[NoHo Arts District, CA] – A NoHo Arts theatre review of writer and director Chance Lang’s An Ode to Parenting, a new series of five original one-act plays exploring family, forgiveness, and the complicated love between parents and children, wishing to heal generational trauma.
An Ode to Parenting is a selection of five distinct and beautifully curated short plays all revolving around the concept of parenting. What that concept may be to each of us is as individual a thing as our fingerprints. These plays mirror that. Every character feels pulled from the writer’s own experiences, reflecting his intimate appreciation of the nuances of life and expanded upon that within the 10 minutes or so of each play.
An Ode to Parenting is an interesting and very honest portrait of five perspectives of what, on the page at least, seems a simple enough concept. Have a child, care for the child, allow the child to grow, providing them safety and sustenance. Encourage the child to mature and eventually leave to do the same and so on and so forth. But as per usual, the instructions are never enough. Environmental, atmospheric and personnel variations create impacts to such an extent that outcomes are as unpredictable and individual as snowflakes, or pebbles on a beach. Such is life. Quite literally.
Chance Lang, the writer and director of this homage to fate, has pursued a hopefulness in the face of possible doom and probable PTSD. He flavours each play with the kind of relatable and unavoidable humor that we can all recognise.
As a parent myself, I can attest to the fact that without a large amount of laughter, being a parent can quickly dissolve into a sheer fight for survival and not just because it costs a lot.
An Ode To Parenting brings together a wonderful group of actors who infuse these characters with pain and joy and every shade of emotion in between. It is a profoundly honest take on life. On forgiveness, on tolerance, on anger, disappointment, adaptability and love. On everything that makes us human, really.
And as an audience, we find it easy to invest in each story, understanding that we are watching are moments, pivotal or otherwise, in lives much like our own. One of my favorite things about living in L.A. is that although the city is full of disparate people from wildly different backgrounds and parts of the world, we are all so similar. We can all relate to each other regardless of our language and our ethnicity and our history. It’s why we love living here, I think. And An Ode To Parenting reflects this and much more. A deep sense of belonging, from the perspective of family, functional or otherwise. Highly recommended!!
Tickets:
https://events.ticketleap.com/tickets/chance-lang/an-ode-to-parenting#
Where:
The Stephanie Feury Studio
5636 Melrose Ave, Los Angeles
When:
April 10 -26
Friday, Saturday, and Sunday evenings at 6:30 p.m.
The Cast
The production will star James Lemire, Tallulah Jones, Ben Carr, Gianni Magna, Vanessa Rae Robinson, Roxanne Jaeckel, Lauren Corona, Caleb D Fietsam, Bre Melino, and Leialani Nicol.