Donald Freed’s 1951-2006, a play about two people living in the same New York City brownstone for over a half century, makes its world premier at the Los Angeles Theatre Center.

The play opens in late ’51. Meg (Debra De Leo), an Irish Catholic young lady from Chicago, moves into her apartment set in a turn of the century era walk up on Manhattan’s upper east side. She meets her neighbor David (Michael Matthys), a man who is wheelchair bound related from a military based injury. Meg is a teacher by trade and David is a writer with a political view that leans toward the left. As time moves forward, Meg and David develop somewhat of a rather curious relationship with the battles of seeing their government go from the left to the right while their own beings perform on their keep as tide and tide shift right up to the ultimate moments.

This particular work by writer and director Donald Freed is a love story of sorts. Meg and David’s affection doesn’t get started right away, and there no nothing very foo-foo about it even when it gels. Within this play, scenes unfold that skip a few weeks ahead with the occasional jump starting to multiple years later. Meg and David’s character age with time. Sometimes they age gracefully, while other moments they age with a harsher tone, finally moving up to full circle as Meg, now well into her 80′s, encounters a new Donald–just like she did some 55 years before!
The two leads in this show (Debra De Liso and Michael Matthys) carry their portrayal throughout. Although they stay in the same dumpy apartment building for all of this time only to meet in the dumpier hallway set in between their doorways, it shows that Meg and Donald only replace themselves with the times, even if the times don’t change with them!

A special note goes to Francois-Pierre Couture for his set design of the apartment hallway, consisting or a dim and dreary place not to congregate in, but to move by while coming and going with each day and date.
Also appearing within the cast is Christopher Fairbanks (playing multiple roles), and Reynaldo Pacheco.
Its been stated that a lot of events can occur in a very short time span. 1951-2006 is a very long movement of moment. Then again, it’s also an instant of being. The more things don’t change, the more that they don’t stay the same!

1951-2006, performs at the Los Angeles Theatre Center, 514 South Spring Street, downtown Los Angeles, until June 13th. Showtimes are Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights @ 8:00 PM, and Saturday-Sunday matinees @ 3:00 PM. For reservations and for more information, call (213) 489-0994 x 107, or via http://www.The Latc.org

via Accessibly Live Off-Line