Theater Review: Donna Orbits the Moon | Buzz Blog
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Monday, August 30, 2010

A&E / Culture

Theater Review: Donna Orbits the Moon

Posted By on August 30, 2010, 7:02 AM

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There is a fine line between madness and divine inspiration.---

Ian August must have fallen on the "divine inspiration" side of the fence when he began writing his one-woman show Donna Orbits the Moon in January 2010, finishing it in February, and seeing it premiere in August under the auspices of Utah Contemporary Theatre. This set such a whirlwind pace from page to stage -- a process which, August said, normally takes five years -- the Garden State-based playwright himself seemed a bit surprised by it all.

On the other hand, early in the show, we get the feeling that the eponymous Donna (Kathryn Atwood) is leaning toward the "madness" side of the equation. She slaps the hand of a fellow grocery-store shopper when they both reach for the same bag of all-purpose unbleached flour. After this, she begins having increasingly alarming "moments": violent, angry episodes which threaten vacuum cleaners, gingerbread men, rude motorists, her marriage and -- when she starts hearing the voice of astronaut Buzz Aldrin (Joe Welsch) -- even her sanity.

Oh, it's all in good fun. The play is billed as "a comedic one-woman show about anger, grief, Apollo 11, and the importance of baked goods" -- and the expert timing of the script, along with Atwood's virtuoso motor-mouthed delivery, elicited full-throated laughter from the audience. Still, as the climax approached, and we learned the source of Donna's seeming madness, the laughter was suddenly replaced by tears. The denouement was so quick none of us really had much of a chance to recover, and I and many others were weeping openly as we exited the theater.

Review by Brandon Burt

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About The Author

Scott Renshaw

Scott Renshaw
Bio:
 Scott Renshaw has been a City Weekly staff member since 1999, including assuming the role of primary film critic in 2001 and Arts & Entertainment Editor in 2003. Scott has covered the Sundance Film Festival for 25 years, and provided coverage of local arts including theater, pop-culture conventions, comedy, literature,... more

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