Clarence Brown Theatre’s newest production, “4000 Miles,” opens this Friday, telling the story of the formation of an unlikely friendship between a grandmother and grandson. The modern setting and unconventional characters, however, put this otherwise classic theme in a new light.
The plot centers around Vera, played by theater professor Carol Mayo Jenkins, an elderly woman still living alone in the West Village of New York City, and her grandson Leo, a 21-year-old college dropout on a journey to find himself.
Leo arrives unannounced at Vera’s apartment after a cross-country bike trip, and although he originally claims to be staying only a few days, Leo and Vera spend the next few weeks becoming confidant, adviser and friend to one another.
They start off very sure of their own opinion, not really accepting or respecting what the other believes, yet they soon grow to have an understanding that each of their opinions are valid even if they don’t agree. The unusual coming of age experience they both undergo ultimately brings Leo and Vera together, Leo helping Vera as she battles the forgetfulness of old age and Vera helping Leo navigate the struggles of youth.
The two find companion souls in each other, and their relationship helps to bridge the generation gap.
“It’s always to me fascinating to learn that people who are old, and I’m now one of those old people although I don’t quite conceive of that yet, are just like young people,” Jenkins said. “They’ve just been around longer.”
Jenkins found her role as Vera, the 91-year-old grandmother, her most challenging yet.
“This woman is from New York,” Jenkins said. “She’s lived in New York all her life. She’s very brusque and abrupt. She says what’s on her mind, and she doesn’t seek approval. She’s everything that a Southern woman is not.”
Vera’s grandson Leo is a very different character. The production’s director Lise Bruneau, described him as a “neo-hippie.”
“He’s got very different ideas on life and sees the possibility for a better world,” Bruneau said.
Both characters are social activists who have a dream for change, but their ideologies differ.
“They aren’t outcasts by any means,” Bruneau said, “but Vera is a hippie too in her own way.”
Part of the originality of “4000 Miles” is its simplicity. In a plot where seemingly “nothing” happens, the lives of two people are transformed in the span of only a few weeks.
“Nothing really much happens. I mean my grandson turns up, and over the course of several days, we get to know each other,” Jenkins said. “We find out that we like things about each other and dislike things about each other. But I’m very glad he’s my grandson, and I think he’s really glad that I’m his grandmother.”
“4000 Miles” opens Friday night at 7:30 p.m. at the Ula Love Doughty Carousel Theatre, and tickets are $5 for students.
