Pipeline Playwrights’ heartfelt and timely ‘Heartland’ to stream on demand

A play inspired by the Supreme Court case involving the Westboro Baptist Church, whose members demonstrated at the funeral of a gay serviceman.

Heartland is a heartfelt and timely piece of theater.

This production from women’s collective Pipeline Playwrights arrives at the same time that Roe v. Wade (the 50-year-old decision that acknowledged a woman’s right to an abortion) has been overturned by the post-Trump Supreme Court. The majority in that ruling hold views similar to the religious coalition represented in this play and are presumed to be planning (as announced by Judge Clarence Thomas in his concurring opinion) to overturn the right to access birth control, the legality of same-sex relationships, gay marriage, and other “demonstrably erroneous” decisions stemming from the Fourteenth Amendment. The stakes both onstage and in real life are high.

Heartland is inspired by the Supreme Court case involving the Westboro Baptist Church of Kansas, whose members demonstrated at the funeral service of a gay serviceman who had died in combat. During the protest, the participants chanted and waved signs that said things like “God Hates Fags.” This play explores what it might be like for an attorney who is, as playwright Pat Connelly puts it, “called upon to represent clients whose conduct and beliefs they find abhorrent, [and] who must find a way to vigorously represent those clients.”

Eamon Patrick Walsh (Richard) and Sally Imbriano (Janet) in ‘Heartland.’ Photo by Ann Timmons.

The title Heartland refers to the physical location that the protestors come from (Missouri, in Connelly’s play). It also refers to the interior arena where the attorney fights her own battles of group belonging and personal integrity. The play movingly explores the indivisibility of the political and the personal.

A coalition of antigay religious organizations has been sued to stop their protesting at sites of personal grief of those they disagree with. The plaintiffs feel this is an intrusion of privacy that goes beyond the rights of free expression guaranteed by the First Amendment. The attorney in the play, Janet (played by Sally Imbriano), has returned to her hometown to take on this case at the request of her father, Richard (Eamon Patrick Walsh), himself a lawyer and preacher in a member church of the coalition. These are people by whom Janet was raised. They shaped her moral view of the world. From her father Richard’s point of view, shifting from that moral view in which she was raised means not merely having a different opinion; it means rejecting her people and her people’s God.

Richard never wanted Janet to attend the “liberal” law school that she chose. And Janet is keen to regain her father’s favor. Richard uses this insecurity to his advantage, playing Janet off against her brother and fellow attorney Josh, promising to use her in the inevitable Supreme Court appeal of the case and pressuring her to participate in antigay demonstrations that the coalition is involved with.


Sally Imbriano (Janet); seated: David Johnson (Josh) and Eamon Patrick Walsh (Richard) in ‘Heartland.’ Photo by Ann Timmons.

The antigay coalition folks are Christian soldiers who strategize to win and rule over their opponents at all costs. As the pressures on Janet mount, she begins to hallucinate. In her hallucinations, she is visited by a Christian soldier from the distant past who was also accused of rejecting the conventional teachings of her people and her God: Joan of Arc. Joan visits Janet at a number of transition points throughout the play to give her observations of the state of things — welcome or unwelcome.

The way that Connelly introduces us to the multiple possibilities of the play’s images and concepts (such as heartland, gay, possession by the Holy Spirit, and Christian soldiers) was intriguing. Joan’s final moment — when she responds to Janet’s concern about the outcome of a choice she has made — is both encouraging and double-edged: “You will be without fear. And you will be happy.”

The set design was thoughtful: The performance space was framed by three receding vistas — the first covered with posters that the protestors would have been carrying; the second with pages from the United States Constitution; the third with pastoral scenes, evoking what living in a nonurban landscape on a day-to-day basis might be like. At the vanishing point toward which these vistas led was a media screen on which the disembodied newscasts were broadcast. It was an effective idea.

Sally Imbriano (Janet) and Lenny Mendez (Beth) in ‘Heartland.’ Photo by Ann Timmons.

The performances by everyone were strong. Eamon Patrick Walsh as the father figure evoked the image of Little Orphan Annie’s Daddy Warbucks. (The Warbucks character was contradictory, holding affection and devotion for a vulnerable child while at the same time earning his living from arms sales.) Walsh’s portrayal of the Christian soldier who loved his children and sincerely desired to reclaim his only begotten daughter from the clutches of “sin” raised the stakes for our protagonist substantially. Rebecca Kiser as Joan of Arc was precise, by turns funny and encouraging. Nicole Ruthmarie as the mother, whose grief was violated by the antigay demonstrations that were staged by the church members, embodied timeless righteous indignation and rage. Lenny Mendez as Beth — Janet’s academic rival during law school on whom she had a crush — evoked the gentle yet competent and determined spirit of Urvashi Vaid (former executive director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force). David Johnson gave us a Josh who was a bumbling and male-privileged mediocrity of a sibling. Sally Imbriano’s Janet effectively embodied what happens to someone when belonging hurts.

Running Time: 90 minutes with no intermission.

Heartland played three live performances on June 24 and 25, 2022, presented by Pipeline Playwrights at Joe’s Movement Emporium, 3309 Bunker Hill Road, Mt. Rainier, MD. Heartland will be streamed on-demand from July 18 through August 1. Tickets ($15 for single viewer, $25 for family or group) are now on sale and can be purchased online.

The program for Heartland is online here.

Heartland by Patricia Connelly
Directed by Catherine Tripp
Produced by Pipeline Playwrights at Joes Movement Emporium

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