Amelia has a job selling memberships to a charity that rescues kids in countries overseas. She’s invested the rest of her life in her beloved television shows, which provide her an emotional haven. Sonia is Amelia’s mother. She’s been given Compassionate Release from prison as she is terminally ill. She was convicted of murdering Amelia’s father. She’s moved into Amelia’s apartment with the aid of a social worker, Iris. Amelia has attracted the attention of a decent, sincere co-worker named Ben, who introduces her to a wonderful human invention called a hug. Can Amelia possibly bridge the emotional chasm with her mother while there’s still time? Will the wounds of the past prevent Amelia from returning Ben’s affection? Written by Kat Ramsburg. Directed by Steve Jarrard. Presented by Collaborative Artists Ensemble.
Anatomy of a Hug
Reviews
The playwright, director, actors and crew have come together to give us a rare glimpse into two very different lives, and in so doing, changed the landscape of American theatre forever. That window, and this choice of play, also show that Collaborative Artists Ensemble remains one of the boldest, most talented and open theatre companies, not only in Los Angeles, but anywhere. Kudos and more to all involved.
Eventually we do learn the situation. Sonia is Amelia's mother, who has spent decades in prison for the murder of her husband and Amelia's father. Now, as she enters the final stages of a terminal cancer, Sonia has been granted compassionate release. In all this time, her daughter has never visited her. Never written. Naturally one wonders why she agreed to allow this stranger into her small apartment?
“The Anatomy of a Hug” goes some way to answer these universal questions perhaps, but mostly it is an intricately wrought portrait of a lonely woman so destroyed by one terrible moment in her life and its heartbreaking consequences that she insulates herself from everything that could indeed make her whole. It is quietly brilliant and powerfully true. Bravo!
The playwright, director, actors and crew have come together to give us a rare glimpse into two very different lives, and in so doing, changed the landscape of American theatre forever. That window, and this choice of play, also show that Collaborative Artists Ensemble remains one of the boldest, most talented and open theatre companies, not only in Los Angeles, but anywhere. Kudos and more to all involved.
Eventually we do learn the situation. Sonia is Amelia's mother, who has spent decades in prison for the murder of her husband and Amelia's father. Now, as she enters the final stages of a terminal cancer, Sonia has been granted compassionate release. In all this time, her daughter has never visited her. Never written. Naturally one wonders why she agreed to allow this stranger into her small apartment?
“The Anatomy of a Hug” goes some way to answer these universal questions perhaps, but mostly it is an intricately wrought portrait of a lonely woman so destroyed by one terrible moment in her life and its heartbreaking consequences that she insulates herself from everything that could indeed make her whole. It is quietly brilliant and powerfully true. Bravo!