The Greek Cultural Center of Astoria will transform into another place with the debut of Sharr White’s “The Other Place,” a play about memory and loss.
The play tells the story of Julianna Smithton, a brilliant neurobiologist that works for a drug company who has helped create a ground-breaking treatment for dementia. While speaking about the new drug at a neurological convention on Cape Cod, Julianna spots a woman in her audience dressed in nothing more than a yellow bikini. She quickly becomes obsessed. And the viewer finds out that she froze while speaking, unable to think, and abruptly ended her presentation.
Julianna is convinced that there is something medically wrong with her. An intelligent and well-put-together woman like her should not me making such mistakes. And as she works to figure out what could be the matter the audience is swept into a barrage of conflicting stories and storylines that leave the audience as confused as the protagonist.
There is method to this madness though.
The play is being produced by the Headwell Theatre Company, a new theatre company in Queens and will be directed by Michelle Pucci Orosz, a relative newcomer to directing.
Although “The Other Place” might sound inaccessible, the protagonist’s struggle with denial, self-doubt and loss of control are universal human issues that Orosz wants the audience to wrestle with.
“What can you leave the audience with to grapple with?” said Orosz about her approach to directing. “And it can’t be defeat.”
“I want them to see that in the end there is still hope.”
For more information about play times and tickets check out www.ticketsource.us/headwall-theatre-company
