I definitely did not bring enough tissues.
This past weekend, TheatreLAB and Yes, And! Entertainment held their official opening night for “The Last Five Years,” a contemporary musical written by Jason Robert Brown about two lovers who meet, marry, and separate over the course of five years. The show is special in that the couple each tell their perspective separately, in different chronological directions.
Cathy, a struggling actor, begins her side of the story just after her ex-husband Jamie has left their house. The next scene begins with Jaime singing excitedly about their first date, continuing chronologically while Cathy moves backwards in her account. The show is entirely sung, as Christie Jackson and Alexander Sapp who play Cathy and Jamie, respectively, have little to no dialogue throughout the show.
Director Chelsea Burke paid special attention to the fact that this show is about memory. These accounts are what each person remembers about the relationship, and as with any relationship that goes wrong, each person believed in some way they were in the right–or maybe not. Relationships are never that simple, and Burke used every opportunity possible to convey that theme.
Alexander Sapp as Jamie. Photo: Tom Topinka.
From the stage direction right down to the set design, the audience is constantly reminded this is a series of complicated memories. Burke worked with scenic designer Matt Shofner to create an alley-shaped stage in The Basement on Broad, creating a space in which the audience may sit on either side of the stage. The layout enforced the idea of dueling perspectives, as well as allowed Cathy and Jamie’s timelines to actually play out laterally.
The stage is painted grey, creating an equal playing ground for the two characters–nothing is in black and white. Music director John-Stuart Fauquet’s band is situated on the back-end of this alley, nearly out of sight, but those heartbreaking piano melodies easily make their way through the space.
Jackson and Sapp are completely alone on stage during their numbers save for a few props, only meeting in the middle of the show when the two stories align at their wedding.
In other productions of “The Last Five Years,” the other actor will often remain on stage to interact with their other half (although they say nothing while the other is singing), but Burke made the dramatic decision to keep Cathy and Jamie entirely separate.
It added another level of elusive recollection, as either Jackson or Sapp had to sing to a ghost of the other while on stage. The two handled it beautifully. The fact they could evoke so much emotion without their partner to play off made the performance that much more meaningful, making the subtlety of a brief side glance from across the stage all the more breathtaking.
Christie Jackson as Cathy. Photo: Tom Topinka.
Christie Jackson embodies everything Cathy should be. She conveys Cathy’s complicated psyche of insecure yet hopeful, and loyal to a fault. She easily out-sings Anna Kendrick’s portrayal of Cathy in the 2014 film version of the show and brought tears to my eyes on more than one occasion. At this point, I’ve seen Jackson in a couple different performances around Richmond, but those pale in comparison to what she’s done with this role. If Jackson is in a competition with herself, she’s winning.
Sapp gave an equally strong performance, bringing all of Jamie’s boisterous, playful energy to the stage, but reveals Jamie’s complicated struggle with marriage toward the end of the performance with deft precision. The two share a strong chemistry, both exposing their characters’ deep love for another, but also acknowledging the show’s theme of reflection–they are, above all, two ghosts in a memory, passing each other but never really understanding exactly where they went wrong. And it’s heartbreaking.
If you know nothing about “The Last Five Years” and have never seen the movie version, don’t. It’s trash compared to what I saw this past weekend in The Basement.
But seriously, bring tissues.
Performances run every weekend through October 14 in The Basement at 300 E Broad St.
