The Secret Ruths of Island House, 2005/2006

  The Secret Ruths of Island House is a show that grew out of interviews that Claytie and Alissa conducted with several residents of The Island House, which is an actual retirement home on Mercer Island. Their stories were fascinating; these are women who have lived through the Great Depression, World War II, grandchildren and great-grandchildren, and are writing the final chapter of their lives in a quiet, out-of-the-way place.

The original script, which premiered at the Chamber Theatre in Seattle in the summer of 2005, was a show that incorporated the recorded voices and stories of six of the women (all, incidentally, named Ruth) that were originally interviewed at the Island House. The Ruths in their present lives were played by actors in vibrant and beautiful old-age masks (designed and constructed by Claytie Mason) and their younger selves and staff at the Island house were played by the same six actors unmasked. It was an abstract and dreamlike show, incorporating dance, physical theatre, and straight-up drama, and the original score was played live by a three-piece band.

The second incarnation of Secret Ruths of Island house focused on just three of the characters who were featured in the workshop production. While the first show was a tribute to the beauty and endurance of these women who receive so little of the world's attention, this second iteration explored their lives a bit more and the depth of the character that each woman possesses--the different paths that led them all to the same Island House door. The live music was limited to the a capella songs of the three woman, and only three of the original seven masks were used. It toured the New York, Boulder and San Francisco fringe festivals, winning 'Best New Play' in both San Fransisco and Boulder, CO.

"With The Secret Ruths of Island House, Nebunele Theatre takes that elementary school assignment to interview your grandmother about her life to mature, inventive levels, slyly rewriting the book on documentary theatre... I cannot recommend this insightful play more enthusiastically."
-Jessica Avellone, nytheatre.com

"...a beautifully concentrated interplay of acting, mask work, movement, taped interviews and song in a deeply affecting look at elderly women in an assisted-living retirement home...'Ruths' is almost heartbreaking in its sympathetic and curiously affirmative humanity." -Robert Hurwitt, San Francisco Chronicle

"...the masked characters-expansive in their subtlety-open worlds of expression with their slow, measured precision..."
-Zhenya Lavy, Seattleactor.com