Death is numb. Death leaves you feeling like you are in a wilderness or in this case an arctic wilderness. No one can tell you how you should respond to the sting of death especially for a child that has suddenly lost a child.
This production was raw in its truth telling for Rory. A child abandoned almost twice if you think about it. Mom is engrossed in work I am sure attempting to numb the sting of death while Rory is numbing her pain in her pursuits to complete the trek that her dad set out to do before his death. Self-discovery is at an all time high. Who is Rory? A higschool student who is trying to put the pieces together. She is witty, funny and has a mouth on her for sure. Satchel Williams plays an extremely heartfelt Rory. She draws you in with her charm. She’s enthusiastic but also shows so much depth of character. When you have an actor or actress play the only part in a production the weight of the show is on their back. Satchel didn’t disappoint at all. She holds her own as she showcases an arrangement of emotion.
A hundred words of snow written by Tatty Hennessey is pure life circle of conflict. Internal conflict to figure out who Rory is now that the parent she most identifies with is no longer here. His death and her trek to the North Pole seems so surreal. It seems that she as she faces adult decisions will face them alone. How will her pursuit of carrying out her father’s wishes would serve to bring her full circle to dealing with the feelings she originally tried to close the door to.
You know how it is when someone passes. You do all you can to honor their past but in the same time all the questions of life flood your soul. Rory is a young girl almost to her “prime.” She also has a sexual encounter. How in the world is she supposed to know what is right for her? She makes the decisions but like sexual encounters she gets more than just a sticky mess to deal with. The clean up of her life is about to take place.
Parental abandonment we only talk about when a parent walks away and never returns but parental abonnement can happen while a parent has mentally and emotionally checked out as well. The doing the basic dance with no ability to check in leaves Rory to find solace in other ways. This trip is taking over her mindset. It is taking over to help her in a way. Each scene is a buildup to the other. I watched as each bag Rory picked up and the uneasiness of having no clue where to start to unpack her pain. You know pain is like a backpack of sorts. You squeeze as much as you can into them. Each later of unpacking exposes layers and layers of pain. Its debilitating at times. Rory is on this conquest to unpack the layers of her life and she doesn’t even know it. There’s a lot to think about when you travel alone. The snow for one is always so hard and cold and it seems to drag you down. So I’m not shocked by Rory‘s candid conversation with the audience. When the mind has so much to think about finding the words become easy.
Does she get to the North Pole? What happens to the layers as she unpacks them? What about her sexual encounter? These are all things you will have to unpack with Rory as you attend the showing. A hundred words of snow is set to end on Sunday February 23rd. Inis Nua Theatre is located at Bluver Theatre at the Drake, 302 S. Hicks Street. When you come; try your best to be there at least 15 minutes before the show to make sure your ticker is secured. Also, they have wine and snacks available for purchase. The show is 90 minutes with NO intermission.
Thank you to all the staff who were so welcoming. I am always greeted with such great smiles. Thank you to Inis Nua Theatre and Aversa PR for the invitation. I enjoy my time while there always.
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