Spalding Gray, Stories Left to Tell
Theatre Gigante, 2018
Stage Directors/Performers: Mark Anderson, Isabelle Kralj
Lighting Design: Rick Graham
Cast: Deborah Clifton, John Kishline, Jill Anna Ponasik
Somewhere around the middle of the show Jill Anna Ponasik is performing bits from Gray’s 1997 show Gray’s Anatomy. She’s speaking in Spalding’s words talking about meeting a blurry Richard Nixon and the right aesthetic finally jostles me. Ponasik’s crisp comic precision feels a million miles away from Gray’s voice...but it works. She’s telling a story about his life, but it reflects into her...and there’s an aesthetic parallax in that moment that jostles everything together for me.
Russ Bickerstaff, Thesmallstage