LANCASTER, Pa. — A rising novelist and struggling actress fall in and out of love just as quickly in the latest Groff Studio Series show at the Fulton Theatre. The story of love and loss, success and failure and jealousy in many forms propels "The Last Five Years" toward couples of all ages and all stages of life.
Audience members begin the show at the beginning of the relationship for one character but at the end for another. The couple meets only one time on the stage, on their wedding day, before continuing in the opposite direction of their journey.
"It really explores that in snapshots," said Carrie St. Louis, who plays Cathy in the show. "You get sections of the relationships and see how it fell apart."
In those snapshots, propelled by the music of the show, it's not just the perspectives that converge and diverge -- but even the meanings of the script.
"Earlier on in the show she refers to him, 'I want miles and piles of you.' Later when the relationship falls apart, she's like, 'It's all about you. Just miles and piles of you.,'" St. Louis said. "That's fascinating. Something she used in a positive light is now overwhelming and sickening to her."
Both cast members of the show find themselves at different places in their lives. David Toole, who plays Jamie, has been married for more than a decade. Carrie St. Louis is newly engaged.
"It's an interesting time to do a show about divorce," St. Louis laughed.
"You have more of an understanding of what some of these challenges are and how big of a factor communication is to succeed," Toole said.
Experiences, music and stories- both personal and the one written for the stage- all come together to help audience members learn from this couple's mistakes and perhaps reminisce on both the good times and those more challenging.
"I don't leave the theater being 'woo hoo!' But it is an explanation of what it means to be human. Nothing is black and white or perfect," St. Louis said.
Performances of The Last Five Years at the Fulton Theatre in Lancaster continue through May 26. For more information, visit the theatre's website.