convergence-continuum's 2021 Season:
Matters of Conscience
Oliver Parker
by Elizabeth Meriwhether
Aug 20-Sept 11, directed by Tom Kondilas
An unlikely and uncomfortable friendship exists between old-man alcoholic Jasper and socially awkward 17-year-old Oliver Parker. Living in squalor in a decrepit New York apartment owned by Oliver, Jasper just wants to be left alone -- but Oliver, determined to use the apartment in his quest to get laid, loses patience with his pathetic existence very quickly. Shady dealings involving a grieving politician and her ambitious assistant Agnes only increase the tension between them, and soon buried shame and secrets bubble to the surface. Sharply funny and keenly tragic, Oliver Parker! is anything but a typical coming-of-age story
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White
by James Ijames
Oct 15-30, directed by Cory Molner
Gus is an artist. Vanessa is an actress. Gus wants to be presented in a major exhibition for artists of color, so he hires Vanessa to perform as Balkonaé Townsend, a brash and political artist that will fit the museum’s desire for “new voices.” Everything is great, until Balkonaé takes over and Gus has to deal with the mess he’s made. This plays spins out of control as it explores issues of race, gender, sexuality, and art.
The 20th Century Way
by Tom Jacobson
Dec 3-18, directed by Clyde Simon
The true story of two actors who hired themselves out to the Long Beach Police Department in 1914 to entrap “social vagrants” in public restrooms. Thirty-one men were arrested, and the ensuing scandal led to an ordinance against “oral sodomy” in California.
“Few joys are more long-lasting than seeing a theatrical work that contains enough complexity to make one ponder. An intricate piece written and produced well will leave one peeling layers away for days. One gradually comes to full understanding of something which was, on first encounter, like an unopened bud: full of depth and richness hidden behind a structured exterior. Take, as case in point, Tom Jacobson’s intricate, fascinating, and very adult play, THE TWENTIETH CENTURY WAY. Indeed, it is disturbing. It is historic. It is deeply moving. It needs to be seen.” —Frances Baum Nicholson, Pasadena Star News
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