Like Dreaming, Backwards by Kellie Powell

By
Kellie Powell

Monologues:
Nell
Leah
Natalie
Yale

SUMMARY:

Nell, suffering from depressive psychosis, is encouraged by hallucinatory "messengers" to commit suicide. These messengers take the forms of a childhood friend, a former lover, and her dead father. The play also illustrates the grief experienced by those Nell leaves behind, including her best friend and her mother.

CAST:

4 Women, 3 Men. (Doubling of roles is possible.)

APPROXIMATE LENGTH:

35-40 Minutes.

PRODUCTION HISTORY:

Inspired by Orazio Salati's painting Draconic Apparition; written for and produced by KNOW Theatre's 6th Annual Playwrights Festival, Binghamton NY, July 2009.
Performed at Alabama State University, Montgomery AL, April 2001, directed by Angel Moore.
Produced at Drew University, Madison NJ, October 2012, directed by Madeline Marasa.
Produced as part of the Atlantic Fringe Festival, Halifax, Nova Scotia, August 2013, directed by Adam Bonner.
Produced by Love Creek Productions, NYC, May 2015, directed by Steven Barrett.
Produced by Red Carpet Theatre Society at the University of Ottawa, September 2015, directed by Troy Arsenian.

PURCHASE:

An electronic copy (PDF) of Like Dreaming, Backwards can be purchased and downloaded via PayPal for $7.
A Kindle e-book version of the script can be purchased and downloaded from Amazon for $9.99.

PRODUCTION REVIEW:

"...Like Dreaming, Backwards is equivalent to watching someone carving the Mona Lisa with their nails on a chalkboard— it is beautiful, even though the entire process is one of misery.

The show, directed by Madeline Marasa, shows the struggle of a girl attempting to cope with depression and with the "messengers" that haunt her...

...The acting throughout was wonderful. The performances of this group leave much to look forward to in the future. Also worth mentioning is Ariel Gitlin, who is given the impossible role of Nell. Gitlin manages to give this complex character the depth she deserves, while not taking it overboard.

Marasa made interesting choices on blocking, having all characters present on the stage at all times. This was also a clever move on her part, as it allowed the audience to see from Nell's point-of-view. The ghosts of her past would never really leave her. All of her past baggage she constantly carries with her, and Marasa's choices helped to emphasize this point.

The acting in both plays was so well done, and the directorial choices made so carefully, that the audience truly feels what the actors onstage are feeling. The characters are played in a way that makes them relatable to just about anyone. It is for exactly this reason, the fact that these plays are so well done, that I would never go see them again. I am not a masochist after all. But if you want to appreciate a truly beautifully done work of theater, go to the theater this weekend and see Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep and Like Dreaming, Backwards."

-- Amanda Tesarek, Drew University Acorn, October 19, 2012.

These Aren't My Shoes Productions