October 24-February 14, 1998-'99
And Where She Stops Nobody Knows
Written by Oliver Hailey, directed by Norman Cohen
Presented by the Fremont Centre Theatre.
A staged reading, starring Lissa Layng and James Reynolds.
"And Where She Stops Nobody Knows" received its premiere at the Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles in the summer of 1976, and has been seldom revived since. Billed as “a pas de deux”, Hailey’s two-actor play follows the life of “She” (Layng) from an infant who hates her mother’s milk to an elderly woman reflecting on the triviality of life. Reynolds plays “He”, cycling through a dizzying 27 different characters throughout the piece, matching the rapid fire of Hailey’s language while creating both conflict and resolution for Layng’s character. She says, “One man, one woman – that was [God’s] idea of Paradise – and also mine.”
She is a cynic, disillusioned with life from an early age by interactions with everyone from her adoptive parents to cannibals, including several misdirected dances with love along the way. “People like you are why we have Nevada,” He says, playing a police officer who has pulled her over for speeding just inside the Arizona border. Pleading to be taken to jail, She responds, “There’s so little tolerance out here, anyway.”
Her love life leaves her unfulfilled, eventually coming to the determination that “All great romances are terminal.” And Where She Stops Nobody Knows is simultaneously insightful and moving, funny and poignant – the inspection of a life fraught with futility and tempered with humor.
James & Lissa also performed "And Where She Stops.." at the Cape May Stage.
