Review: “Little Gem” at City Theatre (and Ticket Giveaway)

The three woman show “Little Gem” currently at City Theatre is like a book you expect to enjoy, but find yourself unable to put down for hours on end. As the final scene played out, I wanted to stand up and say “BUT WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?” Fortunately, I did not do that.

LITTLE GEM
March 30 – May 5, 2013 (Hamburg Studio)
By Elaine Murphy
Directed by Kimberly Senior
Party girl Amber feels a rumble in her stomach. Her compulsive mother Lorraine tries her hand at salsa dancing. And her grandmother Kay “toys” with the meaning of pleasure as she looks after her ill husband. Three generations of middle-class, Irish women tell the story of one extraordinary year.

The three women soliloquize and share occasional scenes to tell the story of the year Amber conceived and gave birth to her son, Jamie as his namesake – Kay’s husband “Gem” – fades away.

Robin posed with Laura after the performance.

Robin Walsh’s “Lorraine” was particularly mesmerizing. Her body literally became Lorraine as she compulsively reenacted her evening of salsa dancing and an awkward sexual encounter with her new man friend or a painful interaction with her long-absent alcoholic husband. Lorraine’s sheer joy to realize that her new love “still looks at me like that” after he witness her final confrontation with her ex was akin to watching light flood into a darkened room.

I have to add that the dialect coach did a terrific job – a “guide” is included in the program, but just sit back and try to pick up the context of the unusual (to Americans) slang. And I have to give equal props to the costumer designer – I thought she did a terrific job. Lorraine is my age and I have to admit I really liked some of her outfits – maybe I need to take salsa lessons?

Ledcat’s take on how this play speaks to lesbians – “The importance of taking care of yourself and that relationships can be loving, complicated and messy.”

Each time I visit City Theatre, I’m struck anew at what a gem this company is for our region.

City Theatre has generously offered us a chance to give you the opportunity to see the show yourself. We are raffling a pair of tickets to the Friday, May 3, 8 PM performance – you must be 18 or older to win. We are again using Rafflecopter so you can enter multiple times using Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest as well as by leaving a comment.

Please note – you MUST leave a comment to be eligible. We use Disqus which collects your email address – so that we can contact you if you win! Comments are moderated so it may not show up right away.

Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway