Have you ever wished for a do-over in life? Maybe have a last conversation with a loved one, and finally put “closed” on your mutual history? This is what the new play by Brenda Withers, currently showing at Shadowland Stages in Ellenville through October 1, attempts to do. Directed by Brendan Burke, “Off Peak,” offers us a seat, and invites us along for the ride as Martin, played by Steve Brady, and Sarita, played by Mary McCann, run into each other one evening on the Metro-North Hudson Line. A chance meeting provides an opportunity for these two former partners to dissect their relationship, how and why it ended, and even delve into modern-day political issues of gender, equality, and the minefield that lies beneath workplace interactions and is the stuff of HR nightmares.
These two fine actors embody these characters well, showing the depth and complexity of emotions natural to such an encounter. The pair start off with nervous rambling but eventually relax a little, engaging in some light-hearted banter, and filling in the gaps of what each has experienced over the 20 years since their relationship ended. Exchanging details about their current relationships, jobs, interests, and even the death of loved ones, the duo eventually get around to discussing the hurts they inflicted on each other, their regrets, and how each helped shape the life of the other.
Martin and Sarita seem to start on opposite sides of the emotional spectrum. He is contrite, apologetic, full of regret. She appears to have only fond memories, and acts genuinely glad to see him and reminisce. But, when Martin references an e-mail he sent to Sarita in the recent past, Sarita admits to not having read it. He confesses to thinking about her all the time, wanting to make amends for putting his wants and needs before her. “I treated you like an audience,” he says. “I demanded your attention for a pretty bad show.” He is fixated on trying to make it up to her, but we also get the sense he is not being quite truthful.
Sarita doesn’t want to hear his apologies. She says she is not dwelling on the past, holds no grudges, and yet, flashes with anger at his repeated attempts at remorse, saying, “I have a problem with someone telling me what my problem is.” We, the audience, (and Martin) suspect Sarita is not quite as sanguine as she claims to be. Each appears to be holding something back and hiding behind the niceties of social convention that dictate how two virtual strangers are supposed to behave with one another. Yet they are not strangers, and their mutual past informs the people they have become. They need to strip off those layers and find the people they were beneath the people they are. How then, will the two of them unpack their complex feelings and find the middle ground that allows for closure and true acceptance?
“Off Peak” is an intimate experience. Played in the Shadowlands “studio” space, with a max capacity that hovers around 100, this black box theater leaves the actors nowhere to hide from the audience, just as Martin and Sarita, alone in their train car, cannot hide from one another. The set, a cross-section of train seats hewn from a retired Metro-North car, cocoon the two actors, providing a claustrophobic space where there is nowhere to go, and each of them, and their relationship, in under a microscope laid bare for all to examine. It provides for a tense character study where these two, highly relatable, middle-aged people not only grapple with their past, but allows us to examine our own relationships and question our own attitudes about redemption and resolution.
“Off Peak” will be performed through October 1 on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday at 8pm and Sunday at 2pm. Shadowland Stages Studio is located at 14 Market Street, Ellenville. The show's run time is 75 minutes with no intermission.
