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Director Kandace Crystal and actor Susan Clausen are collaborating on Scripps Ranch Theatre\u2019s production of the play \u201cDonna Orbits the Moon.\u201d (Ted Leib)<\/p>\nThe \u201cDonna\u201dof playwright Ian August\u2019s \u201cDonna Orbits the Moon\u201d is angry. She is sad. She is spaced out. She is, to some degree, so many of us.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re all dealing with something,\u201d said Kandace Crystal, director of Scripps Ranch Theatre\u2019s production of \u201cDonna Orbits the Moon,\u201d a one-person comedy-drama starring Susan Clausen. \u201cThere\u2019s a universal conversation around humanity.\u201d<\/p>\n
Director Kandace Crystal and actor Susan Clausen are collaborating on Scripps Ranch Theatre\u2019s production of the play \u201cDonna Orbits the Moon.\u201d (Ted Leib)<\/p>\n
The middle-aged Donna is a dutiful suburban wife, a good mom and a wiz at baking but, says Clausen, \u201ca person who\u2019s trying to do all the right things and in doing so is completely shutting out the things she needs to do. She is someone who has all this emotional content but does not feel she has a place to put it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Both Clausen and Crystal have found a deeper understanding and appreciation of the Donna character over time: They first collaborated on a virtual production of \u201cDonna Orbits the Moon,\u201d originally a Scripps Ranch Theatre collaboration with Oceanside Theatre Company, in the fall of the 2020 pandemic year.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a human being (Donna) going through something and she\u2019s trying so hard to navigate it,\u201d said Crystal. \u201cWe don\u2019t see a lot of \u2018Donnas\u2019 onstage. We don\u2019t see women who are just dealing with life, and she is.<\/p>\n
\u201cSusan is a dear friend and someone I deeply respect. I\u2019m not in Susan\u2019s body; I don\u2019t know how this feels for her. In five years our relationship has grown, and that shows even more onstage than it did on screen,\u201d Crystal continued.<\/p>\n
As to how it does feel for Clausen, \u201cI\u2019ve found this experience to be really a vulnerable one for me,\u201d the actor said. \u201cI\u2019ve had to lean into that, which is not something I do easily. Diving in this deeply there\u2019s a lot of wading through discomfort. Having someone I really trust to do that with has been important for me.\u201d<\/p>\n
Not only has Crystal directed Clausen before in this one-person show, but she herself has performed such a show, starring in Charlayne Woodard\u2019s \u201cNeat\u201d two years ago in a co-production between Scripps Ranch Theatre and Loud Fridge Theatre Group.<\/p>\n
In directing this one-person show \u201cI have to allow Susan the space to create this character,\u201d Crystal said. For the new onstage production \u201cwe\u2019re giving it more time, more breadth, all these layers.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDonna Orbits the Moon\u201d is Clausen\u2019s first one-person show.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you\u2019re doing a play with a whole cast it\u2019s very much this game of catch,\u201d she said. \u201cNow it\u2019s like playing a game of catch with yourself. You have to step out there and say \u2018Let\u2019s go. I know this woman and I know the story.\u2019 Feel that and keep leaning forward. That\u2019s a really wonderful growth opportunity, for anyone.\u201d<\/p>\n
Clausen believes \u201cWe do have a better perspective\u201d about the challenges of mental health than even five years ago when she and Crystal did \u201cDonna Orbits the Moon\u201d together the first time. \u201cWhat this play shows us is what it might look like for a person who hasn\u2019t found someone to connect with.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe (Donna) says multiple times in the show that she goes to church but that church isn\u2019t the place to share one\u2019s distress. Or her husband comes into the room and she puts a big smile on her face about making dinner for him when really she\u2019s just had one of these episodes or moments that need to be talked about. She\u2019s not sharing with the people who are closest to her. The play allows you to see where she does succeed in finding her way through.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2018Donna Orbits the Moon\u2019<\/p>\n
When: Preview, 7:30 Friday, Jan. 23. Opens Saturday, Jan. 24, and runs through Feb. 15. 7:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays; 2 p.m. Sundays<\/p>\n
Where: Scripps Ranch Theatre at Legler Benbough Theatre, Allied International University campus, 9783 Avenue of Nations, San Diego<\/p>\n
Tickets: $30-$52<\/p>\n
Phone: 858-578-7728<\/p>\n