“Madwoman”—A New Role for Sandra Tsing Loh

On Friday, Jan. 8, 2016, when The Madwoman in the Volvo had its world premiere at South Coast Repertory, Sandra Tsing Loh added “playwright” to her credits which already include NPR commentator, adjunct professor (at the University of California, Irvine), stand-up comic, performance artist and bestselling author.

The First Night audience was with Loh all the way along her bumper car ride through midlife “madness” and all it entails. So were her two sidekicks (who popped up in many guises, both male and female), Caroline Aaron and Shannon Holt.

After the show, the three women—plus an important fourth, director Lisa Peterson—were the stars of the Cast Party, co-sponsored by Seasons 52 at its South Coast Plaza restaurant. The play’s desert setting (minus the Burning Man) was duplicated in the decorations that included delicate touches of sand and succulents arranged throughout the restaurant.

Along with scrumptious hors d’oeuvres, guests were treated to the restaurant's signature “mini indulgence” desserts. Enjoying the food, drink and atmosphere—and leading the cheers for Sandra and the other Madwoman artists—were Individual Honorary Producers Steve and Laurie Duncan.

“We were so impressed at the ability of Sandra and her costars to take her very personal story, and share it with us in a warm, entertaining and funny manner,” said Steve. “The show generated a wide range of emotions that both men and women can relate to and appreciate!"



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"Pinocchio’s" Many Adaptations

The tale of the little wooden puppet who wanted to be a boy has charmed generations. Pinocchio by Greg Banks is the newest look at the story and is part of the Theatre for Young Audiences series, on the Julianne Argyros Stage, Feb. 5-22, 2016.

Many Americans know Pinocchio from the Disney film, first released in 1940. In the animated musical, Collodi’s story received a lighter treatment, with some of the more severe plot twists removed or changed. The Disney film, however, is just one of many adaptations of the classic story. Here are some other examples of famous takes on the puppet’s story from around the world.

1. Pinocchio, 1911 silent film
   This Austrian film, released in 1911, was the first film adaptation of the novel.


2. Un burattino di nome Pinocchio, 1972 animated film
   A very successful Italian animated film that featured rich imagery and the voices of some of the country’s greatest actors.


3. Mokku of the Oak Tree, 1972 anime series
   This 52-episode anime series premiered on Japanese television and captured some of the darker themes explored in Collodi’s original novel.


4. The Adventures of Pinocchio, 2007 opera
   A two-act opera that premiered at Opera North in Leeds, England, and received its American premiere at Minnesota Opera.


5. Shrek film franchise, 2001-2010
   The character of Pinocchio appeared in all four Shrek films as one of the ogre’s friends. Pinocchio also is a featured role in the musical based on the film, which had a Broadway run in 2008.


6. “Once Upon a Time,” current television series
   The popular American television show, set in a fictional town in Maine, brings together characters from various fairy tales. The adult Pinocchio has a recurring storyline on the series. 

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A Woman's Life—Hilariously Frank

by Kat Zukaitis

Sandra Tsing Loh

“Oh my God. What have I done? It’s like waking up the star of one of those hilarious Hangover movies. Except that you are not a guy, you are not in your twenties, you have no madcap party buddies and this is not hilarious.”

Welcome to Sandra Tsing Loh’s midlife crisis—a funny, frank story about subject matter that rarely gets a funny or frank treatment…especially if you’re a woman.

We all have an idea of what a midlife crisis looks like, and while the details inevitably vary from person to person, the basic outlines—or at least their typical pop cultural representations—are startlingly similar. There’s practically a script.

Here’s how it happens on TV (or in movies, books, and plays): Generally, men purchase a ridiculous sports car or motorcycle, and spend a few weeks or months reliving the glory days of their youth, maybe having an affair with a much younger woman on the ride. Then, having learned a lesson about embracing maturity, they likely have the choice to return home to reinvest in a newly harmonious relationship with the (initially upset but eventually understanding) spouse and children. Or they move on to a new family, secure in the knowledge that they get another chance to get it right. Women in these stories are often handed a very different script, one that involves fewer Harleys and a lot more trauma. Let’s take a quick survey of some classic literary and cultural models of women who, mid-life, need to reinvent themselves.

