Balance 2.1 : Sailing Lessons Through the Storms of Life

Playwright Kenneth Brown plays Nelson, the father of Augusta (Candice Fiorentino). Augusta arrives at her parents' house and is faced with her inner emptiness and confusion expressed through irritation at all the imbalances in her life.

Expository dialogues on the phone to her grandma, spouse, and mother, and by texts or thoughts shared with her father, are cleverly intertwined to unravel the issues that make her life difficult.

How life's storms will need to be navigated with a sea worthy vessel is described in a lengthy sailing comparison. Rob Trousdell built a unique boat for the stage to demonstrate the points the author is trying to make.

Balance and knowing one’s place in the world are frequent themes. Balance between the Romantic and the Classic, the importance of the heavy keel which so often is missing in our society. Jib sheet and halyard, “don't waste wind” and “taking a different tack” when changing course are specific sailing terms that bear meaning for our regular life.

How father and daughter are in sync with each other, in spite of the fact that they actually never meet during the play, is interesting. As they are both on stage for the whole play, I would have liked to see more of these subtle exchanges. As it was, each were nearly idle for half of the duration.

I found Augusta’s histrionics a touch too extreme to resonate with. Kenneth Brown has a very good singing voice!

If you like sailing and pondering the deeper meaning of life — especially the storms — this is a play worth seeing.