Molly Smith Metzler's intriguing play comes to UTC
“We [the Theatre Department at UTC] have really made a concerted effort to give voice to plays and playwrights whose voices are not heard enough. Like women playwrights and actresses. To [give audiences a chance to] respond to the journey of a woman whose force is driving the story,” says director Gaye Jeffers. Thus the story of “Elemeno Pea” by Molly Smith Metzler was selected for the 2017-2018 season.
The story centers around sisters Devon and Simone and what happens when their two very different worlds collide on a sisters’ weekend at Simone’s employer’s house. What Jeffers thinks the play is really about though is “three wonderfully complex women that are really asking us to listen to choices and stories and reserve judgment until we’ve heard the end of the play.”
The play asks the audience to find some sort of empathy for all sorts of stereotypical people they think they know about. “As the play goes along, we realize we don’t know them at all,” says Jeffers. “[The play is about] the power of really trying to listen to people as human beings and put judgment on hold. Also, I just love stories about women that are beautifully complex - which we don’t hear enough about but are hearing more about lately. I love that we hear that, see that, feel that.”
“Elemeno Pea” was originally written in 2011 and published in an anthology of Humana Festival Plays at The Actor’s Theatre of Louisville. When Jeffers was working on preparations for “Elemeno Pea”, the play had just been produced in November 2017 in Boston and she read the reviews.
It turns out the playwright had made major revisions to the script. So of course Jeffers wanted to see them. She reached out and found Molly Smith Metzler on Facebook and asked to see the revisions. The playwright graciously allowed UTC to see the revised script. This was an unplanned but obviously added bonus to the director and cast’s preparations.
“[Metzler had] revisited the relationship of the sisters and gave new meaning to the title,” explains Jeffers. “We knew more about people and understood more about the choices that are made in the play. It’s always interesting when you get to see a playwright’s process and our students were able to see those shifts. It really added things for me and them. It was kind of like working on a play that was a new play. We are extremely grateful to the playwright for allowing us to do the revisions.”
Metzler also writes a lot for television and film, shows such as Orange is the New Black and Shameless. Jeffers thinks her students need to see the value of working in all different types of entertainment. She thinks the students need to know that people have different talents and can translate them in whatever medium is needed.
“We had a playwright come in a few years ago that said that sometimes when you have an idea or a story it can sometimes be poetic or a novel or a film. You need to have an understanding of each of those and what they bring to each audience.” Jeffers continues, “It’s a good thing to know about yourself as an artist.”Jeffers loves that this play has never been produced in Chattanooga and that audiences will get to see the story play out with her students.
“It is really enriching [to work with college students] in that you’re kind of preparing them to accept vital questions that are part of the world,” she explains. “As they become educated about stories and stories that you want to leave with your audience, it helps them to take in the idea of sharing. We’re training them to have an artist mind—they need to know themselves and how they respond to and process big questions. It empowers students when they are grappling with truly vital characters who are wonderfully complex.”
UTC Theatre Co. presents “Elemeno Pea” in the Dorothy Hackett Ward Theatre located in the UTC Fine Arts Center. The play runs February 13-17 at 7:30 pm, with an additional matinee at 2:00 pm on Saturday, February 17th. Tickets can be purchased at the UTC Fine Arts Center box office in person or by phone at (423) 425-4269, or by visiting www.utc.edu/theatre-speech/productions. Tickets are $12 general admission, $10 for students (with proof of student ID) and seniors.
Audiences should be aware that “Elemeno Pea” contains adult language and content.