Review: The Tale of Nonsexual Soulmates

By Michael Block

When it comes to relationships and romance, just because you love someone doesn't mean you have to be intimate with them. Such is very much the case in Stuart Fail's Consider the Lilies. A long-standing partnership between artist and agent begins to shake up as both parties have new ideas in regards to the definition of their bond.
Set in Paris and New York over a few months, Consider the Lilies is a long story about nonsexual soul mates. Paul and David have a dangerously complicated relationship. Paul is a rapidly aging and slowly decaying artist. David is his younger, do-anything agent. While in Paris, Paul isn't getting the recognition, and income, he's used to. David is considering going back to New York to his girlfriend. This idea shatters Paul so he reluctantly follows David back home. What keeps these two together? Love. But their contrasting definitions of love cause a severe strain in their bond. Paul and David have a great need and dependency for one another yet they both feel alone. The narrative of a sexually fluid artist and an actor turned agent with deep admiration for this man is perfectly intriguing. It's a story that is, for better or worse, deeply relatable. Yet despite a great concept, the execution was anything but. Consider the Lilies desperately needs to be edited down as there are an extraordinary amount of repetitious facts and ideas that overshadow the meat of the play. Fail needs to have a bit more trust in his audience that they can follow along with the narrative. Trimming the fat is essential for Consider the Lilies to truly be successful. For example, the robbery scene didn't have the impact it needed. If it's important for David and Paul's arc as a pair, David needs to tend and care for him with deeper stakes. Yet eliminating the scene altogether is perfectly ok. By Act II, things start to go off the rails as plots get more complicated. Introducing Paul having a child is unnecessary. The parallel is so minimal in the grand scheme of the piece. Additionally, the whole conceit of having Paul learn of David’s demise via telegram is so farfetched. If you want something with weight, have Angela introduce the information to him. The potential for drama is great.

photo by Talya Charef

With Fail planting writer and director, he ran into some issues. There were some writer choices that director Fail didn't seem to take into consideration. In no way, shape, or form should Zach have been present for David's breakdown as it was an intimate moment for the pair. As a whole, the pacing was excruciatingly slow highlighting that the play was far too long. When it came to taking care of the characters, Fail truly focused on ensuring the believability of the relationships. And in that respect, it paid off. This was the pulse of the play. And once the piece becomes less muddy, the beauty and power can shine. The scenic design from S. Watson was pretty neutral, both purposefully and aesthetically. It served its purpose but certain scenic element placement were traps for Fail's staging. Getting caught behind the Act I couch was troublesome. The unimposing score from Andy Evan Cohen was just right for this world.
Dominating this narrative was Austin Pendleton as Paul and Eric Joshua Davis as David. They had a strong bond as actors that carried through from start to finish.  That being said, there was something a tad off about it, caused by their individual performances. Pendleton used the drunken nature of Paul as a crutch, and it actually worked to fool the crowd. Davis played up the cock tease card far too early. While playful, it was infuriating to say the least. As the pompous millennial artist Zack, Peter Collier managed to show the stark difference between artist and old and new media. As the cartoonish Francois, Joseph Hamel gave up power by sitting. It didn't help that his character's presence was not essential.
Consider the Lilies has a promising premise that had a lot going against it. After carefully examining the text with a dramaturg, Consider the Lilies will be a story worthwhile.

Spotlight On...Liarra Michelle

Name: Liarra Michelle

Hometown: Denver, Colorado

Select Credits: The Public Theatre's Twelfth Night. Also, Captive Audience, The Signal Season of Dummy Hoy, Smoke on the Mountain, and Inherit the Wind. She is an active member of New York Deaf Theatre and The Shelter NYC.

Why theater?: That's not an easy question to answer. Theatre, for me, is basically like water. I could technically live without it, but the quality of life would be greatly diminished. As an actor, there is something beautiful in taking the words someone has written, creating a character and - alongside the director and creative team - finding the best way to present the story intended. We get to take the audience on a journey, away from whatever good or bad they have in their real life and escape to experience another world. The audience is as much a part of theatre as what is going on stage. It's magical to feel both their presence and their connection.

Who do you play in Consider the Lilies?:  My character is Angela, who is also David's girlfriend.

Tell us about Consider the Lilies: For me, this play is about identity. How do we define ourselves and how much do we allow other people or situations to affect those definitions.

What is it like being a part of Consider the Lilies?: It has been a wonderful journey! I already knew a few people involved, so I looked forward to working with them, and it is always exciting to have the opportunity to work with new artists! Also, I have admired Austin's work for some time, and it is wonderful to watch him and to act with him. My scenes consist of myself with one other actor, and both of them (Austin and Josh) are talented, kind and generous partners. Everyone--actors, creative team and stage management--has been very kind and open and it's been a lovely experience of making art with them.

