How many books, movies and plays have made a 20-year reunion central to their plot? It’s the epitome of what-might-have-been as one character looks across the room and sees the object of their high school desire.
In the case of 4th Wall Theatre Co.’s staging of Pavilion by Craig Wright, (Lost, Six Feet Under, Greenleaf) there isn’t just a 20-year span of characters meeting again, but a more than 20-year interval for 4th Wall Theatre Co. Artistic Director Philip Lehl to play the role of Narrator, one he first performed in 2001 at Stages.
“I’ve always had a soft spot for the play because it was one of the first things I did in Houston,” Lehl says. And as Narrator, he portrays several different people.
In The Pavilion, Jennifer Dean and Luis Galido play the two main characters who find each other again at the reunion. Kari is in an unhappy relationship with her husband and Peter is in an unhealthy relationship, Lehl says. Peter has suffered the death of a bandmate the month before — “a sort of mortality wakeup call that brings him to the reunion,” Lehl says. Christy Watkins, who works with A.D. Players, directs.
As for Lehl’s role:
“The Narrator is like the stage manager in Our Town,” Lehl says. ” He’s sort of like a master of ceremonies. All the other members of their graduating class who they talk to. So the narrator slips in and out of a dozen major characters and another dozen very small characters. He plays women men. He doesn’t change costume or anything; he just assumes their persona. It’s and all done with voice and physicality; I’ve done it before. The main thing is that it’s written so beautifully that the relationship and how the person talks.
“It involves the audience’s imagination. They have to put on the clothes that I’m wearing. They have to create the hair that I have And that’s fun. That’s fun for them the audience.”
Asked why he thinks 20-year reunions so popular among the people who attend them and the writers who include them in their scripts, Lehl responded:
“My experience with high school reunions is that when I was there I hadn’t kept up with almost anybody. But I certainly found that I was with these people who all had the same formative experiences as I did. And it’s irreplaceable. There’s a lot still there to connect with. There’s no one else in the world who shares that. I think that’s why.”
“I think there’s also that thing where you always had a crush on someone but it went unfulfilled and you’re curious. Could it have happened. Should it have happened? Could it still happen? Would I even still be interested? Was it just a physical thing or was it actually the person? I think all that’s happening.”
4th Wall had originally programmed the play for a few years back but then COVID hit, Lehl says. 4th Wall has set the play in 2007 and they graduated in 1987 but before the use of cell phones everywhere “and where there still things like 900 numbers that people called and spent money on.”.
Twenty years ago, Lehl says he thought this was a fantastic play.
“Now I look at it 20 years later, I think that it’s timeless. I think that it could be something that people do in 100 years. I begin to suspect that it’s that good a play.”
Performances are scheduled for September 22 through October 7 at 7:30 p.m. Thursdays through Saturdays and 3 p.m. Sundays. at Spring Street Studios, 1824 Spring Street, Studio 101. For more information, call 832-767-4991 or visit 4thwalltheatreco.com. $25-$60. Pay-What-You-Will: Monday October 2.