From Titan Magazine (Fall 2003)
Tony - Nominated Titan Brings 'Kabul'
to L.A.
She sits alone on stage, with not much more
in the way of props than a small collection of hats and an outdated
guidebook to Afghanistan. But for the next hour, Linda Emond ’82
(B.A. theatre arts) will hold her audience rapt in “Homebody/Kabul,”
currently at the Mark Taper Forum.
Reprising her Obie Award-winning performance, she
plays a British housewife who begins the play, Emond explains, with
“a tale about something that has happened to her. She gets
sidetracked along the way and, ultimately, makes a decision and
goes to Afghanistan, to Kabul. And she disappears.” She brought
the role to life two years ago off-Broadway.
The drama, penned by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright
Tony Kushner (“Angels in America”), subsequently follows
the journey of the woman’s husband and daughter in Kabul to
find her.
“It deals with a variety of subjects
and issues,” Emond says of the play. “It certainly is
political. But at its center, it’s about a family, mourning
and their search for understanding.
“As an actor, it’s the most amazing
script I’ve ever read, that I’ve performed, including
Shakespeare and Brecht, in terms of something that I have done from
beginning to end. It calls on everything I’ve learned: technical,
emotional, psychological strengths. It’s like a monumental
mountain to climb every night.”
The ‘training’ for that climb was extensive
as well. “I had lived with it for almost 2 1/2 years before
performing it,” she says, of the period she spent helping
develop the play. But, understanding the economics of mounting a
play in New York — i.e., not having the box office draw of
say, Maggie Smith — Emond “didn’t take for granted
that I would play the role on stage.”
Kushner, however, never had any doubts. “I
think Linda is one of the greats, an actor of incomparable brilliance,
depth and intelligence,” he says. “I admired her work
for years before we were able to work together. I think there may
have been some fantasizing on the part of the producers about getting
a movie star to do the part, but it was simply out of the question;
I would never have done the play without Linda. She owns the part.”
With the exception of the current run of “Homebody/Kabul”
in Los Angeles, Emond has been living and working in New York for
the last seven years. Television viewers have seen her in guest-starring
roles on such New York-based series as “The Sopranos,”
“Law & Order,” “Law & Order: Criminal
Intent” and “Third Watch.” Silver screen credits
include “City by the Sea” with Robert DeNiro and the
soon-to-be-released “Almost Salinas” with John Mahoney
(“Frasier”).
In addition, she has provided voice-over narration
for Lifetime television’s “Intimate Portraits”
series, as well as shows for National Geographic, the Discovery
Channel, The Learning Channel and A&E’s “Biography”
(Gypsy Rose Lee). Her books-on-tape readings include “Candyland,”
“The Secret Hour” and “Good Harbor.”
Emond made her New York stage debut in 1996 in the
off-Broadway production of “Nine Armenians,” and in
the following year, made her first Broadway appearance in the musical
“1776,” playing Abigail Adams opposite Brent Spiner’s
(“Star Trek: The Next Generation”) John Adams.
Earlier this year, she and Spiner played another
married couple in Tony Award-winning playwright Yasmina Reza’s
(“Art”) “Life x 3” on Broadway.
Her performance brought more accolades, including
the Outer Critics Circle Award and a Tony Award nomination for Best
Performance by a Featured Actress in a Play. As much as she works,
she readily admits that “far more often, I audition for something
I don’t get.” Yet, she doesn’t adhere to the claim
about how tough the entertainment industry is. “I would not
say this business is hard. Coal mining is hard.
“I do something I love, have a good deal
of variety, get to work and create. I’ve been really lucky
and have had fantastic experiences.”
As of press time, “Homebody/Kabul,”
starring Emond, is scheduled to run at the Mark Taper Forum through
Nov. 9.
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