Currently Playing Until July 9th
A Blog View by Alejandra Enciso-Dardashti
Eleanor - Kandis Chappell photo by Aaron Rumley |
In this one-person show, Kandis Chappell takes audiences through First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt's life narrating triumphs, losses, family relations, her children, and her marriage to Franklin D. Roosevelt. The piece is around 80 minutes with no intermission and starts with Eleanor sitting on a bench at Washington, D.C.’s Rock Creek Cemetery. The backdrop is a visual by scenic designer Marty Burnett that entails vertical screens "mixed up" in the greenery of the property where projections designed by Aaron Rumley are shown intermittently along the performance. The created vibe is serious yet peaceful.
The 80 minutes go by in a breeze as Chappel is likable and engaging and, the life anecdotes that St. Germain chose to adapt are too. From how Eleanor's mother Anna described her when she was born as "a little more wrinkled than the average baby" to then calling her "granny" because of how shy and proper she was. Interestingly introduced herself by her full name "Anna Eleanor Roosevelt" and then explained she brushed the "Anna" away as her mother was named Anna as well. The performance even feels like a podcast or "storytime". There is a trashcan next to the bench and trash outside of it; as Eleanor is talking to the audience, she complains about the trash and picks it up analyzing each of the contents: An empty Sour Patch Kids bag that just by the name does not seem appealing to her, an empty bottle of Gatorade which she pronounces Gator-Ade, and if the audience is not cracking up already there's a red button that reads "Make America Great Again", I will leave that one on its own but you can imagine.
Eleanor - Kandis Chappell - photo by Aaron Rumley |
Another positive about this play is that Mark St. Germain gives us a relatable Eleanor as she did not get along with her mother-in-law -at all- she greatly disliked her which she often makes jokes about and that is fun (lol). She explains being fifth cousins with her husband and takes out a family map so everyone can understand assuming it will not be easy to. These details and Chappel's charm illustrate with Eleanor the pure theatre-going experience. One actor, one act, one set, and an enchanting time.
Currently running until July 9th, click here for performance dates and times.
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