Hunter's Point - a play by Elizabeth Gjelten
The Homeless Benefit from Premiere Production of Gjelten’s “Hunter’s Point”
By Linda Ayres-Frederick
Proceeds from the production of Elizabeth Gjelten’s very special play Hunter’s Point benefit the homeless via the Gubbio Project. Considering the topic, it is an apt and generous choice for the newly formed Strange Angels Theater in collaboration with Jump! Theatre. Performed in the lower level venue of St. Boniface Church which has a special outreach to the homeless, the play Hunter’s Point directed by Christine Young involves the very complicated relationship between two sisters—Ruth a travel writer, and her homeless sister, Eva, who suffers from a variety of mental disturbances.
At rise, we hear Eva (the sweet voiced soprano Eula Janeen Wyatt) singing atop a scaffold in the Hunter’s Point area where she has been sleeping. At the same time we see her sister Ruth (alto Christine Rodgers) folding laundry in the safety of her modest Mission apartment. Soon after, we meet the streetwise, also homeless Hunter (the multi-talented Carlos Aguirre) who is a consummate beat box artist. Hunter invites the audience to gather round while he wows us with his stirring jazz solo. Ruth bargains with Hunter to find Eva. While the main thread of this two and a half hour play involves Ruth’s thwarted attempts to contact Eva to give her the news that their father is dead, the story hints at the parallels between Ruth’s journey as a visiting outsider in Sarajevo and Eva’s experience as a homeless outsider in her native land. Touching scenes in the SF Public Library between Eva and librarian Violet (a caring Allison L. Payne) illustrate Eva’s increasing frustration to find “moral treatment”. Ruth also encounters frustration in her attempts to reach Eva via cellphones that remain turned off or uncharged. Another of Ruth’s obstacles is the pull of amorous attention from Zulko (also played by Carlos Aguirre), a native of Sarajevo who will not leave no matter what the war has done to his country.
With projections of both local SF and foreign street life in the background, the multi-leveled multi-use set design (Nick A. Olivero) captures the gritty urban atmosphere. Additionally, on the lower level floor area the use of bicycles going back and forth figures prominently in the plot especially when Eva’s bike is stolen and Hunter manages to “relieve” someone else of theirs to give her a replacement. Even changing a wheel becomes an added enjoyable beat box moment. While costumes (Rebecca Cross) seem appropriate, Eva looks a bit less disheveled than one would expect from someone living on the street. Perhaps her earlier religious upbringing (the girls would sing together in church in their youth) was so strong that her need to stay clean remained
ingrained—“cleanliness next to godliness” no matter what the circumstances.
To further complicate matters, some street dwellers have been set afire by a pyromaniac. Eva still blames herself for the earlier death of her young son when she could not respond to a fire in her own home years ago.
The challenge between the sisters comes to a head when Ruth whose offer to get Eva off the street is found out to be less than real. When Eva actually says she’ll come home with her, Ruth’s expression gives away the truth. She really couldn’t handle dealing with her homeless less-than-solidly sane sister. It’s a sad but multi-leveled reality that faces head on the question of how to balance one’s personal survival with the responsibility to others. While the road to hell is often paved with good intentions, the heart breaks for the well-intentioned would be caretakers who can’t deliver their promises as well as for those who society and sanity have abandoned.
In Hunter’s Point, Ms. Gjelten has woven an often lyrically told emotional tapestry that poses important questions about family relationships, home and homelessness that the audience can continue to consider long after the lights go down. While there are no easy answers, the Gubbio project also attempts to address these issues with the “moral treatment” and dignity all humans so deserve.
In addition to post-show panel discussions, there is a pre-show visual exhibit curated by and featuring the photographs of Mark Ellinger, a formerly homeless photographer who chronicles the people and architecture of the Tenderloin.
Hunter’s Point continues Friday 9/30 7pm, Sat 10/1 7pm as a benefit for The Gubbio Project, St. Boniface Church Theater, 175 Golden Gate Ave., SF
Tickets: Pay What You Can (suggested donation $15-$25) www.http://hunterspoint.eventbrite.com/