seats, constantly questioning which character is in the right.”

The playwright behind H2o herself is shrouded in a number of mysteries. With 10 full length plays and six one acts under her belt, her resume is nothing to scoff at. Throw in a Pulitzer Prize nomination and two wins from the American Theatre Critics Association, and you’ve got an accomplished artist – but throughout her career she has avoided interivews and public appearances. No pictures, no sightings, leading to the nick name “America’s best known unknown playwright.”

Performances for H20 run September 4, 5, 6, 9, 11, 12, 13, 18, 19, 20, 25, 26, 27 at 8PM and September 14 and 21 at 4PM at Theatre Gym, located in the Virginia Rep Center, 114 W. Broad Street, Richmond, VA.

Talkbacks with the cast and special guests will follow select performances. Tickets are $25 (Groups of 10 or more – $18, Students – $10) and can be purchased by visiting www.5thWallTheatre.org.

•