“Low Hanging Fruit” shows a side of veteran plight few are aware of
DETROIT, Mich.–The audience gets the sense early on that things aren’t going to end well for the characters in Low Hanging Fruit.
Four ex‐military women, broken and damaged by their experiences, find ways to survive and cope on the streets through their friendship and communal living arrangement. When Cory (Karen Kron) brings home a teenage runaway, Canyon (Sidney Mains), the other women react hostilely and defensively, thinking the worst of what having a minor around might do to their living situation, a tent encampment on Los Angeles’ skid row.
Despite her hard-ass exterior, Cory has a soft side and only wants to care for the lost soul, who is like a stray puppy to her, or the daughter she never had. But Maya (Angela Vara Pichette) has an actual daughter who she isn’t able to take care of due to the trauma she suffered being overseas on two tours of duty, and vigorously protests at the intrusion of the newcomer.
Alice (Denise Graham) also has a daughter who has rebuked her efforts to connect, leaving her to fend for herself, with help from her friends. Yolanda (Autumn Russell) is the party girl with a dark side, due to her dependence on street drugs which she uses to keep her internal demons at bay. Her pimp, Tito (William Brysen) knows how to capitalize on her weaknesses and also sees a potential shiny new recruit in young Canyon.
While Yolanda’s demons may seem the most obvious, all of the women suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder, if not from their time in the service than from the dysfunction with their families which in some cases prompted them to enter the service.
In between scenes, Maya reads poignant passages from her journal, describing her life and the trauma she has suffered. The writing, and especially Pichette’s brilliant delivery, is powerful and heartwrenching.
The show — which contains adult themes, strong language, and is not recommended for young children – drives home the shameful abandonment by society of women who have served our country, says Director Lisa Hodge Kander. While it
would be easy to focus only on the negative, the play also pays tribute to the power of friendship to support and sometimes heal the women even though they are badly broken, she adds.
Indeed, there is pure joy when the women have a birthday party for Alice. They present her with a cake and then proceed to sing and dance with each other. They forget, as does the audience for a minute, that they are homeless and this is no ordinary birthday party.
San Francisco based playwright Robin Bradford wrote “Low Hanging Fruit” after being inspired by articles in reference to the dramatic rise in homelessness amongst military women who have served in Iraq or Afghanistan. Through her research, she spoke to many people: active and retired military personnel, government employees, volunteers in the private sector, and homeless people living on the street. Bradford says, “It is my intention to shed light on what can happen after we say, “Thank you for your service.”
The Theatre Company of University of Detroit Mercy and Matrix Theatre Company collaborated on the Midwest premiere of the Robin Bradford production, which is a part of a larger initiative to raise awareness and support for female homeless veterans in the Metro Detroit area.