American University’s Department of Performing Arts presented four sold out performances of “Sometimes the Rain, Sometimes the Sea,” written by Julia Izumi and directed by guest artist Nick Martin in the Katzen Arts Center Studio Theater from Nov. 19 to 22.
Martin is an award-winning director and actor local to the D.C. area, and was featured as a guest artist of the University’s Theatre & Musical Theatre program this fall.
Martin’s unique perspective on the piece as a director comes from his experience performing the role of the narrator and protagonist Dolan in D.C.’s Rorschach Theater’s production of the play in 2023.
“Sometimes the Rain, Sometimes the Sea” initially follows the unconventional love story of an adorably naive Rain Cloud, played by energetic College of Arts and Sciences sophomore Jalyn Edrington, that falls in love with a human named Ralmond, played by College of Arts and Sciences sophomore Olivia Hunter, who hates umbrellas and, fittingly, loves the rain.
As the deceptively simple story of “The Little Rain Cloud” progresses, the narrator and self-proclaimed genius author Dolan, played by School of Communication junior Niko Pikar,, insists the story he is telling has no connection to the Hans Christian Anderson fairytale, The Little Mermaid.
Jarring claps of thunder and lightning as blue and yellow lighting interrupt Dolan’s storytelling regularly, transporting the audience into Dolan’s past. The characters' dialogue suddenly changes to speak to Dolan through the voices of those that Anderson loved throughout his lifetime.
From this point on, three plotlines emerge: that of The Little Rain Cloud, The Little Mermaid and the love stories throughout Anderson’s life, which all fight for dominance until the play’s both chaotic and bittersweet end.
The show’s themes of intimacy and vulnerability are complemented through the Katzen Studio Theater’s smaller space. Its cozy seating arrangement also allowed for face-to-face audience interaction with the cast and a hilariously rambunctious chase scene where the cast could be heard running, laughing, and screaming joyously while darting through the Studio Theater and the halls outside.
The set consisted of a window overlooking a city, a wood platform shaped like a dock, a sea-colored floor and moving clouds. The scenery’s simplicity allowed the audience to imagine a contemporary apartment, a cloud’s home in the sky, and the shore of a far-off kingdom fit for the handsome, yet oafish, Prince Edvard played by Vish Shukla, a senior in CAS.
One of the main points of conflict throughout is the seemingly tragic ending of Anderson’s classic fairy tale, when The Little Mermaid chooses to sacrifice herself and her love for the prince by turning into seafoam. The characters throughout the play grapple with whether the ending is a happy or devastating one, and this question extends to the audience as well.
The comedic and refreshingly youthful Little One, played by Madison Troost, a sophomore in CASs, insists The Little Mermaid chose to become seafoam to truly discover herself, and not for the prince.
Dolan thinks differently, jaded by a life of negative self-image and lack of choosing himself over others. This dichotomy provides a fascinating discourse of youthful wistfulness and loss of naivete that perfectly represents one’s journey of growing up.
“Sometimes the Rain, Sometimes the Sea” leaves the audience with questions not only about the power, constraints and freedoms of love but also about identity, self and choice.
Audience members walked away from Martin and the DPA’s production of “Sometimes the Rain, Sometimes the Sea” with a heartache that’s the result not of pain, but growth, discovery and, most importantly, love.
This article was edited by Jessica Ackerman, Marina Zaczkiewicz and Abigail Turner. Copy editing done by Luna Jinks and Nicole Kariuki.
