Brenda Lilly
Writer ~ Director ~ Producer
The Man In The Bright Nightgown
Michael Lilly, as Jimmy Wharton, mourns and copes with the death of his father in the one-man play 'The Man in the Bright Nightgown.' Photo courtesy of Leo Yi
The relationship between son and father can be a difficult one. Sons who become fathers themselves can live in fear of becoming too much like their own dads, for better or worse. A moving tribute to that emotional roller coaster is on display in The Occasional Theatre’s production of Tom Huey’s play The Man in the Bright Nightgown onstage through Sunday, Nov. 18, at 35below.
The one-man show’s title is a nod to something that classic vaudeville performer W.C. Fields used to describe what he thought the specter of death looked like. Veteran actor and director Michael Lilly stars as Jimmy Wharton, who has come from collecting his deceased father’s ashes from the funeral home. He has downed a lot of beer and has passed out on the patio outside his aging mother’s house when we first see him. When he comes to, what follows is a 70-minute speech to his dad. Alternating between sincere respect, a few doses of anger and contempt, Jimmy arrives at an emotional realization that the passing not only leaves him alone but responsible for his own family and his mother. He finds himself taking the place of his father.
Lilly himself has directed several productions of the show and maintains a close friendship with the author (who updated some references in order to keep the nearly 30-year-old script modern, though its themes are timeless). Director Brenda Lilly takes the reins for this show, and the husband-wife duo strengthens the already strong script with a well-worn and weary pathos. She gets a riveting performance — as funny at times as it is heart-wrenching at others — out of Michael.
As an actor, Michael is fearless in the role of Jimmy. He isn’t afraid to wear the emotions on his sleeve, whether he is making snide comments on the insincerity of the minister’s words in his father’s funeral service, or on the verge of emotionally melting down. Michael is giddily macabre about the box of ashes, which arrived with more than a few solid and charred lumps included. He debates letting the not-quite ash remains go as they are, or intervening on behalf of everyone who might blanch at the gruesome reality by smashing the chunks with a hammer. It isn’t an easy path to traverse, but Michael makes it look easy.
The show is aided heavily by Terry Martin’s scenic design. Martin’s perfect patio includes a few random pieces of outdoor furniture, a full-size grill and a kiddie pool. Empty beer cans litter the stage as well, instantly establishing Jimmy’s state as the lights come up. Yi Lei’s subtle lighting works in perfect concert with the actions of the play, gently moving focus as Michael, as Jimmy, prowls the stage.
State of Grace
Jewish Image Award
Humanitas Nomination
Parents Television Award
Viewers Voice Award
Asheville-based playwright Brenda Lunsford Lilly’s blistering play, Doll, will have its Asheville premiere at The Magnetic Theatre with a three week run beginning on April 19 and running through May 5. Performances are Thursday, Friday, and Saturday with curtain times at 7:30pm.
Doll is based on Henrik Ibsen’s 1879 controversial drama, A Doll’s House, which is one of the most famous plays in the world and is widely regarded as one of the signal events of modern theatre. In both Ibsen’s and Lilly’s versions, a young married woman, named Nora, struggles to both please her husband and maintain her own identity beyond being a wife and mother. Ibsen’s inspiration stemmed from an incident where a friend’s wife forged a check to repay a loan that she had taken out when her husband was ill. When she was caught, her husband demanded a divorce. She was committed to an asylum and, later, returned to the marriage. Ibsen felt guilty after declining to help the woman. In his play, A Doll’s House, he explored what it would be like for a woman in the 19th century, to walk away from such a marriage and stand on her own.
Lilly, who initially staged her adaptation of the play at Western Carolina University, where she is on the Department of Stage and Screen Faculty, has set Doll in Manhattan in the early 1960’s.
“When I set out to adapt A DOLL’S HOUSE, I was immediately struck at how little had actually changed in the nearly one-hundred years since Ibsen wrote his play – often referred to as the ‘birth of modern drama.’ And while, at its heart, it is an exploration of a marriage, it is also an extraordinarily taught mystery. Who knows ‘what’ and ‘when’ is at the core of the story. In moving it into contemporary times (1962) and NYC, I was free to add humor and much more sexual tension than in the original. And while Ibsen’s original play examined the patriarchy of his time, mine is nestled into the mid-century misogyny of America when we were on the cusp of a new feminist movement and the advent of the “Pill” was about to usher in the sexual revolution,” commented Lilly. “As we still struggle today about #metoo and a woman’s role in the home, the workplace, politics, and even the theatre I am reminded of Gloria Steinem’s statement – “The truth will set you free. But first, it will piss you off.”
Taking place at the end of 1962, Doll zeroes in on the growing pressure on Nora (Mary Katherine O’Donnell), who has taken out a secret loan to cover expenses incurred when her husband David (Maximilian Koger) was critically ill. Having secured the loan without her husband’s knowledge or permission from a duplicitous business associate (Scott Volshinin), Nora must now pay the loan in full or risk being exposed and ruining her husband’s reputation. She turns to trusted friends Emily (Hannah Williams-Beaver) and Tommy (Daniel Henry) for help as the deadline looms near.
An Asheville Native, Brenda Lunsford Lilly is an accomplished actor, director, playwright, screenwriter, and producer. She has written for many television series, including: “Big,” “Shades of L.A.,” “Parker Lewis Can’t Lose,” “L.A. Law,” “Christy,” “Walker: Texas Ranger,” “Xena: Warrior Princess,” “Bobby’s World,” “Second Noah,” “Fame L.A.” and “Honey I Shrunk the Kids.” In 1999, she partnered with Hollis Rich to create and produce the critically acclaimed coming-of-age series, State of Grace. In 2002, Lilly and Rich received a Humanitas Award nomination for the pilot episode of the series. Additionally, the series received two Humanitas Award nominations, four Jewish Image Awards (including best 1/2 hour series), four Viewers Voice Awards (including best 1/2 hour series) and The Parents Television Council Award for best 1/2 hour series.
