hard deadlines

Cloud Nine cast, click to embiggen. Photo by Seth Jacobson Photography.

These days, it's common to talk about the intersecting systems of oppression that comprise race, gender, and class — we even have a word for them: kyriarchy. But when British playwright Caryl Churchill wrote "Cloud Nine" back in the late 1970s, it was one of the first theatrical works to dissect such hidden power structures, and she did it with a ribald Brechtian comedy that earned her an Obie for its off-Broadway run in 1982.

Wakefield's Contemporary Theater Company, no stranger to challenging works, has mounted a spirited, engaging production that runs through May 3, and if you enjoy Churchill's work (or thought-provoking theatre in general) this is a must-see.

The play's two acts span 100 years, with the first in an 1880s British colony and the second in 1980s London, but for the several characters we follow, only 25 years have elapsed, just one of the many distortions Churchill introduces. She specifies that roles be cast against gender and race, with men playing women, women playing men, and a white actor as a black servant. Helpfully, director Ryan Hartigan begins each act with the players holding identifying cards (another layer of cultural inscription.)

The first act, set in Africa in the days of colonial power, plays like a Restoration comedy, as the veneer of an ideal British family is peeled back to reveal infidelity, repressed sexuality, and violence. Clive, the patriarch, is played by Birk Wozniak with a starched resolve; Andrew Katzman as his wife, Betty, offers a nuanced portrayal as the helpless and dominated anchor of the family tortured by unfulfilled desire. Their son, Edward (played with impetuous energy by Amy Lee Connell) tries to hide his attraction for both dolls and their visitor, the explorer Harry Bagley (Sami Avigdor). Mother-in-law Maud (Tammy Brown), governess Ellen (Stephanie Traversa), and servant Joshua (Ashley Macamaux) round out the household, which is thrown into conflict by native unrest and the arrival of Bagley and the divorced Mrs. Saunders (Traversa).

There ensues a round of assignations, rebuffs, and recriminations, made intentionally stranger by the cross-gender casting: Clive and Mrs. Saunders, Betty and Harry, Ellen and Betty, Harry and Edward (and Joshua, and Clive — well, he's an explorer, no?). Against this backdrop of sexual dalliance, the servant Joshua plays witness and informant, alienated from his own culture to the point that he cannot even grieve the death of his parents at the hands of British troops. But during the marriage that ends act one, we finally see him raise his rifle.

One hundred years later, we find Betty, Edward, and Victoria (now 25 years older) in Thatcher's London, where the veldt has been replaced with spraypainted cinderblock and the last remaining "colony" is Northern Ireland. Betty is now played by Stephanie Traversa (née Mrs. Saunders) and she wonderfully embodies the character's diffident emergence from the shadow of Clive. Tammy Brown, as daughter Victoria, nicely inverts her Act I role as Maud to become the lesbian partner of Lin (Amy Lee Connell, earnest and frazzled). Edward (now played by Andrew Katzman) has a fraught relationship with his partner Gerry (Ashley Macamaux, reprising Joshua's taciturn distance), who is more comfortable with bath house sex. Sami Avigdor turns in an exuberant performance as Lin's daughter, Cathy. Eventually, the loose ménage à trois of Victoria, Edward, and Lin hold a drunken ceremony to the Great Goddess, after which cross-temporal apparitions begin to manifest.

Director Ryan Hartigan has made wonderful choices in both casting and tuning the performances, and the result is satisfying, highly theatrical, and appropriately jarring. There are many fine moments spotlighting the transient and shallow escapes of Act II: Victoria's estranged husband Martin spouting psychobabble, Gerry's monologue on train station sex, Betty's discovery of masturbation. Audiences of 2013 are now as far separated from this time as the characters are from the rigid colonialism of Act I, and it allows us to see both how inscribed and overshadowed these explorations were, and to better appreciate the keen insight of Churchill in so well capturing them.

Accompanying the performance are Matt Requintina on piano and guitar and vocalist Meg Perry, who deliver languid, stylish period music for both acts. The set design, by Perry and Christopher Simpson, deserves mention: they have converted the three-quarter round stage into a raked square, peaked in the center and bevelled lower across stage left and right in a way that physically embodies the reflection inherent in the two-act structure and provides interesting opportunities for physical juxtaposition.

No way to sugarcoat this: Cloud Nine is a challenging, adult show. You'll want to keep your wits about you and your mind open. But if you want to see Churchill's penetrating farce handled with verve and depth by a highly talented troupe of performers, this is a very satisfying evening of theater.

"Cloud Nine" at the Contemporary Theater Company, 327 Main Street, Wakefield RI. Performances: April 10, 11, 12, 25, 26, May 1, 2, and 3 at 7 pm and April 27 at 2 pm. Tickets $20 Fri/Sat, $15 Sun, available on the web or by calling 410-218-0282. Thursday performances are "Pay-What-You-Can." Contains adult themes, language, and sexual situations inappropriate for children.

Portsmouth Rep. Dennis Canario has been appointed a Deputy Majority Leader of the Rhode Island House of Representatives.
           
The appointment was announced this week by Speaker of the House Nick Mattiello.
           
As a Deputy Majority Leader, Canario is a member of the House leadership team and will work closely with the Majority Leader and Senior Deputy Majority Leader to ensure that party members are properly informed on measures and votes coming before the body.
           
