By Ernest Kearney — In her engaging and exquisitely performed account of how circumstances thrust her into serving as her mother’s caretaker for a quarter century, Alma Collins travels a road dreaded by all, but which many will, one day, be on.
In sharing with audiences how life led her to this challenge, and how she met it, Collins offers invaluable insights, in this current Hollywood Fringe staging at the Hudson Theatre, and shows us that if we do not allow bitterness to blind us, the journey can hold priceless discoveries.
Collins, with her single mother, lived in the Venice, California; home of her Grandmother Honey. It tickled my ears to hear her speak of those places now gone forever except in the memories of those of a certain age who experienced them: Pacific Ocean Park, Sinbad’s restaurant, the Alligator Farm.
To Collins, as to me, it was a magical time to live in this city.
But Collins reveals early on, that “magical” does not mean “perfect.”
“I don’t know why Honey had such a sweet name,” she confesses, acknowledging an abusive side to her grandmother who would “beat my behind like it was her part-time job.”
Many solo shows are akin to a postcard from some period of the performer’s life, narrow in both the narrative’s focus and audience appeal.
Not so Strong Like Honey.
When Collins shares her life with us, she never overloads, never bores. What she does share, she shares like a silken thread, binding us to the specifics of her very specific story in a weaving as firm, as intricate and as beautiful as a spider’s web.
Under Adilah Barnes’ astute direction there is not one unnecessary word uttered, not one unneeded remembrance presented in Collins’ love sonnet to the humanity that humankind is capable of.
Long after leaving the theater, the beauty of Collins’ performance will stay with you, and hopefully her message; that in giving ourselves to others is where our own salvation is found, even longer.
For Strong Like Honey a GOLD MEDAL.
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Alma Collins’ Strong Like Honey
On Stage
Sunday August 22 2021, 4:30 PM
6539 Santa Monica Boulevard
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For Tickets and Additional Information Go To:
Mrs. Donne | September 21, 2021
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WOULD love to see