What kind of theater speaks to you? What or who inspires you as an artist?: I love new work, interesting relationships, theatre which challenges a perception or "truth", and anything that seems challenging for me as an actor. While that might seem to cover every play in existence, trust me...it doesn't. :) What inspires me? Truth. I know that's vague, but truth in art is invaluable and magical. When someone writes truthful words that draw me into a story, move me, and make me want to be a part of that art, it is exciting and beautiful. The same goes for other actors. When I see someone give an honest and raw performance, it takes my breath away.

Any roles you’re dying to play?: Too many! I'm really drawn to intelligent and well-spoken characters. It's exciting to see more and more playwrights include these (intelligent female characters) in their stories!

What’s your favorite show tune?:  It depends on my mood at the time.

If you could work with anyone you’ve yet to work with, who would it be?: Are people actually able to answer this? My goodness...there are so many! Zachary Levy, Cynthia Erivo, Kelly McAndrew, Laura Benanti, Audra McDonald...I'd love to be directed by Joe Mantello...and I haven't even started in the Off- and Off-Off-Broadway circles... I really could just go on forever.

Who would play you in a movie about yourself, and what would it be called?: Anne Hathaway in "Who Needs Sleep When You Have Coffee?"

If you could go back in time and see any play or musical you missed, what would it be?:  Most recently, I missed both Fun Home and Gin Game, which is a shame, and I would love to have seen anything with Julie Andrews in it.

What show have you recommended to your friends?:  Something Rotten! before it closes. It's well done and a really fun musical!

What’s your biggest guilty pleasure?:  Not sure if this counts, but I love Sci-Fi.

What’s up next?: Nothing I can announce at the moment, but you'll be seeing me around. :)

Spotlight On...Eric Joshua Davis

Name: Eric Joshua Davis

Hometown: Ashland, KY

Education: B.A Dramatic Arts from Centre College. Rose Bruford College in UK

Select Credits: Stanley in Brighton Beach Memoirs and Richard in The Rise and Rise of Daniel Rocket. Recent film and television credits include “Sleepy Hollow,” “Nashville,” and “Pacific Edge” with Ed Asner which won the Los Angeles Independent Film Festival.

Why theater?: Theatre is the temple of humanity. The offering the audience gives the temple is their complacency, their familiarity with the status quo of their current worldview. The theatre practicioner, in turn, gives them back a resonating catharsis, a catalyst which enables the audience to see the world with fresh eyes and feel with purged hearts.

Who do you play in Consider the Lilies?: I play the character David, the art agent of the aging, alcoholic painter Paul.

Tell us about Consider the Lilies: Set in Paris and New York, Consider the Lilies is a play about an aging, alcoholic painter who feels that he has lost his way, and his relationship with his art agent and best friend, David Phillips. David and Paul have a love affair with the soul of the other. David is torn throughout the play between bonds of friendship, family and his romantic relationship with his girlfriend, Angela. David and Paul both feed from each other and take from each other in a very meaningful, yet tenuous friendship - maybe something even greater. Their need for artistic and personal inspiration draws the two together and apart throughout the play.

What is it like being a part of Consider the Lilies?: Being a part of this production, with the amazing Austin Pendleton, has been a stage career highlight for me thus far. The explorative rehearsals are truly a joy and rarely have I felt such a freedom to try new and different takes on scenes, justifications and character motivations.

What kind of theater speaks to you? What or who inspires you as an artist?: I am able to find just about any type of theatre that speaks to me. There is almost always something that can be mined from a production that enables the practitioner or audience member to understand more about the human condition: its frailties, strengths, passion and indifference. I would be hard-pressed to pinpoint a particular person that inspires me as an artist, but I can pinpoint a particular archetype - the under dog, passionate person who hails from obscure environs. That same person who at times possesses only her own belief in herself and her talents. She both suffers the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune and she takes up arms against a sea of troubles. In essence - a David who must face his Goliath.

Any roles you’re dying to play?: I would love one day to play King Lear and Stanley Kowalski.

What’s your favorite show  tune?: Just about anything from Sweeney Todd

If you could work with anyone you’ve yet to  work with, who would it be?: At the top of my current list is Laura Linney and Michael Shannon

If you could go back in time and see any play or musical you missed, what would it be?: Despite the fears and pitfalls of screwing with the timeline I believe I would have to go back to see Our American Cousin and save President Lincoln in 1865.

What’s up next?: Next in February I am in an original work, entitled The Book of James, at the Manhattan Repertory Theatre near Times Square - playing the titular role.

For more on Consider the Lilies, visit http://www.houseredtheatre.com/

Spotlight On...Austin Pendleton

Name: Austin Pendleton

Hometown: Warren, OH

Education: Yale School of Drama

Select Credits: Broadway in the revival of The Diary of Anne Frank and Off-Broadway in the title roles of Hamlet, Richard III and Richard II.  Film: "A Beautiful Mind"

Why theater?:  I love working in the theater.

