Tonight, Quark Theatre will open its production of Lee Blessing’s A Body of Water in First Congo’s theater space. The play has not been performed before in Memphis, as far as director and Quark co-founder Tony Isbell is aware.
“This is a play where I really don’t want to give away too much of what happens,” Isbell says. “The less you know about it going in, the better.”
The playwright himself has even said, “While it’s hard to talk about the play before seeing it, it’s hard not to talk about the play after seeing it.”
Without giving too much away, Blessing’s play opens with a man and woman waking up one morning in an isolated house with no memories — not knowing who they are, how they got there, or how they know each other. Then another woman arrives. “She seems to have some answers for them,” Isbell says, “but the question is, are they the right answers, and do they want to believe what she’s telling them?”
For the show, Quark’s programs won’t even list the names of these characters, played by Anne Marie Caskey, Barclay Roberts, and Lena Wallace Black, all of whom are Ostrander-winning actors.
The play, originally published in 2005, is “a great piece for actors,” Isbell adds. “In a review I read, the reviewer said the play is like if Neil Simon and Franz Kafka had collaborated. And that’s accurate. Some of it is silly, funny, and some of it is strange and mystifying. It’s full of twists and turns. I’ve been describing it as a darkly comic, existential thriller, existential mystery, because you will keep guessing about what’s going on until the very — I mean, the very — last seconds of the play.”
Interestingly, A Body of Water’s ending has changed a few times since its debut. “[Blessing’s] now settled on the ending that we’re using, which, as far as I know, is going to be his final ending. And it’s really the best,” Isbell says. “It’s very intriguing and there’s a mystery to be solved, and whether or not it’s ever solved will be up to each person who is seeing it.”
At about 90 minutes and with no intermission, A Body of Water will run on select dates through March 9th. “If you’re a fan of the work of David Lynch or the plays of Harold Pinter or The Twilight Zone, you would probably like this show.”
Purchase tickets ($20) here.
