“we are continuous,” running at Diversionary Theatre through March 9, brings playwright Harrison David Rivers’ semi-autobiographical family drama to life with the exceptional talents of a handful of locals making their debut on the Diversionary main stage.
Marti Gobel, playing an African American family’s mother Ora based in Kansas, was a tremendous force on the stage as she tries to put together a dinner party with her son and his new husband where secrets revealed have the potential to break their relationship.
University of California San Diego MFA student Elliot Sagay stars as the son Simon, forever seeking acceptance for his ‘homosexuality’ from parents rigid in their faith – and their love for him. Eli Wood, a frequent presence on the San Diego Musical Theatre stage, played Simon’s white husband, Abe, infusing a charming warmth into the supportive role. Notably absent was Gobel’s husband Hoyt, a man ashamed at Simon’s coming out at age 16, awkward at his introduction to his future husband, and silent at a wedding invitation.
Through monologues and dialogues, the three actors on the stage recount his emotionally stunted responses to his son’s vulnerability, making him a force of turmoil more than a main character. Gobel in particular portrays the way she is torn between the wedding vows promising to submit to her husband and her responsibilities as a mother to love unconditionally.
In many ways, the plot of the play is nothing new and the audience found it relatable.
First-time director Kian Kline-Chilton even told the SDUT the mother-son relationship in the play mirrors their own family dynamics of being loved but not truly known. What elevates the play from the mundane to the exquisite is Rivers’ writing, at turns beautiful, wrenching, and hilarious. The monologue structure gives depth to the characters’ interior world while playful repartee between monologues keeps the tone from becoming too dreary.
Ora’s opening monologues seemed a bit stilted, only pulled off by Gobel’s masterful physicality as she addresses the audience while precisely setting the table. Her character quickly fleshes out into a believable and relatable mother navigating hierarchical heterosexual marriage and the conflicting demands of motherhood.
Simon too becomes more interesting as the play runs, at times angry, desperate or madly in love, always vacillating between interiority and vulnerability with others. “we are continuous” grapples with how relationships can endure past painful truths. In a divisive era, it is hopeful about humanity and connections across differences. Despite distrust, the characters bare their hearts and the actors deliver vulnerable performances that made the audience laugh and ache – and possibly call their mother when they got home.
Rivers was in the audience for opening night which marked his third work performed at Diversionary. The LGBTQ+ theater produced “When Last We Flew” in 2012 and “This Bitter Earth” online in 2021. Artistic director Sherri Eden Barber credited Rivers with sending her the job posting for the opening at Diversionary.
Of those involved in the production, Rivers had the longest-standing relationship with Diversionary, rivaled only by director Kline-Chilton who is the theater’s artistic producer. The entire cast, Gobel, Sagay and Wood, made their Diversionary debuts in the play. Scenic designer Heather Larsen and costume designer Sabrina Soto also worked with Diversionary for the first time in this production. Padra Crisafulli, who like Sagay is pursuing an MFA at UCSD, served as sound designer and composer after involvement with 2023’s “The High Table.” Lighting designer Colby Freel and stage manager Jaz Villalino both returned to Diversionary after last year’s “TL;DR” musical. Freel’s lighting design was creative and beautiful, a highlight of the production.
Tickets range from $10 limited Prebys Foundation Access-For-All tickets to $60. Call the box office at (619) 220-0097 or visit diversionary.org.
Show times are Mondays and Thursdays at 7 p.m., Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m., and Sundays at 2 p.m. through March 9.
Top photo: (L-R) Marti Gobel and Elliot Sagay. Photos by Talon Reed Cooper.
