INTERVIEW: Comic Nancy Redman invites you to a personal séance
Photo: Nancy Redman has returned with A Séance With Mom, playing through Sept. 3 in New York City. Photo courtesy of the artist / Provided by Jonathan Slaff & Associates with permission.
Comedian Nancy Redman, who is also an actor and playwright, has returned to the New York theater scene with her solo piece A Séance With Mom, which runs through Sunday, Sept. 3 at the Chain Studio Theatre in Midtown Manhattan. The return engagement of this performance piece, directed by the legendary Austin Pendleton, is presented by Eighteen Productions NYC and George Slessinger.
Throughout the theatrical evening Redman plays six characters, and much of the narrative is informed by her own life. She may be portraying a daughter named Nadine and a mother named Gussie, but the sentiments of the play are based on Redman’s life and the idea of carrying on a relationship after a loved one has said goodbye.
“I had often been thinking about contacting my mom,” Redman said in a recent phone interview. Shortly thereafter, she started to think there was a play to be found in her searching for contact.
“And then I go to Austin Pendleton — my brilliant, extraordinary director, really iconic director/actor/playwright,” she said. “And then through a collaboration and continuation … things get uprooted and solidified and transferred. What happens is extraordinary things happen when I’m rehearsing and discussing things with Austin Pendleton. At some point, early on, really the first rehearsal, I mentioned certain things, and I felt comfortable enough to mention some things with him. He said, ‘That’s great to put into this play.’”
Pendleton told Redman to allow everyone in the audience to have different emotional reactions to the piece. He reminded her that A Séance With Mom is not only personal to her, but also personal to the individual theatergoer.
“Allow them to have the emotional experience, emotional reaction that they will have, and that was transforming too for me,” Redman said. “There is humor in the play, but not everyone needs to laugh at the same places, which is also very clear [to me] as a stand-up comic for most of my life. Professionally I know that, but in a play like this, where there are serious moments and poignant times, everyone will have a different experience and allow that. That released me. That released me. That is a great feeling that he helped me with. … I am hoping that it can be a experience where everyone does connect to that part of them that is comforting to relive with their parent, their mother.”
The playwright added: “Some people just didn’t want to get up after the play, and they wanted to have a Q&A and discussion. I’ve had some of those nights, which is extraordinary.”
Redman has spent her life in comedy. She grew up with a hysterically funny mother, someone Redman called a “natural comedian,” so the daughter emulated her mother and wanted to be her when she grew up.
“I didn’t realize how much so until I started performing stand-up; I did things I didn’t even realize was in my consciousness from her,” said Redman, who once worked at Dangerfield’s and opened for the likes of Soupy Sales and Jackie Mason. “In fact, early on, my mom watched me at a Ground Round, a burger joint that my mother and stepfather actually drove me to, one of the early gigs, and she said many times, ‘Oh, that’s what I did. Oh, I used to do that. I used to say that.’ … [I’m] aware of how much an influence my wonderful, funny mother is, was and still is. I’m still talking to her.”
Redman added: “For me, it’s thrilling because I talk to her every night, and I hope everybody can feel that with their loved one. It actually feels quite real. That’s the beauty of performing and living in theater. I love it. The characters live for me and, God willing, through me. I always talk to my mom every day, and I imagine I’m not alone in that feeling, from dear friends and people that I’ve heard. So I hope that that comes across. The humor, God willing, is there regularly or throughout the play because that’s my language, perhaps one can say, growing up that way with my mom and the way that I have lived as a stand-up comic, but then when it transformed to performing one-woman plays, solo plays, I still wanted to use the comedy. It feels natural, and then if there are serious moments, to find what can make it lighter within the serious moments to make it easier to digest. In my theater company, one member said that she resonated with the more difficult or serious moments, but she was grateful that she was allowed to laugh many, many times. It made it easier to accept the more serious moments. That’s a gift to hear from another actress-playwright.”
By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com
A Séance With Mom, written by and starring Nancy Redman, continues through Sunday, Sept. 3 at the Chain Studio Theatre in Midtown Manhattan. Click here for more information and tickets.
