Rosemary Hartman, director of Vienna Theatre Company’s next production described “Other Desert Cities” as “a play with plenty of political overtones in a world of power and influence, but driven by a complex family situation and a big secret.”
“Other Desert Cities” is a drama-comedy that received multiple 2012 Tony Awards including Best Play. It was also a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. The play centers on the well-to-do, politically connected Wyeth family gathering together for Christmas. The play is set in 2004 after the Iraq War is underway.
“It is a strong play full of great material,” said Hartman. Family life becomes a skirmish as long-simmering political and family differences appear. A possible tell-all memoir about the family opens deep wounds and plenty of verbal combat. Slowly, over the course of the play, family secrets and mysteries are revealed.
Through well-attended open auditions, Hartman sought for actors “who would work well together, could meld into an on-stage family and become thoroughly ‘in synch’ with each other”.
To ensure that the Company’s production of “Other Desert Cities” was in-line with the playwright’s original intentions, Hartman even corresponded with John Robin Baltz, “receiving invaluable clarifications about some of his aims.”
The five-member cast includes Patrick David (Falls Church), Susan D. Garvey (Reston), Jeff McDermott (Silver Spring), Kathy Ohlhaber (Reston) and Jessie Roberts (Great Falls). In an interview the cast as a whole described the play as one with sharp dialogue and plenty of humor. They saw themselves as an ensemble of actors who “clicked together into an on-stage family by listening closely to one another.”
David described “Other Desert Cities” as a play with “great character development.”
Where and When
Vienna Theatre Company presents “Other Desert Cities” at the Vienna Community Center, 120 Cherry St. SE, Vienna. Performances from April 17-May 2, Fridays & Saturdays at 8 p. m. There will also be 2 p.m. matinees on Sunday, April 26 and May 3. Tickets are $14. Call 703-255-6360 or visit www.viennatheatreco…
For Garvey the play is “timeless; showing the implications and effects of keeping family secrets too long.”
According to Ohlhaber the play depicts “complex family relationships.” For Roberts the production is one “with much emotional whiplash, but with honesty among the family.”
Why should audiences come to see the “Other Desert Cities”? “It is a great play about family struggles, but with love and forgiveness. As the play concludes the audience will see the love the characters have for each other,” said McDermott.
The cast also was in unison in agreement as Roberts added that a family should “be honest with each other.”
“You are invited to be mesmerized by a top-notch cast and a great script,” said Hartman.