Saskia Martin (Photo by Ines Futterknecht)
Reviewed by Dana Martin
Upstairs @ El Centro
Through October 11th
Saskia Martin (Photo by Ines Futterknecht)
What is the difference between coming of age and losing one’s way? Lost My Way- When life Doesn’t Go According to Plan, a solo show written and performed by Saskia Norman, struggles to distinguish between the two.
The show begins compellingly enough: Norman sits in a therapist’s office, expressing distress. The circumstances are vague, but the scene provides enough of a hook to make us want to know what has brought her there. What follows is purely autobiographical, as Norman recounts her life from childhood to the present.
Norman grows up in a small Austrian village with larger-than-life dreams, She has it all planned out: she is going to Hollywood to become an actor, just like her father. She acts out roles while playing make-believe with friends and is surrounded by a loving, supportive family.
And then, life happens.
She loses her father to cancer while she’s still quite young, a clearly significant event in her life. She attends an American high school in Vienna, makes friends, and learns English. As a young adult, she grapples with an eating disorder, which she eventually overcomes. She travels to the United States to attend acting school, initially struggling with culture shock before finding her footing. She makes friends, enjoys her time in the States, waits tables for a period, encounters setbacks, and doggedly pursues her passion throughout. These are rising actions, not plot deviations.
Director Elizabeth Halikiopoulos keeps the staging simple, using four large blocks to shift from scene to scenewhile utilizing lighting to establish the mood throughout. Norman has a pleasant stage presence, and she introduces a variety of colorful characters that showcase her versatility as a performer. But the storytelling remains largely on-the-surface and there is little in the way of dramatic escalation, discovery, or transformation. We meet zany characters and events within Norman’s story but are given less of a sense of what these characters and events ultimately reveal.
Lost My Way- When Life Doesn’t Go According to Plan suggests that somewhere along the road, Norman became lost. But where, exactly? Her father’s death is undoubtedly significant. Her eating disorder is significant. Moving between countries, pursuing an acting career, experiencing setbacks, and finding her place in a new culture are all meaningful experiences. She has lived through loss, she’s struggled, she’s adapted, and continues to pursue her ambitions with great determination.
In other words, she seems to have found her way.
Upstairs @ El Centro, 1103B N. El Centro, Hollywood. Sat., 8 pm, Sun., 4pm; thru Oct. 4th. https://theatreplanners.stagey.net/projects/15124. Running time: one hour with no intermission.
