The next production of the Playwrights’ Theatre of East Hampton at LTV Studios, set for Saturday evening at 7:30, is a staged reading of “Oregon,” a play by Laura Darrell, directed by Allen O’Reilly.
Why is a play about a New England family titled “Oregon”? “It was inspired by a conversation I had with my mother a long time ago,” said Ms. Darrell during a phone conversation. “We knew Oregon was one of the first states to approve medically assisted death.”
The play is about a family’s struggle to confront the challenges of honoring life in the presence of death. Three generations of women navigate end-of-life care when their 88-year-old matriarch’s body starts a negative feedback loop.
Together they battle wills, confront the terrifying option of medically assisted death, and ultimately find inspiration through deep self-reflection to honor the woman they all love. With guidance from their hospice nurse, they balance their pain with humor and resilience.
“Oregon” is the first full-length play for Ms. Darrell, whose extensive career as an actor and singer includes multiple
feature films, two recurring roles on television, Off Broadway, New York, regional, and international theater; studio recordings, audiobooks, and voiceover roles.
She began to develop the play during the pandemic. “The germ of it was my grandmother’s experience with end-of-life care and hospice care. I had a lot of interesting conversations with family members and we got to talking about our different desires for our own end-of-life plans, and I was just struck by how everyone had different ideas about what they wanted and what their red lines would be.”
She also discussed the issues with friends and learned that many families avoided talking about them at all. Her sister was a critical-care nurse who had a lot of experience dealing with patients facing life-threatening conditions. “She was shocked at how many people and their families had not discussed how to prepare, and yet it’s not a surprise, we all know our time is limited.”
Because Ms. Darrell didn’t want to write a story where things just “got worse and worse and then tragedy happens and the family is reeling from it,” half of the story goes forward in time as Cathy, the matriarch, starts to deteriorate, and half goes back in time for scenes in the past that flesh out Cathy’s character and the legacy she is leaving her descendants.
“Oregon” was developed with Bespoke Plays, a writer-driven group that puts on staged readings. Bill DeSimone, a producer who was enthusiastic about the play but was busy with other projects, connected Ms. Darrell with Robin Aren, a producer and choreographer based in New York and the Hamptons.
“Robin threw her support behind the play, and we began brainstorming places to workshop it, and LTV Studios came up,” said Ms. Darrell. “They were gracious and asked to host us at the Playwrights’ Theatre.”
“Oregon” stars Rebecca Hoodwin as Cathy, Teresa DeBerry as Joan, her daughter; Katie Rodgers, as Jennifer, her granddaughter; Andrea Harum Schiavoni, as a nurse, a doctor, and the hospice nurse, and Minerva Scelza as Joan’s spouse.
Mr. O’Reilly has directed multiple plays at Bay Street Theater in Sag Harbor, where he is the director of education and community outreach, among them “The Crucible,” “Twelfth Night,” “Driving Miss Daisy,” and “Macbeth.” For Robin
At present a co-producer on the Broadway musical “How To Dance In Ohio,” Ms. Aren is the lead, creative, and executive producer of “Wyld Woman,” written and performed by Isabel Renner and directed by Cameron King. Other producing credits include “A Midsummer Night’s Dream: The Dreamer” with the Neo-Political Cowgirls at LongHouse Reserve in East Hampton and the Comedy Barn series at Topping Rose House in Bridgehampton, featuring Sean Donnelly and Ryan Reiss. Her choreography credits include “A Quiet Evening of Dance” by William Forsythe at Sadler’s Wells Theatre in London.
General admission is $20, $10 for students, and $35 for cafe table seating, which includes a drink.
