Photo: Lynette Molnar
Memory is a tricky thing. And it’s at the core of Meryl Cohn’s new play The Fade-Away Advantage which will be performed at the Provincetown Theater for most of October. Cohn took a break from rehearsals to talk about the bonds of friendship, how Provincetown factors into the narrative of the play, and what she has to say to her younger self.
Provincetown Magazine: Congratulations on your new play The Fade-Away Advantage. What is it about and how did you conceive of this particular story?
Meryl Cohn: I’ve been trying to write about memory for a long time, especially in relation to friendship, and in fact this is my third attempt to capture it in the form of a play. I’m fascinated by what we remember and what we forget, and how we rely on our memories as if they’re factual, even though our friends or relatives may remember the same incidents or periods of time quite differently. I’m also really interested in how our experiences, our self-perceptions, and maybe even our personalities are shaped by the things we retain and those we lose.
The Fade-Away Advantage embeds this theme of memory into a deeply important close friendship between two women who’ve always had shared desires and values, and have always shown up for one another throughout their lives. And now, in middle age, these close friends come to a point of divergence in their desires and experiences in a way that deeply impacts both of their lives, and they have to decide what to do about it. One of the questions the play asks is about the meaning of loyalty in friendship: How far would you go to keep a promise to a friend?
I initially wanted to write this as a two-character drama, in real time with no scene changes. But since comedy seems to find its way into my work whether or not I think I’m writing a comedy, I ended up writing it as a four-character comedy/drama.
PM: The play is set in Provincetown. How does the town figure into the narrative or comedy of The Fade-Away Advantage?
MC: Provincetown is the only location that felt right for this play. The town is practically a character in the play, in terms of its light and beautiful presence, as well as the positive regard (verging on obsession) that its long-term inhabitants feel about the town. Two of the characters are long-time townies, and the sense of place figures into their connection with the natural world, and also into the work they do. (One of the characters used to drive the trolley.) There’s a sense of the people who live here totally belonging to Provincetown, and Provincetown belonging to them, whereas the two visitors in the play can’t really fit in, and are a bit freaked out by the environment.
PM: How long did you live in Provincetown and how, if at all, did living here influence your work as a playwright?
MC: I still live in Provincetown, though not full time. I lived in town full-time for a decade, starting in 1996, and then most of the time for many more years. Now it varies year by year.
Living in Provincetown has definitely influenced my work. In addition to being an inspirational historical hotspot for theater, and the incredible beauty of the town, it’s a great gift to live among a community of artists and people who appreciate the arts. I always want to know what other local writers or artists are working on, and I find that other people often want to know what I’m working on, or when my next show will be, too. It’s a great privilege to be here.
Provincetown inspired me to return to writing plays. I’d stopped writing plays after graduate school for more than a decade. But once I met other playwrights in town, I became obsessed with writing plays again.
PM: What is it like to be back in Provincetown and in particular working with this cast and the Provincetown Theater?
MC: I’m thrilled to be back at the Provincetown Theater. I love this cast. Rebecca Berger, the director, is smart and serious about text analysis, and spent the first week going through each page of the play, with a focus on understanding the characters and their motivation and their relationship. This group of actors (D’Arcy Dersham, Susan Lambert, Janet Geist-Moore, and Nathaniel Hall Taylor) are also smart and serious and bring a lot of imagination and intelligence to the task. I love the curiosity and creativity of this kind of rehearsal process. It’s a truly talented cast and it’s been a very collaborative process.
PM: How much of the plays you write are rooted in actual events in your own life?
MC: I don’t tend to write plays that are truly autobiographical, but there are always elements that are rooted in my own truth, even if it’s metaphorical or just bits and pieces here or there. The two main characters of Fade-Away each contain aspects of myself: Michaela is a truth-teller, sort of blunt the way I sometimes am, and funny, and perhaps a bit armored at times. Jojo is less like me as a person, but when she describes some of her life experiences, (like having almost drowned several times, including in her car on the highway), these reflect some of my own life experiences.
Another example is that years ago, I wrote a play called And Sophie Comes Too, in which a woman awakens from a coma. I didn’t realize it at the time, but I was going through an awakening of sorts.
PM: There was a time when you were an advice columnist known as Ms. Behavior. What advice would you have now to offer your younger self?
MC: Don’t worry about what people think. Invest as much time as possible in the people you love. Don’t make yourself small or use shyness as an excuse for not putting yourself out there. Hire a personal organizer as soon as you can afford one. Buy Apple stock as soon as it goes public. Love and friendship are the answers to more questions than you can imagine.
The Fade-Away Advantage runs at the Provincetown Theater, 238 Bradford St., Thursday through Saturday at 7 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. starting October 3 through October 20 with additional performances on Monday, October 14 and Wednesday, October 16 at 7 p.m. Tickets ($55) are available at the box office and online at provincetowntheater.org. For more information call 508.487.7487.
