August 21 - September 19, 1998

Directed by Jill Forbath Roden Stage Manager Richard Lucas Pre-Production Stage Manager Tom Roden Lighting Design Jason Beghtol Scenic Design & Construction Jason Beghtol & Robert J. Robertson CAST (in order of appearance) Connie ........................ Stefanie Williamson* Stephen ....................... Jacob Hulthage Ed ............................ Vince Campbell* Janice ........................ Kristen Davidson * Denotes Vanguard Theatre Artist in Residence

THE PLAY

Written by Peter Dee, "A Sea of White Horses" catches many of the currents flowing through the contemporary American scene, only the roles are reversed: the father runs away from his children. For two years since the death of his wife, Ed Shaw, has lived in a seaside shack working at a gas station and fishing to forget his pain. his past and his responsibilities. One by one his children descend on him. First Connie, a young black woman, he never knew he fathered, then Stephen, full of contempt for his father and forced to come to him against his will, and finally, Janice his youngest child, trying desperately to survive with the family's natural gift of strength and humor but sinking rapidly into a helplessly lost state.

PRESS

LA TIMES by T.H. McCulloh

"Horses" is a poignant play, without answers, but with a firm belief in the power of each individual to mold his own existence. In this revival, director Jill Forbath Roden understands this and doesn't give the characters an easy time of it. She keeps the action tense, even in quieter moments, and stages it interestingly on the very evocative set designed by Jason Beghtol and Robert J. Robertson. The feeling of seaside languor created beneath the nervous fidgeting of the script helps to elucidate Dee's message of emotions swirling in an ongoing tide."

"The performance to watch here is that of Vince Campbell, whose Ed is a fine blending of the man's inability to accept responsibility and the charm that both of his women and his children find so fascinating. And his edgy, violent outbursts are timed and toned beautifully."

"Stefanie Williamson is also exceptional as Ed's oldest, Connie, whose black heritage gives her a solidity and a purpose Ed's white children lack. Williamson's well-defined characterization, bouncing from optimistic sureness to angry defiance, is just right for this difficult role."

"Jacob Hulthage is the overly emotional son Stephen, his tight-lipped, contained anger looking like weakness to Ed, but as Connie says, it shows a strength that far surpasses his father's. The restrained evidence Hulthage gradually gives of this strength paints a touching portrait of a wounded survivor."

As the youngest daughter Janice, the only one Ed is able to reach out to, Kristen Davidson is a tightly wound spring, an accident waiting to happen. But Davidson shows enough vulnerability beneath her anger to justify Ed's final acceptance of her and his muddled attempt to help this most lost of his children."

OC REGISTER by Eric Marchese

"Vanguard’s strongly- acted production pulls no punches."

"What works best in Vanguard Theatre Ensemble’s fine, intimate staging of this intimate drama is the human scale on which it operates. Director Jill Forbath Roden doesn’t try to ennoble any of these characters, each of whom has a boulder-sized chip on his shoulder."

"Roden and company resist the temptation of reducing these characters to stereotypes. Connie, who seems the most well-adjusted of the four, is desperate to punch through Ed’s noncommittal facade and to provoke some kind of human, emotional response -- and Williamson fearlessly shows Connie’s disgust and, even more importantly, her burning rage."

"Rather than smoldering, Stephen’s resentment of Ed surfaces in a subtle way in Hulthage’s hands. His Stephen is the proverbial "good son," but one who sits in judgment of his wayward dad and offers protection to an angry younger sister who scorns him."

"Janice, in fact, scorns everyone. She’s the most potent character in the play, and Davidson’s performance is a tour-de-force: She takes what could have been merely a mouthy brat and transforms her into a complex tough cookie, easily the story’s most sympathetic figure. That’s quite a feat next to Campbell’s Ed. This liquor-soaked shell of a man is one of the most complex characters in contemporary stagecraft, and Campbell walks the tightrope between self-protective insensitivity and introspective angst. Late in the play, Ed says "I earned my selfishness watching my wife die." Though spoken with defiance, the tears well up in Campbell’s eyes, epitomizing the emotional ambivalence that typifies this finely crafted look at humanity."

OC WEEKLY

"As the flawed patriarch, Campell's Ed is very strong. It's not an easy task; he has to capture the heroic isolation of a man plagued by demons, as well as the cowardice and selfishness of a man who has run out on two families. Campbell blends those two elements subtly by keeping an even keel throughout; even when his gruff exterior cracks, it never ruptures. There are no easy answers or even easy emotions, and Campbell is aware of that."

"As Janice, Davidson is hateful but also sympathetic...the joy of her performance is that at any given time, each of those recipes seems required."

"This is a play that begs for a naturalistic approach... the set design, courtesy of Jason Beghtol and Robert J. Robertson, achieves this."

PHOTOS by Richard Lucas