On The Exhale

Elizabeth Ann Townsend was the sensation of the 2016 Fringe in her one-woman play, Count Time. She is back this year in On The Exhale, playing the role of the mother of a second grader murdered in a Sandy Hook-type massacre. In her grief, she is drawn to the awful weapon that killed her son and actually buys one. The semi-automatic weapon, which has a fierce recoil, is best fired on the exhale. She comes to suspect that when it comes to gun violence, we're all part of the problem. Powerful stuff.              

Count Time

This one was hard. According to The Fringe website, Count Time "tells the story of Patricia Prewitt’s journey through decades of incarceration for a murder she did not commit. Accused and wrongfully convicted of murdering her husband, Patty has served thirty years of a fifty year sentence with no hope of parole until 2036. Ms. Townsend interviewed Patty Prewitt and all the other living people portrayed in this searing and moving testimony to the enduring spirit of human survival. We hope to convince Governor Nixon to commute her sentence and set her free."

The one act play traces the story of Prewitt's life, from hard childhood to tumultuous marriage to horribly unjust conviction to decades in prison, arising from small-town Missouri egos and politics. It was a gut punch but, in the end, I am glad I experienced it. Actress Elizabeth Ann Townsend's performance was extraordinary.