Review: NOW CIRCA THEN Closes the Season at Capital Stage

Capital Stage is closing out its nineteenth season with a charming story of healing and self-discovery. Now Circa Then by Carly Mensch is a clever blend of worlds: past and present, immigrant and citizen, passion and apathy. In this show, life imitates art and the lines between those worlds blur, encouraging us to delve inward and examine our own motivations.

Expertly woven into this journey of discovery is enthralling audience engagement. Gideon (Hunter Hoffman) reenacts history for a living. He lives and breathes the past…so much so that he has difficulty existing in the present. Part of his job being Julian Glockner involves captivating the people taking the tour of the Lower East Side Tenement Museum. He invites them into his life as a new immigrant from Eastern Europe and into his marriage to Josephine. From sharing what is in his suitcase to offering the audience some pickled herring, Gideon is a master at storytelling and bringing the past to life. When he learns that his new Josephine, Margie (Nicole Anne Salle), thinks “history is bullshit,” he is aghast. He insists to her that what they do is important for, as Shakespeare wrote, “what’s past is prologue,” and all of us come from somewhere. They may not realize it, but that is exactly what drives them both. Margie is running away from her small-town past in Michigan, and Gideon’s own painful memories keep him rooted in New York. When these two damaged souls recognize each other, life gets turned upside down and hard truths are revealed.

Hoffman, a local favorite of mine, is making his Capital Stage debut as Gideon/Julian. He’s the epitome of the lovestruck romantic: funny, endearing, and sensitive. Conversely, he’s just as skillful as a self-righteous purist. Salle is great as Margie and I’d have loved to learn more about her character. With what is known, Salle comes across as powerfully unapologetic in her decisions as she navigates through the unknown and reaches a peace within herself.

Come celebrate the 4th by recognizing the immigrant experience and having the privilege of hearing others’ stories. Director Jeffrey Lo has cultivated an atmosphere that reminds us that everyone’s story deserves to be told.

Now Circa Then plays at Capital Stage through July 21st. More information and tickets may be found online at Capstage.org, by telephone at (916) 995-5464, or in person at the Box Office at 2215 J Street in Sacramento.

Photo credit: Charr Crail

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