In Moving at the Speed of Life, which wrapped up a five-performance run at Towson University's Center for the Arts Studio Theatre on Saturday, Annapolis native Kristen Valerio introduces us to a dozen female characters - some disconcertingly familiar. She examines them with a humorist's eye and a philosopher's wisdom to reveal what lurks beneath the surface.
The 33-year-old Manhattan-based playwright's one-woman show presents characters who resemble our family members, neighbors, co-workers and friends. They reflect problems common to our age, including the need to deal with growing technological dependence and with problems besetting the service industries.
Bernie, for example, is a talk-show-addicted hypochondriac with a vocabulary of psychobabble that she inflicts by phone on her mother in a staccato New York accent. She's a 37-year-old woman who may want to have a baby and who insists on knowing the risks at each juncture.
In Bernie, we discern the familiar martyr-like aspects of the woman who takes responsibility for her children's poor grades, wars, the recession and "not knowing what to fix for tonight's dinner." We smile at a modern woman who lives alone, looking for love in the wrong places, overestimating the importance of attention from a doorman, insurance salesman and her hairdresser - all transients who cause her to view herself as "disposable."
Fran is a warm character with a delicious "listen, hon" Baltimore accent who talks to her sister through the ladies' room door, discussing whether she should consider Ritalin as an option for treating her troubled son, relaying her concerns to an unseen group waiting in line.
Elanore is convinced she can save her marriage through karaoke, which may be "more effective than couples therapy." She is not looking for "the benefits of communicating shared thoughts in a relationship," valuing instead the joys of dining together. In a moment reminiscent of Meg Ryan's orgasmic restaurant scene in When Harry Met Sally, this character grows steamy over the sensual pleasures inherent in sharing a fine meal.
Valerio employs considerable acting skills to bring her characters to life. Utilizing an array of body language, regional accents, speech patterns, assorted mannerisms and moods, Valerio invests each with a unique persona.
The transitions are instantaneous and remarkably complete. Valerio's physical appearance changes from tacky to New York chic to cool career woman to a radiant poet - perhaps closest to Valerio's own spirituality and idealistic pragmatism.
Valerio is hoping that an Anne Arundel County arts organization may be interested in offering her production in her home county. These are a dozen women we should all get to know better so we can know ourselves. Moving at the Speed of Life reveals our world spinning at a frighteningly familiar speed.