American Fiesta

Vineyard Theater

American Fiesta, involving loads of dishware, a good host, tables and guests is akin to a great dinner party where you do not actually eat. Everything is set up, but there is no food. This is literally what this show felt like and metaphorically what I felt I was left with at the end.

American Fiesta is Steven Tomlinson's autobiographical account of starting an expensive, perfect vintage Fiestaware collection as he undergoes a major transition in his relationship with his partner and his parents. Fiestaware can metaphorically be linked to both the political United States and these relationships.

Steven Tomlinson is entertaining. The set was beautiful. The dishes were grand. But, this did fall short of excellent theater. I think this is because autobiographies are personal and this felt like an impersonal, somewhat private telling of a story. It also lacked great revelation. It contained, though, a loving story of a family that eventually finds a reasonable way to show love to their son and his husband.

In the show, Steven is getting married and his parents are rather unsupportive given that this is a gay marriage. They refuse to come to the wedding and they refuse to sign papers to give his partner/husband the rights that he needs to act like a proper husband. They are also generally unwelcoming when the two of them repeatedly come to visit.

Also, in the show, Steven is actively collecting expensive dishes (typically $500 each). He is picky and he seeks perfection in the old, in the past. This part is a nice juxtaposition where he is trying at some level to amend his memories of family and make them whole before moving on into his new family with his new husband. On this level, this show works. However, my biggest critique is that he meets many people while collecting the dishes and he consistently refuses to really hear their stories about their dishes and about their lives. This is about Steven's life and he doesn't really seem to let other people enrich him as they might. He wants perfect history, without story.

At the end of the show, as he is putting the bowls on a table, I would have liked to have related those bowls to people he had encountered and been changed by. It was very disappointing that they were basically just bowls. In a one man show about dishware, I would have liked the dishware to take on a bit more personality. It doesn't even make sense, but it is true.

The most rewarding moment in the show is when Steven's parents give him the gift of signed legal documents and an old, treasured Fiesta bowl to his husband. It reaffirms our faith in our families to come around and show love in the ways that we can hear it.

I would have liked more story, more history, though. I would have liked to have heard the history of his relationship with his husband. And, I would have liked more about the years he grew up in Oklahoma. I would not have minded a good coming out story. And, I certainly would not have minded hearing about the stories of the dishware. History, our histories, do more than exist. They have personality and depth. And, if we are going to collect history we have to be able to slowly open ourselves up to everything that is involved. Otherwise, we should just run by Macy's and pick up the new bowl instead of obsessively e-baying for the old. It would save a lot of money and we could deal exclusively in the future of the memories we will make with the new dishware in the new colors with the great, shiny sheen of possibility all over it.