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‘Touch’ Offers Touching Look at Dealing with Grief
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Tuesday, April 17, 2018
 

STORY BY KAREN BOSSICK

PHOTOS BY NATALIE BATTISTONE

Kyle Kalke is a high school science nerd who has devoted himself to the stars since childhood.

So, imagine his surprise when he falls in love with a flamboyant, outspoken, openhearted young woman named Zoe—and learns that she, astonishingly, loves him back.

It could have been a happy ever after story, if only Zoe hadn’t been kidnapped and murdered.

In response, Kyle erects a wall around himself. He devotes himself more feverishly than ever to the cosmos as he questions whether there is any point to rediscovering passion and groping for the touch that will rekindle joy.

That is the place local thespian Kagen Albright, as Kyle, finds himself in, as The Spot stages “Touch.”

The play by Toni Press-Coffman will be staged at 7 p.m. Tuesday, April 24, and Thursday through Saturday, April 24 through 28 at The Spot in Ketchum.

It features Anik Zarkos, Yanna Lantz, and Brett Moellenberg, in addition to Albright. It is directed by Brett Moellenberg, with high school student Annabelle Lewis in the co-director’s seat.

The play shows how a person grapples with loss in life after horrific attack, said Zarkos.

“It shows how you can’t control your destiny,” added Albright. “And it’s about moving on from loss, taking the next step after something happens to you. In this case, it’s played out in a non-traditional sense. You don’t see the character go through the traditional stages of grief.”

The character Zoe is not seen in the play, noted Lewis.

“But we come to know everything about her—we come to know her almost better than the others,” she said. “What’s cool is how Kyle never ever feels guilty for the way he processes her death. There’s no judgment in the process--and that important for the character and the show.”

The play features one of the most straight-forward narratives you’ll ever see in a play, said Moellenberg.

“It’s easy to follow, as there’s nothing confusing about it,” he said.

Moellenberg saw the play done in a small classroom while in college, and members of The Spot read it last year.

“Initially, it didn’t fit in season, but when we decided to postpone ‘Eurydice’ to August, all of a sudden we had a place for it,” he said.

Press-Coffman has written several plays, including “United” about the coming together of the 40 people who died on Flight 93 on 9/11, and “Trucker Rhapsody,” about a young man who threw a cinderblock at a truck driver, changing the course of his own life forever.

Her “Touch” has been produced at the Humana Festival in Louisville, Ky., and theaters throughout the United States and Europe.

The Portland Oregonian called “Touch” a play that “celebrates the beauty of survival with eloquence and grace.”

The New York Times called it “a gripping, heart-wrenching tender drama.”

The play is the first in The Spot’s new Studio Series, a new programming initiative featuring fully staged productions of new and contemporary pieces in a bare-bones setting.

The idea is to offer the community more opportunities to experience theater at inexpensive prices while providing an intermediary training ground for young actors as they make the transition from high school to college and beyond.

Tickets will be offered for just $10.

Likely, many of the Spot Studio Series productions will appear as pop-up plays, rather than being scheduled on the calendar at the beginning of the year.

This is Lewis' first attempt at directing and she loves it.

“It gives me a different perspective of the theater,” she said. “I’ve always been the one who’s told what to do. This gives me the more freedom to be part of the overall result.”

The Spot is located at 220 Lewis St. For tickets visit www.spotsunvalley.com.

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