The traditional narrative involves a housewife trapped in a lackluster marriage who decides to find fulfillment at any cost, often with tragic consequences. In Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House, a frustrated but unapologetic Nora Helmer walks away from the only life she’s known, leaving her husband and children behind. Edna Pontellier, the protagonist of Kate Chopin’s landmark 1899 novel The Awakening, also rebels against society’s expectations of her as a wife and mother—but her chosen method of escape is first an affair; and then, when that sours, suicide.

But surely more recent narratives of middle-aged women who take charge of their destinies are more empowering?

Yes and no. Remember Thelma and Louise from the iconic 1991 movie, a waitress and housewife who shoot a rapist and take off in a Thunderbird? Their tragedy is that there’s not room for women like them in the world—at least not that they can see—and they elect to go out with a bang. Perhaps the biggest midlife crisis movie of the past decade has been 2010’s Eat, Pray, Love, in which Elizabeth Gilbert—like Sandra Tsing Loh, a successful writer who endured a painful divorce—travels the world and, instead of dying or going mad, finds happiness in Bali with a Brazilian lover. 

Here’s the catch: every one of these women blows up her life in the process of redefining her identity, and they never go back. If the stereotype of the male midlife crisis involves banging an intern and buying a Harley, the female stereotype involves the total destruction of one’s marriage, family life and stability. With a very few exceptions (Fried Green Tomatoes, anyone?), we simply do not get popular stories of women who navigate a midlife crisis without throwing away the life they had. 

Enter Sandra Tsing Loh. At 46, she, too, has blown up her life. I won’t give away the details here, but it involves a trip to Burning Man (picture a neo-hippie Woodstock populated by pyromaniac artists), a freak sandstorm, an unexpected affair, the onset of menopause and a lot of questionable advice. As the mother of two young daughters, moving to Bali isn’t exactly an option for her—but neither is going back to the way things were.

Unlike the women in most pop cultural representations of crisis, Loh does not try to leave behind the smoking ashes of her old life. She stays to deal with the fallout, piece by painful piece, and sometimes the wreckage is not pretty. The Madwoman in the Volvo, which both challenges and embraces the stereotype of the female midlife crisis, is the story of living with your scars and loving the person who emerges from the flames.

Southern California audiences are already familiar with Sandra Tsing Loh as a celebrated writer and radio personality. Her radio shows include The Loh Life on KPCC and The Loh Down on Science, and she has been a regular contributor to NPR's Morning Edition, PRI's This American Life and American Public Media's Marketplace. The New York Times review of her 2008 memoir Mother on Fire described her writing as “no less than a feat of genius.” A graduate of Cal Tech and USC, she currently teaches visual art and science communication at UC Irvine.

Loh breathed fresh life into the female midlife crisis genre with her 2014 memoir, The Madwoman in the Volvo, which was named to that year’s New York Times list of 100 Notable Books. The memoir became the basis for an interactive solo show that she performed at New York’s Public Theatre. Now, Orange County has a chance to catch a reimagined version of Loh’s hilarious, heartbreaking performance. Loh performs as herself, and she's joined by Caroline Aaron and Shannon Holt, who populate many characters in this theatrical imagining premiering at South Coast Repertory.

Loh teams up with director Lisa Peterson, a longtime LA resident, to tell her story. Before moving to New York, Peterson was the associate director at La Jolla Playhouse and resident director at Mark Taper Forum. She directs new work around the country and has received Obie and Lortel Awards for An Iliad, which she directed and co-wrote with Dennis O’Hare. Rachel Hauck’s set, Candice Cain’s costumes, Geoff Korf’s lighting and Lindsay Jones’ music and sound designs round out the experience.

So how does Loh miraculously transform her tale of tragedy into a hilariously frank discussion of midlife, menopause and moving on? There’s no magic formula, but persistence, friends, and an enduring sense of humor are a big help. So is a willingness to speak publically about one’s imperfections, embarrassments and heartaches. The fact that there are no easy answers is part of what makes Loh’s story so affecting. The solutions are just as messy as the problems—which are just as messy as real life.

When your life goes down in flames, sometimes all that’s left is to make art from the ashes.

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The Hand That Guides "Madwoman"

Director Lisa Peterson during the first read through of The Madwoman in the Volvo.

Director Lisa Peterson has worked with The Madwoman in the Volvo since the script’s early days and brought what playwright Sandra Tsing Loh calls a dramaturgical sense to directing—helping the play’s development through readings and workshops, ahead of the world premiere at South Coast Repertory. We caught up with her ahead of rehearsals for a quick conversation.

