By now, Mary Elizabeth Ryan expected she’d be a grandmother who baked cookies for her grandchildren after school. Instead she lives alone and her grandkids think she’s a movie character they talk to on the computer. A revelation during a tense dinner date sets her life spinning in a completely new trajectory. East Lansing is a story of aging, sex, true love, heart-breaking loss, non-traditional families, college football, days-of-the-week panties and the amazing resilience of older women. REVIEW East Lansing gracefully explores a twilight-years relationship through a consistently funny, superbly paced narrative. As these characters decide what to share and what not to share with each other in the budding phases of their relationship, we see familiar first date nervousness compounded the fact that each of them has lived romantic and professional lives already. Though they each come to the table of their initial blind date with a worldly cynicism, these characters find something new and exciting in each other. Through this discovery, the play considers the powerful human need for love, even in the face of the ennui which often accompanies post-retirement life. -- 12 Peers Theater, Pittsburgh, PA |