I was just hoping to give a proper thank you after being away from "To Fall in Love" for a moment. It seems so weirdly long ago already. Maybe we move on too fast. This ephemeral live art.
When Literary Manager Matthew Ivan Bennett and I were searching for a play to complete this first season, I really felt the need to go the complete polar opposite to "The Pillowman." I felt like we needed to find something that could show the full range of what The Constructivists would like to do. The full range of humanity. From painfully terrorizing and larger than life to painfully real and as small and intimate as theatre can get. When he found "To Fall in Love" and I read it, it rung that bell that I've begun to become familiar with. Those plays that just read Constructivists.
Two person shows are deceptive. You think with a two-person script there will be so much time to do all the things you want to do. To reach the depths you want to reach. But with a script like "To Fall in Love," there is so much intimate personal history and so much vulnerable depth required you very quickly feel as though there is NOT enough time. That you'll never get to the bottom. But we sure tried. Hard.
From Jennifer Lane's play that could balance THE PILLOWMAN, as funny and difficult as it was; to Matt Kemple and his UC team who just make things easier; to Amanda Houchens' skilled Stage Management and blessed sanity; to Assistant Director Emmaline Friederichs' wonderful, smart, unseen additions that breathed much needed extra life; to Ellie Rabinowitz's imaginative lighting design; to Colin Kovarik's subtle sound design – the kind you only realize its true importance when the computer crashes; to Sarah Scanlon's Intimacy Choreography which was lovely and powerful and subtle all at the same time; to Kellie Wambold for doing all that thankless but much-needed blah blah blah marketing; to Rose Grizzell's Prop Design – like the fortune cookie on top of the fridge that maybe five people notice, but makes the world live; to Rob Schreiner for the thankless literal heavy lifting and interest to see things from the other side; to Laura Sturm for giving actors the extra knowledge to dig deeper; to Matthew Ivan Bennett for being the unseen, smarter part of Constructivists leadership; and to the super team of Sarah Harris' set design and Les Zarzecki's construction. All we could hear about was how beautiful that set was. So intimate and life-like. What a feat in a small space. The complete fly-on-the-wall experience.
And Madeline Wakley and Matthew Scales who took the risk and dove in. And I am so proud of the work they did. So, so proud. The nakedness that was required, in more ways than one, asked for so much bravery. And they both were just so brave. What a gift they gave. To the community and to each other.
You did it team. You really made a beautiful, heartfelt, meaningful, intimate, vulnerable show. Thank you for that.
And thank you to all who came. Please come see us again.
–jaimelyn gray, artistic director