(faint conversations)
-Here's what we're going to do. In just a moment,
we're going to run one of the cappers.
I'm going to choose which one in a second,
and then we'll do a quick vocal warm up
led by Nathan and maybe like a shake out.
And then we will set for top of show
and we'll just do a run through.
(deep breathing)
(vocal warmups)
-My name is Brendan Healey
and I am a playwright primarily,
but I'm working on a new piece
where I'm both playwright and performer.
Double-tall Americano.
That has been my drink my whole life.
Double-tall Americano.
Now, have you noticed the last couple of years
you go to a coffee shop
and they don't know what a tall is.
You say a “tall”
and they say, “Okay, well, how many ounces?”
“It’s a double- tall Americano!”
I will not give up the tall.
I gave up the shots.
I will not give up the tall.
I will die on that hill!
I have not been on stage since college
when I did it as a requirement
for a course credit.
So this is very much outside my comfort zone.
I had always been the sick kid in school
(giggling)
-He wants to really work for it.
-I’m in the wrong place, or the chair is
in the wrong place or
something is in the wrong place.
-Directing a non-performer is amazing,
and one of the reasons is because
he has no bad habits as a as a performer.
There's so many things I don't have to say:
“Don't do that.”
“That's too much.”
But I love that he is so honest
in his performance.
There's nothing put on
and there's nothing fake about it.
It's all very real.
-We are gathered here
to say goodbye to Brendan Healy.
He is survived by his...
No, that's not it. It's...
He is survived by his mom, his dad, his brother,
two aunts, two uncles and several cousins.
It is a core, fundamental
part of the storytelling.
And so it's not a spoiler to say that
It's about my life experience
with cystic fibrosis, which
is a incurable terminal genetic disorder.
And I'm of a particular generation of CF patients,
a few generations before me,
and also all those people died as children.
Now CF people being born generations after me
have so much better lives and lifespans.
I'm in that middle where
we expected a very young demise,
but thankfully
the medical science kept getting better,
so we kept getting a few extra years here
and a few extra years there.
I was never without that looming deadline
that hovered over everything
I did in my life,
but I was lucky enough to still have
this extra time.
And trying to make sense of this loss.
Really, the
only thing we can say is:
Thank God! Right?
This is what we wanted.
All right? It's okay to feel good about this.
We can feel good about it.
This is, this is some good times.
And I pull out a party popper.
And I (boom sound).
We all have to take
that march to the grave eventually.
Hopefully, for everybody
listening or watching this,
it will be a long, long, slow march
with very little pain along the way.
You know, I've often thought that New Orleans
would be a great place to die.
In New Orleans,
the bereaved marched down
city streets with brass bands.
The dead are deposited
in stone tombs above ground, so
the jealous floodwaters can't steal them away.
-I think we need theater more than ever right now,
and I think it's really important
that humans continue to gather,
to watch humanity unfold on stage.
I think it teaches us how to be human.
It teaches about empathy and
patience.
What we need most in this world right now,
which is love for our neighbor.
-Is it truly a celebration of a life
if there is not a sense
of bereavement over the loss?
We should be bereaved.
There is a Buddhist saying to the effect of
“There will always be pain in life,
but there doesn't have to be suffering.”
And I think that is the spirit of the show.
And what else would a
funeral be without drinks and toasts and memories
and to play music at the corner and more drinks?
Life is going to have its miseries.
Right?
It should also it needs to have
its levity and its joy.
And I think the play actually is
structured, tries to match that.
It goes to sad places,
but then it goes to fun, silly places,
and it's quite irreverent in a few parts
when it comes to our approach to death.
At my
grandma Kay’s very Catholic funeral,
the priest almost died at the altar.
-Brendan's working so hard,
the whole team is working.
The designers, the production, the ensemble.
-If you're on the fence and you're not sure
if this is the right show for you, or
maybe you're just not a regular theatergoer.
Well, first off, it's short.
This is not going to be a three
hour Shakespearean melodrama. No...
we're going to get in 75, 80 minutes in and out;
no intermission.
There's beer in the lobby.
I mean, come on.
Plus the story.
I really hope the story is meaningful
and resonates and is joyful.
-Six, seven, now!
♪♪
Pony World Theater's production of “Eulogy”
runs through November
15th at 12th Avenue Arts on Capitol Hill.
Ticket information is at PonyWorld.org.
♪♪