In addition to that post, Rep. Canario has been named the Secretary of the House Committee on Health, Education and Welfare and will continue to serve as a member of the House Committee on Judiciary.
           
Rep. Canario, who is serving his first term in the House of Representatives, is a retired police officer who served on the Portsmouth Town Council for six years, including two years as president.

With this announcement, three of Portsmouth's reps have been appointed to leadership positions in the House. In addition to Canario, Jay Edwards (D-70) is Majority Whip, and Ray Gallison (D-69) is chair of the House Finance Committee.

Editorial note: Written from a press release.

With the support of Speaker of the House Nick Mattiello (D-15, Cranston) and his colleagues in Tuesday’s Democratic caucus, Rep. Jay Edwards (D-70) has secured a new title: House majority whip.

He will join a new slate of lawmakers who have been cemented as part of the speaker’s leadership panel, including Rep. John DeSimone (D-5, Providence) as majority leader and Rep. Joseph Almeida (D-12, Providence) as deputy majority whip.

“It is truly a privilege to serve on the speaker’s newly assembled team,” Representative Edwards said. “I am pleased that I will be able to use the leadership skills I have cultivated as senior deputy majority leader to serve at the behest of Speaker Mattiello and my colleagues in the House. I have a great deal of confidence that we will be able to bring creative and practical ideas to the forefront in order to rebuild what was once a thriving economy here in Rhode Island. More importantly, my constituents will continue to have a strong voice in the chamber. I have fought for their interests and the needs of all Rhode Islanders to the best of my ability since I was first elected in 2008. In that regard, nothing has changed.”

Majority Whip Edwards, 55, has been an active opponent of tolls on the Sakonnet River Bridge and has introduced legislation this year to create a predictable statewide funding source for roads and bridges without the toll. He has been a strong advocate for government transparency, tenants’ rights, and cracking down on industrial polluters, among other issues. He was also the lead sponsor for the 2012 bill that decriminalized the possession of small amounts of marijuana.

Prior to his 2008 victory in the District 70 race, Representative Edwards served on the Tiverton Town Council. Since he became a state representative, he has served on the Labor, Small Business and Veterans’ Affairs committees. He is a 1983 graduate of Northeastern University, graduated from St. George’s School in 1976, and is a 1975 graduate of Le Centre Scholaire St. Marc in Lyon, France. He and his wife, Donna, have three children: John, Kelsey and Mae. A project manager for the construction firm H.V. Collins Company, he is past chairman of Associated Builders and Contractors Rhode Island, and has been active in the Tiverton Land Trust, Friends of the Tiverton Library, Caritas RI, the Tiverton Lions Club, the Ancient Order of the Hibernians, the National Eagle Scout Association, Save the Bay and Clean Water Action.

Editorial note: Written from a press release.

The Aquidneck Land Trust and the Faria family of Portsmouth announced the conservation of ten acres of farmland in a release this afternoon.

The Faria property, which is located on the easterly side of Jepson Lane, comprises two lots with a combined acreage of approximately 14.6 acres. The conserved portion of the property is actively farmed and directly adjacent to Sisson Pond, within the Sisson Pond watershed. Sisson Pond is one of Aquidneck Island's seven public drinking water reservoirs. The Faria property slopes east to Sisson Pond; if it were developed into the 7 house lots a hypothetical subdivision plan shows, polluted runoff from the houses and pavement would drain directly into Sisson Pond.

The Faria property also has significant agricultural, wildlife habitat, watershed protection and scenic values. Strategically located within ALT's Center Island Greenway, the property is contiguous with approximately 294 acres of land previously conserved by ALT, including farmland to the north and Sisson and St. Mary's ponds to the east.

"Development in our watersheds has increased over the years, adding more houses and roads where forests and fields once were. Maintaining this property as open space, and others like it, is critical to protecting the quality of our drinking water supplies on Aquidneck Island. This conservation easement also protects prime farmland, so much of which we have lost on Aquidneck Island. ALT is all about protecting farming as a way of life and protecting local sources of food production. It's safe to say the current drought in California has made it apparent that we need to be conscious and vigilant about local sources for our food." said Chuck Allott, Executive Director of the Aquidneck Land Trust.

A representative of the Faria family stated. "We are certain that our parents would be proud to know that we have worked with ALT to preserve the land they loved so much. We all worked together as a family on this land, and the decision to keep it as farmland was the right choice for all of us."

ALT wishes to thank our partners in this project: the van Beuren Charitable Foundation and the Town of Portsmouth, both of whom have made a lasting difference by supporting the conservation of this important watershed parcel.

The conservation easement on the Faria's land is a perpetual legal agreement that will ensure the property is not further subdivided or developed, while allowing sustainable, productive agricultural use of the land. ALT will be responsible for ensuring that the terms of the conservation easement are upheld with current and future owners of the property.

ALT's time-sensitive mission is to conserve Aquidneck Island's open spaces and natural character for the lasting benefit of our community. The organization has conserved 2,450.66 acres on 71 properties across Aquidneck Island since its founding in 1990. ALT is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, and the first land trust in Rhode Island to have received national accreditation.

For more information, visit AquidneckLandTrust.org

Editorial note: Written from a press release.

Editorial note 3/24/14: Corrected an error in this press release to read "Jepson Lane" rather than "Hedly Street," per email from ALT press contact Jessica Pohl