In The Ebb was an evening of one acts that ran for nine performances, 9/18-10/4/08 at The Sage Theater. The three one acts, I LIKE YOU TO MARLOWE, THE EBB and ST. JAMES IN THE FIELD OF STARS used one ensemble cast to portray stories of loves and losses and fears of three different women dealing with ordinary and extraordinary circumstances. Synopses are below:
Act 1 – I Like You To Marlowe
On the millennial New Year’s Eve, two twin sisters travel to Times Square with their dates. Luna, disfigured in a car accident during which her sister, Stella, was driving, tries to adjust to losing her beauty. All the while having to face her former self in the visage of her sister. Luna tries desperately to have an pleasant evening until the two are forced to come to terms with the past in a Penn Station shouting match that involves the New Year’s Eve/NJ Transit crowd.
Act 2 – The Ebb
Emily has everything anyone could desire – the perfect husband, the perfect house, the perfect job…and the perfect hallucination. She’s so afraid that she will lose this perfection that she pulls away from all of the people in her life and retreats into a relationship with a Waterlogged Woman who literally crawled out of the sea. Is fear of losing everything she’s always wanted actually driving Emily crazy? And will she be able to give in and enjoy the happiness that is hers for the taking before she drives it away?
Act 3 – St. James in the Field of Stars
When Alicia’s father dies suddenly she flees her grief by traveling the world and never settling for too long in any one place. Until Joel, her best friend from childhood, calls and invites her to Santiago de Compostella Spain. Alicia risks it - risks seeing someone from her old life and discovers that the grief she thought she had left behind, still waits to pounce, just out of sight. Complicating matters are her feelings for Joel - her “Never” as in never dated, never even kissed, never were more than friends – all of which may be changing with her visit to Spain.