{Playwright: Page Hearn
At: City Lit Theater, 1020 W. Bryn Mawr
Phone: (773) 293-3682; $18 & $24
Runs through: June 22}
An Ecstasy of Dragonflies is neither fish nor fowl. Rather, it is insect, with the larval stage of a dragonfly—up to seven years—as a metaphor for true love. Once the larvae emerge after an unsensing period of metamorphosis, they spread their wings just once (the wings do not fold) and take to the air, shimmering and iridescent, with nearly 360 degrees of vision. So it is for Michael and Steve, who spend years on their mating dance, coupling and uncoupling with others, unwittingly establishing rituals with each other, and repeating the same mistakes until they finally see the light, well into their 30s.
Although presented in a gay context with an all-male cast, An Ecstasy of Dragonflies tells a universal story of the tug of affection and longing for commitment.
Fans of gay plays may be disappointed that it's not sexier or bitchier or doesn't have gorgeous guys disrobing, but that simply isn't what this play is about.
Far more disconcerting is a neither-fish-nor-fowl stylistic dichotomy. Act I is highly naturalistic, while Act II is an elegy with a symbolic ending. Throughout, the principals are shadowed by silent representatives of their inner selves, a device that invades reality without expanding feeling or meaning, and doesn't work. Viewed at a final preview, these mime actors seemed self-conscious
Although not without humor, An Ecstasy of Dragonflies is more poetical than light-hearted, making the play and characters seem doggedly earnest. As directed by Rob Chambers, actors Keith Eric Davis (Michael) and Jon Frazier (Steven) are astonishingly sincere portraying decent, ordinary, yearning guys. But ordinary lives don't make interesting drama, unless you're Arthur Miller. Playwright Page Hearn needs to enhance Michael and Steve, especially since their destiny is obvious to everyone but them. Chambers keeps things simple and fast, but the play so strongly telegraphs its intentions that suspense is missing, which makes it seem long when it isn't. Like me, you might find yourself saying, 'Come on, already!'
Rebecca Hamlin's skyscape scenic design is airy, handsome and contemporary. Costumer Thomas K. Kieffer uses T-shirts to color co-ordinate the six actors, among them supporting players David Blixt in welcome energy bursts as abusive Ed, and John Francisco as club boy Tommy, who abruptly disappears once his plot function is achieved.
City Lit mainstay Page Hearn clearly is on a learning curve with this, his first two-act play (and the first non-adapted, original work offered by City Lit). My sense is that it doesn't yet have the complexity of character or issue to sustain its length. Also, despite their beauty, dragonflies are among the most aggressive and successful meat-eating predators in nature; an aspect this play ignores. Perhaps there's a sequel