Joliet Junior College’s next theater production might on the surface appear to be eight unrelated monologues with some funny lines and poignant moments.
But those who go a little deeper will find a connection between the 10-15 minute scenes in “The Tenacity of Just Seeming: Monologues for Eight Voices,” according to director Tammy Perkins.
The production will be performed live Feb. 24-27 live and stream online Feb. 28 and March 1. A limited number of live and online tickets are available.
Tickets are usually about $15 per person, but they’re free for this production. Registration must be done online, and seats are limited to maintain six-foot distancing requirements. The audience is required to wear masks.
Showtimes are at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 24, 25 and 26; 2 p.m. Feb. 27. Virtual performances are at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 28 and March 1.
Perkins said it was difficult to find a play that met requirements for actors to be masked at all times.
But the new play written by Chicagoan Andy Pederson works perfectly, she said. “Each monologue tells a different story. It’s about a moment in each person’s life where they either ignore there’s a problem or recognize there’s a problem and don’t make a change or recognize the need to change and face the truth.
“It might seem like eight different pieces, but if you’re looking for a connection, there is one,” Perkins said.
“Some of it is comedic, and even as we rehearse I can feel my eyes stinging,” from some sadder moments, she said.
Each scene has a creative story line, with twists the audience won’t expect. The monologues are peppered with thought-provoking one-liners.
One scene is about a recently divorced man making a video to get back on the dating scene. “He’s a train wreck. The piece is really funny,” Perkins said.
Another scene reveals a woman leaving the mall after an overwhelming day of Christmas shopping. “This one gets a little poignant,” Perkins said, as the audience learns the woman’s 6-year-old daughter idolizes her grandfather who is a garbage collector and wants to follow in his footsteps.
In another monologue, the audience sees an elderly barber and a young barber in a shop. One is cutting hair. The other appears to be sleeping. The plot has an interesting twist, when people come in to speak to the older barber and discover something amiss. The audience might also notice the young barber keeping his hands in his pockets all the time. They’ll learn why during the scene.
Another monologue is told by a young woman who became an archaeologist because of Steven Spielberg’s “Raiders of the Lost Ark” movies.
Her opening line is, “I should probably explain about the restraining order.”
The woman wishes she had taken another career step. “There’s a serious message underneath this one,” Perkins said.
Another monologue features a grave digger who talks about having a job nobody wants but that everybody needs.
“He talks about people who come to the cemetery to visit their loved ones,” Perkins said. “He realizes what he does matters. The thing I love about this monologue is that he talks about engraving the tombstones. He says people don’t get that the important part is not the born date or the died date, but the dash in between.”
The dash, he says, is really short, just like life.
“He wants people to wake up and pay attention to their lives,” Perkins said.
“That was really profound. To me, that was the message of the whole piece,” Perkins said. “Fix your life.”
Another scene reveals an aging actress who cannot get a part anymore. “It’s one of the more poignant ones, although there are some funny lines every so often,” Perkins said.
In another monologue, a man in his 20s is spending his honeymoon alone in Mexico. The audience will find out why and how he decides to change his rather unimaginative life.
The final monologue features a stylish New York woman who doesn’t want to move to Chicago. During the monologue, the woman sees snow falling in Chicago, catches a few flakes with her tongue and has a revelation.
Perkins said she’s working with the actors to be authentic. “In the more serious pieces, there are some funny lines, but the actors don’t play them for laughs. They have to play them truthfully. The characters like the divorced man and the archaeologist don’t know they’re funny,” she said.
In the serious pieces, for example, the aging actress, the actor “has to be willing to show vulnerability. That’s risky and hard,” Perkins said.
Perkins said the audience will find the production entertaining, and also be thinking about the scenes on their way home.
‘The Tenacity of Just Seeming: Monologues for Eight Voices’
When: Feb. 24-27 live; Feb. 28-March 1 online
Where: Joliet Junior College, 1215 Houbolt Road, Joliet
Tickets: Free
Information: jjc.edu/about-jjc/places-interest/theatre-jjc
Sheryl DeVore is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.
