'Firedown Call' hot opening to theater season

JULIA TIERNAN/YH Cushing (left) and Wilson get warm and cozy in 'Firedown Call.'

The remarkably talented cast of Firedown Call, written and directed by Louis Cancelmi, SY '00, perform with such intense emotion that it is hard to imagine they are unaware of the most subtle meanings of Cancelmi's creation.

The play centers on Melvin (Zak Cushing, BK '00) and Emelle (Jenny Wilson, DC '01), two 19-year-olds with a long history and a complex relationship. They have been close friends since childhood, but love and sex complicate their friendship. From the very beginning, it is clear the production will not treat anything traditionally, and we wonder what to expect next as Melvin makes his initial entrance three times. Cushing does a remarkable job of conveying Melvin's feelings of earnestness and desperation. While Emelle revels in not knowing what she wants, Melvin knows that he wants her, and--more immediately--needs a place to stay for the night. When Emelle agrees to let him stay, the complications begin.

The pace of the play, though slow through the first scenes, picks up rapidly as the characters reach stages of heightened emotion. The cast members appear comfortable with one another, making the show's two rather graphic sex scenes easier to pull off. Cushing and Wilson relate to each other well, and the nature of their relationship remains clear even when other characters, like "Melvin the Magnificent" (David Malbin, SY '01), are somewhat hard to understand. The verbal and physical communication between Emelle and Melvin paints an excruciatingly clear picture of two people who, at 19, are still in many ways just children searching for answers in a confusing world. The play's circular and recursive dialogue puts the audience in a similar position, trying to remain above water in the tumultuous sea of the play. Conversations are repeated with intensity, giving the feeling of surreal déjà vu without being overly redundant. When the action is hardest to follow, the actors play out their roles with such conviction that the observer, though confused, finds it difficult to lose interest in the performance.

In addition to the wrenching relationship between Melvin and Emelle, David Brind's, JE '00, portrayal of a both painfully cruel and infuriatingly blasé Barry, Emelle's brother, is also noteworthy. The argument between Barry and Melvin that occurs the morning after Melvin has stayed over with Emelle is one of the most captivating scenes. Heather McGhee, MC '01, gives an impressive performance as Samuel, which keeps the production accessible to the outsider.

The lighting and set design add a great deal to the production. J.J. Lind, SY '99, has created remarkable lighting effects, in particular one recurring cue of bright light streaming down from the side that calls to mind old cinematic death scenes in which the good spirit is taken up to heaven. Set designer Terah Maher, DC '99, makes good use of Nick Chapel's somewhat limited space, with a clever split-level design that allows characters to observe scenes from above, providing an interesting voyeuristic twist. The ground-level set is also enclosed in a cage, an original touch which permits some unusual character movement.

The strong cast and creative set design more than make up for shortcomings in the plot and dialogue. Louis Cancelmi's complex script and talented direction make the play an auspicious inauguration of the 1998-99 Yale theater season. At one point in the show, an uncomfortable silence causes Melvin to blurt out, "Should we leave ourselves in the hands of fate?" The answer is not entirely clear. It seems that in order to enjoy the show and avoid feeling entirely lost, the audience members must have faith in fate and unseen forces, must believe completely in the characters, just as the characters must learn to have faith in each other if they hope to survive. For all its twisting and repetition, the sea of this world is worth plunging into.

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