Great Barrington — Great Barrington Public Theater will present the American premiere of the play “Survival of the Unfit” on Saturday, July 6, at the McConnell Theater on the campus of Bard College at Simon’s Rock. Subsequent performances will be held Thursdays through Saturdays, at 7:30 p.m., along with matinée performances at 3 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays, up until Sunday, July 21.
“Survival of the Unfit” is a comedy by Oren Safdie, who also wrote the plays “Hyper-Allergenic” and “Broken Places” and the musical “Jews & Jesus.”
The performances will be directed by Matthew Penn, who has directed multiple television dramas over the years including “Law & Order” and “The Sopranos.”
As described in the GBPT’s press release, “Survival of the Unfit” is an “edgy, mercilessly zany, meet-the-parents dinner party where hard, cold honesty is dished out and the unexpected is put on the table. The head-spinning story touches on themes of love, loss, loyalty, the acceptance of others’ shortcomings, and redefines what family means today.”
GPBT’s production stars veteran actress Carolyn Hennesy, who is performing for the first time in the Berkshires. Hennesy won an Emmy Award in 2017 for Outstanding Supporting or Guest Actress in a Digital Daytime Drama Series for her role as Karen Blackwell in “The Bay.” She has also starred in “Dark Justice” and “Dawson’s Creek,” but Hennesy is probably most known by television audiences as playing Diane Miller in “General Hospital,” a role that she has been playing since 2006.
In “Survival of the Unfit,” Hennesy plays the mother, Shirley. “Shirley is possibly the most complicated character in the four-character play,” Hennesy told The Berkshire Edge. “On the surface, she appears to be one thing. But then she goes into a different thing like it’s a deep mine shaft.”
Hennesy said that “General Hospital” is on its annual four-week summer break for the month of July. “Oren called me from Great Barrington and said, you know, [GBPT] can’t seem to find what they’re looking for in Shirley,” Hennesy said. “I said well, I know they want to cast locally, so I’m not going to hold my breath. But I will put my toothbrush and toothpaste by the door, just in case I get the call. And I did, which is wonderful.”
Hennesy explained that she wanted the role because she loves the challenge of playing complex characters. “You know, there are roles that I am offered that I could play in my sleep,” Hennesy said. “This is not [one of those characters]. This is far more subtle. Subtlety is different when it comes to the stage. Subtlety on camera is an arch of an eyebrow, but it’s not that way when you are on stage. Subtlety on stage has to emanate from something that is very, very deep. And it’s a trick, and that’s where the goods are.”
Hennesy said that playing a role from a place of authenticity is just as important as subtlety. “As long as everything comes from a place of authenticity, the truth of the character, then you are golden,” Hennesy said. “It is the same whether it is daytime drama, feature films, primetime television, or episodic television, which I have all done. There are moments where I play a character where I have to think, ‘You know, this is something I haven’t explored before,’ or, ‘This is something I’ve only touched on one or two times in my life. Let’s go deep.’ I don’t find playing these kinds of roles difficult. It’s actually thrilling.”
“General Hospital” is the longest running soap opera on American television, having premiered in 1963. When Hennesy started on “General Hospital” back in 2006, there were at least eight soap operas on television. As of this year, there are only four television soap operas still in production. “I honestly don’t see ‘General Hospital’ going anywhere,” Hennesy said. “I could be wrong about that, but I think that we are so much a part of people’s lives. We are sometimes more family than people’s biological family. There are people out there who are still watching, and there are people who are watching and don’t want to admit they are watching right now. No matter what is going on in your life, you can turn on ‘General Hospital’ and the characters will still be there, living their lives. People can look at them and still live vicariously through them. Let’s face it, real life can be brutal, tough, and unkind. Daytime drama can provide a wonderful, almost healing respite.”
Tickets for GBPT’s production of “Survival of the Unfit” can be purchased here.
