Review: Arbus & West
On Friday June 19th I went to the The Sanctuary @ Sandy Plaza to watch the Triangle Productions US Premiere of the play Arbus & West. Turns out my ticket was for Saturday the 20th, and they were so nice about it! I got a better seat than I paid for, and hats off to their flexibility and their sweet staff.
I’m a big Diane Arbus fan, and yet I didn’t’ know that she ever took photos of Mae West - who I know very little about. After this play I know more, and now I’m curious about her story.
The play was written by Stephen Sewell, and this is the first staging of it in america. Good for Triangle Productions! Thank you! Based on a real photo shoot in 1964 where Diane Arbus went to Mae West’s house and took portraits.
May West by Diane Arbus
The gist is that Mae West wasn’t exactly into it, but also loved being photographed and the attention, so she let down her guard and those photos, not the photos of her well practiced glamour poses. Mae West’s assistant is suspicious and doesn’t seem to like either Arbus OR West, but Arbus gets the photos.
The vibe between the 2 primary actors was great, there was good pacing, banter, and real connection. You can feel and see why Mae West would get caught up in the moment and forget that there was an audience that would see these photos that we not staged, and felt like the REAL Mae West, at least to Arbus. I didn’t really understand the character of the assistant. I liked the set design and loved the costumes. Emily Sahler played Mae West; she was funny, sweet, sassy and did a fantastic job. Arbus was played by Tasha Danner, and I loved her portrail. i liked how she worked and really got a connection with West so that she would drop the facade. It’s such a win when that happens in interviews and I think it would be so much harder to do with a camera - I never forget that I’m getting my picture taken when it’s happening, and at this moment I cna’t imagine the immense talent of a photographer that would make me forget. I’m impressed with the real life story and also this version.
