Whenever I attend a theatrical performance at the Whitefire Theater in Sherman Oaks, I feel elated by the experience.
Watching Cathy Lind Hayes perform her solo show, The Beauty, the Banshee & Me was no exception. This is a raw and very personal presentation of what depths human beings will go in order to know their roots. Losses from childhood never go away, people just learn to go on. This play is about knowing who you are, knowing what tribe you belong to, and knowing you are not alone. Ms. Hayes hits the mark in all these areas and presents a wonderful tribute to the strength and curiosity of what it means to be connected.
The woman with the short red hair who walks onto the stage looks like someone you might have seen at the market or the mall. She is composed and elegant as she glides purposefully across the small dark stage. We instantly like her. We understand immediately a longing in her soul. She makes it clear that finding her clan is paramount to breathing or sleeping. The audience is on her side as this tale unfolds. We want her to win, to succeed, and to be alright.
This show won the best autobiographical show award in 2014 from United Solo Theater Festival and I can understand why. Seated in the darkened theater and witnessing a bearing of her soul, Ms. Hayes speaks in soft rhythmic tones. This solo performance is about a woman looking for her birth parents and her identity. Her story could have been a tear jerker and heart wrenching, but it is not. Cathy presents her journey in a humorous and sensitive manner that makes the audience understand why it is so important for her and all adoptees to contact their past. Even though at moments it did tug at our hearts, we came out with a smile as does the star of the show, Ms. Hayes.
Cathy was fortunate enough to be adopted by well off parents who loved her dearly. Raised by well-respected and famous show folk from the 1950’s proved to be an interesting childhood. Her mom was the beauty Mary Healy and her father the comedian, Peter Lind Hayes. Raised in New York and Las Vegas, we are brought into a world where she appears on the Edward R. Morrow television show at four, and then as a teenager sits next to Frank Sinatra for a family meal. Her parent’s let Cathy know she was adopted, but it wasn’t the focal point of daily discussions. They just didn’t make a big deal of it. It would be up to Cathy to seek out the truth of her birth when the desire to know became overwhelming.
She is a fighter, a successful performer (a very long list of theater and television credits), a writer and most of all driven. She wants to know, she needs to know where her roots began. What did her birth mother look like? Why was she given up for adoption? What about her father, was he around? Most of us just accept and deal with the parents, siblings and weird relatives we are given in our lives. We may not like what we have, but we can see a family resemblance, recognize a familiar quirk, and feel the sense of belonging to a group. This is something Cathy yearned to discover. She opens up our eyes to the many tragedies and triumphs adopted people face in the search for the truth of their beginnings. We hear about the angst of the birth mother who doesn’t want to be found because it reminds them of a time when they were forced to give up a baby. We hear about the sadness in the adoptees whose birth records are legally sealed and nothing can be done. We see the pain of a grown child only wanting a connection. It is a universal pain; the pain of not being wanted, the pain of not knowing the truth, and the pain of knowing the truth.
Does this make her fold and go away? Oh no just the opposite, she fights for every shred of information she can stumble upon. She doggedly pursues a woman that didn’t want to be found. The surprising contrast from her gentle southern adopted mother to the harsh voiced and judgmental birth mother is comical. Unfortunately, her limited time with this related stranger does not end well. But it proves to be enough to show her a glimpse into a world that contains her mysterious past.
The stage is set appropriately for this kind of show. The audience is seated in the dark with the lighting on Cathy. After all, this is her tale; we are just here to listen with compassion. The spotlight is on her and the stage is merely the backdrop to her life. Especially effective was the screen at the back of stage that would occasionally showcase her youthful years. I would have liked to see more of her videos or pictures projected there. It definitely added to Cathy’s very colorful stories. The direction by Michael Allen Angel works well for this type of production, simple and direct. A special nod to Raquel Lehrman, producer; Victoria Watson, associate producer, Gary Lee Reed, set designer and Derrick McDaniel, Lighting Designer.
As always, the Whitefire Theater is one of the best places to see original and interesting productions in the entire San Fernando Valley. They just know how to pick them for success. I encourage everyone to hurry and get your tickets to this show. It is well worth it.
Tickets on sale at the Whitefire Theater,
13500 Ventura Blvd
Sherman Oaks, CA 91423
Ample Street Parking
Reservations
(323) 960-1055
Production
Thu, Sep 15 – Sun, Oct 23
Thursdays @ 8pm
Sundays @ 3pm