What The Critics Are Saying About For The Pleasure of Seeing Her Again

“earthy, effervescent…an unabashedly loving tribute…a woman who ranked up there with Chaucer and Moliere in her skill at exaggeration and daggered humor…a Rabelasian heartiness…an entertaining raconteur--Nana has the soul of an artist…Miss Flye is an ideal fit for the part of Nana. With her loopy, expressive body language and hectic delivery, Miss Flye can sell a story like nobody’s business…she could make a trip to the grocery store seem like a five-act Greek tragedy, only funnier…about the power of imagination…potent and lingering…”
Jayne Blanchard, Washington Times

“an adoring memoir…Tremblay’s affection is so complete that he gives his mother the stage in every conceivable way…(Catherine) Flye’s a hoot, full of righteous criticism and vivid detail…The best part of ‘For the Pleasure’ is the sly revelation of what this relationship led to: the subtle exchange of cynical critical distance for openhearted, wide-ranging imagination. It’s a sweet family portrait…the theatrical flourish that Tremblay engineers--seems like perfect repayment for gifts that may have been unwitting, but were lavish nonetheless.”
Nelson Pressley, Washington Post

“Flye is at the heart of this piece and makes it a very human heart indeed. The character she creates has enough capacity to frustrate and irritate her son to keep the portrait from being cloying, while filling the hall with the tenderness and love that his recollections bring to the fore. She’s funny as well, delivering Tremblay’s flood of tiny details and strong memories with energy and flair…‘she takes over the stage the minute she arrives, she fills it, dominates it, makes it her kingdom. It is her space.’” A Potomac Stages Pick
Brad Hathaway, potomacstages.com

“comic…poignant…universal…veteran Washington actress Catherine Flye does a very fine job with material in what is largely a one woman show.”
Deryl Davis, Washington Theater Review

“sensitive…humorous…heartily recommended for its stunning performance by Catherine Flye…a three credit course in the fine art of acting…”
Bob Anthony

“Audiences at MetroStage can have the pleasure of seeing Catherine Flye again in a lovely new, two-person show…emotional sweetness…intellectual honesty…a charming, heart warming and highly entertaining evening.”
Brad Hathaway, Alexandria Gazette Packet

Catherine Flye Returns to MetroStage in For the Pleasure of Seeing Her Again

Catherine (Catie) Flye, veteran Washington actor, returns to MetroStage, opening the season with her exquisitely funny, poignant, and unforgettable portrayal of Nana in For the Pleasure of Seeing Her Again, French Canadian playwright Michel Tremblay's homage to his mother. Catie has been a part of the Washington DC theatre scene for several decades, as Artistic Director of Interact Theatre Company (her production of Pirates of Penzance won a Helen Hayes Award for Outstanding Musical), an actor and a director. At MetroStage, she has played Camilla Bombacci, a sixteenth century nun in Rapture (Helen Hayes Nomination for Best Supporting Actress); Timothea, an English spinster opposite Michael Tolaydo's Irish fisherman in SeaMarks; and Mrs. Crummles in The Crummles' Christmas Carol, in which the Crummles Family from Nicholas Nickelby tour the provinces in a production of A Christmas Carol. In addition she is a familiar player at the Folger Theatre where she most recently was seen as Mrs. Hardcastle in She Stoops To Conquer (Helen Hayes nomination), and Mrs. Heidelberg in The Clandestine Marriage. In Arena Stage's Old Vat Room she performed her tribute to British comedienne Joyce Grenfell in George Don't Do That, and her critically acclaimed role as Shirley in Shirley Valentine, both of which recieved Helen Hayes nominations. She has been nominated for twelve Helen Hayes Awards for acting and directing, and received the Theatre Lobby's 2000 Mary Goldwater Award.

Joining Catie on stage in For the Pleasure of Seeing Her Again is Bruce Holmes, who is playing her son in Tremblay's autobiographical tribute to his mother and her influence on his future work as a writer and playwright. Bruce has most recently been seen at Arena Stage in Orpheus Descending and Anna Christie.

The Sand Storm Returns to L.A.

MetroStage was very pleased to host the East Coast premiere of The Sand Storm: Stories From the Front during August and September in conjunction with producer Charlie Fink. It has now returned to L.A. where playwright Sean Huze is arranging for a college tour. The voices of the military personnel in Sand Storm, all representing Huze's experience as a Marine during the Iraq war, had a real resonance with audiences at MetroStage, many of whom had served in the military. The Wednesday talk backs were an added opportunity to gain insight from those in the audience and moderators who had served in the war. Of particular note was the final Wednesday when former Senator Max Cleland spoke to the audience.

One evening after the show I was talking to a patron who was very moved by the production. It turns out that she was a photojournalist who had been embedded in Iraq and was having her photographs published in a book called Unembedded: Four Independent Photojournalists on the War in Iraq. Her comments which she then emailed me were of real significance because she had been there in the midst of the battle and had found the portrayals of these soldiers so very authentic. The following is her email:

Dear Carolyn: Thank you again for staging that incredibly moving and important production. The medium of theatre was able to tell the story of Iraq in a way incomparable to any other reports on the war - the immediacy and human presence of the stage brought the story home with astonishing power. Even with all the photographs and stories I have read and seen (and written and taken) on the war in Iraq, this play moved me beyond anything I have yet experienced about the war. I think this kind of brave showing of what this war is about will only continue to happen more and more. This is just the beginning, and you are at the cutting edge of it.
Thanks, Rita (Leistner)

Theatre serves many purposes. In this case it offered insight into an experience most of us never (thankfully) have to have. I felt the compelling stories being told reflected the impact of their experiences in Iraq but also universally addressed the impact of war on the "warriors" during any war at any time. I am grateful that our stage could be host to these important stories and hope the play will continue to be presented for the general public as well as college students around the country so they will understand the power of war and the effect on the individual. Thank you to playwright Sean Huze, his director and collaborator Brett Smock, and, of course, producer Charlie Fink.