First Nighters Get First Look at New Itamar Moses Play
The World Premiere of Completeness on Friday, April 22, was an exciting occasion for First Nighters, the director, actors and other artists—and of course, for the playwright Itamar Moses.
The young writer, whose work has set the theatre world afire, was first represented at SCR by the West Coast Premiere of Bach at Leipzig. This time, he skipped ahead almost 300 years, from baroque music to computer science and molecular biology—and the audience happily made the transition with him.
Moses and Honorary Producers Wylie and Bette Aitken joined the the Cast Party at Pinot Provence, where food and drink—and compliments—were abundant.
Olivia Johnson was the first to mention what she really loved about the play—pretty much everything. “It was well written, well directed, well produced and the slightly edgy portrayals by the actors were spot-on!”
For those who haven’t seen Completeness yet, we won’t give anything away, but what about the moment in the play when the audience might have been a little confused?
“Itamar clearly was having some fun with us,” Tom Rogers said, “and also making the point of how technology has taken over our lives, which is sometimes good and sometimes not so good.”
Olivia added, “It underscored ‘technical difficulties’ potentially inherent in today’s romantic match ups.”
The discussion—and the party—continued, flowing through the entire restaurant, where centerpieces reflected the modern feeling of the play’s science lab—flasks filled with colored water and dry ice bubbling on sleek spandex table linens. Romance was in the signature martini cocktail—“Love Potion.”
Pinot Provence’s new Executive Chef Jason Petrie created scrumptious croque monsieur, braised short ribs and orechiette pasta, served at the main table, and hors d’oeuvres that included Caesar salad, goat cheese tartlettes and Israeli cous cous, poached Thai chicken lollipops and tomato bruschetta.
As the evening progressed, guests sampled the dessert spread of toasted coconut macaroons, chocolate chip cookies and caramelized vanilla pineapple. And more accolades flew in the production’s direction.
“I loved the play,” Sally Anderson said. “The acting was great and the set was impressive—and complex.”
Everyone agreed with Sally—and Olivia, who added, “It was a cleverly fascinating set by the SCR team.” Kudos to them all!
And Wylie Aitkens summed it up. “It was an honor and pleasure for us to be allowed to underwrite Itamar’s newest play. It was beautifully acted and aided by great direction from Pam MacKinnon. It’s funny, smart, entertaining, creative and a superb evening out. This play will have ‘legs’ in the American Theatre scene.”
