Company of Fools to present “4000 Miles,” a play by Amy Herzog
BY DANA DUGAN
A finalist for the 2013 Pulitzer Prize in Drama, Amy Herzog’s “4000 Miles” takes a familiar story—a family reunion—and turns it on its head. Sometimes relatives showing up at your door are not all that welcome, as 91-year-old Vera Joseph finds out when her grandson Leo knocks on her door in the middle of the night. He’s just ridden across the country on his bike.
Vera, played by Jana Arnold, lives alone in a small apartment in New York City. She’s a political activist and her solitary existence in New York is entirely shaken by Leo’s appearance. Adam Turck, a Richmond, Va.-based actor, will make his debut with Company of Fools, as Leo.
Directed by Gary Hopper, also from Richmond, the play was suggested to COF season producer R.L. Rowsey a few years ago.
“I put a flea in R.L.’s ear,” Hopper said. “I thought this would be a great play for us. But I’d only come if Jana plays Vera,” whom he calls “Lady J.”
“In a season that has been all about love, from Woody Guthrie’s patriotic love and passion, to Edward Tulane’s quest for love, we couldn’t ignore this mystery of love within the family,” Rowsey said of choosing the play. “The questions of why we connect with people in our bloodline, how we express that love, and what is the power of the bond that pushes us past the easy out of escape into something that is much richer and more profound were just too fascinating not to explore.”
With COF, Hopper also directed “Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike” in 2014, as well as “God of Carnage” in 2011.
There are more connections in this show. Hopper’s wife, Elizabeth Weiss Hopper, is the costume designer and has worked with COF on about 18 different shows.
“We’re the dynamic duo,” Hopper said of their collaborations. “We have long sessions talking about the characters and her design to help the character and the actor.”
The other actor returning to the Liberty is Maggie Horan, from New York City. She was also in “Vanya,” and Hopper has also worked with her in other shows in Richmond. Her character, Bec, is Leo’s girlfriend.
“She’s very relatable and is written in such a lovely and well-rounded way that makes it easy for me as the actor to find the humor and sadness and everything in between,” Horan said.
Returning to the Valley is a “dream come true,” she added. “There is no other place like it. The people involved with COF, as well as our fearless leader, Gary, are the reason why I will never hesitate coming back here.”
Jessi Zhang, a New York City-based actor, is new to COF and Hopper. She recently graduated with a Master of Fine Arts from Pace University in New York, and this is her first big show out of town. She nabbed the part after a taped audition process with Hopper.
“I notice an instant chemistry of all of us,” she said during an interview, surrounded by her cast mates at the Liberty. “Everyone is passionate about the play.”
The two young women play the love interests of Leo. There are other off-stage characters that are of importance, in particular Leo’s friend Micah, who was killed on the bike trip, his sister and mother, and Vera’s neighbor. But it’s Leo and Vera’s story of reckoning and the healing power of trust that maintains the flow.
“He’s running from everything all the time, so doesn’t want to admit he’s made mistakes,” Turck said. “The interactions force him to open up and grow up a little bit.”
Turck also admits that while he didn’t like the character at first, he’s found his way into it and recognized his own journey.
“It’s a beautiful piece,” Arnold said. “I realized this is a play of subtleties. It’s not a play of highs and lows. Vera is not your grey-bun grandmother. She has a social and political background, a lefty. It’s about two very different generations and approaches to life. So it’s a slice of life, an evolution from beginning to end.”
The play covers about eight weeks of time, and by the end of the play Vera and Leo are very different people.
“They have some rough patches,” Arnold said, though the play has a lot of humor and energy in it, she added.
Hopper said he’s drawn to plays that have a journey that “must end in hope and redemption. If an audience sits there for 90 minutes, you want them to end with some feeling of hope.”
“4000 Miles” will be staged from Wednesday, Feb. 13, through Saturday, March 2. For tickets and more information, visit sunvalleycenter.org or call (208) 726-9491.