The cast of "Brutality of Fact" gathers to play the game of
"Life" in a scene from the Heller Theater production. JAMES GIBBARD / Tulsa World
The cast of "Brutality of Fact" gathers to play the game of
"Life" in a scene from the Heller Theater production.
JAMES GIBBARD / Tulsa World
The play revolves around a family that's the definition of "dysfunctional," a mother and a quartet of grown daughters each of whom has immersed herself in a destructive fantasy that only serves to isolate her from everyone else.
As director Julie Tattershall noted in a recent conversation, "In the material I've read about the show, Reddin talks about how in the modern world people lead lives of quiet desperation. There are these huge voids in their lives that make them miserable, and Reddin's written a play that looks at how they fill them.
"This family used to have money," she continued, "but they lost it when the father died. The family fractured and everyone went their separate ways . . . and then they started finding their own separate ways of avoiding their problems."
In the case of mother Val, se lective senility has become a way out of the dreary necessity of supporting herself. After losing her job she threw herself on the mercy of daughter Jackie, and has feigned fogginess ever since to avoid taking responsibility for herself.
In addition to being saddled with a calculatedly dotty mom, Jackie has problems of her own. Divorced and embroiled in a bitter custody battle over her daughter, she's been lured into a newfound religious fanaticism by a zealous boyfriend. Worse, the unexpected arrival of sister Maggie is about to expose Jackie as a vicious liar.
Maggie walked away from the family years before and dropped out of sight. As it turns out, she's spent much of her time looking at the bottom of a bottle -- but Jackie, angry and bitter over her sister's desertion, has convinced the family that Maggie is dead. Imagine everyone's surprise when Maggie, now a recovering alcoholic, turns up on the doorstep.
"These are people who were taken care of by servants and never coalesced as a family," said Tattershall. "Now that there isn't any money, they feel neglected and need to become a real family. That's what Maggie's looking for when she comes back, but all of them have so thoroughly caved in that they aren't holding together very well at all.
"These people are using their problems as a way to blame somebody else for the reason they can't get what they want in life, and they're looking for somebody or something else to solve those problems for them with a quick fix. The script has some great dream sequences that show what it is that they blame the most."
It's a script, according to Tattershall, that's "filled with twists and turns that are pretty amazing. This is a very, very dark comedy, and some of the scenes are so absurd and quirky that it's impossible to predict what's going to happen next."
Scott Heberling has designed a set that reflects those twists and turns. "We put it on a gameboard," said Tattershall, "that's reminiscent of the game of Life. There's this big maze onstage that illustrates what the sisters are going through."
The cast is a mixture of newcomers and experienced performers. Tara Treiber and Jen Sternberg play duelling sisters Maggie and Jackie. Reta Goodson is mother Val. Dody Sullivan and Cathy Ross play sisters Kate and Janet. Owen Froeschle plays Jackie's born-again boyfriend, and Tim Fields plays her ex-husband.
Note: "Brutality of Fact" is a play containing adult situations and language that makes it unsuitable for children.
Event: Heller Theater presents "Brutality of Fact"
When: 8:00 p.m. Thursday-Saturday and Nov. 8-10, 2 p.m. Nov. 4.
Where: Heller Theater, 5328 S. Wheeling Ave.
Tickets: Regular admission $7, students and seniors $5. Call 746-5065 for reservations and
information.