Jubilee Theatre<\/a>\u2019s production, seen Aug. 9, wrings every drop of feeling out of this inevitably tragic love story, beginning with a set that serves as both atmosphere and metaphor. Sheer pink-red fabric drapes in a criss-crossing pattern overhead while a series of neatly stacked suitcases sit nearly hidden by the surrounding furnishings. Together, they signal a fleeting romance ahead.<\/p>\nThe first scene, a flash forward to one of the musical play\u2019s final moments, is a startling wakeup call. Klook (Brian Gibson) wields a gun in one hand,\u00a0a pint of rum in the other. He cries as he narrates his dire situation, questioning God and earthbound authorities alike. His cards have been marked all along, he says, speaking of a nagging loneliness.<\/p>\n
Gibson showcases impressive range, embodying Klook\u2019s desperation as well as the character\u2019s surface-level confidence. When the action resets, he first meets Vinette (Tamya Simmons), an aspiring writer, in a health food restaurant.<\/p>\n
They flirt amid talk of quinoa and organic carrot juice, dropping pop culture references from Werner Herzog to Yaphet Kotto, him coming on strong, her gamely trying to resist. She\u2019s been burned before. He\u2019s too old for her. Besides, his sad eyes betray a dark history. She\u2019s got baggage, too.<\/p>\n
Simmons subtly personifies Vinette\u2019s very human mix of suspicion and want. She and Gibson build chemistry over the course of the musical play, the songs acting as extensions of the dialogue, weaving numbers like \u201cFragile\u201d and \u201cAm I In Your Heart?\u201d into Walker\u2019s poetic, philosophical script almost seamlessly. Their renditions are sweet and heartfelt.<\/p>\n
As their tentative romance grows roots, the fledgling couple\u2019s secrets start to spill out. He\u2019s more open about the time he\u2019s spent in and out of prison than she is about the son she\u2019s left behind with her mother. That revelation sparks their first big fight when Klook questions her choices. At other points, he encourages her to submit her short stories to publishers.<\/p>\n
The violent resolution of Klook and Vinette feels somewhat unsatisfying if inescapable. While past productions have depicted the climax more literally, director Khira Hailey chooses a delicate approach, mirroring her sensitive touch throughout.<\/p>\n
Ultimately, the ending is reminiscent\u00a0of a line from the musical\u00a0Hadestown<\/a>:\u00a0\u201cIt\u2019s a sad song, but we sing it anyway.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The characters in Ch\u00e9 Walker\u2019s musical two-hander Klook and Vinette are wounded souls on the run from their…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":998006,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5138],"tags":[5229,7371,7372,358,339449,290169,373262,3187,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":["post-998005","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-fort-worth","tag-america","tag-fort-worth","tag-fortworth","tag-texas","tag-tp-performing-arts","tag-tp-dallas","tag-tp-theater","tag-tx","tag-united-states","tag-united-states-of-america","tag-unitedstates","tag-unitedstatesofamerica","tag-us","tag-usa"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/998005","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=998005"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/998005\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/998006"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=998005"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=998005"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=998005"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}