Theater Review: 'Athena' At Thrown Stone In Ridgefield

Ridgefield, CT - Thrown Stone’s fifth season features two new plays about friendship, competition, and coming of age in today’s world: “Athena” by Gracie Gardner, and “Hysterical!” by Elenna Stauffe will run in repertory. Tracy Brigden is the director for both plays that make their New England premieres at Thrown Stone. Bridgen writes: “After missing our chance in 2020, it’s wonderful to return to Thrown Stone to work on these two plays that so candidly center on the lives of young women.”

“Athena,” a 2018 New York Times Critic’s Pick that was originally commissioned and performed by the Hearth Theatre in Brooklyn, opened with its first preview on July 14. The packed preview, with an audience including many theater critics, marked the first indoor performance for Thrown Stone in three years.

Thrown Stone Co-Artistic Director Jason Peck is a fan of Sarah DeLappe’s “The Wolves,” and when he read the play “Athena,” he felt an instant connection to the text. The play is “about girls’ athletics and has the same kind of raw intensity — but I was particularly drawn in by Gardner’s sly humor and how she so deftly weaves the silliness and absurdity of everyday adolescence into the story.” Peck and Jonathan Winn, the theater’s producing artistic directors, chose the #GirlPower to describe this season in honor of their daughters, and the whole point was to let the girls do the talking.

In this play, Mary Wallace and Athena are brave, and seventeen, and fencers training for the Junior Olympics. The two girls practice together, they compete against each other, they spend much of their lives together, and they wish they were friends.

The playwright expertly weaves the sport of fencing into this essentially two-actor play, so much so that the fencing foils almost rise to the level of another character. Fencing, which the title character calls “a weird, archaic sport,” is a sport that demands skill, speed and even wit, from which it derives the nickname “physical chess.” The players score points for touching their opponent with the tip of the weapon within the confine of the rules.

The two girls practice their fencing skills and attempt to form a friendship out of their rivalry. The script also examines what exactly the rules are, of both fencing and life in general, and what it means to win, all from a female point of view. Dovetailing with the wit involved in the sport of fencing is the often rapid-fire dialog delivered by the two actors. We get a glimpse into the home lives of the two teens, but the focus is on the fencing practices and matches.

This is a very contemporary story in tone, with references to “Game of Thrones” and cell phone use.

Shannon Helene Barnes plays Athena, a name adopted by the title character. Athena is the more confident fencer, who was prescribed the sport for her anger. Barnes, a New York CIty-based performer, invests fully in the strong character, without losing the fact that Athena is a seventeen-year-old student, despite the fact that the actor is a recent graduate of NYU Tisch.

Mary Wallace, played exceedingly well by Actors’ Equity member Olivia Billings, travels into New York City from Teaneck, New Jersey for the practice sessions. She is excellent at her sport, but is eager to please and has been more sheltered than her practice partner. This talented actor is a recent graduate of Baldwin Wallace University and resides in New York.

Julia Crowley appears briefly onstage in the role of Jamie.

Scenic design by Emmie Finckel is stark, with only a large rectangular light box at the rear of the stage that changes color. Adam Lobelson designed the lighting that involves some helpful side lighting. Brenda Phelps’ costume design is the required full fencing regalia and a few add ons. Kevin Mambo and Jason Peck are credited with the very good sound design. Mark Silence served as fight director while Mike Martin offered his skills as the fencing coach.

Athena officially opened at Thrown Stone on July 5 and closes on August 6, 2022. The play runs a bit less than 90 minutes with no intermission. Both plays will be performed at Ridgefield Conservatory of Dance, 440 Main Street, Ridgefield CT 06877. Purchase tickets and view the full repertory schedule at thrownstone.org/events .

Nancy Sasso Janis has been writing theatre reviews since 2012 as a way to support local theatre venues. She posts reviews of well over 100 productions each year. In 2016, she became a member of the Connecticut Critics Circle. She continues to contribute theater news, previews, and audition notices to local Patch sites. Reviews of all levels of theatrical productions are posted on Naugatuck Patch and the Patch sites closest to the venue. She recently became a contributor to the Waterbury Republican-American newspaper. Her weekly column and theater reviews appear in the Thursday Weekend section of the paper.

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