Marin Ireland and Peter Kim in "Maple and Vine." Photo Credit: Sara Krulwich.

Jordan Harrison’s play Maple and Vine at Playwrights Horizons, directed by Anne Kauffman was a very intriguing story. Marin Ireland plays Katha a woman who has nightmares and hasn’t been the same since she had a miscarriage. That day changed her life, since then she felt empty with no path worth taking, she wasn’t sure who she was. She is married to Ryu played by actor Peter Kim who stood by her side all the time. One day, Katha meets Dean played by actor Trent Dawson who shows her a different life, the path worth taking towards happiness, or so Dean promises.

Living in the 21st century can be harsh to people that have been through a lot, but imagine having the opportunity of going back to 1950s? The community offered a door that she found while seeking happiness. This play doesn’t only focus on Katha and Ryu’s life but also the life that people lived in that period of time where everybody thinks it was blue for boys and pink for girls. In the 1950s, society was harsh towards homosexuals, it was not accepted and people lived in great fear.

I feel empathy for Katha because she lived in a world where people couldn’t understand her. Some people heal fast and some don’t. I feel sympathy towards Dean even though he acted so perfect but turned out to not to be. The whole idea of “the mixed race couple” gave a feeling of how the show was going to end. Towards the end, I changed my opinion because I thought about and it took Katha a while to stop having those nightmares about the 21st century but for the first time she felt alive like belonged there and she wasn’t going to let that go. It is ironic how Katha and Ryu became just like Dean and Ellen. I would think twice before taking a kid to see this play it has some sex scenes that might not be appropriate for a child to see.