Hazel Ann Doucet
April 15, 2015Local legislators tackle abortion, transportation, array of other topics
April 15, 2015
Family dysfunction is at the heart of “Other Desert Cities,” LePetit Theatre de Terrebonne’s latest production.
A 2012 Pulitzer Prize finalist in drama, the John Robin Baitz play focuses on the Wyeth family.
After a six-year absence, novelist Brooke Wyeth (played by Meaghan Mella Acosta) returns home to Palm Springs to celebrate Christmas with her family. But when Brooke’s conservative parents Lyman and Polly (James Stewart and Danielle Marchive), former members of Ronald Reagan’s inner circle, learn her follow-up to her first, exquisitely written book is a memoir revisiting the family’s long-kept secret, turmoil ensues.
The Wyeths – Brooke, Lyman, Polly, brother Trip (Derrick Toups) and Aunt Silda (Edwina Yakupzak) – are united and torn apart as they struggle to come to terms with the past.
“It’s a very dysfunctional family system this group lives within,” director Karen Schilling said. “Decisions are made and Brooke ultimately pays the price.”
Schilling, who has also directed “Gout” and “Cover of Life” at LePetit, said she is drawn to plays that call for more depth of character. “Other Deserts Cities” fit the bill.
“It’s a very thought-provoking play,” she said. “It really delves into this family who tries to show the world one side, but at its core is just trying to keep the family together.”
LePetit Theatre de Terrebonne in Houma tackles John Robin Baitz’s “Other Desert Cities” beginning April 24. Pictured rehearsing are, from left, Danielle Marchive, James Stewart and Edwina Yakupzak. Director Karen Schilling is seated in the background.
