NEW YORK—The realization that sometimes you must think of yourself first, no matter how hard that might be, is at the heart of Martha Pichey’s drama “Ashes & Ink,” presented by Paper Birch Productions at the AMT Theater.
Molly (Kathryn Erbe) is in a period of transition. She’s preparing to sell her audio recording business that specializes in bird calls, which she runs with her sister Bree (Tamara Flannagan). She’s in a budding relationship with Leo (Javier Molina), a widower with an 8-year-old son, Felix (Rhylee Watson).
Molly, who was widowed several years earlier, first met Leo at a grief support group where they initially bonded over their mutual pain, which eventually turned into something more positive.
Molly’s 16-year-old son Quinn (Julian Shatkin), an up-and-coming actor, isn’t doing nearly as well. He has no problem with Molly’s new relationship, but he never healed after the death of his father, who died in front of him.
A recent film role that’s eerily similar to his life, combined with the stress of working in the entertainment industry, have sent Quinn into a downward spiral. He’s gotten involved in drugs to the point he has been fired from his latest film. He’s walked out of rehab multiple times and complained to Molly that the center felt like a prison. There was no privacy, multiple drug tests, and he’s unwilling to participate in therapy sessions.
Desperately wanting to help her son fix himself, Molly welcomes him back into her home after he promises to stay clean. While Quinn seems to be trying his best, the pressure his faces from himself and others may be his undoing. His eagerness to show everyone he’s all right often makes him impulsive and he ignores important warning signs. This is something Leo won’t tolerate, especially when it may prove harmful to Felix.
Molly refuses to see how her enabling behavior towards Quinn negatively affects her relationship with Leo. She and Leo no longer have quality alone time because she continually checks her phone to see if Quinn needs her. When an unexpected issue arises concerning the business and Bree, Molly begins feeling pressure from all sides.
Building Boundaries
Molly has to decide when it’s okay to put her own needs front and center. It’s clear that she must come to terms with her own mental well-being when it’s in conflict with what others need from her. It’s a question all of that the adult characters and Quinn must face, sometimes at the risk of losing someone they love.
Erbe is excellent as Molly, a woman who just wants everything to work out. She’s trying to push down her deepest fear: losing her son. Erbe skillfully verbalizes her fears in one of several stirring monologues.
As Quinn, Shatkin portrays a young man carrying so much pain that he loses sight of the fact it’s not all always about him. In order to shake his demons, he must be willing to accept help from others. Some of his best scenes are in his interactions with Felix, the two bonding over shared experiences even as they almost seem to be mirror opposites in how they look at the world and the possibility of becoming family.
Molina is a nice Leo, who’s a loving father, if a touch overprotective. Like Molly, he has his own family and memories of the past to protect. He sets lines that he allows no one to cross.
Despite its strengths, the play falters towards the end as Pichey demonstrates a weakness common in many first-time playwrights: She doesn’t know when to stop. At least three scenes could be the ending for the play. When instead they lead into one another, it feels disjointed and makes the narrative feel a bit off. Good as these sequences may be, they need to be better integrated into the work so they don’t weaken the overall effect. This unevenness also throws off Alice Jankell’s otherwise very strong direction.
Despite these problems, “Ashes & Ink” still hits home thanks to excellent performances by Erbe and Shatkin and the play’s core message: when trying to help those in crisis, you may first need to take care of yourself, and allow others to do the same.
