There’s no shortage of people who believe their lives would make a killer movie. And given the differences in human beings, just as many don’t see their lives unique enough to warrant anything as ostentatious as a screenplay. Still, no matter how you parse it, all our lives are stories touched with pathos, humor, failure and triumph. Each is uniquely individual and often it’s the smaller stories that offer the most reward. Dragonfly Theatre’s Man and Moon is one of those unassuming stories that reveals experiences that might be alien to our own lives, but contains truths that we recognize and appreciate for the long term. Simply by showing how two people can help each other better understand themselves and move through the world more confidently, Man and Moon discloses the infinite power of friendship.
For much of its single act, the balance seems out of kilter. It’s dominated by a precocious 12-year-old named, Luna (Clare Wols), who might be more space obsessed than the late Stephen Hawkings. Her long euphoric soliloquy displaying her knowledge of the universe at the play’s opening is as passionate as it is erudite. Both her confidence and her intelligence brim.
She’s alone in the waiting room of a doctor’s office while her mother is being treated inside. Another person who eventually comes in for their own appointment casts a very different aura than Luna. The weight of care hangs from their movements and their attention seems directed inward. It doesn’t matter initially that we can’t determine if the person is male or female. The purple hair suggests one thing, the baggy clothes another. They’re just someone for Luna to interact with; which she does with the zeal of an overly congenial pre-teen. The new arrival gives Luna a chance to use them as a foil to share her bottomless knowledge of the universe. Deferential and exhibiting slight markings of timidity, this new person is no match for Luna’s radiance or energy.
That first level of interchange left Luna in command. She determined how dialog flowed and how the two interacted. But the time span Man and Moon covers is broad. Broad enough for them to have several encounters in the waiting room and for the dynamic between them to shift. They learned that there was less and less reason to consider each other a threat; which allowed trust to begin to grow.
The waiting room they share while Luna waits for her mother and Aaron (Peter Danger Wilde) waits for their next appointment is that of oncologists. Deep fear is a part of both of their lives. Not yet thirty, and as a woman transitioning to a man, Aaron’s challenges are especially formidable. Either hurdle alone, deciding to realize your true sex or confronting a serious medical diagnosis, would require vast reservoirs of inner strength. Facing the two at the same time is unfathomable. But as Aaron discloses more of themselves, they display an inner peace that appears both innate and tentative. Luna’s questions about Aaron’s indeterminate appearance and curiosity about the process of transitioning gives Aaron a chance to share why they made such a consequential decision. And they do so in a way a twelve-year-old, even one without Luna’s intellectual gifts, could understand.
After games of Go Fish and the sharing of information that expose each other’s inner selves, attributes of genuine friendship become undeniably evident. At twelve, Luna is undergoing her own transition. Having been a woman, Aaron knows the alarm, confusion and abhorrence a young girl might feel when menstrual cycles begin. For Luna, it feels like her body is betraying her by doing something she didn’t ask for. Children with parents in crisis often step up and take more responsibility than their age might warrant. Luna has proven impressively adept at sustaining herself psychologically. But it’s always better to face some hurdles with a trusted mentor or friend at your side.
It’s the character of both Luna and Aaron, as well as their ability to forge a common bond, that makes Man and Moon so compelling. Wols as Luna and Wilde in their role as Aaron brought palpable conviction and laudable nuance to their parts. The honesty and quality of their interaction make up some of the most gratifying aspects of Man and Moon. The result of accomplished acting and Hayley Procacci’s masterful direction, the relationship Luna and Aaron share is an emblem of hope anyone would relish witnessing.
Man and Moon
Through November 13, 2022
Dragonfly Theatre Company and 16th Street Theater NFP
Playing at:
Madison Street Theater
1010 W. Madison
Oak Park, IL 60302
