In the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease, Eliot, a learned professor (played by Kerry Bringman) is “taking leave” of his senses and the real world. Trying to help him cope is another version of Eliot (played by W. Scott Pinkston) who understands the problem and wants to help both Eliot and his three daughters.
Producers Randy and Aya Clark have chosen the right cast including the director and other members of the production staff. The set was laid out with three areas of observation. There were two eight seat groups of four (Stage left and Stage right) and the Main Stage viewing with two tiers of twelve seats. I was early and chose the furthest away group of eight and sat on the edge of the stage with my feet just inches away from the two red oriental carpets and inches away from a comfortable looking orangy chair where the second Eliot (W. Scott Pinkston) sat.
This review follows a review from a week earlier in Olympia of “The Complete Works of Shakespear” (Abridged). The production involved an empty black box stage of approximately eighteen by fourteen feet boxed by about fifty audience members. The code word for both Olympia and downtown Tacoma is intimate. The closeness was priceless for both presentations.
Taking Leave (based on the comment “taking leave of his senses”) will connect with many people in their late sixties or seventies who will understand the frustrations of trying to remember names and places, and god knows what else as we all age.
Kerry Bringman has been acting more than fifty years all around the Puget Sound area. He appeared in Andelana last October at Dukesbay and kept most of clothes on in that production. Kerry wears a robe and slippers in Taking Leave . . . mostly. He does a wonderful job as Eliot and you want him to get better, but that just doesn’t happen.
Also appearing in Andelana was W. Scott Pinkston. We’ve seen Scott at CenterStage in Federal Way, as well as Tacoma Little Theatre and Lakewood Playhouse. He also appeared in our very, very favorite production at Dukesbay: Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde. He played Henry Jekyll. Scott does an excellent job as Eliot helping Eliot.
Mykahla George plays the daughter Cordelia. She is a theatre student and was the Assistant Director of Macbeth at Pacific Lutheran University, which Peg and I along with my cousin Lavinia Hart reviewed last November. In Taking Leave she comes across as the most stable of the three daughters . . . but with problems of her own.
Cara Hazzard plays another daughter, Alma. We saw Cara in the excellent Tartuffe production at Centerstage. In Taking Leave, her character is a worrier and needs some help.
The third daughter, Liz, played by Jasmine Jaqua has appeared in two other Dukesbay productions. As Lizz she seems to be the one daughter who has everything in control, but near the end we begin to see cracks in her ability to handle every situation.
Mrs. Fleming, the house keeper, is played Pamela Roza. Before leaving for the Pacific Northwest, Pamela taught at Miami’s New World School of the Arts. We saw her as Kate in Lakewood Playhouse’s production of Brighton Beach Memoirs.
Director Melanie Gladstone with her ten years of local experience in theater and the arts, has done a very nice job of producing a play that deals with a future that many of us worry about. This production combined fear, worry, humor and love of family. If I had my wishes, I would wish to have my cousin, my wife, our friends, and our entire family see this production.
The production will run through April 7th.
For more information, please visit: https://dukesbay.org/contact-us/
