Amirali Sharifi

Studio Theatre tackles a gritty portrait of youth in Yellow Moon

Yellow Moon: The Ballad of Leila and Lee

Written by David Greig
Directed by Jan Selman
Starring Richard Lam, Sereana Malani, Tristan Mi, Alyson Dicey and Paula Humby
Timms Centre for the Arts (87th Avenue and 112th Street)
Runs Nov. 3 to 12 at 7:30 p.m, matinée performance Thursday, Nov. 10 at 12:30 p.m.
$10 Student at the Timms box office

Yellow Moon is an ideal show for U of A’s Studio Theatre — challenging and edgy, but ultimately still relateable. “Yellow Moon is a perfect play for a young emerging group of actors because it’s about youth, by youth,” says director Jan Selman, the director who leads the young cast through British playwright David Greig’s gritty coming-of-age story.

Set in Scotland, Yellow Moon follows Leila (Sereana Malani) and Lee (Richard Lam), two lonely and troubled teenagers from vastly different backgrounds who meet through an unlikely twist of fate. Thrust together, they begin a journey that leads them into trouble, and soon the improbable pair is on the run into the Scottish highlands, seeking refuge from adversity. Playwright David Greig uses their relationship as a means to uncover difficult subject matter like poverty and abuse.

“Greig is a playwright and he’s also a poet,” Selman says. “He makes a very contemporary story rise to the height of a ballad or of a Greek tragedy … The play is about regular kids, but the way the story is told makes them and their lives and their journey elevated and very important. And I think we have to make people who would otherwise be invisible important in the theatre,” Selman says.

In addition to Greig’s prestige as a poet, he’s also famous in his native Scotland for generating theatre productions in a wide range of genres, from plays about teens like Yellow Moon, to historical pieces and adaptations of other works. His shows are often notable for the special connection they forge with the audience, and Yellow Moon with its unique style is no exception.

“It’s really a very theatrical piece — not realistically told,” Selman explains. “A lot of acting training is about believing in a particular world, the world of the scene. This one is about believing in the world of theatre and the live audience of theatre.”

Yellow Moon breaks traditional acting boundaries, as the actors not only play their characters, but also narrate and comment on the action. “The performers tell the story and play the characters,” Selman says. “They’re in the scene and then they’re back out and they’re commenting on it. They keep switching all along, and it’s very contemporary and edgy.”
Yellow Moon tackles dark subject matter, and Selman promises depth and emotion as the production examines themes of parent-child relationships, abandonment, young love and violence. “The characters are in some ways from a rougher part of the world. They’ve lived rougher lives than the mainstream, so it’s been important to engage in that and not try to make them nice — it’s important for the actors to take on their flaws as well as the romance of the story,” she says.

The show marks the debut show of the U of A’s BFA acting class of 2012, featuring five members of the class with the rest hitting the stage in the next Studio Theatre piece, Fuddy Meers.

“They’re stunning,” Selman says of her young cast. “They’re very strong actors. The training they’ve been taking here really shows, and this is the last step before going out and making a living at it. They need the year, but they’re also really ready for this showcase stage.”

Yellow Moon’s Leila and Lee are only a few years younger than the average undergraduate student, and as they embark on a journey that is both emotionally and physically taxing, Selman’s young cast follows suit. Those in attendance will watch both Leila and Lee — and their fellow classmates — reach for new heights.

“The play is one that really looks at what young people have to offer us as they face themselves and try to make their mark in the world … it’s very much about finding your feet and becoming who you know you can be.”

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