Love is so darned complicated. He loves her…she thinks he’s boring. She loves him…he loves someone else. They love each other…and then they don’t.
A sweet and tender story about the many facets of love made it’s world premiere at Portland Center Stage’s Ellyn Bye Studio last week. Adam
The Waitress (Tina Chilip) and The Policeman (Ryan Vincent Anderson) take a stab at relationship-building in Kodachrome. Photo by Patrick Weishampel, blankeye.tv.
Szymkowicz’s Kodachrome digs into love’s many incarnations in Small Town America.
The Photographer (Lena Kaminsky) and The Gravedigger (Ryan Tresser) share some little- known truths in Kodachrome. Photo by Patrick Weishampel/blankeye.tv.
The Photographer (Lena Kaminsky) in this fictitious town has the lowdown on everyone. As she makes her rounds, capturing images of the Policeman/The Hardware Store Owner (Ryan Vincent Anderson), The Librarian/The Waitress (Tina Chilip), The Gravedigger/The Young Man (Ryan Tresser), The History Professor/The Perfume Maker (John D. Haggerty), The Mystery Novelist/The Florist (Sharonlee McLean), and Marjorie/The Young Woman (Kelly Godell), she tells us a lot about what’s going on, who’s in love, and who’s not.
There’s a lot of this love stuff going around. It’s the complicated business of being human, The Photographer tells us.
But what of that Photographer? She who calls herself “a dabbler”? Who does she love? And who loves her? Well, that too is complicated. For her story, we need to consult The Gravedigger and The Hardware Store Owner.
This is a beautiful play–understated, tricky, often humorous, and universal. It’s a story about ordinary people going about their lives. As in Thornton Wilder’s masterpiece Our Town, life proceeds at a predictable pace. People grow up, get married, live and die. They fall in love. They fall out of love. And sometimes they can’t decide.
Directing by Rose Riordan and casting by Riodan and Brandon Woolley both are spot on. Everyone in this show delivers wonderful performances. Daniel Meeker’s set is sleek and very effective, as are his lighting design and Will Cotter’s projection design.
Kodachrome runs through March 18 at the Armory, and is appropriate for all ages. Happy Valentine’s Day everyone!
