What’s Past is Pertinent in Now Circa Then at Capital Stage
Don’t miss this intricate and humorous exploration of the importance of personal histories through July 21st.
Contributing Editor Samantha Daniels
“The past is prologue.”
William Shakespeare The Tempest
(This quote is also carved into an outdoor sculpture by Robert Ingersoll Aitken, located in front of the National Archives Building in Washington, D.C. It is also quoted by one of the two protagonists of this play.)
Now Circa Then by Carly Mensch opened on June 19th at Capital Stage. Directed by Jeffrey Lo, the show is a romantic comedy about two historical re-enactors who fall in love while portraying a couple from the past.
The story centers around two young historical reenactors, Gideon and Margie, who are hired to portray an immigrant couple from the late 19th century in the Lower East Side Tenement Museum.
The show opens with an interactive greeting from the immigrant couple, and you’re immediately drawn in by the two actors, Nicole Anne Salle and Hunter Hoffman. Hoffman fearlessly greets the audience with a line that stays with you: “There are no strangers here, only opportunities!” And you’re excited to see where the show will take you with these two exciting young people. They’re fun, they’re charismatic, they’re good looking: they’re actors!
In the next scene, we’re reoriented to being the fact that we’re in the present. Their energy is different, they’re more modern, they’re speaking in their real voices. And we learn a whole lot about Gideon and very little about Margie.
Gideon describes his “brain is like a twenty-four-hour History Channel” and is addicted to his job, boasting quite the resume. Before landing the gig at the Tenement Museum, he worked at Gettysburg, Salem, Shaker Village, a few Renaissance Fairs, several birthplaces of Republican Politicians, and he just got back from doing the Living History Farm. Gideon is right where he wants to be. And Margie? Margie had recently moved to New York from a small town, applied, and got hired, no experience needed.
Initially, this forms a clash due to their different approaches to reenactment and level of experience. Gideon’s serious and meticulous nature clashes with Margie’s imaginative and loose-with-the-facts portrayal. Despite their differences, they start to bond over their shared passion for history and their growing attraction to each other. And while their courtship is funny and quirky, we begin to see the themes of the play come out in how their relationship develops.
Hunter Hoffman and Nicole Anne Salle Photo Credit: Charr Crail
The two performances of Hoffman and Salle are incredibly compelling to watch. The show jumps around from being highly comedic to profoundly sad, and they don’t miss a beat. Salle’s portrayal of Margie as she transitions from seemingly free spirited and adventurous to anxious and vulnerable is infinitely watchable. Hoffman’s command of physical comedy is a wonderful contrast to his character’s intensity, making a character that could be a pedantic nightmare into a loveable everyman.
The play explores how individuals connect with and interpret history, and how these interpretations influence their personal identities. Gideon is steadfast and true to his passion and path while Margie seems to be waiting for something, wanting to do something great or unusual but does not have a path to follow. As an audience member, you can’t help but ask yourself if Margie’s path isn’t as clear because she doesn’t have an example by which to draw her inspiration. As we dive deeper into Gideon’s history - his mother was a history professor, a famous one - we see that his path was set out for him by his mother, and history has been good to him, providing a career and purpose. We know very little about Margie because she doesn’t divulge anything, but as she’s changed her whole life to move to New York, it can be surmised that she’s broken some kind of mold in her family but doesn’t necessarily know what to do after the initial break.
The two performances of Hoffman and Salle are incredibly compelling to watch. The show jumps around from being highly comedic to profoundly sad, and they don’t miss a beat. Salle’s portrayal of Margie as she transitions from seemingly free spirited and adventurous to anxious and vulnerable is infinitely watchable. Hoffman’s command of physical comedy is a wonderful contrast to his character’s intensity, making a character that could be a pedantic nightmare into a loveable everyman.
What really makes the actors shine is that, as Gideon and Margie delve deeper into their roles, Margie and Gideon’s personal lives begin to mirror the story of Josephine and Julian. The lines between their characters and themselves blur, leading them to question what is real and what is performance. It examines the boundaries between reality and reenactment, both in historical portrayals and in personal relationships. Is Margie really what Gideon wants, or has he been projecting his desires on a woman who begins their relationship as a blank page? Is Gideon only working in this industry because it is “the family business” and all he knows?
While the performances are pitch perfect, I do find a few faults in the script that cannot be helped by Jeffrey Lo’s fantastic direction and Christopher Fitzer’s amazing set design. The character of Margie is underdeveloped in contrast to Gideon’s long backstory. While this is likely purposeful by the playwright, it made it less easy to connect with Margie for a good part of the show. This could also be a way to point out that, while men are allowed to have long, detailed lives, a woman is expected to be less complicated. After all, isn’t the saying “Well behaved women rarely make history”? While the play does a delightful about-face as far as expectations for each character, you can’t help but find yourself rooting for Gideon as the play reaches its conclusion, if only because we know more about him. In the end, it becomes much easier to project my own personal feelings on Margie, which is largely what Gideon does to the character during their budding relationship. In a compelling and masterfully executed monologue by Hoffman, he breaks down exactly how Margie is failing to live up to the gift she has been given in this job and why that is a waste of opportunity. For lack of information about Margie’s life, past or present, I couldn’t help but agree with him.
It reminded me a bit of the opening lyrics in the song from The Sound of Music:
You wait, little girl, on an empty stage
For fate to turn the light on
Your life, little girl, is an empty page
That men will want to write on, to write on
Is Margie, and therefore all women in her generation and the generations before hers, just a blank page on which men project their desires? And ultimately, could that be the point of the show? As the play delves into how history shapes personal and collective identities, I can’t help but wonder if it’s time to let women fill up those blank pages for themselves and let future generations grasp the reality of womanhood instead of having men, badly behaved or not, take center stage.
Now Circa Then is an incredibly thought provoking and humorous production exploring how individuals connect with and interpret history, and how these interpretations influence their personal identities. It is a wonderful opportunity to see with friends and family, a jumping off point to discuss our own backstories and life trajectories. Salle and Hoffman’s performances are both deep and incredibly endearing. Don’t miss this one.
Now Circa Then directed by Jeffrey Lo is playing at Capital Stage through July 21st.
TICKETS: $25-48
https://capstage.org/the-plays/now-circa-then/
