BWW Reviews: MANY MOONS is a Slice of Britain in NC

Common Wealth Endeavors' production of Many Moons is the United States Premiere of British playwright Alice Birch's 2011 play. It is always exciting when Triangle theater plays host to such premieres and is able to expose local audiences to new work. Common Wealth Endeavors seeks to produce work written in English from countries other than the United States, namely those in the Commonwealth of Nations.

Many Moons follows four separate and seemingly unrelated characters: pregnant and morose Meg, bubbly yet insecure Juniper, social misfit Ollie, and Robert, the aging caregiver of his ill wife. The four go about their separate lives and slowly peel back the layers of their lives - some connections between them occur over the course of the show, and others are revealed.

Birch plays with traditional dramatic structure in Many Moons as the characters never actually interact with one another one stage, save for about 5 seconds during a street festival. They are all linked (as a foursome by the aforementioned street festival, and then otherwise in pairs), but do not actually engage in conversation on the stage. The many-monologues format is difficult to pull off, and kudos are due to the actors and director for not only taking on such a challenging format (memorizing the lines alone would be a challenge for most), but for embracing the deviation from the norm and presenting it in a way that feels fresh and not forced. For the most part, it doesn't feel strange that the actors are speaking to the audience - the text is written in a way that comes across naturally, very differently from the soliloquies of yore. Despite not literally interacting with one another, the characters' stories do inform one another, and they play off each other in a way that mimics ways that character development might occur in a more traditional script.

In an effort to not spoil important points in the show, I'm taking a risk by proposing a rather vague sentiment: Many Moons deals with some topics that don't come up very often in the theater. The material can feel a little alienating, which isn't to say that playwrights should shy away from uncomfortable subject matter, just that it can occasionally make it more challenging for audiences to relate. The male characters, in general, while at first seeming somewhat relatable, ultimately put up boundaries between themselves and the audience because of the subject matter.

Birch's play is unapologetically British, including unexplained pop culture references, in-jokes, and colloquialisms. Hardcore anglophiles will eat it up, and the rest of us (more of the mild anglophiles, if you will) will enjoy the quirkiness, though won't understand every reference. However, in a way that seems to correlate with the very mission of Common Wealth Endeavors, the essential British-ness of the play reminds audiences that there is an entire world out there of people, speaking the same language we do, with a different and unique perspective on life. Encouraging Triangle theatergoers to explore that world is a noble pursuit by Common Wealth Endeavors, and audiences should seize the opportunity.

Many Moons runs through November 16. It is playing at the Common Ground Theatre in Durham. For tickets and more information, visit www.fromcommonwealth.com.

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