How tenuous are the moorings that
keep us safely in sanity’s harbor. How frightening are the moments when you
must watch someone you love slip those moorings and slowly yet inevitably drift
out into a cold, dark sea, to depart for that other place, a place where there
be dragons of dementia. Yet, how fascinating…and riveting…it can be to watch
stellar actors working with a well-written -- at times lyrical -- script, as
they bring to life characters who are going through such agony. Such is the
case with Sharr White’s “The Other Place,” which recently opened at Hartford
TheaterWorks under the insightful direction of TheaterWorks’ producing artistic
director Rob Ruggiero.
This
production of “The Other Place” (the play was seen off-Broadway [2011], and
then on Broadway, [2013]) was first boarded at the Repertory Theatre of St.
Louis, where it ran for three weeks earlier this year. After a brief hiatus,
Ruggiero brought the cast east and did some re-staging to accommodate the
TheaterWorks stage and its intimate confines. The venue’s intimacy means, in
this case, that there is simply no place to hide from the emotional
roller-coaster ride that goes on over the play’s 80-plus minutes, and there is
no reason to hide, for this is theater that approaches, in its own way, Greek
tragedy, with more than a little humor thrown in for good measure.
Set by Luke Hegel-Cantarella
For
most of the play the set, by TheaterWorks veteran Luke Hegel-Cantarella,
consists of little more than two small tables and a chair, backed by a pale
blue wall stage right and, running up-stage-center to stage left, what looks
like weathered shakes that might be used to side a house, say, on Cape Cod –
but the siding is more than weathered, for many of the shakes have fallen off
and rest in haphazard piles on the ground, a striking visual metaphor for several
of the play’s central themes.
All
is well in place, however, as the play opens, for Dr. Julian Smithton (Kate
Levy), an expert in the study of and research on various types of dementia, is
making a presentation to doctors at a Big-Pharma sponsored conference, touting
the wonders of a new drug she has created that will hopefully reverse the
effects of a certain type of dementia. Confident and just a tad acerbic, the
52-year-old Smithton explains how the drug was developed and what she hopes
will be its financial success. All too soon, however, her presentation falters,
if for no other reason than she see’s a beautiful young woman clad only in a
yellow bikini sitting amongst the doctors. She bridles and makes cutting
remarks, yet is troubled at the same time. Why is she fixated on this young
woman? Why this urge to verbally attack her?
What
follows is the unfolding of Smithton’s story – her relationship with her
oncologist husband, Ian (R. Ward Duffy), their daughter, Smithton’s doctor
(both played by Amelia McClain), her daughter’s ‘husband’ (Clark Carmichael) –
as she struggles to deal with the possibility that she has a brain tumor, with
the possibility that her husband is divorcing her, with the possibility that
her estranged daughter is making attempts to heal their rift, with the
possibility that…well, there are many possibilities.
Central
to this unfolding…or unraveling…is Smithton herself and, as portrayed by Levy,
who is onstage for the entire play, she is a complex, intelligent, haunted
woman who is struggling to understand what is happening around her, what is happening to
her, and how the two might relate. In scene after scene, through multiple time
and location shifts, Levy is absolutely mesmerizing, giving a pitch-perfect
performance that speaks to the mind, the heart and the soul. Whether she is
making a scientific presentation, arguing with her husband, bandying words with
her doctor or searching her soul, and her mind, for some understanding of who
she was, is and might be becoming, Levy’s character is agonizingly real and,
for the audience, emotionally enveloping. So much so that when, in the play’s penultimate
moments, Smithton finds herself in ‘the other place’ and must confront reality,
you find that you have to unclench your hands and slowly exhale once the scene
ends.
R. Ward Duffy
Duffy
does an equally strong job as Juliana’s husband, for Ian bears a heavy burden,
and Duffy gives this man a dignity, a conscience and a palpable sense of what
it truly mean to say you love someone and then act on that emotion because it
actually carries weight. As his wife begins her slow dissolution, Duffy’s
character must balance contending emotions: rage, fear, deep concern and, above
all else, frustration. He does all of this with grace and aplomb.
Amelia McClain
Perhaps
the actor with the most difficult role, or roles, to cover is McClain, for she
must play a daughter, a doctor and a housewife who comes in contact with
Juliana in a rather intrusive manner. Although there are thematic and
metaphorical reasons for casting the same person in all three roles, the
decision may lead to some confusion and perhaps even a lessening of certain
scenes’ emotional impact. This is especially true in the latter part of the play
for reasons that can’t be revealed lest I be labeled a spoiler. Suffice it to
say, as powerful as these moments are I couldn’t help but wonder if their
emotional impact might have been enhanced if a different casting decision had
been made.
On
the production side, in addition to Hegel-Cantarella’s thoughtful set, which
“blossoms” near the end of the play, given the somewhat stark nature of the
background in front of which the play unfolds, and the necessity for multiple
shifts of scene, much of the “setting” relies on the creative work of lighting
designer John Lasiter and the video and projection designs of William Cusick
who, among other effects, creates a visual coda that is, at the same time,
moving and chilling, which is appropriate, since the play itself embodies these
emotions, and yet does so without being grim. Playwright White knows when a
joke works, and that humor, be it sarcastic or ironic, reveals as much about
the human psyche as do the more touted and psychologically fraught
characteristics we often use to define who we are…or talk to our shrinks about.
In fact, one of the play’s most emotionally fraught scenes ends with a totally
unexpected one-liner that is funny, insightful and, believe it or not, central
to the play’s resolution and completion of character development. Smart
writing.
If
you are a thinking, empathetic human being, then from the moment Levy appears
on the stage until she finally turns to stare at a haunting image from her
past, you will be absorbed by “The Other Place.” Yes, I know it is a cliché to
say so, but this is truly gripping theater.
“The
Other Place” runs through April 19. For tickets or more information call
860-527-7838 or go to www.theaterworkshartford.org.
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