NATURAL HISTORY @ NORTH COAST REP

North Coast Rep Staged Reading Series Presents “Natural History” by Jennifer Camp

Words by Kristen Fogle

On Monday, January 30, North Coast Rep produced another compelling (free!) staged reading with “Natural History” (by Jennifer Camp), the delightful piece chosen. Running about 80 minutes (no intermission), the play, narrated by Kathryn Byrd, consists of four stories, all set in or having to do with the Natural History Museum and involving three actors (Amanda Naughton, Mike Sears, and Kyle Sorrell) who play multiple roles.

The first of the four pieces, “The Theodore Roosevelt Rotunda,” features geeky but adorable Ben (Sears) and British/bookish Lillian (Naughton), both who come to the museum fairly often and continue to see each other. Each feels a special connection with the other and muses, over days and weeks, about what it would be like to meet. Each researches the other’s life: Lillian becomes obsessed with Ben’s creation, a video game named Gloom, Ben finally reads “Virginia Woolf” because he knows Lillian teaches it. Both have private pains which prevent them from living fully happy lives—he works with a brother he loathes, she has experienced tremendous loss. (Funny and touching when the pair finally meet, it is no wonder “Rotunda” won the Samuel French Short Play Competition and was published in their “Off-Off Broadway Festival Plays—Twenty-Ninth Series.)

The second story, “Birds of the World,” which as a single piece was produced at NYU and by Chelsea Park Productions in Dallas, is the story of a boy Buddy (Sorrell), who grew to be the force of joy and connectivity between his mother Claire (Naughton) and father Phillip (Sears). Buddy lovingly tells the story of their courtship and marriage, traversing between years before he was even conceived and present day. She, an ornithologist (not a foot doctor as she says, but a bird expert, at the museum), experiences miscarriages for years after her and Phillip finally get married, and the couple finally decide to separate, only to have one last fling, with Buddy being born. The story continues to reveal how the couple thrived as parents to Buddy, very much in love, until an accident destroys that peace.…

The third is “Ocean Life,” a single monologue by Sorrell’s character James, who has several things on his mind. For one, whales and how they communicate, and how we, as advanced as we claim to be, cannot figure out why and what they are saying. Mostly though, James is reflective on displacement, as he is struggling to find his boyfriend. He reflects on a recent trip James took with him whale watching, not only significant because it was the first time his boyfriend could be “out of the closet” to his family, but because of a single whale that the pair experienced together.

“The Big Bang” starts with a punch and goes back an hour earlier, to when formerly married (by 22 years) Barbara (Naughton) and Richard (Sears) run into each other unexpectedly in the Natural History Museum gift shop. Richard, who had an affair with his former wife before a three month business trip and has had time to acknowledge his feelings for her, is unnerved to meet her new boyfriend, a younger man named Spencer (Sorrell), who despite his age, is not only a very honest, good man, but very much in love with Barbara. Barbara must face her fault in having two men at the same time and decide who she should be with—all in a security office at the Natural History Museum.

It was nice to see three talented actors lend their time to the reading; Naughton, who I had not seen before, is very versatile but plays strong female roles the most convincingly; Sears is likable in all his parts, even when he is playing the slightly contemptuous Richard. And the gifted Sorrell has a depth and wisdom to the characters he portrays—breaking our hearts gently and meekly as James, but particularly with Buddy.

During a talk back, the cast, literary manager Matt Thompson, director (and Associate Producer at the La Jolla Playhouse) Dana Harrel, and playwright Jennifer Camp addressed questions from the audience, which led to great insight about the piece. Camp revealed that she was drawn to the idea of the museum as a metaphor for people and emotions— since with both, it is difficult to tell what is an exhibit and what is not; everything’s on display. She also revealed that the play started as a graduate school assignment with just “The Theodore Roosevelt Rotunda.” She then created the second piece “Birds” and felt she needed to round it out with two others, adding the third and fourth pieces last. Since each has been written, however, each has been constantly rewritten, even as recent as the day before this performance; she constantly tweaks based on what does and doesn’t work for an audience, what falls flat. She was also asked about the three actors playing multiple parts—she has had nine different actors play each of the parts, but her preference, and it was written for, just three actors playing all nine. We also learned that the most difficult piece for everyone while staging was “Birds of the World,” since it deals with (spoiler) the death of a child; particularly hard for Harrel, as she is currently nine months pregnant.

Even hearing from the author and dispelling questions, “Natural History” is not a perfect play, nor do I think it has seen its final rewrite. There are places, particularly in “Ocean Life” where the dialogue feels unnecessarily lengthy and audience attention seems to wane (if only for a moment). Or perhaps the first two pieces are so well done that the second two (which are good) seem like they are merely rounding out the play; I don’t think “Ocean Life” and “The Big Bang” can quite stand on their own like “Rotunda” and “Birds.”

Camp is definitely quite talented, and she has a way with plot and dialogue that impresses. I have no doubt that we have not seen the last of (or the last version) of the museum, and frankly, I can’t wait for others to take the heartfelt trip I experienced.

For a list of other staged readings (as well as the full season), please visit North Coast Rep’s site: www.northcoastrep.org

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