The Institute for the Opposite of Longing
Reviewed by Dana Martin
Ensemble Theatre at the Hollywood Fringe Festival
Through June 29
Visiting The Institute for the Opposite of Longing at The Actor’s Company will leave you with more questions than answers. The play examines the root of longing and the various ways we seek to stamp it out. Written and performed by Lindsay Beamish and Vanessa Peters, The Institute is as intriguing as it is menacing.
The founders of the Institute, Julie (Lindsay Beamish) and Meredith (Vanessa Peters), help their clients identify what they long for the most and then seek to satisfy that need — one session at a time. One client longs to hold the baby she was never able to have, while another desires a more authentic connection with her husband. The clients’ wants are customizable, and they role play desired scenarios.
But Julie and Meredith are also a couple who have experienced unbearable loss and deep longing for a little boy they wanted but could not keep. They use the Institute as a space to pack and unpack his belongings, recite a list of his cherished items, replay conversations with him and his social worker, and obsess over the details of their last goodbye. It’s their ritual and their coping mechanism. Their repressed memories are kept at a safe distance, and are taken out to be examined and explored only within the safety and sterility of a laboratory.
Beamish and Peters direct and star in this clever story, which blends humor and deep pain and loss. Both artists are clear and believable, and their writing is refreshingly engaging. Rather than push the narrative, they allow it to slowly unfold. The staging is simple, and the lighting is practical. Repetitive, stylized transitions clearly mark the passage of time. The set is cluttered but doesn’t get in the way of the performances. The tone of the play is curiously eerie, particularly in its first half.
The Institute for the Opposite of Longing examines the lengths some of us go to fulfill our most deeply rooted needs: for love, for recognition, for understanding, for a Dad who shows up. Relief from the longing to nurture, to be seen, to say goodbye again, is fleeting and ultimately unsatisfactory. The Institute provides only momentary relief — a temporary replacement for what’s most blatantly and painfully absent. It’s an unsettling story told by Beamish and Peters in a creepily gratifying fashion.
The Actors Company, 916 N. Formosa Ave., West Hollywood; Sun., Jun. 23, 2:30 p.m.; Thurs., Jun. 27, 9:30 p.m.; Sat., Jun. 29, 7:30 p.m.; through Jun. 29. https://www.hollywoodfringe.org/projects/6174. Running time: one hour with no intermission.
