The topic of organ donation is one that sounds simple in theory - who wouldn't want to donate viable organs to save someone's life (or lives)? But to be faced with the decision in reality is unimaginable. Such is the subject of
The Tin Woman, about a woman facing an existential crisis after receiving a donor heart and the family of the man who donated it grieving their loss. It's a personal story for director Joy Donley of 100 Percent Human Theatre, whose son died at age 16. They donated his organs to over 60 recipients, which is a truly remarkable gift. As good artists do, she's taken her tragedy and turned it into art, partnering with the local organization
LifeSource to produce this play and raise awareness about organ donation.
The Tin Woman is a funny, poignant, and relatable story about the messiness of grief, loss, family, and life. The super short run
closes this weekend with just a few performances remaining at the Historic Mounds Theatre in St. Paul.
We meet a woman named Joy shortly after her heart transplant, and from the start she has conflicting feelings about it. She struggles post-transplant with depression and a sense of survivor's guilt, wondering what makes her worthy for this second chance when someone else, who maybe was a "better person" had to die? Her story is told in parallel with that of the donor Jack's family as they grieve the loss in very different ways. His dad Hank refuses to talk about it and lashes out at everyone, while mom Alice and sister Sammy want to remember him. When Joy, pressured by the one friend she hasn't pushed away, decides to reach out to the donor family, Alice jumps at the chance to connect with a piece of her son. But this is no happy reunion; it's awkward and messy and weird, just like life. But in the end both ends of this amazing gift find connection and healing, and a way to go on.
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Joy (Elizabeth Efteland) and friend (Greta Grosch), with
Jack always hovering (Matt Berdahl, photo by BTE Media) |
The play is surprisingly funny despite the subject matter, and director Joy Donley brings out all of the humor, well balanced with the serious moments. She also does well with the flashbacks and multiple scenes, sometimes with overlapping dialogue. For much of the play Jack is hovering on the edges of scenes, or in the middle of them, as people talk about him, and Matt Berdahl plays it well with no dialogue, coming alive only in a few memories to give us a sense of who Jack was. Elizabeth Efteland is an excellent Joy, portraying all of her conflicting feelings and presenting a full picture of a messy, flawed, but well-meaning human. Dorian Chalmers and Doug Thompson do a wonderful job portraying the differently grieving parents, and Stephanie Wipf is a ray of light as the hippie vegetarian preschool teacher sister Sammy. Rounding out the cast is Greta Grosch, bringing the funny in a couple of small but important supporting roles.
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a moment of connection (Matt Berdahl, Elizabeth Efteland,
and Dough Thompson, photo by BTE Media) |
The stage of the Mounds Theatre contains multiple performance spaces all visible at once, needed for the overlapping structure of the play. We see Jack's family's home on one side of the stage, Joy's small apartment on the other, a hospital bed or cafe table brought out as needed. All spaces feel detailed and lived in, and the costumes are subtly character-specific (set design by Nate Farley, costume design by Kris Livingston). The sound design (by Michael Donley) includes atmospheric sound effects, as well as my favorite pre-show and intermission playlist - the music of
The Swell Season - which is a plot point, and a great excuse to play my favorite musicians Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglová (who are coming to the Orpheum Theatre this summer!).
The Tin Woman is a great dramedy - it'll make you laugh and cry as it deals with not just grief and loss, but also the struggles of everyday life. Do we have to "do something" to deserve good things and second chances, or is just living enough? And the show also will hopefully inspire audience members to check their driver's license (as I did) to look for the sweet little donor heart.
