Jenna Pryor

The Last 5 Years by Red Quill Productions, hosted last month by Murfreesboro Little Theater, is the tale of two people falling in, and subsequently out, of love.

Cathy Hiatt (Jenna Pryor), struggling to break into acting, becomes muse to Jamie Wellerstein (Michael Adcock), a novelist whose star is quickly rising. While the story itself is a “Tale as Old as Time,” the story-telling lends a curious new perspective. While Jamie tells his story from beginning to end, Cathy tells hers from the opposite spectrum: beginning at the dissolution of their five-year relationship and working backwards. They meet in the middle during their wedding vows; it is the only time the two characters interact with one another at all before moving through the rest of their story.

Pryor and Adcock were wonderful counterparts to one another, moving seamlessly between cheeky comedy and melancholia with no little amount of dexterity. Watching Jamie’s exuberance and romanticism turn slowly to fear, doubt and despair is difficult to watch for the sense of familiarity it engenders. Cathy’s return journey to starry-eyed optimism and adoration is heartbreaking. When they meet in the middle for their wedding duet, it is lovely and sad, knowing with tragic irony how soon the two would abandon their resolution to remain together forever.

Michael Adcock

Though I enjoyed the performances very much, the story itself, despite the unique style in which it’s told, is one of which I have seen so many iterations that it is nearly done to death, and the parallel storytelling does little to freshen it. However, the actors and crew put in a lot of hard work and heart, and that is what saves it for me. I definitely recommend attending other productions by Red Quill in future if they continue to put in the dedication and love into every play or musical they turn out.

For tickets to Murfreesboro Little Theater productions, visit mltarts.com.