By Jamie Bullins
Angels Theatre Company, Thursday, February 15, 2024
Great Plains premier of a new play, I Carry Your Heart with Me, by Jennifer Blackmer.
Spontaneous, intimate, immediate, ephemeral.
Let me start by saying I might be just the tiniest bit biased. Partial? Probably. I have been involved with this project since the start. Conversation to realization. Page to the stage, all that. But, do read on. You cannot afford to miss this story.
In the midst of the horrors of how cruel human beings can be one to another, finding your way, finding another also searching as fiercely as you are. Only connect. With yourself, with other human beings. That’s the story, and there’s some awfully beautiful e.e. cummings poetry mixed in. Poignant. Bring tissues. Ann Marie Pollard turns in (arguably it’s only February) one of the most remarkable performances you will see in Lincoln, hell, in Nebraska, this year. I know, prejudicial opinion, but see for yourself, then you can take me to task.
An audience member from opening night last night confirms it, “It’s the best theatre I’ve seen in Lincoln this year.” I know, February, but still, this individual sees a lot of theatre.
The Blixt Storefront Theatre seats a relatively small crowd, forcing you into an active and live space with the story and performer. Intimate and immediate, as I mentioned before. Ann Marie Pollard’s work is visceral, charged, in your face. And there has been significant investment in the story aesthetically, to support Ann Marie and Jennifer Blackmer’s efforts. The sound (Mo Benes), lighting (Michelle Harvey), clothes (Hannah Hansen), and simple setting (Jamie Bullins) set the tone and make a substantial impact on the story.
Director Timothy Scholl adds in the program…
This is not an easy story, but it is profoundly and unabashedly human. This is a grown-up, real life story of laughter, pain, choice, loss, and realization. It is a story that bridges two wars, but it is not about war. It’s a story about family, honor, and duty, and the choices we make when we don’t have all the answers. This story connects you to Esther, but it really connects you to one another, realizing that we all have complexity at our core and no choice, no decision is without consequence. Esther shows us that as we age, we are forced to find ways to repair ourselves and discover what is important; because as she tells us “I think about what I want to be true and what probably is true and how they’re not the same thing, not at all.” We learn about choices, and realize that sometimes, our choices become defined in ways that we never imagined – and that is the way it should be. Esther’s journey reminds us that love, family, great literature, and connecting with one another is what it’s all about.
Get your tickets now (info below), you’ll kick yourself if you miss this story.
I’ve said it before and I’ll keep saying it, the theatre here in Nebraska has heart. I am reminded continually that each of you want to be here, on these stages, putting in the work with passion. Thank you, Angels, keep telling your stories.
If you go: You can catch I Carry Your Heart With Me February 16-17, 22-24 at 7:30 pm, February 18 and 25 at 2:00 pm. BLIXT Storefront Theatre, 2626 N 48th Street, Lincoln. Tickets may be purchased online.
Jamie Bullins is on the faculty in the Johnny Carson School of Theatre and Film at UNL, since the fall of 2017. He is an Educator, Scenographer, Director, and Playwright and has been at it for almost 30 years now.
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