'Collected Stories': Powerhouse Performances By North Fork Stars

Perhaps two of the finest actors on the North Fork landscape have teamed up again for a compelling performance that leaves audiences talking.

Northeast Stage's production of "Collected Stories," by Donald Margulies, runs Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m. and Sunday at 5 p.m. at the Holy Trinity Church Hall on Main Street in Greenport.

Starring Jere Jacob and Amie Sponza, who brought their emotionally charged performance of "'Night, Mother," to the North Fork last year, "Collected Stories" tells the story of a young, aspiring writer and the renowned author who serves as her mentor and inspiration.

The drama, which sparkles with some brilliant comedic moments, is skillfully crafted with finely layered characters who slowly, over the course of the show, unravel to reveal what dark truths lie deep within.

Jacobs' Ruth Steiner is a woman who has achieved at-times dizzying success in her career, but who, as her bright light has faded from the literary landscape, has begun to ache with the inner insecurity over her prose that haunts even the most lauded wordsmiths.

The show begins with Steiner imparting knowledge of the craft to her wide-eyed, stammering-with-awe pupil and evolves into a minefield of emotion as her student Lisa, played with purposeful guile by Sponza, slowly and methodically dons the mantle of her mentor's talent and persona -- gradually stealing her very soul.

As Steiner, Jacob offers up her tutelage with a caveat -- she's no easy "A." As a teacher, Jacob's Steiner is demanding and forceful, cutting and sometimes bordering on cruel as she berates her young protegee and lashes into her for organizing her piles of mail into a pattern not to Steiner's liking.

But beneath the commanding exterior lies a broken heart. Steiner is a woman who's lost in love -- and the experience has crippled her, emotionally and professionally. She is unable to move past the love affair, her "shining moment." And, as she shares the painful story of her ill-fated romance with Sponza's Lisa -- Steiner is laid bare, vulnerable and lost as she lays out the pages of her very life for her student's critique.

Betrayal cuts the deepest when it is delivered at the hands of one who is beloved, something Steiner learns painfully. 

The relationship between the two characters is created with the kind of writing rarely seen on any stage; the dialogue is rich with texture and depth. "Collected Stories" is an actor's play, written to showcase the deep layers of emotion and deception, trust and complexity that simmer beneath the surface in every human heart.

"Collected Stories" leaves audiences talking, debating questions of morality and ethics and passionately moved by the performance.

It's another tour de force turn by both Jacob and Sponza, whose clear dedication to their craft has resulted in some of the finest theater the North Fork has to offer. Don't miss it.

Tickets cost $15 and are available at the door. For more information call 631-477-2972 or email northeaststage@optonline.net.