How did you get involved with The Madwoman in the Volvo?
I was put together with Sandra and this play in 2013 at the Sundance Institute Theatre Program’s Theatre Lab at MASS MoCA [editor’s note: the Sundance program fosters the production of new art through workshops that support playwrights, directors, composers and librettists]. She had submitted to them the idea of turning her book (The Madwoman in the Volvo: My Year of Raging Hormones) into a play.

At that point, she really hadn’t begun the adaptation, so the first few weeks I worked with her to see if the book felt like it wanted to make the transfer to stage and to find what was dramatic in it. Then we just continued working on it, including a workshop at the Ojai Playwrights Conference and a reading at the 92nd Street Y.

What excites you most about the play?
I love how frank, honest and funny it is! It’s rare to find a female midlife crisis story, but she’s so relatable when she talks about what it’s like to fall in love, leave your family and husband and move off in another direction. When Sandra exposes this part of her life to us, she doesn’t mince words and doesn’t try to make herself look good—but she is very, very funny!

There is also a standup element to it—maybe even a rock ‘n’ roll feel—because it’s got a lot of energy.

How has the play developed?
This actually is the first time that Sandra has written a piece where other actors will work with her, like an improvised jam session. While she’s out front, the actors help tell the story and portray men, women, older people and kids. Sandra has audiences in the palm of her hand through her wry, self-effacing wit.  

A key part of this play is Burning Man. She told me that she blew up her life there and that sounded hilarious and wild. The festival is where people take the things they want to get rid of in life and burn them up in “The Man.”

On stage, we have created a visual world that includes Burning Man elements, like metal trusses that reference festival sculptures. Sandra spends a lot of time out front by a stool and microphone telling her story, so it’s a kind of pub-like performance space that meets Burning Man.

What’s it like working with a performer-playwright?
It can be hard to wear both a writer’s hat and a performer’s hat. When you’re writing a book, you use a literary voice; when writing a play, you need things to feel more like an improvisation. We worked to carve out time out for Sandra during rehearsal so that she could be the writer and then time when she could be an actor.

What do you hope the audience will come away with after the show?
There’s a lot of fun and surprise in this play and I hope audiences can enjoy, empathize, commiserate and identify with the story. I think everybody will have a good time and come away with a new perspective on what menopause might be. But this story also is about a midlife crisis because Sandra follows her radical impulses. I hope that people will see what positive things can come out of the fire. 

What three words describe The Madwoman in the Volvo?
Funny. Honest. Frank. Clear-eyed. Okay, that’s more than three.

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Behind-the-Scenes: Lights Up, Backstage

Andrew Stephens, SCR's Segerstrom Stage Lighting Technician.

It's all in the lighting. From photography to concerts and plays, lighting can set the mood and tone of any art piece or performance. In Red, the character Ken observes, "To keep it mysterious, to let the pictures pulsate. Turn on bright lights and the stage effect is ruined—suddenly it's nothing but a bare stage with a bunch of fake walls."

Stephens in the Segerstrom booth, at the console.

As Ken points out, lighting can make or break how people see art. And on the Segerstrom Stage, there's an SCR staff member who is an important part of making sure the lighting equipment is set up and ready for each production. Alongside the master electrician and crew, lighting technician Andrew makes sure the right lighting instruments are in place high above the audience, works with the designers to program each cue for every "look" of the show and is up in the booth for every performance running the lighting console.

Stephens grew up splitting his time between two countries: the United States (Kansas City, Kan.) and Australia (Brisbane). At a young age, his interest in lighting sparked when he attended concerts. Stephens was fascinated by the lights and the people behind them. He recalls, "I would find myself spending more time watching the lighting operators and less time watching the shows themselves."

Late in high school, Stephens found himself with a budding interest in theatre. When he attended the Queensland University of Technology in Brisbane, his appreciation for theatrical lighting only deepened. SCR also happened to ping on Stephens' radar during his college years, and while visiting family in Orange County, he noticed SCR when attending a concert next door at the Segerstrom Center for the Arts. As soon as a job was available, he applied, made the move and has been with SCR for three seasons now.

As he watches every performance on the Segerstrom Stage, he finds that he can agree with Ken's observation in Red.

"I feel like lighting becomes another character on stage," says Stephens. "In any given cue, the intensity, color or angle of light can change the mood or shift the way the audience perceives what's happening on stage."