Who do you play in Consider the Lilies?: Paul, a painter.

Tell us about Consider the Lilies: it's about a relationship between the painter Paul and his young agent, David.  Paul and David are very close. David wants to be close to Paul in one way.  Paul wants to be close in another way.  This keeps them bound together and then tears them apart in the worst possible way.  There are vividly drawn other characters as well, all of them in one way or another drawn into the whirlpool of what's going on between Paul and David.

What is it like being a part of Consider the Lilies?: It's exciting  It's a complex, rich, beautifully dramatized play.

What kind of theater speaks to you? What or who inspires you as an artist?: Just about any kind of theater that is realized in any way on the page speaks to me.  What or who inspires me as an artist?  Anybody who's good and who really cares about the work.  I mean, the list?  I could go on for hours.

Any roles you’re dying to play?: When I was quite young I lost a part I desperately wanted and was sure I was going to get.  When I didn't get I realized I couldn't pursue this line of work if I ever let myself want a specific part that much again.  I nearly swayed from that twice, with parts I got close to getting (Mozart in Amadeus, Ned Weeks in The Normal Heart, in their original New York productions) but I managed to steady the ship and avoided that, you know, actor despair, and those experiences only strengthened the resolve I'd made never to get into that kind of thinking again.  So what I do is take a part that's offered me and try to invest it with that kind of passion.

What’s your favorite show tune?:  I love, like, a lot of Rodgers and Hammerstein.  Or Bernstein.  Or Sondheim.  Or Bernstein and Sondheim.  Or Harnick and Bock.  Or Cryer and Ford.  I better stop now.  I'll keep you up all night.

If you could work with anyone you’ve yet to work with, who would it be?: Again, I don't want to get into that.  I want to get really into whoever I'm asked to work with.

Who would play you in a movie about yourself, and what would it be called?:  I think it would be a silly idea to make a fictional movie about me, so I've never thought about that.  (There is a 20-minute documentary about me that just came out recently.  I stayed out of that, because I felt any suggestions I made would be appalling corrupt, so my only contribution to it is to be interviewed.  They got wonderful interviews from wonderful people in that: those people talked not only about me (thank God) but about what it's like to be in this business, what it costs, and the glory of it nonetheless.

If you could go back in time and see any play or musical you missed, what would it be?: This answer is by no means particular to me but: Laurette Taylor in The Glass Menagerie.

What show have you recommended to your friends?: The Band's Visit, and (if it were still playing) The Gabriels.

What’s your biggest guilty pleasure?: Please!

What’s up next?: King Lear (the title role) at the Secret Theatre.  This proves that I am crazy.

Spotlight On...Stuart Fail

Name: Stuart Fail

Hometown: McHenry, IL.

Education: MFA in Writing for Theatre, Film and Television from UCLA.

Favorite Credits: As a director: Orphans, Hurlyburly, A Life in the Theatre, The Artificial Jungle, Independence, Twelfth Night, Fiddler on the Roof, Burn This, Keely and Du

Why theater?: It's an immediate art form for the audience and artists. The visceral experience in theatre is powerful as it delivers the story via a conduit that connects the audience with the emotional action on stage.

Tell us about Consider the Lilies: Paul is an aging, alcoholic artist who engages in reckless behavior much to the disappointment of his agent, David. As David tries to return Paul to his former glory, Paul spends most of his time trying to get David to fall in love with him. David loves Angela, who has become pregnant from another man. The volatile relationships lead to a tragic ending.

What inspired you to write and direct Consider the Lilies?: It is somewhat autobiographical, and when the friend passed away, I felt inspired to write the play. I embellished to create a fictional piece. But I also wanted to show real people who live real lives who often are marginalized in society.  I wanted to direct it to explore the characters with actors to see the growth of the play firsthand. I am directing as well as writing in general, as I love to do both, and have MFA's in both directing and writing for Theatre, Film and Television.

What kind of theater speaks to you? What or who inspires you as an artist?: Any kind where the playwright writes inspired stories and actors can involve me to the point of a cathartic experience. Writers who love and care about what they do, because it shows in their work.

If you could work with anyone you’ve yet to work with, who would it be?: Other playwrights I respect so I could learn from them. Unfortunately, many of them have passed away. As a director, I'd love to direct many different actors and playwrights--the list is long.

What show have you recommended to your friends?: Too many good ones.

Who would play you in a movie about yourself and what would it be called?: Austin Pendleton.

If you could go back in time and see any play or musical you missed, what would it be?: A Streetcar Named Desire.

What’s your biggest guilty pleasure?: I'm a foodie. Italian and Japanese primarily.

If you weren’t working in theater, you would be?: A chef.

What’s up next?: My play The Book of James will be at Manhattan Repertory Theatre January 31st and February 5th.

For more on Consider the Lilies, visit www.houseredtheatre.com