←Recommendations of Possession

Who hasn't occasionally longed to escape to a more genteel era, a time before the incessant buzz of a 24/7 life? That's what Catherine Castellani's heroine, Miss Ava Strand, longs for and briefly achieves... but at what cost?

Looking at the the racism, misogyny, homophobia, etc... of the past like a modern day Tennessee Williams, Castellani creates a world of disquieting fantasy and tension with stylish skill. Like Ava, we get caught up in her dreamworld early on, then recoil, watching helplessly and horrified as Ava refuses to acknowledge what her delusions have wrought. A chilling, superb work.

A warning of the danger of fear, the inability to go somewhere new and the unwillingness to let go of an existence that isn't good for us. Powerful and well done.

Oh this play had some lasting images for me - I absolutely love the premise and visualizing it as a production. It is also a terrifying journey from the fantasy of an idealized past, to an all too real and violent present.

POSSESSION offers deep insights into the nature of “white woman” privilege, simultaneously capturing its blindness while illuminating its roots, without excusing it. Creating an entire world to hide from her trauma, the play’s protagonist, Ava clings to her creation, oblivious to the forces she nurtures. Her willful ignorance is the play’s point. And its hypnotic spell draws us in as its characters’ more venal motives clash. In the end, POSSESSION speaks to the cycle of oppression as well as the poison that is cherishing “our history” at the expense of its victims. This powerhouse play must be produced!!

Premiere Stages, the professional Equity theatre in residence at Kean University, is pleased to recognize “Possession” by Catherine Castellani as a semifinalist for the 2019 Premiere Play Festival. “Possession” rose through a competitive selection process conducted by Premiere staff and a panel of outside theatre professionals to become one of 23 semifinalists out of 659 submissions. The panel was particularly impressed by the play’s exploration of a timely and important question: what does it truly mean to be nostalgic for a past era? The play’s arc feels both heartbreaking and utterly inevitable. Our congratulations and thanks to Catherine.