Flashpoint lights up the local scene with THE BENDS

Thom Weaver is familiar to me, as he may be to other Philadelphia theatergoers, because it seems every time I see a show with impressive lighting choreography and look in the program to discover who designed it, I find his name. Weaver also brings his perceptive understanding of theater to bear as artistic director of Flashpoint Theatre Company.

TheBends_homeFlashpoint’s newest production, a world premiere of Meghan Mostyn-Brown’s THE BENDS, launches a two-year examination of gender. Weaver calls the play “exciting, brutal, and honest”, fitting in with the company’s “dedication to exploring the life of women this season”.

Directed by Kathryn MacMillan, the production features a stellar cast, with Janice Rowland and Isa St. Clair coming off excellent turns in THE AMISH PROJECT (Simpatico) and EQUUS (Curio), respectively. Among the others, Jared Delaney and Megan Slater have impressed me on multiple occasions.

The description:

Gemma, a now best-selling author, returns home to see her college friends for the first time in many years. The evening sets out to be simple, but spins out of control rapidly. Mostyn-Brown spins a wine-soaked Bacchanalian tale of what happens when the past and present collide in a single house. Multiple Barrymore-nominee Kathryn MacMillan directs this dark and hilarious play that proves that you can always come home again—it just won’t always be pretty.

I missed opening weekend and I’ll be skiing in Utah for the remainder of the run, but if I could, I’d be seeing this play. March 13-31. flashpointtheatre.org.

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