Candy Simmons Takes 'AfterLife' on Tour

"AfterLife" is a one-woman show written by Chris Van Stander and Candy Simmons, directed by Virginia Scott and performed by Candy Simmons.  It tells the stories of three distinct women in various setting and eras who are seemingly unconnected. The story starts with Ruth, a midwife in 1928 Appalachia, desperate for a child of her own.  Marion, a 1950's housewife, yearns to share her newfound discovery of yoga.  Finally, modern-day film producer Karma searches for a bit of sanity in her hectic life.

The three women seem to have nothing in common, but through the discovery of these unique characters something becomes apparent.  They all share a need to define their own womanhood.  The times and experiences may change but this need remains the same.

Candy was kind enough to answer a few questions as she prepares to take "AfterLife" on the road.

Where did you get the idea for "AfterLife"?

"AfterLife" sprung from a one-act that Chris Van Strander, my extraordinarily talented co-writer, penned called "The Mothering Instinct." "Mothering" is the story of Ruth, a 1928 Appalachian midwife who is desperate to have a child of her own and the lengths to which she’s willing to go to satisfy that need. While performing the piece at a couple of festivals in New York City back in 2007, I not only fell in love with the character but with the solo medium. That immediate connection with the audience you achieve through solo performance is something that really is special to this kind of work and was immensely gratifying for me as an actor. I felt like I wasn’t done with the piece, so I approached Chris about working together on developing a full length solo piece for me, using Ruth as a starting point. Virginia Scott was brought on as director, and "AfterLife" is the result of that collaboration.

To be honest the process of getting the script together was pretty scattered. I wish I could tell you I had a clear idea of what I was doing when it all started, but it was more of a result of trial and error. I knew I wanted to develop a solo show and had a couple of ideas for other stories I wanted to tell, I just wasn’t sure how to connect the women in a meaningful way. Chris is a fantastic writer and it was important for me to keep the integrity of Ruth's story intact as we moved forward, so I started there. I think its rather telling that it is human nature to pin all of our happiness onto the one thing that’s unattainable to us, and as a writer and performer I’m always more interested in exploring those small disappointments in life that change us rather than the catastrophic. So that’s what this show is. It’s taking three seemingly ordinary women and ripping the façade of for a brief time to see what’s really going on in their lives. I also have a deep interest in Eastern philosophies so the idea of using a reincarnation construct to tie them together was intriguing to me.

Women of AfterLife: RuthHow has "AfterLife" evolved over the past year?

After workshopping the script in NYC last April, we went back to the rehearsal room and worked out the obvious kinks, then I took the show to Canada for a month to perform at theatre festivals in both Victoria and Vancouver, British Columbia. The best way to figure out how a play is working is to just get it in front of an audience, and I think this is particularly true with solo works. You don’t have anyone onstage to check in with, the audience is the other character, without an audience you’re just standing alone in a room talking to yourself. That’s no fun. Those Canadian performances allowed me to play. Every night I had the opportunity to take the stage with these ladies I learned more and more about them, so by the time I got back to New York I had a much clearer idea of what jokes worked, what jokes didn’t, parts of the script that I could feel I had lost the audience, and the parts where they were reacting in ways I hadn’t planned. I’m actually in the process of trimming the script a bit more to make it even leaner before I head out on this summer’s tour.

Women of AfterLife: MarionAs "AfterLife" progresses there seems to be an evolution of the pressures society places on women. Where did you find the inspiration for these characters?

The character of Karma actually came out of an experience I had on the subway on a particularly bad day. I think her dilemma is quite relatable today, the idea of feeling stuck and having every opportunity in the world to make yourself happy, but still not being able to get out of your own way and do it. And Marion was an idea that sprung from a brainstorming meeting I had with a writer friend of mine, Eric Hunt, who was listening to me ramble. I had written a monologue about a woman and her experience with yoga and as we were chatting about how to make the time periods relevant, he was like “huh, I wonder when yoga was introduced to the US?” I did a bit of research and discovered this fascinating story of how American housewives started to embrace yoga in the 1950s, which was a perfect time period to bridge the other two ladies.

The thing is, I didn’t really set out to create a women’s theatre piece. The initial character from Mothering is set in the 1920s, so it was apparent that there needed to be some kind of journey from past to present. As a result of placing the women’s stories in three sequential eras this really beautiful theme about the evolution of women popped out. How things have changed for us, how things haven’t, and why it matters. That is definitely the most gratifying reaction I’ve received from audiences, having women come up to me and say, “You know, I was Marion” or “I am Karma”, and then wanting to really discuss the show with me. To have the audience thinking about you after they’ve left the theatre, that’s pretty freaking cool. That’s when I felt like I’ve done my job.

Women of AfterLife: KarmaDo you have a favorite character?

Depends on the day. I have such a soft spot for Ruth because she was the springboard for the whole piece. But then, some days I need a bit of Marion’s optimism and some days I just need to embrace my inner bitch and rant through Karma. The wonderful thing is I don’t have to choose, I get live them all for 60 minutes every time I step on stage.

Where will your tour take you this year?

The folks at Intrepid Theatre in Victoria have invited me back to perform "AfterLife" in a solo festival called Unofest at the end of May. After that I’ll fly back east and start a 4 month tour of theatre festivals throughout the US and Canada, stopping in Montreal, Toronto, Edmonton, Minneapolis, Winnipeg and Vancouver. Its going to be wild, I can’t wait!

To learn more about "AfterLife" and the tour, check out the Sunset Gun Productions Website.